by Winters, KB
“If I do that, I’ll be all orgasmed out before you get here.”
Yep, she was trying to kill me. It was payback for making her stay at my house. I was sure of it.
“That’s a challenge I’m more than willing to accept, sweetheart. Eamon’s here, gotta go.” I disconnected the call and stepped out to greet my brother.
“Wassup, E-money?” He leaned against the door of my car. “You look, sickeningly happy.”
His goofy ass grin spread so wide I thought his face might crack open. “Layla’s pregnant. We were up late celebrating.”
“A kid? Holy shit, congrats man!” Even though I shouldn’t be surprised that they were already getting started on the next generation of Connellys, I was. It seemed like such a big step and it felt too soon, but the look on Eamon’s face was pure joy. Absolute fucking bliss.
I could feel my eyebrows quirk into a question. “We are happy about this, right?”
“Fuck yeah we are!” he said and pulled me into a back slapping hug, which I accepted because it wasn’t everyday a guy found out he was going to be an uncle.
“It seems soon, I know, and we’re not even fucking married yet which I need to fix ASAP.”
“Every time I call you’re either about to fuck or you just finished fucking. It can’t be that much of a surprise, E-daddy.”
“Have you seen my woman? Don’t answer that,” he said with a playful smile.
“Yeah, she’s smokin’ hot, and you spend all of your free time balls deep inside of her. Now you have to marry her before Patrick finds out she’s pregnant.”
Our dad might be a ruthless businessman and a cutthroat mobster, but he was also a good Catholic who believed in simple things like marriage before babies.
“Yeah, maybe we should elope to Vegas or something.”
“If you do that E, you might not live long enough to become the next head of the Connelly Family.”
Eamon laughed, but we both understood the truth of that sentiment. “I know, but a wedding right now, before the Milano shit is resolved feels like a recipe for disaster. And if something happened to Layla. . .”
He shoved his hair back from his eyes when a gust of wind caught us, not bothering to finish the sentence. If something happened to Layla all bets would be off. Eamon would forget the mob code; he would forget everything we learned at the feet of Patrick Connelly if something happened to his woman.
And I’d be right beside him.
“Then we should probably handle these assholes quickly, yeah?”
“Right. Now tell me about your woman.” His words came out sharp, clipped.
I laughed. “Ivy isn’t my woman, and I don’t even know if I want her to be. Not that it matters, but I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m some Richie Rich asshole.”
“So why are you protecting her?”
I glared at my brother. “The same reason we went after Layla before you pulled your head out of your ass. Her brother is in trouble because of me.”
“Her brother, not her.”
“How do you think they found out about him? They followed me to her house and decided to go after him instead. Anyway, she’s agreed to stay at my house and let me keep her safe until all of this blows over.”
Eamon frowned. He couldn’t hide his skepticism. “You sure you convinced her of all this? Staying at your place isn’t exactly a hardship.”
I knew what he was getting at because we’d been dealing with gold diggers since before we knew what they were.
“I’m sure. Trust me, when it comes to Ivy, my money is not the enticement you might think. She thinks I’m playing games. ‘Rich boy slumming it,’ she said.”
Eamon laughed. “Damn, she’s got you all wrong.” He leaned over and slapped his knee with too much glee and burst out laughing again. “What did you do to give her that impression?”
“Told her who my father was.”
“And she’s still sleeping with you?”
He damn near choked on the question.
I shrugged. “What can I say, I’m irresistible. But as soon as her brother is out of the hospital, she’ll be gone.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Eamon would be a damn good head of the family because even though he was a crazy fucker, he cared about everyone. Not just the family but the whole Connelly organization.
“I don’t know. I mean, she’s just a girl. There are others. You know how I roll.”
Eamon flashed the same smirk he gave me when he told me it would be all right before we jumped off a cliff into a manmade lake, the same damn smirk when he handed me my first condom, and the same smile he flashed before he handed me my first gun.
“I do. And you’ll be fine. When you’re ready to talk, come find me.”
“Because you’re an expert now?”
“Damn straight. Falling for Layla was no picnic.” Eamon looked down at his phone and grinned. “Come on. I got an address on a brand new Milano game room.”
“Hell, yeah! What are you thinking?”
We had to come up with a quick plan that would do enough damage to let them know they couldn’t fuck with the Connelly’s without paying the price.
“There’s no time to plan a robbery,” he said and nodded in the direction of a young freckle-faced kid who parked an older model Chevy Blazer across the lot. The dude gave an imperceptible nod in Eamon’s direction and walked off.
“That’s our ride.”
“You’ve been busy today.”
“Nothing energizes a man more than finding out he’s going to be a daddy.”
His smile spread, shining with pride and happiness. I was happy for Eamon, but I couldn’t deny I was a little jealous, too.
“Anyway,” he said as he jumped behind the wheel and started the engine, “I was thinking a little arson might be in order.”
“I like the way you think.”
Eamon handled the car with ease, blending into traffic like he was no different than the day-trippers, vacationers and hardcore gamblers that littered the town of Rocket.
I gave him the side eye. “The warehouse district?”
It was an area that was slowly coming back to life with plenty of work-live-lofts cropping up, but most of the area was still shitty, dilapidated warehouses.
“Yep. Apparently they got a good deal on the old candy factory. Cheap bastards.” Eamon laughed. “Want to tell me why it’s not like that with you and Ivy?”
“Nope.”
The last thing I wanted to talk about with my happy in love brother, soon to be father, was the woman I couldn’t get off my mind.
“I’m just saying,” he continued on as if I hadn’t said a damn thing. “You never give a damn about women or worry about what happens to them once you’re done with them. But Ivy gets to move into your man palace? Sounds like something to me.”
“I know what it sounds like, but that’s not how it is.”
He barked out a laugh and slammed on the brakes as a motorcycle came out of nowhere.
“I thought the same thing about Layla. Hell, I figured I could just fuck her out of my system. Now she’s going to be my wife and the mother of my kid. The next generation of Connelly’s.”
“As happy as I am for you, E-man, that shit ain’t happening to me. Someday I might change my mind about love and marriage and forever, but right now that’s about as far away to me as fuckin’ Mars. I’m focused on our business.”
“So am I. Then again, I have always been a better multi-tasker than you, Shae.”
“Bullshit. I’m damn good at multi-tasking, but right now I’m choosing not to.”
“Now who’s full of shit?” Eamon laughed and slowed down, turning away from the congestion of the city and toward the streets lined with mostly bare industrial buildings. “All right. Let’s do this.”
We both stepped from the car and headed around to the trunk to change into plain dark clothes that would help us blend in anywhere. “I’m thinking we set fire to all the exits.�
�
“And kill everyone?” Eamon asked with an irritating scoff. “What? Are you stupid?”
I shrugged. “Fuck, no, I ain’t stupid. Fuck you. It’s not ideal but it would send a clear fucking message. To the Milanos and to anyone thinking of doing business with them.”
“No. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Really? And what feels right? Being a couple of pussies?” I was annoyed because I wanted to fuck these douchebags up.
“We don’t know who the fuck is in there. What if it’s a family ally or worse, family of someone Patrick likes or respects or what the fuck ever else criteria he uses to decide who’s safe and who isn’t?”
“Shit. Just our luck there’s some woman in there who’s niece just had first communion or some shit like that. I get it.”
Eamon threw his hands in the air like he was praying for patience, and I had to stifle a laugh because that was exactly how ridiculous our father’s whims could be.
“Let’s try to keep you alive long enough to see your kid being born, yeah?”
We shared a laugh while we re-folded our clothes and closed them up in vacuum sealed bags. “When the room fills up, we’ll get Rourke to run a few plates. Torch the cars that belong to the gangster motherfuckers and send a few of our cops to some of the more upstanding citizens, scare the fuck out of ’em?”
Eamon grinned. “It’s not what I had in mind, but it’ll do. Look at you Shae, going soft in your old age.”
“Fuck you. Fucker.” He laughed when I punched his shoulder. “We want those customers to come to us, not a funeral home.”
“Fine. Let’s do it your way little brother.”
I glared at him while I pulled my gloves on. “Then let’s just blow up the Milano cars.”
He grinned. “That sounds like a damn good way to spend tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ivy
In ordinary days, good sex got me focused on work, and after all the sex Shae and I’d had, my focus should be razor sharp. Somehow, after Shae left, I’d finished one project and I was half way finished with another. But it was a slog, despite what I’d said to Shae on the phone, despite our sexy banter. That was to keep him off my back. What was work to me today compared to Ian’s life? Or my own for that matter? What universe were we in if my brother had to have security outside his hospital room for fuck’s sake?
I loved it when I was in the zone and plowing through work because it meant I could take on more projects and bring in more money. But not today, not with everything going on that could ruin our lives. But I was helpless at the moment, a prisoner in Shae’s beautiful house with nothing to do but put my nose to the grindstone and will my catastrophic thoughts away.
It was not an easy decision to stay. I belonged at the hospital with Ian, or at least out finding his attackers. But Shae was persuasive. Not with his gorgeous cock, but his riff on what could happen if the Milanos found me out there on my own.
After I’d agreed to this arrangement, Shae drove me back to my place to pick up my work laptop and a few other personal items.
Though I’ve wondered, how come all of the panties I packed had disappeared.
I didn’t mind, but I wasn’t exactly the type of girl who went around commando. It just wasn’t my style, but as long as I was confined to Shae’s high tech mansion, I could handle it. Mostly. I felt exposed. Naked. And a little too horny for my own comfort. Then again, that could just be the after effects of having Shae buried to the hilt.
“I’m turning into some kind of sex fiend!” I moaned self-pityingly to the beautiful room where I’d set up my computer.
That thought made it difficult to focus on anything other than the replay in my mind of all the things Shae and I had done together. The bone shattering orgasms and the pleasure that, even now, still coursed through my body. It was more than I’d ever hoped for in bed, which, of course, meant too bad such pleasure had come from Mr. Totally All Wrong For Me.
How fucking depressing.
All day I had been tempted to snoop around the house, but I resisted because the less I knew about Shae, the better. Snooping would only draw me into his web and into his life, which was a place I felt pretty certain I didn’t belong. And even if I did, he wouldn’t want me there anyway. Those disturbing and morose thoughts made it easy to remember that this was all temporary.
As in no way in hell it could ever become permanent. Shae’s secrets were none of my business.
What was my business, however, were all the delicious gourmet items stocked in his fridge. For a man who didn’t cook, Shae kept a variety of deli meats, fresh loaves of bread and all kinds of condiments that I couldn’t resist making into a bigger than life size sandwich. I took advantage of the prosciutto, turkey and three types of salami, piling on provolone and smoked cheddar and plenty of tomatoes and vinegar-tossed lettuce. It was a monster sandwich, and if I played my cards right, I wouldn’t have to make food later.
The sound of the doorbell startled me as I was putting the mayo back in the giant fridge. I froze while I figured out what to do. Shae had at least two men here to guard the property and very likely to make sure I didn’t try to sneak home or to see Ian at the hospital. How had anyone even made it to the front door?
But the bell sounded again and I grabbed the biggest knife in the butcher block and made my way to the wood and glass front door, concealing the knife behind me before I opened the door a crack.
“Yeah?” I said in what I hoped was a threatening tone.
“Hi.” I stared openmouthed at the gorgeous woman on the doorstep. Was this how they made murderers these days?
Long blonde hair with big almond shaped eyes, pouty pink lips and enough curves to give Marilyn Monroe body image issues.
“I’m Layla,” she purred with a smile bright enough to light all of Rocket.
Of course she was. “Shae isn’t here.”
She laughed. “I know. I’m here to see you.”
Okay, this was officially weird as fuck, probably some kind of rich people sex arrangement, and I wanted no part of it. “Look lady—”
“Layla. The name is Layla, actually.”
I glared but kept my cool. “Look, Layla. I don’t know what’s going on with you and Shae but I’m not in the market for any bullshit.”
There was no way in hell I would fight over a man, especially one who didn’t belong to me.
Layla stared at me for a second and then tossed her head back and let out a laugh that was, of course, husky and sexy as hell. The bitch.
“You think Shae and me? Oh my God, that’s hilarious!” Still laughing she hip checked me as she walked inside and looked around casually.
“You might want to lock that, just to be safe.”
“Other than Layla, you are?”
She whirled around on long shapely legs and beamed a smile I was sure made men instantly stupid.
“I am Shae’s soon to be sister-in-law.”
“Eamon’s lady.”
“That’s right. And we’ve just added baby mama to the list,” she said sweetly, rubbing her still flat tummy wistfully.
“Oh. Wow, congratulations!”
“Thanks. Eamon mentioned Shae had a woman he was being tight-lipped about, but when he told me how you met, I have to admit my curiosity got the best of me.”
“You wanted to see what kind of skank he’d picked up in hospital parking lot?”
She laughed. “Hell no, I wanted to see which of us would win the bet.”
“What bet?” I had a feeling that I didn’t want to know about the bet, but it was too late to shove that horse back in the stable, as they say.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad,” Layla insisted. “I’ll tell you all about it, if you have anything to feed me.”
I laughed, deciding instantly that I liked Layla. “I’m Ivy. Come on, I just made a sandwich big enough for a Superbowl party.”
“Awesome.”
We settled in the kitchen, the big ass s
andwich between us.
“So,” Layla said, grabbing a plate for her half of the sandwich. “Eamon, Rourke and I were talking about the kind of woman who would finally bring Shae to his knees. The guys are convinced she’d be some femme fatale with cartoon tits and ass, but I was sure she would be sexy as hell but a total sweetheart. A nurturer.”
“Who says I’m a nurturer?” What was up with her? Did she have a crystal ball or something hidden in that gorgeous hair? I mean, I totally was a nurturer, but she’d known me all of five minutes.
“Oh please, Ivy.” She looked around with a question in her eyes, and I handed her a napkin.
“Thanks,” she said and wiped mustard from her lips before she said, “You stayed with him and kept his phone so he could let his family know he was all right.”
Jeez, this family did tell each other everything. “That’s not because I’m some saint. It’s because I know how it feels not to know, to find out too late to do anything about it. Even say goodbye.”
“I feel you. I lost my mom when I was a kid.”
A brief silence fell over us. Two people who knew the power of grief and the uselessness of words in the face of that grief.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that your act of kindness seems to have captured Shae’s attention.”
“That’s probably because I slept with him way too soon.”
“Again, I feel you, Ivy. Eamon and I were supposed to be a quick fling, just a few days, and then we would go on our way. Live our lives separately.”
“So what happened?”
“We fell in love. And I was kidnapped.”
“And Eamon saved you? That’s a great love story.”
“Actually, Shae saved me. That’s how we met. He broke into a motel room to rescue me. He was all wide smiles and charm. A certified good guy.”
I nodded because I knew that. I thought. “You don’t have to convince me, Layla. He’s keeping my brother safe, so I know he’s a good man.”
“But you still don’t want him? Is it the gangster thing?”
I laughed because that would be the obvious downside of dating Shae, but no, it wasn’t. “Shae and I are casual, nothing more. If more was an option, then I might be concerned.”
