Romance: Luther's Property

by Laurie Burrows

  Chapter Fourteen

  The ride to his parent’s house was awkward to say the least. He and Leila sat at the front, avoiding making eye contact and Clarissa sat at the back sulking. She had insisted that she too was going and had opened the door and gotten in. Leila had suggested that she might want to change out of her shorts but Clarissa had behaved as though she had not heard her.

  With a shrug, Jack had put the car into gear and driven off. At the gate, he wondered at the wisdom of showing up for dinner with two women. However he couldn’t have physically removed Clarissa and they had been late already. He parked the car and got out. Both women jumped out and he allowed them to go first.

  The door flung open and his mother stood there smiling. Her smile froze when she saw the two women. She looked at Jack questioningly. Jack shrugged helplessly.

  ‘Mum, this is Leila, the girl I told you about. Leila this is my mum Mrs., Foley.’

  ‘Call me Gloria dear.’

  Leila gave his mum a strained smile.

  ‘Hello Clarissa. Welcome, everyone is waiting at the table,’ she said, standing to the side.

  When the trio walked into the dining room, there was a hush silence. His brother, sister and father, all gaped at the three of them until his mum walked in and guided everyone to their seats. She hurriedly set a place for Clarissa, who sat down with flair and smiled at everyone. If she was aware of the tension, she obviously preferred to ignore it.

  ‘How are things at the ranch son?’ his father said, the vein in his forehead throbbing.

  ‘Good, everything’s good.’

  Jack knew he sounded glum but he could not help it. He felt frustrated with the situation, from the moment Clarissa had interrupted them in the bedroom to insisting on coming with them. He knew how ridiculous the whole situation looked.

  ‘I didn’t know you were back Clarissa?’ his mum said politely.

  ‘I am for good now. Didn’t Jack tell you? We’re expecting a baby,’ she said, happily forking her steak.

  There was a stunned silence.

  ‘You’re pregnant?’ Helen asked, her mouth open.

  ‘Yes and I think it might be a boy.’

  Throats were cleared and someone coughed. No one knew what to say especially with Leila there. He searched her eyes but her head was bowed down. She pushed her chair back and excused herself. Jack immediately went after her. He found her outside, crying softly.

  ‘I’m sorry Jack, I can’t do this.’

  He pulled her to her and hugged her tight.

  ‘I know sweetheart. I can’t do it either,’ Jack said. ‘Let’s just get this over with and I promise I will sort everything out.’

  ‘OK,’ Leila sniffed. ‘Alright.’

  She led the way back into the house and in the hallway, they met Aaron. He signaled to Jack and after squeezing Leila’s back, he followed his brother out.

  ‘What the hell is going on?’ he demanded. ‘I knew you were crazy Jack, but this is pure madness.’

  Jack proceeded to tell Aaron everything from the moment when Clarissa had showed up to her news about the baby.

  ‘And now she has you by the balls, or so you think,’ Aaron commented.

  Jack nodded, feeling relieved at confusing in someone.

  ‘I’m telling you this as your lawyer, not your brother,’ he said earnestly.

  Jack raised an eyebrow. Since when was Aaron his lawyer?

  Aaron saw the raised eyebrow. ‘You need my help bro. It’s not right for that woman to hold you in ransom over a baby that you’re not even sure is yours.’

  It hit Jack then that he had not given much thought to the baby’s paternity. He had assumed that the baby was his.

  ‘Even if the child is yours, she will need to prove it first with a DNA test. The laws have changed bro, if the child is yours, the she’ll have no choice but to allow you shared custody.’

  Jack swallowed hard. All this was news to him. He had no idea about the laws on children. He had assumed that mothers had automatic custody. It gave the whole thing a whole different angle.

  ‘These days, fathers and mothers have equal rights under the law. Things are not as bleak as you think.’

  Jack felt as though a load had been lifted off his shoulders. He grabbed his brother’s shoulders and then hugged him.

  ‘You’re a life saver bro,’ he said.

  Back in the dining room, the mood appeared to have soured, if that was even possible. Leila though looked serene and she was sipping on her water calmly. Clarissa looked ready to murder someone and as soon as she saw him she stood up.

  ‘I want to leave right now!’

  ‘Wow hold it. What’s the matter?’ Jack said.

  ‘Your family has insulted me and I don’t have to take it. They implied that I’m a gold digger and only out to get money off you,’ she said.

  ‘That’s not quite right Clarissa,’ his mother said.

  ‘Which woman breaks up with her boyfriend, because of her spending habits and then returns when she finds herself pregnant. You found Leila and still stayed. Had I been you, I would have talked to Jack about raising the child together but separated. Clearly he has moved on whether you accept it or not,’ Helen said.

  ‘But I love Jack!’ Clarissa cried out though her voice did not hold much conviction and everyone heard it.

  ‘We never interfere with our children’s love lives but in this case I fear that we must,’ Jack father said and then looked at his wife.

  She nodded and he continued.

  ‘I don’t like what I’m hearing but most of all I’m upset at the position you have put this young lady in,’ he said and glanced at Leila. ‘She has carried herself with dignity and I applaud you young lady. As for you, next time you step into our home, kindly dress yourself with decency. We are a family with values and we expect the same of people we associate with.’

  Jack swallowed hard. He felt embarrassed and sickened. What in God’s name had he been thinking to come with Clarissa? He was in lucky that his parents were decent people. Had he been in their place, he could not guarantee that he would behave in such a calm manner.

  ‘Now I’d like to call this dinner off. We can have it another day. And as for you Jack, I have plenty to say to you but I’ll leave it for another day.’

  ‘I didn’t even want to come,’ Clarissa shot, before she stormed off.

  ‘Leila?’ Jack said and offered her his hand.

  She took it and at the door she turned to his family.

  ‘I’m very sorry about tonight and ruining your dinner,’ she said.

  ‘It’s not your fault my dear,’ his mother said, shooting Jack an angry look.

  They said their goodbyes and left. Outside, he held Leila close to his side as they walked to the car. Clarissa had positioned herself at the front. Leila shrugged and went to the back seat. The only good thing about the night, Jack thought was that thanks to his brother, he now had a way forward. He knew exactly what he would do.

  It was true that he really wanted to be part of the baby’s life. But first things first as his brother had pointed out. There was need to establish paternity first and then after they could discuss about financial support and custody, if the baby was his. He was willing to be very generous if she was indeed having his child.

  He did not wait until they got home. He had had enough of blackmail and moreover, he did not want to waste any more time. He was going to marry Leila, the woman he loved. He glanced at her thought the mirror and their eyes met. He mouthed to her ‘I love you’ and she did the same.

  ‘I’m done Clarissa. That’s it,’ he said to her.

  The words finally seemed to register in her rain and she sat bolt upright.

  ‘What do you mean you’re done? What about the baby?’ she shrieked.

  ‘What about the baby, you tell me? The first thing we’ll do when the child comes is to establish paternity—’

  ‘Are you saying that the baby is not yours?’ she screamed.


  ‘I’m saying that the baby may not be mine,’ Jack replied in a calm voice. ‘Once we establish that the baby is mine, we can talk about support and shared custody.’

  ‘I’ll make sure you never ever see the baby!’ Clarissa threatened.

  ‘That’s up to you. I’m ready to offer you financial support and to share custody, should the baby prove to be mine. But until then Clarissa, we’re done, finished.’

  She broke into sobs then.

  ‘You can spend the night but tomorrow I want you gone,’ Jack said.

  Clarissa’s response was to cry harder.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Leila walked down the aisle in Bob’s arm. Susan had gracefully agreed to loan Leila her husband to walk her down the aisle. Through her veil she smiled at familiar faces of people she had worked with and friends from California. Most of the crowd though was made up of Jack’s huge family.

  She thought of her parents and wished that they were here. Her father would have been so proud to walk her down the aisle. As for her mother, Leila knew she would have been in tears throughout and missed the whole ceremony. Feeling low, she pushed the memories of her parents to the side with the comforting thought that they were watching her from heaven.

  She admired the Christmas decorations on the sides of the church pews. It was crazy getting married on Christmas day but it had been the only time where all Jack’s relatives would be gathered in the same place. For Leila it was perfect. The perfect Christmas. The perfect Christmas present and one she always cherish.

  Finally she got close to the altar and she looked at Jack. He looked stunning in a white tuxedo and so did Aaron, his best man. Susan was Leila’s maid of honor and Helen, Jack’s sister was a bridesmaid too. As she passed his parents, they smiled at her warmly and she returned the smile. They were good decent people and she felt honored to be part of the family and to be accepted by them.

  Jack took her hand from Bob’s and his eyes told her exactly what he felt about her. Leila had never thought that this day would come. After that disastrous dinner at Jack’s parent’s house, they had returned to the house where Clarissa had gone on to throw tantrums and issue more threats. Jack had stood his ground and when she realized that he would not back down, she had flounced upstairs, packed her bags ad announced that she was leaving. She had waited at the door for Jack to go after her and when she realized he had meant it, she had left but not before giving Leila one last nasty look.

  Leila just felt sympathy for her. She seriously doubted her claims and women like Clarissa could not be trusted. Whichever way it turned out, Leila had dealt with it in her mind. Of course she would have loved to be the one to give Jack a child. In the meantime if Clarissa allowed she would be happy to play a part in the baby’s life.

  They had not heard a peep from her since then, though Leila knew she would talk when the baby came. She and Jack had spoken about the issue at length. Leila had told him that she had no problem with the baby being part of their lives. In fact she preferred the child to grow up knowing his father. Jack had turned to her in relief, happy that she was willing to have the child in their house.

  The preacher went through the ceremony and then at last, they said their vows. Facing Jack, Leila gave a silent murmur of thanks. She was glad that she had signed up for the online mail order bride agency. Who knew how fate worked or anything really, she was glad that she and Jack had found each other.

  She said her vows and slipped the ring onto his finger. She had promised herself that she would not cry but now she found her eyes filling up. Jack reached out to her and wiped her cheeks with his hand, gently rubbing the tears away. He looked as though he was in tears too.

  Jack repeated his vows and the preacher declared them man and wife. He invited Jack to kiss his bride. Leila winked at him. They had practiced the previous night and each time Jack kissed her she had erupted into giggle and pushed him away.

  ‘You can’t kiss like that in church and in front of people Jack. Let’s do it properly,’ Leila had told him.

  Again he had kissed her with so much passion that they had ended up in bed. Jack winked back at her and Leila stifled a giggle. He brought his mouth to hers and gave her a soft lingering kiss that left her in no doubt how he felt, but it wasn’t too much as to make Leila uncomfortable.

  ‘Mr. and Mrs. Farley, ladies and gentlemen,’ the preacher’s voice boomed and Leila grinned at Jack and squeezed his hand.

  As they walked out into the Texan sunshine, Leila felt at peace and sure in the knowledge that they would face whatever lay ahead as long as they were together.

  Dominated by the Outlaw Biker

  By: Samantha Connors

  Dominated by the Outlaw Biker

  © Samantha Connors, 2016 – All rights reserved

  Published by Steamy Reads4U

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Warning

  This book contains explicit content intended for readers 18+ years old.

  If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.

  Chapter 1

  “I’m glad you finally got your head out of your ass,” Glenn, Austin’s slick talking, slick haired, agent, said. “There’s only so long that you can play the field.”

  “Is that right?” Austin said skeptically.

  As the wedding drew closer, he could feel his entire body filling with doubts. Was he really making the right decision? Was he doing this for the right reasons? Those were the questions that had swirled around his head for the last several days, weeks, months.

  So many people had pushed him into it, at least that's how he felt at the time. Everyone in his life had said that getting married would be the best thing for his career and for his life outside of football. It was time to settle down. That's what they’d said. Time to finally grow up, leave his bad boy, playboy ways behind. He was sick of hearing it.

  “Listen, I'm not going to lie to you,” Glen said.

  Austin frowned and groaned. He hated when people said things like that. In his experience, “I'm not going to lie to you,” was always followed by a lie.

  “Don't give me that look,” Glenn said. “It’s not like you’re going to jail or anything. You're getting married to a beautiful…”Glenn's voice trailed off and he turned his eyes away.

  A wry smile formed on Austin’s lips. Yeah, he's not sure what she is either, he thought. Every week it seemed like she was launching herself into some new creative career: modeling, acting, photography, dance. She’d dabbled in all of them, flitting her wings from one project to the next, leaving all of them half finished, quickly losing her enthusiasm once she realized how hard she would have to work. That's how it had always been with her. Hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and commitment just weren't in her blood.

  She’d been spoiled, too damn spoiled, all her life. Parents, boyfriends, sugar daddies, everyone seemed to beg and bow before her. It was hard to blame them. There was something about the way she carried herself, head held high, long blonde hair flowing down her back, emerald green eyes, confident, imperious, alluring. She was a stunner. No question about that. The kind of woman that oozed sexual en
ergy, especially those eyes and those full, pulpy lips. For all of her flaws, and they were certainly legion, Austin had to admit that he still found her incredibly sexy. Whenever he thought about calling off the marriage and moving on with his life, the image of her large pink nippled tits spilling out of her lingerie, as she sauntered around the house in the a.m., surged into his mind.

  Could she even be trusted to cook, clean, and maintain the fort while he was at practice, working his ass off, grinding to the bone, either on the field or in the film room? Nope. It didn't take long for Austin to figure out that there was no way that he'd ever be able to trust her to do those basic traditional wifely duties.

  His mother and grandmother had both been strong-willed women who weren't afraid to speak their minds. Neither one would hesitate to put a man in his proper place if he dared step out of line. But despite their strong wills, they never raised any objection to fulfilling a woman’s more traditional role when that was called for.

  “She's out of town,” Austin said. “Another acting role.”

  There was a tinge, or maybe even a little bit more than a tinge, of bitterness and sarcasm in Austin's voice.

  It wasn't that he wanted to control her, make her submit to his will, stay in the house all day baking cookies. Nope, he wasn't that sort of guy –jealous, weak, and insecure, constantly worrying about where his woman was and what she was doing. He didn't have any problem giving her the space she needed to be herself. He just wished that there was a bit more balance in her.

  He wished that she was one of those women who took pride in how well they performed duties around the house, as well as their career ambitions and accomplishments. He’d hope that the prospect of marriage and starting a family would help Tanya slow down her fast Lane lifestyle, just a little bit. If she did, then it would make it easier for him to finally break away from his own wild, over the top ways. Everything he did made the news, the blogs, the podcasts, trended on twitter, and became a hot topic on everyone's burning tongue. He’d always loved the attention, the fame, the adoration, and of course the girls. Girls, girls, girls. They were always around, always offering, tempting, promising so much with their lust filled eyes.