Loving Daniel (MC Securities Book 3)

by Ruby Moone

  Christian managed a weak chuckle. “Yeah.” He took hold of his mother’s hand. “We’re not really married. He was just worried and needed to be with me.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I didn’t think you’d get married and not tell me.”

  Christian shook his head. “Never.”

  “You are seeing him though?” There was a look of resignation on her face.

  Christian wasn’t sure how to respond. Were they seeing each other? “Well, it’s… complicated.”

  His mother shook her head. “Darling, he was in such a state when we got here.”

  “He was?”

  “Oh yes.”

  Christian turned that one over in his head.

  “When they let you out, you can come and stay with me and Dennis. Let me look after you?”

  “Thanks, but Devon is a bit of a long way.”

  “Might keep you out of Daniel McCafferty’s clutches.”

  Christian laughed. “Mum.”

  “Well. He broke your heart last time. What a thing to do.” She shook her head.

  “Yeah, well.” Christian shrugged. “These things happen.”

  “Only around Daniel McCafferty.”

  “You don’t have to keep saying his full name.”

  “Yes, I do. It reminds me who he is and what he did. What he did to you.”

  Christian shook his head. “You won’t tell the doctors, will you?”

  She didn’t reply.

  “Mum…”

  “Oh, all right, but I don’t like it.”

  “I know you don’t, but do it for me.”

  She grimaced at him but nodded.

  “Thanks.”

  The door opened, and Daniel came in. Almost like he’d been listening. Christian gave him a look, but he just smiled blandly. “Not interrupting, am I?”

  “He’s told me.” His mum stood up and faced him. Christian’s heart sank. “I understand why you did it, but you could have told me rather than let me think my only son would get married and not tell me. Not tell me he was seeing someone. That hurt.”

  Daniel’s face tightened. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “You take care of him. Right? No more messing about, no more playing with his heart.”

  “Mum!”

  “I’ll take care of him. You have my word.”

  They stared at each other for a moment, then his mother, apparently satisfied, blew Christian a kiss and left.

  Daniel was watching him carefully.

  “I told her we were seeing each other.”

  “Oh.”

  “It was the best I could do. She won’t say anything to the doctors, but I had to tell her that. I couldn’t say it was because we fucked after the funeral. It’s my mum, for God’s sake.”

  “It’s okay. I’m fine with that.”

  Christian nodded and moved his arm a little. The surgeons had done a brilliant job in stitching together the damaged parts of this artery. They’d run through the difficulties with him, and much of it was above his head. They key things seemed to be that there was fortunate that there had been no damage to the nerves in the area. The injury to the artery had been repaired, and there was no damage to the vein, but he needed to take care with his arm while it healed. He’d a list of things to look out for, and it looked like he would be hooked up to intravenous antibiotics for a while along with taking anti-coagulants. At least that’s what he’d understood.

  “Does your arm hurt?” Daniel must have spotted him looking at it.

  “Just thankful it’s not my left. At least I’ll be able to write. And wank.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  Daniel shook his head, but a smile edged into his eyes. “Juvenile.”

  “Fucking essential.” He wondered if that was giving away too much information.

  “What do you mean?”

  Apparently, it was. “Don’t have time to go out and get laid. Can’t move much at the moment either. So, unless you’re offering?” He waggled his left hand.

  Daniel looked at him oddly, so Christian turned his head away. “Anyway. Is Michael coming?”

  “He will be here later.”

  Christian nodded and looked out of the window. Silence sat between them.

  Daniel moved closer. “What’s your stepfather like?”

  Christian thought for a moment. “He’s okay. Nice enough bloke. I don’t see them much. They moved to Devon.

  “Married long?”

  “About four years.”

  “They’ll be staying in a hotel?”

  “I imagine so.” Christian wondered where this was going.

  Daniel nodded and looked out of the window again. “When they let you out, you’re going to need some time to recuperate.”

  “Looks like it.”

  Daniel shot him an unreadable glance. He swallowed, and the tattoo on his neck moved. “I’d like you to come and stay with me.”

  That brought Christian up short. “What?”

  “Stay with me. We can either stay in my house in Cheshire, I’ve a flat in the city, or I’ve property in Greece if you fancy getting away from it all for a while.”

  “Why would I want to do that?”

  Daniel looked at him, and the smile was back in his eyes. “I think your mother wants you to go home with her and her husband so she can look after you.”

  Christian groaned. “I know. She mentioned it. Why can’t I go home? To my home.”

  Daniel moved closer still. Christian couldn’t look away. “Because at the moment, whether you like it or not, you’re vulnerable. You can’t defend yourself without causing more injury, and Bryce might feel like taking the opportunity to finish what he started.” A pulse jumped along his jaw. “My house is gated, has security, and I have a team of people I can deploy to protect you until this is sorted out. I can have a doctor on call and nursing staff—whatever you need.”

  Christian was gaping at him. He knew he was.

  “Plus, if you stay with me, you won’t inadvertently involve your mother in all this shit.”

  That hit home. The thought that he could involve her… He shuddered. “Surely the police looking into it?”

  Daniel looked away. “Yes, but it might be difficult to link it back to Bryce and make anything stick. They have all the information, and they are doing what they can.”

  “But you’re looking into it too.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Come home with me.” He hesitated and glanced at him; brows knit tight. “Please.”

  Christian sniffed. “You just want more of my gorgeous arse.” It was somehow easier to be flippant.

  To his eternal amazement, Daniel flushed.

  “So, it’s come home with you, or go home and let my mother look after me?”

  “Pretty much.” He shrugged.

  Christian groaned. It was a total no-brainer. He couldn’t manage alone, couldn’t risk his mother anywhere near the shit storm he seemed to have landed in. He glared at Daniel. “I’ll need to go home and pack.”

  “I can do that for you.”

  “No. I’ll ask Michael. I’ll talk to him when he gets here.” He wondered why he’d given up so easily. Living with Daniel would be a bloody nightmare. He only had to think about the alternative. Living alone, wondering at every noise, waiting for someone to come and bump him off. Fucking brilliant. Either that or live with his mum and her husband. Fuck’s sake.

  Daniel nodded. “Let me know what you want. The doctor said you could go home in a few days provided you don’t have any setbacks, and they are satisfied there’s no infection. I’ll talk to them about nursing care, and about…”

  “Whoa… you talked to the consultant about all that?”

  Daniel’s lips quirked. “I’m your husband. Remember?” He waved his left hand at him and waggled the finger with the wedding band on.

  “Fuck.” Christian let his head flop back on the pillow.

  “Will you be okay if I go? I’ve things that need attending to.”

  �
�Sure.” Christian kept his eyes shut. He felt Daniel hover near the bed and peeled open one eye.

  “Do you need anything bringing?”

  Christian shook his head. There were a million things, but he’d speak to Michael.

  “Give me Michael’s number and I’ll liaise with him about moving your things.”

  Christian pulled in a breath. He was getting tired. “Tell you what, I’ll give your number to Michael.”

  Daniel looked as though he was going to argue, but eventually nodded. Christian jumped when Daniel took hold of his fingers and squeezed them.

  “Get some rest.”

  He was even more surprised when Daniel leaned over and kissed the top of his head.

  15

  “Is this a good idea?” Michael said.

  Christian rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. I…” He sighed. “I’m not sure how I feel, to be honest. There’s part of me that wants to scream at him, and there’s a weird part of me that wants to throw myself at him.” He looked at Michael. “After what he did, what does that say about me?”

  “It says you’re feeling vulnerable. I imagine, when you’re back on your feet, you’ll be able to deal with him.”

  “Maybe.” Christian moved and groaned as the stitches pulled.

  “You could stay with me and Jack.”

  “Thanks, but I’d get in your way, plus, if there really is some idiot after me, I don’t want to put you guys in any danger.”

  They were both quiet for a moment.

  “Maybe you should just see how you get on with him?”

  Christian nodded. It wasn’t so much as how he’d get on with him as how he’d get on without him once it was all over. What if they did get on well. What if they did sleep together. Then what? Daniel had walked away last time things got serious. Nothing much seemed to have changed so he couldn’t trust him not to do it again if things got intense. And he had little doubt that they would. The tension between them was still there, the attraction burned brighter than ever. What would he do if Daniel dumped him again? He wasn’t sure he’d survive intact.

  “I think I need to put it to bed, you know? He was so important to me, such a massive part of my life, but when he…when he….”

  “Just what did happen? I know you fell out, but what happened that made you hate each other? It’s always been in your past, but you’ve never talked about it much. Even when we were at uni. All I know is your dad died, and you and Daniel finished, and you were gutted about it.”

  Christian picked at the sheet and wished there was more to tell. “There isn’t anything more than I told you at the time. Daniel’s father was grooming him to move into the family business. Drugs, guns, knives, theft… You name it, the McCaffertys were involved in it. Daniel was going to break free. Go it alone. We had it all planned.” He closed his eyes, drifting back to that heady summer twelve years ago. Daniel had been his whole world.

  “I was about to start university, Daniel had recently finished, we had some money saved up…” He shrugged. “My father and his branch of the family had nothing to do with Kenneth.”

  “Did they know about you two?”

  Christian nodded. “I came out when I was about fourteen and they were great. They were not great about me being involved with Daniel. At first, they said it wasn’t right because we were cousins, but we’re only second cousins, so what they were really worried about was me being drawn into Kenneth’s world.” Christian looked away. “We argued.”

  “I can see why they’d worry. Kenneth didn’t know though, did he?”

  “Christ, no. Daniel wasn’t out.”

  “What happened?”

  Christian sighed and fiddled with the unfamiliar wedding band on his left hand. “I don’t know. I don’t know if he ever told him because my dad was killed in a car crash and that took over everything.”

  Michael grimaced and Christian gave him a sad smile. He and Michael had been on the same course and had hit it off from the start. The great thing about Michael was, he never wanted to talk about feelings. It meant that he’d got away with just cruising through university never talking about the great gouging hole inside him. He spent most of it in an alcoholic haze that numbed the pain.

  Christian nodded. “At first, Daniel was beside me all the way. He helped me through the funeral, even though we had to pretend we were just friends, but then… then he dumped me. Walked away.” It still hurt to say it.

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah. It was. I never found out why, never got an explanation.” Christian sighed. “He nearly broke me.”

  “I know.”

  Christian turned to look at him. “I don’t think I ever said thank you to you, have I?”

  “Why do you need to do that?”

  “You were my best friend in uni, and you never wanted me to talk about it. You let me work through it. I appreciated the fact that I could be with you and just be comfortable. I could throw everything into study and the project we set up and block it all out.”

  “It made you focused, that’s for sure.” Michael smiled. “And I’m shit at talking about feelings.” He hesitated. “I’m getting better, but I’m still not much use. Just ask Jack.”

  Christian grinned. “You’re a changed man since you met Jack.”

  “I am,” Michael said as he flushed. I admit it.”

  “I’m really happy you found him.”

  “Me too.” Michael hesitated and scratched his ear. “If I were to offer any advice about love, it would be to give it a go. If it doesn’t work, then you’ll know for sure it’s not meant to be. If it does work, you could end up with everything you ever wanted.”

  Christian swallowed and cleared his throat. “Yeah. Maybe.”

  Michael patted his arm awkwardly. “Look, I know I can be a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to feelings and such. But, Christian, the way he was when you were brought it…” He shook his head. “I thought he was going to rip the place apart.”

  “Really?”

  “It was all pretty dramatic. Finlay saved your life. He got the bleeding stemmed long enough to get an ambulance to you and get you to hospital. When I got there, you…you looked….” He paused. He was choked. “You looked like you were dead. You’re pale at the best of times but, Christ, you were grey. Your eyes were part open…” He shook his head. “It was terrifying.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t apologise, it wasn’t your fault. But Daniel sat with you, holding your hand against his face and talking to you. He never stopped.”

  Christian frowned. “Really?”

  Michael nodded. “Ask Jack, he’ll give you the animated version.”

  “I suppose he would be a bit upset.”

  “Christian, there’s upset and there’s upset. He was distraught.” Michael’s dark eyes were serious.

  Christian looked away. “He wanted your number to liaise about moving my stuff to his house. I told him I’d give his number to you so you could decide whether or not to use it.”

  “Do you want me to call him?”

  “Might be easiest. Could you pack me some stuff? I’ll give you my key.” He moved to scrabble on the cabinet beside the bed, wincing as he did so. He flopped on the bed, hand over his side.

  “Painful?”

  “Yeah. They’ve been making me walk around.”

  “Ouch.” Michael stood up, walked around the bed, and found the keys.

  “Hell, yes. They bollocked me because I wouldn’t stand up.”

  Michael shook his head, a smile edging its way onto his mouth. “Why wouldn’t you stand up?”

  Christian raised his eyebrows and patted his stomach. “Because I was worried the stitches would bust, and all my guts would spill out on the corridor.”

  Michael laughed. “Silly sod. I don’t think the cut was that deep.”

  Christian shrugged weakly. “It’s probably not, but I’ve never really been injured before. Pain is new to me.”

  “How long will you be her
e?”

  “Depends on my arm, but I’m hoping to be out in a few days.”

  “What do you want from your house?” He pulled out his phone and started tapping as Christian started the list.

  “If I’ve got access to Daniel, I’d like to talk to him about us working with him to find Bryce and put a stop to this.”

  Christian glanced up at him. “Just take care. It’s a different world to ours.”

  Michael nodded.

  16

  Daniel sat in the offices of Conrad Bartlett, his father’s solicitor, trying to breathe. He knew his father was a wealthy man, but the scale and complexity of his empire, along with the extent of the arrangements he’d made to avoid as much inheritance tax as possible was staggering.

  “Can I give it away?” The question was an honest one. He’d no desire to benefit from his father’s money. He knew where it came from.

  “You can, but there would be penalties.”

  “Can I give to charity?”

  “It might be possible to arrange, but…”

  Daniel nodded. “I’ll give it some thought.”

  Conrad gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know this is hard for you.”

  Daniel didn’t think that he had even the tiniest notion of how hard it was. As soon as he had the detail, he’d work on it with his own people. He had some ideas about how he could dispose of it.

  Once the meeting was over, he shook hands and exited the room. He needed to get Christian settled into his house and safe. He also needed to look at his own will. He jogged lightly down the steps onto the street and into the warmth of the sunshine. It felt odd. It should be raining or blowing a storm, given the state of his head. He shaded his eyes against the glare and headed for the car. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to find an unknown number. He hesitated but answered. It was Michael Cross. He made arrangements to meet him at Christian’s house and pocketed it.

  When he got to the Didsbury house, Cross and Finlay Masters stood waiting for him. He buried a smile. Safety in numbers? He pulled up at the roadside, slammed the door of his Jag, and went to join them. He didn’t smile. He always made people uneasy. Maybe it was the tattoo, maybe he just looked like a miserable bastard. Mind, both his hosts didn’t look like smilers either. Cross was all dark hair, dark eyes, and watchful solemnity. Masters, all frowning ex-military attitude.