Divided Loyalties

by Heather Atkinson

  “It’s all clear,” he said.

  Giggling like schoolchildren they hurried over to his Audi at the far side of the car park and jumped inside before anyone saw them in the same clothes they wore last night.

  They talked happily as he drove but he worried that one night would be the end of their liaison and he couldn’t stand it if that was the case.

  “So,” he began when he pulled up outside her house, “do you want this to continue?”

  “You mean this between us?”

  “I do.”

  “Yes.”

  He almost laughed out loud with relief and kicked himself inwardly. What was happening to the cool impenetrable Ryan Law?

  “Me too,” he said.

  “Why don’t you come round for dinner tonight?” she said almost coyly. “If you come about eight Leah should be in bed.”

  “Okay.”

  They kissed and she had to tear herself away as things started to get hot and heavy.

  “Sorry, I’ve got to go or I’ll be late picking Leah up from Beth’s.”

  “It’s alright. See you at eight then.”

  With one last kiss she climbed out of the car and hurried inside, a big grin plastered to her face. While she showered, the water soothing her aching muscles, she replayed the previous night’s events over and over, the memory of which was enough to get her hot. Ryan had been phenomenal, they’d moved so naturally together, instinctively knowing what the other liked. She couldn’t wait for a repeat performance tonight.

  She tried not to think about what the Maguires would say if they found out about the two of them but there was no need to worry about that just yet. It was still early days.

  Rachel strolled through Beth’s front door with minutes to spare, glad that Alex was out because she was desperate to share her good news with her friend.

  “Mummy,” exclaimed Leah when she walked in, rushing up to her for a cuddle.

  Rachel hugged her tightly. “Have you been a good girl?”

  “She’s been a sweetheart,” replied Beth. “No trouble.”

  “That’s my girl, I’m so proud of you,” said Rachel, kissing her.

  “Brew?” offered Beth.

  “Please, I’m parched.”

  Rachel set Leah back down to continue playing with Alfie and followed her friend into the kitchen.

  “You look happy,” said Beth as she filled up the kettle.

  “Last night was an amazing success.”

  Beth studied her carefully and her eyes widened. “You had sex, didn’t you?”

  “How do you know?”

  “There’s only one reason a woman looks like that. So, was it Ryan?”

  “Yes,” she beamed.

  “It’s about time, you two have been sniffing around each other for months. And?”

  “Amazing.”

  “Well proportioned?”

  “That’s an understatement.”

  “Oh do tell.”

  “Danny was big but Ryan, well, he’s huge.”

  “I’m not surprised, he seems the type. Did it hurt?”

  “No, actually it was incredible.”

  “Was he cold once the deed was done?”

  “Actually he was really sweet and tender. I woke up to find him stroking my hair. He’s coming round to mine tonight for dinner.”

  “You’re happy?”

  “Yes.”

  Beth took in her friend’s huge grin and sparkling eyes and could kiss Ryan herself. It was the first time she’d seen Rachel truly happy since Danny’s death. The cold hard Ryan Law had given Beth back her old friend.

  “I’m really pleased for you.”

  “Thanks. Don’t say anything to anyone will you, especially Alex? I still have the Maguire name and I don’t know how they’ll react to me seeing a Law.”

  Beth experienced a tingle of fear. She’d no doubt Alex would hit the roof. Despite the fact that Ryan was working with him he was still from a rival family and nothing would ever change that. But if any woman could overcome such an obstacle, it was Rachel.

  CHAPTER 20

  Ryan was once again nervous when he knocked on Rachel’s door clutching a bottle of wine and a bunch of lilies. He felt like a teenager and it was nice.

  Rachel opened the door looking gorgeous in a tight black skirt and sleeveless white blouse.

  “Hello,” she said shyly.

  “Hello. You look beautiful. These are for you,” he said, holding out the wine and flowers.

  “Thank you, they’re lovely. I’m afraid Leah’s still up. She’s refusing to go to bed until you get here.”

  ”It’s not a problem,” he replied, stepping inside.

  He walked into the living room and Leah beamed.

  “Ry Ry.”

  “Hello Cupcake,” he smiled as she toddled up to him and raised her arms to be picked up.

  Rachel watched as he scooped her up and Leah happily put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. At least she didn’t have to worry about her daughter’s reaction should she and Ryan become a permanent thing.

  “Are you watching Peppa Pig again?” he asked Leah.

  She grinned and nodded eagerly.

  “You clever girl, you know it’s my favourite. Let’s watch it, shall we?”

  They settled down onto the couch together to watch TV and Rachel felt a lump form in her throat. She hastened into the kitchen to finish attending to dinner, tears stinging her eyes. That scene had given her a startling reminder of Danny. He used to sit with her like that on the couch himself but of course she’d just been a tiny baby then and he’d had to cradle her in his big arms.

  A couple of minutes later she’d recovered her composure and after pouring out two glasses of wine she returned to the front room to find Leah fast asleep on Ryan’s knee.

  “She was happy to fall asleep knowing you’d arrived,” said Rachel. “I’ll take her to bed.”

  Gently she picked up Leah and carried her upstairs. After tucking her in and switching on the intercom she returned downstairs.

  “I’ll just see to dinner. It should be ready in ten minutes,” she told him before wandering into the kitchen.

  He followed her to find her setting out plates on the worktop. He came up behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her neck.

  “I missed you,” he murmured, cupping her breasts.

  “Mmm, missed you too,” she said, pushing her backside against his crotch.

  “I’ve always wanted to take you from behind,” he said, sliding up her skirt.

  “You’re more than welcome to fulfil that wish now.”

  He bent her over the worktop and slid her skirt right up to reveal those stockings and a black thong. Yanking down the panties he unfastened his jeans with shaky hands, pushed her legs further apart and thrust into her hot wetness. She felt so good that for a moment he couldn’t move then he recovered and started to move inside her.

  “Harder Ryan,” she moaned.

  He’d been delighted on the previous night to discover that she liked it rough, just like he did. He grabbed a handful of her hair, yanked her head back and pounded into her hard. She pushed back against him for all she was worth, sending him in deeper and he was in serious danger of coming before she did. Reaching round he found her clitoris and rubbed. She suddenly bucked beneath him, her whole body going rigid, a loud moan tearing from her throat. Only then did he allow himself to come, spilling himself inside her and groaning with pleasure.

  Gently he pulled up her underwear, smoothed down her skirt and turned her round to face him.

  “Will dinner keep?” he said.

  “I think so.”

  “Then let’s go to bed.”

  She took his hand and eagerly led him to the stairs.

  Alex regarded Jez incredulously. “Are you fucking serious?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Are you sure the information’s solid?”

  “Col Sugar called me himself.
Two of his runners have been attacked, one’s seriously ill in hospital and the drugs they were running were nicked. It seems both our families are being challenged. Apparently it was Nathan Hudson and one of his cronies.”

  “Fucking cheeky bastard. I thought we’d put the fear of God into him after we threatened to burn him alive. What’s Ryan said about it?”

  “I don’t know, I can’t get hold of him. He’s not answering his phone.”

  “You don’t need big brother in on this, do you? Surely you can sort out a lowlife like Hudson?”

  “I can but Ryan likes everything to be run past him first and Nathan’s brother is a good friend of his.”

  “Well Ryan’s not here. So what will it be?”

  “I’ll sort it.”

  “Good man. Battler, Bruiser, go with him. Hudson might be a div but he is tooled up.”

  Ryan was in seventh heaven. He was being served food and wine by Rachel Maguire in her bed while she was wearing nothing but a skimpy robe.

  “You’re a woman of many talents,” he said, pulling her close. “That was delicious.”

  “You’ve not discovered all my talents yet,” she said, kissing his bare chest.

  She moved lower, running her tongue between the grooves of his abdominal muscles. When she took him in her mouth he gasped.

  “You’re quite right, there’s another talent,” he groaned.

  He was vaguely aware of his mobile phone ringing but there wasn’t a force on earth that could make him interrupt this moment. He wanted to make it last longer but she was too good and all too soon it was over. When his heart eventually stopped hammering he flipped her onto her back and pushed her legs apart.

  “My turn,” he smiled before plunging his tongue inside her.

  “Ryan,” she cried, her fingers twisting into his hair.

  His phone rang again but they both ignored it.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake Ryan,” muttered Jez before hanging up.

  He was in the back of Battler’s car, the two giants sat up front, on their way to find Nathan Hudson. He had the feeling Ryan would hit the roof for being left out of this but what could he do? Ryan was unavailable and this needed sorting now. He was probably too busy getting his end away with one of his tarts. Jez wished he was in bed with his girlfriend rather than on his way to complete what would no doubt be an unpleasant errand.

  Rachel didn’t want to sleep even though she was exhausted after tumbling about her bed for hours with Ryan. She didn’t want it to end just yet, she was so happy. It wasn’t just the sex that was great, Ryan made her laugh and she could talk to him about anything. She was finally seeing the real Ryan Law, the one she’d always known existed beneath the cool hard exterior.

  When his phone rang again he sighed in annoyance and snatched it up.

  “Fucking Jez,” he mumbled. “He always seems to know when I don’t want to be disturbed. I have to answer it, he’s been ringing non-stop.”

  “Okay,” she said, resenting the interruption.

  “Yes Jez?” snapped Ryan.

  Rachel felt his body tighten with tension so she sat up.

  “Fucking bastards. Don’t make a move without me, I’ll be right there.”

  He hung up and the rage in his eyes died when he looked at her. “Sorry Babe, I’ve got to go.”

  “Trouble?”

  “Yes it’s…”

  She held up her hands. “I don’t want to know.”

  “Sorry, I forgot again.” He kissed her tenderly. “The last thing I want to do is leave but I’ve no choice.”

  “It’s okay,” she replied, although she was disappointed.

  He jumped up and started pulling on his clothes. “Will I see you tomorrow at the spa?”

  “Yes, I’ll be there once I’ve dropped Leah off at nursery.”

  He finished buttoning up his shirt and bent down to kiss her. “You are amazing. See you tomorrow.”

  Then he was gone and Rachel sighed. She’d been looking forward to having another human being to cuddle up to. Bloody Jez. But worry nagged at her. Whatever was going on, it was clearly serious.

  Ryan met up with Jez outside a lock-up they used when they wanted to talk to someone in private.

  “This had better be good because you’ve dragged me from a nice warm bed,” he glowered.

  “It is, trust me.”

  He followed his brother inside to find Nathan tied to a chair and sweating profusely, Battler and Bruiser stood over him with granite faces. When he saw Ryan he visibly paled and appeared to be on the verge of fainting. Ryan pulled up a chair before Nathan and regarded him with hard grey eyes.

  “I am extremely pissed off to be here talking to you when I could be doing much more interesting things so I suggest you explain clearly and quickly because I am not in a good mood. Why did you arrange to attack two of our men and why do you think you’re going to get away with it without suffering extreme physical punishment?” Ryan spoke quietly and evenly, making Nathan quiver with fear.

  “I’d no idea they were your runners Ryan. If I’d known I wouldn’t have touched them.”

  “Actually this lot weren’t just ours. They were the Maguires’ too.”

  Tears welled in his eyes as he recalled his last encounter with them. “Oh shit, oh Christ. I didn’t know, I swear.”

  “Why did you do it Nathan?”

  “Because some bloke paid us to.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know his name but he sounded a bit posh.”

  “Sounded? Are you saying you never met him?”

  Nathan nodded. “I only spoke to him over the phone, he said it was safe, there’d be no comebacks. We were to snatch the drugs and hand them over. In return we were to get a hundred grand.”

  Ryan thought over what he’d said carefully. A lot of money for a little mugging, almost what the drugs were worth. It didn’t make sense.

  “Ryan, if I’d known they were your men I swear I would have turned down the job.”

  “I see your dilemma Nathan but you still have to be punished,” he said, producing a large knife.

  “No.”

  “You should be grateful your brother’s a friend of mine. It’s the only reason I’m allowing you to keep your life.”

  Rachel dropped Leah off at nursery, too happy to pay any heed to the superior looks she got from the other mothers, then headed to the spa. She was pleased to see there were already people using the gym and pool and all the treatments were fully booked. The staff were busy, bustling about the place and the wedding planner was escorting a couple around the building, chattering happily. She flashed Rachel a dazzling smile as she passed, which she returned. The whole place felt like it was running so efficiently she wasn’t really needed.

  Checking on the restaurant she noted it had plenty of bookings too and the Head Chef was happy in his new domain. Unlike Richard, who considered himself a gourmet and insisted on interfering with the menu, Rachel and Ryan had given him free rein as well as a bigger, better kitchen and he was enjoying himself immensely. They had a few VIP’s booked in for dinner and he was preparing a stunning croque en bouche for the centre-piece; a tower of choux pastries dipped in caramelised sugar and decorated with strawberries and spun sugar. He insisted Rachel try one of the pastries, which was divine and she left him continuing his work, humming a happy tune after she’d heaped praise on him.

  She headed to the office, worrying about what Ryan was dragged into last night, her mind working through a list of possibilities, each one more horrendous than the last. She was done with that world and she was glad. It was only now the constant pressure was gone that she realised how heavy it had weighed on her shoulders.

  She started to plough her way through the paperwork and made some calls, all work forgotten when Ryan walked through the door an hour later and she was relieved to see he was unscathed.

  “Everything alright?” she said.

  “Yes, nothing to worry about,” he replied but that was a lie. It
was far from sorted. “I’m sorry for running out on you last night. It was the last thing I wanted to do.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  He perched on the edge of the desk, took her hand and kissed the palm, a tingle running up her arm.

  “I want to make it up to you,” he said.

  “And how do you intend to do that?”

  “I want to take you out tomorrow on a date and spoil you rotten.”

  “I didn’t think you did dates.”

  “I do now. So what do you say?”

  “I’d love to but I promised Leah I’d take her to the petting zoo.”

  “Well, I could always take you both, if you like?”

  Her eyebrows went up. “You’d really do that?”

  “I want to,” he said, surprised by his own eagerness. His childhood had been far from normal or, to be more precise, he’d never actually had a childhood or any semblance of a family life, despite the number of Laws running about and suddenly he found himself craving it.

  “Okay,” she smiled.

  “If you like I could stay at yours tonight then we can get an early start in the morning, make a day of it?” he said reticently, uncertain how she’d react to this suggestion.

  Rachel was amazed. She knew Ryan had hidden depths but she’d no idea they ran so deep. “That sounds lovely.”

  He dipped his head to kiss her. “And I promise that no matter what happens, I won’t run out on you tonight.”

  There was a knock at the door and Ryan jumped to his feet.

  “Come in,” called Rachel.

  “Alright?” smiled Mikey, strolling in.

  “Hello,” said Rachel. “What can we do for you?”

  “I thought I’d get a massage from that pretty redhead.”

  Rachel frowned. “You know this is a respectable establishment. You can’t go hitting on the staff.”

  “I know,” he said, holding up his hands. “I pulled something in my shoulder training yesterday and a bit of massage will sort it right out,” he said, making a big show of rubbing his shoulder.

  “Alright I believe you, you can stop the dramatics. In that case she will massage your back and shoulders and no other part of your anatomy and if you want to ask her out you wait until she’s finished her shift. This is not a knocking shop.”