A faint smile played on his lips as he watched me walk back to the table. Heat scorched out of me as his eyes appraised me: he was looking me over to see if I’d been hurt, but after a few seconds the intensity of his stare changed and I saw a glint of a raw hunger within him. my core responded unbidden.
"Hey." was all he said as I sat down beside him.
"Hey, you." I grinned.
"Are ye ready to go?" He stood as I nodded, lifting my rucksack to carry it for me. God, he really was being on his best behaviour. "I thought we could get something to eat at me house, if that's alright with ye?"
"Sure." I said, amused at the thought of him in a pinny. "Have you been slaving away at a hot stove all evening then?"
"Awh, darlin' I'll cook ye something special another time, I've arranged a nice meal for tonight."
I floated out of the bus depot and five minutes later he was driving me to his home. I recognised this car as the other one I’d seen in his double garage when I walked out of his place that last time… and once again shook away the feeling of rejection I’d felt that day.
"Are ye regretting meeting me?" he said lightly, pretending not to be watching me from the corner of his eye. I opened my mouth to respond but he spoke again. "I know I'm not great with words, like. But ye've no reason to regret this. I'll keep ye safe and sound, and if ye want to leave, I'll get ye back to wherever ye want to be."
I sat, dumbfounded, which he took as an invitation to carry on talking.
"I like ye, Bella. And that's all there is to it. Ye've got under my skin and ye wrecked my head when ye disappeared." he shook his head as he continued to drive, "but I know why ye left and why ye did what ye did - same as me, I suppose, ye do what ye have to. I respect that."
I blinked as the road went blurry and a solitary tear escaped. "Awh, now, don't be crying Babe, I don't want to make ye sad." The indicator clicked and he pulled into the side of the road. Once he was parked he turned his body to face me, taking my hand into both of his. "Are ye alright?" he asked softly. "Do ye want to go back?" his eyes looked down at my hand as she stroked it. I sensed hesitation in him, he wanted me to stay - he wanted me? My heart soared and I dared to believe that he could actually feel for me.
"No." I said, his eye searching mine for answers. "No, I don't want to go back anywhere - I want to go with you." He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it softly, closing his eyes as his warm lips touched my skin. When they opened the spark was there.
"Well then, I'll get us back home. I hope you're hungry."
Louise greeted me with a bone crushing hug as soon as I went into Jake's home. I was glad to see her, really, but part of me had hoped we'd be spending the time together without anyone else. "I needed to see you with my own eyes to believe you were safe." She said as she held me out and looked over my body. Did I really appear that defenseless? "I'm not staying, but I need to speak with Jake here before I go."
I went to the bathroom and when I came into the kitchen Jake was pouring me a glass of wine. "Here," he offered, "Ye don't normally have wine with this but sure, we're not yer average people."
On the table were two steaming bowls of stew and I recognised exactly why he'd chose this - that's what we'd ate the night we were at his father's home. As soon as it touched my lips I remembered the depth of flavour and the comforting hug the dish gave me the last time. It tasted exactly same, meaning he had ordered this especially for us, for tonight.
He fidgeted awkwardly and then sat his glass down on the table. "We've got about five minutes. I'm sorry about this - but dad's found out you're here and he's coming over." He saw my reaction and reached his hand over the table to touch me. "I can make him leave quickly, but I couldn't stop him coming over in the first place." Regret filled his eyes, "I didn't want him to come and I don’t know how he found out.”
My stomach sank and my hunger disappeared. Carrick would not approve of my being here: when I was taken to see him last time, he’d been friendly enough but I knew there was granite beneath.
Car lights lit the kitchen as three or four cars drove around the side of the house. “He won’t believe me.” I whispered. “This was such a bad idea.”
Chapter 30
Bella
Jake all but lifted me from the chair, kissing me deeply on the lips. “Don’t worry, pet, let me take care of my da.” The kiss, our first since he’d thrown me out of his house, melted my fears away. I believed him: he would keep me safe. His expression serious: I could happily drown in those blue eyes. Could he be the strength to my weakness? My reverie was broken by a knock on the back door, which, apparently was unlocked as I heard people step inside.
“We’re in here, da.” Jake said, giving me a cheeky wink.
Carrick appeared through the door, his presence filling the room. “I see you were eating.” He said flatly. “I do hope we’re not intruding.” Glumly, I looked along the row of men that had accompanied Carrick; I counted four of them. Two of the younger men positioned themselves around the room, one standing beside each of the two exits from the kitchen diner: one blocked my escape out of the house, the other blocking my way towards the hall. I was trapped.
“Not at all, da.” Jake said lightly, “Do ye want a cup a’ tea?” He looked around to the others, “Lads?” Each one shook a solemn head, no.
“We were visiting a friend of ours, Barney, today.” Carrick started. “He says he knows your brother.” I thought I might throw up, I wanted to hide behind the huge mass of Jake and pretend I wasn’t in the room.
When I didn’t respond, Carrick looked to Jake, “What’s wrong with your friend, son?” he raised his eyebrows at me expectantly. “You are Ryan White’s sister aren’t you?” I nodded like a child and I felt my eyes starting to burn. Don’t cry!
My mother’s words floated through my brain, “Never let the bastards see you cry.” I swallowed hard and straightened my back. If I was in trouble with the mafia, crying was not going to help. I hear Jake’s feet shift underneath the table.
“Yes, Ryan’s my brother. He’s doing time for getting into a bit of trouble.” Keeping it short and sticking to the facts couldn’t hurt, right? “He got into drugs and ran up a huge debt. The McCauley’s called in the debt and he couldn’t pay with money - so they made him work it off and he got caught the first time.” Carrick smiled grimly, he’d already knew all this. “Ryan’s not involved with the McCauley’s now. He’s clean now, thank God, and serving his time as quietly as he can.” I looked him straight in the eye. “He’s not working for them and neither am I.”
For what felt like an age, Carrick just stared me down. If he didn’t believe me right now, whatever else I did wouldn’t matter - I would disappear very soon and no one would hear from me ever again. As I held his gaze I wondered how he’d do it, would he do it himself or make one of his lackeys do it? Jake maybe? Jake was now standing closer beside me but didn’t interject in the conversation, to support his father or me. Abstractly I wondered what that meant and I was unsure if I liked it or not. Did it mean he felt I was strong enough not to need his support or had he been playing me to get me back here?
The silence grew unbearable.
A dry bark of a laugh escaped Carrick’s lips. “You’ve got balls, wee girl, I’ll give you that.” He looked between me and Jake. “I already know you’re brother isn’t working for them. I needed to be certain you weren’t either.” My shoulders loosened and I let go of a breath I didn’t realise I had been holding.
“I hear Ryan’s a good kid by all accounts.” He continued, as he sat at the table. “Not too smart, getting wrapped up in that shite, but I guess he’s learned his lesson.”
Jake had been too quiet, and when I looked at him he was still focusing on his dad. I saw his clenched jaw and felt my anxiety levels rise all over again. “Don’t look at me like that, son. Ye know exactly why I had to come here. With the… circumstances, it was best that I came here and had a little chat with your friend mesel’.”
&nbs
p; “Her name’s Bella.” He growled, “And you’ll never speak to her like that again.” The possessiveness in his voice appealed to a very deep, dark part of me. My heart soared, whatever misunderstandings we’d had before, he was very much with me now.
Carrick held his hands up in mock surrender. “Jakey boy, I’m only looking after the family. And with the way Bella held herself, she’s unlikely to have any more problems with me.” He nodded at me, “So long as she behaves herself.” I swallowed as he continued. “You know the score, Jake, you know how we do things. Anyway,” he stood as he stretched, “Me and the boys will be leaving you two in peace now.”
The others started to filter their way out and the room immediately felt like a stadium from the sheer lack of huge male bodies. Carrick turned to me just before he left, “I can see why he’s soft on you, Bella… That’s if ye don’t manage to kill each other." After a couple more steps, he stopped again.
“Can I talk to ye alone for a wee minute, Bella?”
Chapter 31
Bella
Reluctantly, Jake showed Carrick and me into the lounge. The third time I’d sat on this couch and each time couldn’t have been more different from the last. The first night with Jake as he took me straight to heaven; the second time, when I sat with Louise as he sent me to hell; and now - with his father, the Mafia Boss, wanting to talk… alone with me.
“I’ll not keep ye long,” he started, “You’ll be back to having your dinner in a minute.” He jangled the change in his pockets as he spoke. “I had a phone call today from Alexander, you’ve maybe not heard of him?” I knew the name, I remembered the fear that name had instilled in Ryan.
“The McCauley Boss?” I asked.
Carrick smiled dryly, “I’m impressed.” He paced the floor. “Anyway, Alexander seems to think that we’ve harmed you because of the thing with the Chester file.” He silenced his phone. “I’ve agreed to meet him to try to smooth things over, but…”
“He wants to see me in the flesh.” The words escaped me as I thought them.
“Aye.” Another silenced phone call.
The door knocked and Jake came in. He’d knocked on a door in his own house? Jake thrust his phone towards his father’s face. “Da, ye need to take this.”
Jake led me away from the room, but even in the kitchen I could hear Carrick’s outbursts. Angry swearing echoed around the walls. When Carrick appeared he spoke to Jake. “You’re not going to like this, I couldn’t tell you, son.” Then his focus turned to me. “I don’t have time to explain now, but Alexander has tracked your grandmother down. I know that’s where you’ve been. I’ve had a couple of guys keep an eye on the place since I heard you had disappeared, but his men arrived about twenty minutes ago and took her.”
The one woman who’d kept me safe for so many years, and had looked after me when I appeared on her doorstep a week ago, was now in the hands of the McCauley’s because of me. If anything happened to her I would never, ever, forgive myself. Later, I would think about how this was all too close to the fate I had almost sealed for Louise’s mother.
Jake exploded with fury, “You KNEW where Bella was? This whole fucking time?”
I placed a shaking hand on his back, “That doesn’t matter right now.” I leaned into him. “Focus Jake, they’ve got my Gran.” My touch brought him back to me and he enveloped me in a protective embrace.
He spoke into my ear. “I will kill every last one of them to get her back.” I felt him shift to speak to Carrick. “Tell me what you know.”
Chapter 32
Bella
Even after Carrick had talked at length with Jake about the plans for the next day. Jake still came back to the same thing, and I actually thought that Jake was going to punch his own father. "Are ye telling me ye've known where Bella's been and didn't so much as think I'd want to know?" A blood vessel pounded on the side of his head, beating a furious rhythm.
Carrick stiffened, clearly irritated by his son's actions. His response was calm. "If I’d told ye, what was the first thing ye'd have done?"
"Are ya stupid? I would have gone straight over to her!" He walked away, searching for some way to release his anger.
"Mmm hmm, and if she was working for the McCauley’s, ye'd have played right into their hands, you idiot." Carrick walked over to the window Jake was looking out of, neither acknowledging I was in the room anymore. "She left cos she thought she had to, but came back because she wanted to. If ye hadda went over there all guns blazing, wouldn't ye wonder if she'd really wanted to come back?"
They looked so alike from behind, two big, built men. Carrick was not the sheer size of his son, but then Jake was a lot younger. They both looked out the window, and I looked at their backs: they even held their heads the same way.
"I was looking out for ye son. I'd had Andy keeping watch over the place since I clicked who her grandmother was. I mind Isabella, Bella's grandmother, when I was growing up, I knew of her mother too."
The smallest of whimpers escaped my lips when I heard him mention my mum and my grandmother. "Isabella was a strong woman in her day and I bet her mouth is still as fierce as it ever was. Andy said that he'd seen a car drive past the lane about 15 minutes before they all arrived, it slowed down and the woman inside took a picture."
Carrick turned back to the room, to face me, "Andy phoned for backup cos he thought something was up, but before the rest of our guys arrived two cars speeded up to the farm house and she went peacefully." Carrick shook his head, smiling ruefully. "They've no idea Andy was even there. He managed to follow them. At least Alexander respects age, he's taken her to his own house. To have attacked there, even with the dozen guys who went, would have been a huge mistake."
"Respect!?" I spat.
"Aye, respect. He won't harm her, I'm sure of it. Remember I said earlier that he'd wanted to meet me and you to prove you're still alive - even after we found out you were going to leak files." Jake's eyes bored into me, hurt shone through them.
"I was going to tell you, Jake. Jesus, I didn't get a chance."
"My money now is on him wanting a swap. You for her."
"Well fuck that." Jake's fists tightened, "I'm going over there."
"Easy son… For once you'll need to actually trust your oul' man."
It took a lot of convincing, but eventually Jake agreed that the meeting Carrick and Alexander had planned would happen. I was to go with Carrick the next day to a warehouse where Carrick said his men would make sure that both my grandmother and myself would come out alive. I didn't like it, but I really had no say. If it came to it, I would swap myself for my grandmother and take whatever punishment they wanted to dole out. I even thought of Ryan… perhaps if I surrendered myself, they'd forget about any outstanding debts he still owed too.
When Carrick eventually left, I had just about run out of adrenaline. I felt weak, small and completely vulnerable. I was too small to do anything useful in their plan, and too wired up to stop thinking about how I could help. Jake put his arm around me as we sat on the sofa.
"This isn't quite how I’d hoped tonight would turn out." he said, matter-of-factly.
I smiled sadly. "You've got that right. I shouldn't have left her alone."
He squeezed me. "You can't blame yourself, pet. We'll get her back. Even if I have to torture and kill every last one of them to get her, you'll see. Family is the only thing worth fighting for. You’re both part of our family now: Blood and Loyalty." The set of his jaw and the determination in his eyes left me with absolutely no doubt that he truly believed that.
I snuggled into him, letting his large chest support me. We sat together like that for the longest time. The heat from his body and steady pace of his breathing soothed me. It wasn't until a door closed that I realised I must have fallen asleep that way. But I was lying down now and I felt warm - a blanket over me? A few moments later, or maybe a few hours, I didn't know. I felt the bed I was in move under the weight of someone else getting in.
A body curled in behind me and the now familiar scent of Jake's cologne steadied me. Gentle fingers ran through my hair as I drifted back into a dreamless slumber.
Chapter 33
Jake
It didn't matter how much my cock pleaded, I was not going to try anything tonight. Bella had been so brave, facing off my da like that. Not many people can look him in the eye like she did. My beautiful, brave woman. How could I have allowed myself to get so mistaken? I now knew the reason why no woman had ever held enough interest for me: I just hadn’t met Bella.
When Andy phoned me I knew instantly that something was seriously wrong. My first instinct was that it was one of the drop offs, or another police seizure. When Andy said, "It's about your woman." I tore into the lounge to where da was with Bella. I knew it had something to do with her, and if she hadn't have been under my own roof I would have thought that the McCauley’s had taken her. Thank fuck they'd found her grandmother's house after Bella had left, otherwise they'd now have both of them and I wouldn't have known a thing.
I Need A Bad Boy: A Collection of Bad Boy Romances Page 55
