I Have Lived And I Have Loved: A Charity Romance Collection

by Willow Winters

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  THANK YOU for reading The Devil’s Chessboard, a short story that celebrates two of our favorite couples. If you’d like to read more about Gabriel and Avery, you can download THE PAWN from book retailers now: www.skyewarren.com/books/the-pawn

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  And you can read more about Hades and Persephone in the myth retelling with KING OF SHADOWS by Amelia Wilde here: www.awilderomance.com/books/king-of-shadows

  Bridge of Love

  By Nana Malone

  Chapter 1

  Bridge

  "Mate, would you hold up?"

  I knew what was coming. I’d taken steps to avoid it, but I hadn’t been quick enough.

  One of my best mates was going to ask for the one favor I couldn’t give. To look out for his little sister over the holiday. Sadly I was the only choice. I was the only one going home for the holiday. Our other mates were off on family holidays.

  I loved Toby. Best mate a bloke could ask for. But this favor…just no. It couldn’t be done. For starters, Emma was a giant pain in the arse. And everyone knew it. She was just on the cusp of wild child and I knew for a fact she was a handful. Secondly, she had daddy issues, which meant she wanted to take them out on every bloke who dared look at her cross-eyed. And third…perhaps the most pressing issue of all…

  I wanted her.

  More than I’d probably ever wanted anything in my life. Henceforth why me anywhere near her was a terrible idea. Toby was looking for someone upstanding to look out for her…that wasn’t me.

  "Sorry mate, I’ve got to catch the train home."

  Unlike the rest of my classmates, I didn't have a parent who was here to pick me up at Eaton. Toby was staying for the holiday, because he had a project going that he needed to keep an eye on.

  He’d tried to explain it to me but once the science nerd part of him came out, I stopped listening.

  Toby was the kind of mate that everyone needed. Affable, kind at the core, I’d never met anyone like him. "Tobs, you have that look on your face. I’ve got to go, I'll miss my train. Ben's car is giving me a lift to the station."

  He frowned then. "You're not going home with Ben?"

  "They offered to drive me, but for them to go all the way East, with traffic, you know how it is. Besides they have a late flight to catch to St. something or other."

  Toby frowned. He did know how it was. Neither one of us particularly liked taking charity from our mates. It was almost better to be left to it than to be driven all the way back to London in a Rolls Royce, knowing full well that our fathers could provide but chose not to.

  "Yeah mate, I get it. Okay look, it's just a small favor. Why do you have that look on your face?"

  All around us in the cobblestones and stone parapets of Eton, stood hundreds of years of tradition and power, all contained in these walls. A sea of gray and navy blue floated around as students hustled to head home for the holiday. There were a few students who changed into their street clothes before going home. But even those were versions of the Eton uniform.

  Suit. Trousers. A watch that would have fed my family for months.

  I rolled my eyes. Money.

  I hadn't changed, simply because it would have required more time. I just wanted out of the prison. I just was in a hurry to put distance between the place that promised me a future with strings and my past.

  Also, I wasn't too eager to stick around on the off chance my father did show, which was extremely unlikely. But still he'd come before. And it hadn't been pleasant. I knew Toby was going to stand there until I gave in, so I sped up the process. "What do you need mate?"

  His grin flashed, warming up his dark eyes. "It's not so bad. Will you chill? I only need you to keep an eye on Ems for one night."

  She was possibly the hottest girl I had ever seen in my life. All dark hair, honey brown skin, melting topaz eyes that looked like a banked fire. The kind of things that give you months of dreams that you shouldn't have about your best mate's sister.

  He continued pushing me into agreeing. "Look, I wouldn't ask, but I'm not going home. She’s supposed to go to some concert. Some hip-hopper, pop star or whatever. I have a ticket. Would you just go keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble? She's got some new friends, and I don’t know what they're like. She's been looking forward to this. And I was supposed to go with her. If you could just do me this favor, I’d be a mate for life."

  I shook my head. "Toby, no. Your sister, she's trouble. Pure fucking mischief. Do you remember that last time, the one where I stayed with you? She'd gotten into her mum's knickers with that friend of hers, what was her name again?"

  Toby sighed. "Katy. You see why I'm worried? She's heading off to this concert with Katy. Come on, mate. I wouldn't ask. I was supposed to go and keep an eye on them. And now that I'm staying here, I can’t. So please be a mate."

  What else could I say? I couldn't say, 'Mate, every time I'm near your sister, I keep picturing sliding my tongue into her mouth, and feeling her far-too-big-tits-for-such-a-skinny-little thing and making her purr my name.'

  Nope, those were not things you said to your best mate.

  Behind us, I could hear Ben's low mumble. "What's the hold up princess?"

  I rolled my eyes. "Me and you, who's the princess?"

  Ben grinned then. Ben Covington, the fair-haired Viking, except more English than the lot of us. He was all bleached blond waves, broad smile, big shoulders. I was as tall as he was, but I was leaner. And I was the dark-haired devil to his sun-licked Viking. But he was another one of my best mates. And off the rear, came East Hale. Broad smile, laptop bag strapped over his shoulder, clutching on to it like it was his passport to the good life. "What the fuck is the hold up mate?"

  I rolled my eyes. "Nothing's the hold up. Time to go."

  But Toby wasn't letting me go that easily. "I'm just trying to get Bridge here to agree to do me a favor when he's at home."

  East rolled his eyes, ribbing him gently. "Mate, I'm not sure why you like the dirty magazines, there's porn on the internet. It's free. You don’t have to make Bridge buy them for you."

  A flush crept over Toby's face even as he flipped East off. East, the twat, just grinned. He may have been all geeked out, but somehow he managed to give a lad's lad vibe to him. And he was actually all right. I'd never really expected to like him that much. But these three, and Drew Wilcox, they were my best mates.

  The one that stuck around when the shit went haywire. Drew had already left for home. He had also offered to drive me, but again, I didn't like handouts. And his father had actually come to pick him up. So the last thing I needed was all sorts of questions on where my father was and what our family was doing for the holiday and if I was going to be at a ball or a gala or a society function. Questions that he already knew the answers to. My father was a friend of his. Why doesn’t he just ask the old man?

  Nope, better to avoid questions. Better to avoid too many entanglements.

  Unfortunately, no one told Toby this.

  "I'm just taking a shot at Bridge here to agree to look out for Emma at the concert."

  East perked up. "I could go to the concert."

  Toby shook his head. "No, you are not to touch my fucking sister."

  East held his hands up. "Mate, I'm wounded. I wouldn't touch your sister."

  This was a lie of course. Toby rolled his eyes. "Not with your hands. You'd use your mouth. No fucking way."

  East just smirked, because as nerdy as he was, he'd research a hundred ways to make a girl come with nothing more than his mouth. It was worrisome to think about if you have a sister.

  Ben shrugged. "I'll do it."

  All three of us laughed then.r />
  Toby rolled his eyes. "What, you? Pretty boy? No. When Emma was here last time, all she was talking about was how insanely pretty you are. Nope, you're not going anywhere near my sister."

  Ben frowned. "I wouldn't touch her."

  Toby's laugh was a low chuckle. "I'm not worried about you touching her. Emma would eat you alive. You're not ready for that. You're still a virgin."

  Ben scowled at him.

  "It's all right mate, it's true. But Bridge. Bridge can handle himself. And he is the least affected by anything out of all of us. Just do it." Toby begged.

  "Why the fuck won't you just do it so we can just get on the road? I don't want to stay at school any longer than necessary." Ben growled.

  The way they were watching me expectantly, I knew what I was going to have to say, and none of it was going to be appropriate. And whatever I'd say was going to piss Toby the fuck off. Normally, I didn't care about pissing people off, but this was Tobs. He never asks for anything as a general rule. So I was in no kind of mood.

  "Fuck me. Fine. Text me the ticket info, but honest to fucking God, I'm not partying, I'm just getting her out of there and making sure she gets home all right, yeah?"

  Toby nodded.

  Chapter 2

  Bridge

  "You know, sooner or later, he's going to figure it out."

  I slid my gaze over to Ben as we rolled toward the train station. "Figure what out?"

  His chuckle was low, even as he rolled his eyes. "That you have the hots for Emma."

  How the fuck did he know? My brow furrowed. "I don't have the hots for Emma. She's Toby's little sister. Nothing is going to happen there."

  "Oh come on, you know Toby wouldn't be like that. You're his mate. He'd be happy if you're the one that goes out with Emma."

  "Something tells me that that isn't true."

  His grin flashed. "What, you would rather East date her?"

  "If East puts his fucking hands on her, mate or no mate, I will kill him."

  "Oh right, and you don't feel anything for her at all."

  He has a point there, you wanker.

  "It doesn't matter what I feel. Nothing's going to happen."

  "Ugh, look. I saw it the last time we all went home when Toby was on holiday. It's only a matter of time till he sees it. All I'm saying is, it will be better if you tell him, than if he sees it for himself. Which, he will."

  I was in no mood for rationality as the car lulled us back and forth. "Nah mate, I got it."

  "If you say so, but it's written all over your face. Do you know what you're going to do when you see her?"

  "Nothing. She's annoying. A total pain in the arse. Plus she's spoiled. A total princess who thinks the world revolves around her, or that it should, and sorry, but I don't deal with princesses."

  "Right. You don't deal with princesses. Mate, this whole taking to the train station thing, it's ridiculous. Let me drive you home. I know that you get sensitive about this, but really mate be reasonable. Besides, your mum won't like it if you take the train. I honestly don't like it that you're on your own."

  "Have you already talked to her?"

  Ben shrugged. "I might have reached out and extended an invitation for you to come home with me on holiday."

  I was going to kill him. "What the fuck mate? Didn't I tell you already?"

  "Yeah, yeah. You told me that you need to go look in on her. But I happen to know that she doesn't need looking in on. She'll be working anyway, so what are you going to do?"

  Ben's car smelled of new polished leather, and the heat in the back sunk into my bones, making me loosen up a little bit. It was so tempting to let him just drive me home, to accept the olive branch, to accept the help, to accept the friendship, but while I was going home, and while I didn’t have to look in on my mum, there were other things I had to do. I was with people that needed to be looked in on. I didn't want Ben seeing any of that. So I held fast. "Mate, I appreciate it, but you know how it is. Sometimes I just need to tend to myself."

  Ben's ice-blue gaze met mine. And there was a wisdom about them that I didn't always pay attention to. While Ben seemed on occasion, like the impulsive one among us, like the one most likely to say the wrong thing, or to fuck up, he was also, next to Toby, the heart of the group. He somehow understood things way beyond his years, because he just nodded at me. "All right, I'll do what you want, but one of these days, you'll realize you don't have to do everything by yourself."

  Yeah, I knew he believed that. I knew that deep down, Ben believed the words he said, but while he was the son of a Lord, and he had grown up around all the wealth and trappings that that came with it, I was only the bastard's son.

  I grew up on the wrong side of town, worked hard to shed my East London accent when I started going at Eaton whose crowd mostly think I didn't belong there. God knew my fucking father didn't think I belonged anywhere. Especially not anywhere where he might run in to me, or see me, or have to deal with me. The way it was, Ben and I had completely different upbringings. Toby wouldn't want someone like me for his sister. Emma Valma smelled clean and fresh like linens off the line. Her eyes always held a glint of mischief, as if she knew what I was thinking, what I was so desperate to have from her. And she wanted to tease me with it. But she was forever out of reach. And she would remain that way, because while my mates knew what friendships meant, they didn't know that they were how you survived. At least where I was from.

  "I appreciate it mate. How about this, we'll compromise. You can drive me all the way back to Eaton. I'll ring you, and you could pick me up."

  I was always surprised at the simple joy Ben got in doing something to help. As much as he seemed like the-devil-may-care one, if it came down to one of us that needed something, he was the first one to call. Because if he said he was going to do something, you'd get a damn well guarantee he was going to make it happen.

  "Mate, that's good news. Fine, then I won't take it so personally that you won't let me drive you home. Whatever you do, take care. You do that, then I'll pick you up and we'll go back to school together. Besides, you know what we're waiting on."

  The pit of my stomach balled.

  Oh yes, the summons from the Elite. There were the Pops, and then there were the Elite, the secret societies of Eton. If were are called for either, your life would change. And Ben was chosen. His father was Elite. East was chosen too. As was Drew. Their fathers were Elite. Toby and I, our fathers were Elite, but we were their bastard children that they didn't want to see or look at or acknowledge. So whether we would get our summons or not was a question.

  Being in the Elite meant seeing my father. Which would be an issue. Why my father denied me, God only knew. He was no longer an active voting member, but he could certainly try to stop me from getting in. He might not stop me though.

  He might just make it so uncomfortable that I didn’t want to be there. But I knew what the Elite could afford me. The money to look after my mum, the freedom and the power so that no one could look down on me again, and I could actually help people. No offense to my lads, but most of them had never had to struggle a day in their lives, except for Toby.

  "Well, let's see what happens."

  As the driver pulled over at the train station, I popped the latch of the door, Ben leveled a gaze on me. "If you didn't want to be Elite, you don't have to be, no matter what, mates for life. But if all of us were together? Imagine what we could do together? Who we could be? Not who our fathers wanted us to be, but who we wanted to be. Just think about it."

  "You know, when you say it with that kind of confidence, I believe you. We could be our own lords."

  His smile was quick on that one. "We could be the London Lords. A new generation who doesn’t give a fuck. We don't have to follow their fucking rules. You just think about it, and text me when you're ready to go. Our future awaits."

  I glanced over to the train. "Our future awaits." And mine certainly didn't involve Emma Varma.

  Chapter 3 />
  Emma

  Bridge Edgerton, was the most stuck up, uptight pain in the arse I'd ever met in my life. He was also one of my brother's best mates. But God, he was just so annoying. He was one of those blokes that always seemed to be doing the right thing. Always seemed to have the right answers and know what you should be doing.

  I loathed him.

  No, you don't. You think he's sexy.

  Okay, in my defense, he did have very nice shoulders. But that was hardly anything to get all worked up about. Lots of blokes had nice shoulders.

  Sure, but he had nice shoulders, a jaw carved out of stone, and insane abdominal muscles.

  There was no point arguing with myself, he was well fit. I saw when he went with us on a holiday to Spain last year. His lips so pouty I fantasized about them. But that was beside the point. The point was I couldn't stand him. And it seemed that the feeling was mutual. So what the hell was he doing at Spin?

  My mates and I had come for the Estella Grant special holiday concert. I'd been looking forward to this for months. I’d told Toby about it and something told me my brother was the reason I saw Bridge Edgerton here at the Hive. Toby had bailed on me for some school project so no doubt he’d sent Bridge here to watch me.

  The Hive was one of London’s largest music spots. Record execs would bring their up-and-coming talents here to showcase them. It was a great spot for new talents. It was also a great spot for current talents. It's a smaller venue so your fans can hear you better. I begged Mum to let me come. I’d begged and begged and when she finally said yes, I'd been thrilled and ecstatic. But I hadn't planned on fucking Bridge Edgerton.

  My mate, Arabella, leaned over. "Isn't that one of your brother's mates?"

  I refused to look at him. What was the point. All that fitness burned the eyes. "Nope, I don't know what you're talking about."