Connelly Crime Family Trilogy

by Winters, KB

  “Fine,” he said, sullen as a teenager.

  Patrick was over the little spat. “You boys get on out of here and celebrate this victory. I have a few men looking after Lorenzo so don’t worry about it. Come back tomorrow for lunch. All of you.” He turned to Eamon. “Layla too.”

  Eamon smiled. “Better have Aunt Fiona make a lot of food. She’s been hungry lately.”

  I was happy for my brother, I really truly was, but the last thing I wanted to hear about was about his blissful state. He deserved it, without a doubt, but hearing about it now only made me want to scream. Why did Ivy have to go and ruin things by tossing out the word love?

  Why did she think she could manipulate me with that word? Love. Some women treated it like a currency and I, foolishly, thought Ivy was different. She was dressed up differently and she worked for a living, but she was no different than the dolled up women trolling the clubs for a rich husband. I couldn’t curse her enough for ruining shit between us and I couldn’t stop cursing myself for fucking it up before I got one final taste of her.

  “It usually helps if you stick the key in the ignition to start to engine.”

  Eamon stood beside my car, his smiling face looking at me through the window.

  “Thanks for the tip, asshole.”

  He motioned for me to roll down the window and I did. “What’s going on with you? Did Ivy dump your sorry ass already?”

  His tone was joking but Eamon didn’t miss a beat and his eyes missed nothing.

  “Oh shit, she did?”

  “Of course not. Women don’t break up with me because I don’t have relationships with women.”

  “Correction, baby brother, you didn’t have relationships. Until her. Don’t fool yourself, Shae. You moved the woman into your home, and you used family resources to keep her safe.”

  When it was all put together like that, it did sound damning, but that didn’t make it a relationship. “I was just returning one kindness with another.”

  “Bullshit. But if you’re too scared to go after her, then it’s probably good you’re a fucking coward.” He reached inside the window and squeezed my shoulder. “It’s better she know now.”

  “She didn’t dump me, asshole. She said she loves me.”

  “Well I hope that’s not the face you wore when she said it. Looks like you’re being forced to eat shit.”

  “I told her she was no different than any other husband hunter.” And I couldn’t forget the hurt and the resignation on her face when I said it.

  “Oh I get it now, you’re just an asshole.”

  “You don’t get it because you met Layla, fucked her and fell in love with her. That’s not what this is.” It was just a casual fling brought on by unusual circumstances.

  “That’s not what you wanted it to be, but face facts man, you’re out here staring into space and probably thinking about her. Thinking about the way she looked when you broke her heart.”

  He was right, damn him. “You know the worst part? She told me because she knew it would end us.”

  “Then you should be happy. Go home and get drunk or go get on top of someone else. Just get out of this funk. I got a feeling we haven’t seen the last of the Milanos.”

  Eamon tapped the roof of my car and walked off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

  I started the engine and took off, speeding through the streets of Rocket to clear my mind, but my mind didn’t want to be cleared. Visions of Ivy played in my mind. Ivy smiling and laughing at me, making jokes at my expense. Ivy, eyes closed in ecstasy. Ivy looking devastated and rejected.

  Somehow I ended up parked in Ivy’s driveway, staring at the door. Sometime later, I don’t know how long, she opened the door and stomped down the stairs, giving me a chance to appreciate her feminine curves. She wore one of those soft looking dresses covered with flowers and tiny buttons from the center of her cleavage to just above the knee. Shapely legs were on display and my mouth watered as she stomped over to my side.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I don’t know,” I told her honestly because I had no clue why I was there. Or maybe I did.

  “Good, then you can go somewhere else.” She turned and stomped back up the steps and slammed the door hard enough I could hear it over the sounds of kids playing in the neighborhood.

  The longer I stared at that door, the more certain I was that I came here for a reason. And I would figure that reason out. Soon.

  It didn’t take long before I walked up the path and yelled, “Open the door, Ivy.” I knocked and knocked, banging and smacking the door until she opened up.

  “What?”

  “We need to talk.”

  She reared back as though I’d slapped her. “I think we said everything that needed to be said.”

  “Maybe you did, but I didn’t.”

  She glared at me, and I invaded her space until she stepped back, giving me the perfect opportunity to slip inside her place.

  I came right out with it. “I was an asshole.”

  “We don’t need to rehash this, Shae. You weren’t an asshole. You were honest with me from the beginning and I should have … well I shouldn’t have said anything about any of that. In fact, I take it back.”

  “Oh, but sweetheart, you can’t take it back.”

  Ivy notched her chin up in defiance. “I already did.”

  She backed up against the wall and I kicked the door shut, cupping her jaw gently. “What I’m saying is, I don’t want you to take it back.”

  Her big blue eyes widened in fear and that only gave me more confidence to push. “I care about you, Ivy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You said that.”

  “It’s true. I don’t know what to do about it because I don’t really give a damn about women. Usually.”

  “But I’m different?” she asked, her voice full of skepticism.

  “You know you are, sweetheart.” I trailed a finger down the line of her jaw, the slope of her neck. “I knew it too. I don’t know why I lashed out at you the other day. You just caught me off guard.”

  “You had no idea?”

  “Fuck no. How would I? I’ve never been in love before, and Patrick isn’t really the affectionate sort. He loves us and we all know it, but he’s not the warm and fuzzy type.”

  Despite all that, I knew the truth. With Ivy in my arms, big blue eyes staring up at me with a painful mix of love and fear, I knew without a doubt that this woman was mine.

  “Well now you know. What do you plan to do about it?” Her lips curved into a seductive grin.

  “I plan to make you mine.”

  Ivy tried to slide away and my hand shot out to stop her. She looked up at me. “How do you plan to do that, Shae?”

  “You’re mine, Ivy. You just need a little reminder.” My hand went to her throat, stroking it gently until she gasped. My teeth scraped along her jawline until her fingers tangled in my hair.

  “Shae.” The sound of my name, little more than a throaty moan on her tongue, made me hard as hell.

  “Ivy, sweetheart. I want you. I need you.”

  “Yes, Shae.” Her head tilted back, giving me better access to her neck, to taste the soft, sweet flavor of her flesh.

  “You want me, Ivy?” One hand slid up her thigh until I reached the sweet heat of her pussy, dipping my hand inside her panties to see how ready she was.

  “See how wet you are for me, Ivy. Even your body knows you’re mine.”

  “Shae. Please.”

  “Oh sweetheart, I intend to please you.” I plunged a finger in deep and a strangled moan came out, sending shivers straight through my cock.

  “It’s so wet and so fucking hot, I can’t wait to bury my cock in here.”

  “Yes,” she moaned, gasping out loud when I tore her panties right off her body. “Oh, yes, Shae.”

  I lifted Ivy in my arms easily, but not until my pants fell around my ankles and my cock sought her pussy like a heat seeking missile. The heat of
her came closer and closer to the tip of my cock and I paused.

  “There’s something you should know, babe.”

  “Now? You want me to know something now?”

  “Yeah. I had a think about it and I figured something out.”

  It killed me not to be buried deep but when she was so close her arousal dripped down the length of my cock, but I needed her to hear me.

  “What did you figure out, Shae?”

  “That I love you too.”

  With the words spoken, I was free to dive into Ivy, to lose myself inside her body until I was too tired to get lost. Her eyes never left mine as I thrust into her body, taking my pleasure hard and fast while giving it to her just the way she liked it.

  “I love you Ivy, and I’ll do what it takes to make you believe me.”

  Her eyes gave me hope. They were filled with the kind of love I saw between Layla and my brother, but there was still hesitation. A hesitation that I was responsible for putting there.

  “Shae.” It was just a moan, not a declaration.

  She didn’t want to talk now, fine. I held her tight, close and plunged deep, over and over again. Being inside Ivy was a special kind of heaven and with every stroke, she pulled me under her spell. Deeper and deeper I fell as I watched her head fall back against the wall, her eyes flutter closed, and her fingernails dug into my flesh.

  “Oh fuck, sweet Ivy. Come for me baby. Come for me. Now.”

  She blinked and opened up her pretty blue eyes, dark with desire. She was open and unguarded as she took me in.

  “Oh Shae, yes!” She fell apart and it was beautiful to witness. She shook and vibrated, clawed at me as pleasure escaped from her body, her pores. “Yes!”

  She pulsed so tight and hot around me I couldn’t stop the flood of my own pleasure even if I wanted to. My orgasm erupted from me and I held her tight as my hips kept on pumping into her. I couldn’t get enough.

  Minutes later, we were on the floor, gasping for air and smiling, because everything felt so right in that moment. It felt like everything would finally be okay. I knew it was a naïve thought, but pleasure flooded me and I couldn’t think straight.

  “Did you mean it?” she asked shyly.

  I turned to Ivy and smiled. “I meant every fucking word, Ivy. I love you and if you love me, too, I think we should give this thing a shot. Don’t you?”

  She sighed and I waited. “I do but … are you sure, Shae?”

  “Absolutely, sweetheart. I’m in love with you and that means you’re stuck with me. And my crazy family.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad,” she said quietly, a spark of hope in her eyes.

  “Then how about you tell me you love me too, and we’ll go from there?”

  She laughed and pushed off my chest, smiling down at me. “I do love you, Shae. With all of my heart.”

  “That’s so good to hear, sweetheart. Now what do you say we have a proper fuck in your big bed?”

  She laughed again, and the sound was music to my ears. “That sounds much better than any offer I’ve had today.”

  My frown sent her into another fit of laughter as I stood and tossed her over my arm, carrying her to her bed where I could give her the best fucking she deserved.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Ivy

  Was it possible to die of happiness? Could a person be too happy? That was how I’d felt for the past twenty-four hours, ever since Shae showed up on my doorstep and made his big declaration of love.

  For me.

  Shae Connelly was in love with me.

  It was a lot to take in. But of all the information I’d received over the past twelve hours, it was the most unbelievable.

  “And so you just shot him? Twice in the shoulder?”

  Shae nodded, hesitant as though he was waiting for me to judge him.

  “Did he make it?”

  “No. That asshole took his last breath sometime that night.”

  He didn’t seem all that sad about it, and I didn’t expect him to. After all, the guy had bashed him in the head and dumped him out like garbage. On top of that they’d kidnapped Layla, so it sounded like that guy got what he had coming.

  “Why do you sound so weird about it?”

  I didn’t look at him while we talked, instead I worked on the cake I planned to take to Patrick’s house for family dinner.

  With the goddamn mob.

  “Do you regret it?” I asked.

  “Fuck no. Frank Milano needed a bullet, and I’m just pissed I didn’t get to put one in his fucking brain.” He let out another long suffering sigh. “I guess I’m worried how it’ll make you look at me.”

  I smiled as I scraped the last of the cake into the glass baking dish and slid it into the oven, offering Shae the bowl.

  “I understand that you have to do what needs to be done, Shae. And I know this guy had it coming. Why would I look at you, the man I love, any differently?”

  “Because, it’s pretty horrifying.”

  I smacked his arm, the one that hadn’t been shot. “Hey, that’s my man you’re talking about.”

  He flashed a sexy grin that made me want to jump him right there in the kitchen. “Sorry, love. You’re really okay with it?”

  “I don’t love it, but I don’t expect you to change for me, Shae. I fell in love with the cocky bad boy mobster and that’s the man I plan to love for as long as he’ll let me.”

  “Sweetheart, love me as long as you can. Forever sounds like a good place to start.” He pulled me in for a kiss that stole my breath away. “Move in with me.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Move in with me. We could spend more time together, and I have plenty of room for you to have an office of your own. I love the idea of having you in my bed every night. Every morning.” He kissed me gently on my cheek, my jaw, my collarbone.

  “I’ll think about it. Are you sure I should come to family dinner? Isn’t this all a little soon?”

  “Not for me. I’d marry you tomorrow if I thought you’d say yes. But my girl is much too sensible for that.” He smacked another kiss in the crook of my neck and I shivered. “I want you to meet everyone and this way I’ll know where you are. Right by my side, where I want—no, need—you.”

  How could I deny this man anything? “Okay. Then I need to find something to wear while the cake is baking.”

  “Nothing sounds good to me.”

  I laughed. “That probably wouldn’t go over too well with everyone else.” It was definitely not a meet the mob boss dinner outfit.

  “You’ll look perfect in whatever you wear.” Shae’s footsteps sounded behind me and I grinned, feeling naughty as I pulled a shirt over my head and left it on the stairs.

  “Ivy,” he growled low in his throat, that sound that always got me ready in a flash.

  “We don’t have time for that, Shae.”

  “Then why are you teasing me?”

  I laughed and stepped out of my pants right inside the doorway. “Because it’s fun.” He reached for me just inside the bedroom and pulled me close.

  “Since we don’t have time, we better make this quick.” His mouth was on mine, hard and insistent but his grip was gentle and firm. I felt well loved. Cherished. Aroused as hell.

  Then the phone rang and we both groaned. “You’d better get that.”

  Shae pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open. “Yeah.” He listened carefully, his brow dipped in a dark scowl. “Fuck. Yeah, we’re on our way.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  My heart stuttered to a complete stop because I knew, without a doubt, that whatever news Shae was about to share would pop the little bubble we’d wrapped ourselves in, for a few hours anyway.

  “Shae, you’re scaring me.”

  Shae stared off in the distance, looking right past me as his skin paled, then he looked up at me, angry and devastated.

  “My cousin Rourke has been kidnapped.”

  And just like that, the mo
b world intruded. But this was Shae’s life and if I wanted him—and I did—then I had to get used to this part of his life. Our lives. “Let’s get dressed and get to your father’s house.”

  He turned to me, a smile blooming on his face as one hand brushed my jaw. “Damn, I love you woman.”

  “Right back atcha, Irish. Now let’s get going.” We had the rest of our lives to enjoy each other. Right now, I needed to do what I could to protect his family the way he had protected mine.

  * * * *

  ~ T H E ~ E N D ~

  I hope you loved this amazing story nearly as much as we loved writing it. Rourke is next!

  Copyright © 2019 KB Winters and BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  Published By: BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 KB Winters and BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Chapter One

  Rourke

  I didn’t know where the fuck I was, and I sure as shit couldn’t remember how I got here. Hell, I had no fucking clue even what day it was. Time was lost on me. Plus, I had a low, persistent throbbing in the back of my head. That couldn’t be a good sign, but what worried me more was that I couldn’t even recall what had happened to me.

  The last thing I remembered, Eamon and Shae were beating the living shit out of the younger Milano brothers. I’d given that action a thumbs up and then made my way to the front of the Wet Kitty. Frank and Gio had men stationed all around the place the same as we did, but a few of his guys had been trigger-happy and several men, Milano and Connelly, fell to the floor of the strip club for the last time.