But Shane was trying to go straight – which was why he’d come to Alex for information he didn’t have access to.
The elder man made his way over to a pristine, marble-topped bar near a balcony with a breathtaking view of the city. He poured them two cognacs on the rocks before offering one to Shane, his expression sobering. “So let me see the text.”
Shane sighed, resisting the urge to swill his drink in one gulp. He handed his phone over to Alex for examination, his blood simmering with the memory of the previous week.
He didn’t appreciate threats. Never had. Of course, in prison, he’d been threatened every minute of every day – verbally and physically. And just when he thought he was home free, demands were issued. Demands that had very little to do with him.
Sipping his cognac, Alex looked over the text message. It was only two words, but he must have read it at least twenty times before he looked at the number, frowning deeply. “I take it they didn’t tell you who they were?”
“Nah.” Shane exhaled hotly. “Only said they wanted their product.”
Alex set down his glass before returning Shane’s phone, his dual colored gaze contemplative. “And they called you while you were at the hospital?”
Shane nodded curtly. That night had been a whirlwind of emotions he’d thought long repressed. There’s been anger, yes – absolute fury that someone would threaten him when he’d paid his dues…but more than that, there had been fear. If these bastards knew where he was, then there was a chance they could follow him to Holly.
Holly, who was mad at him.
Holly, who had no fuckin clue what he was running from.
Leaning against the bar, Shane downed his drink, trying to shut out the other memories from that night. The dinner he had with Holly that felt entirely too much like a date – the first he had in years. The way she looked when he came to see her in her office, torn up with grief over the hell Tommy left her in. Then…the way she clung to him, biting and kissing at his neck and shoulders until he lost his fucking cool and proceeded to pound her into Tommy’s desk.
God, she’d been so fucking wet…so warm…as if she’d done nothing but wait for him for the past eight years. Shane knew it was shit of him to think such thoughts when Holly had been married to Tommy all that time, but Jesus Christ…how many nights had he lain alone in his cell just thinking about how she would taste?
Actually having her on his tongue…God, that had been fucking heaven…
“You Ok, Shane?”
He was jolted back to the present when Alex addressed him again. He refilled his visitor’s drink an offered it to him, a brow raised. “You’ve got an unknown criminal organization on your back and you’re spacing the fuck out.”
Damn.
Was he that obvious?
“I’m just thinking about Holly,” he admitted lowly, every muscle in his body tense. “If they know where I am…maybe I should just stay the fuck away from her.”
Though he and Alex had been communicating ever since his friend came to find him, their calls had been few and far between. Alex was too busy ruling his father’s stakes in Miami with an iron fist, and Shane…Shane was too busy trying to reclaim what he’d lost. Except now, he was realizing what he wanted might never have been his.
“Holly....the chick you’re after now, right?”
Shane snorted. “She’s pissed as hell at me?”
“Why?” Alex immediately inquired, leaning back against the bar. “You didn’t buy her something? Told her you didn’t like her favorite restaurant?”
Shane didn’t answer simply because he himself wasn’t sure why Holly was so pissed. She wasn’t taking his calls, never seemed to be home, and Kelly wasn’t saying a word when he showed up at the restaurant. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to believe that this was all over her damn hip – which she needed attention for anyway.
“Wait, hold up…Holly Thompson?” All at once, Alex’s brows shot up as he looked over at his friend as if seeing him for the first time. “The same Holly you used to pine about when we were kids? Tommy’s widow?”
Shane’s mouth pulled into a tight line as he swallowed thickly, almost choking on his drink. Fuck. Why did Alex have to say it like that?
“Yeah,” he finally managed, as nonchalantly as he could.
Alex’s grin only widened as he set his glass on the counter. “Holy fucking shit man. Eight goddamned years…more than that, and you’ve still got the hots for one girl?”
Shane only glared at him. “Don’t start, Alex.”
Even when they were younger, Alex hadn’t been able to lay off him about his choice in women. He’d been head over heels for his brother’s girlfriend then, and now, little had changed – though not for his lack of trying.
How many times over the years had he tried to blame Tommy for his troubles? Everything had gone downhill for him since he and Tommy’s falling out. He hadn’t been able to see Holly, he’d been shunned from his entire family, and ultimately…ultimately, he’d made the decision to get into shit he shouldn’t have touched with Alex.
And all after he and Tommy had parted ways.
“Jesus, you went ape shit over her. I remember all those threats you threw at Tommy when they got serious…I thought some of them had to be serious. Man…she was all you ever talked about.”
As if Shane could ever forget. When they’d been in high school, he and Tommy hung out with Kelly and Holly all the time. The girls were just as inseparable as they themselves were – two of the best looking in the school, and both cheerleaders for the football team upon which the twins played. Of the two of them, Kelly had always been more boy-crazy than her slightly older companion. She liked cheerleading because she got to be around football players and it meant she got excused from doing some of her schoolwork. Holly, on the other hand, enjoyed the exercise and only got pissed when her duties meant that she missed a test or something equally important.
While Shane would never deny that Kelly was gorgeous, he’d always been drawn to Holly’s drive- her zest for both learning and life. When they were all teenagers – young, naïve, and hopeful, she wanted to be a doctor. Shane himself was somewhere between wanting to be a mechanic and an engineer, but he’d never had the grades for anything like that. Holly, on the other hand…he never doubted Holly. She was stubborn and headstrong.
She was beautiful.
He’d never really been honest with himself, he supposed. When Tommy and he came to the agreement that he would be the one to date Holly, Shane had always been just a little bit bitter.
Hell, maybe more than just a little bit.
He was shocked when he heard that Holly was pregnant, and even more so at the news that they were getting married. What, Shane wondered all those years ago, happened to all that drive? What happened that Holly had just rolled over to be Tommy’s wife and an adjunct to his dreams?
“She’s pissed at me.” He shook his head to clear it, his voice a low growl. None of that mattered anymore. He might as well give up any chance he might have had with Holly. Their one fuck – however tight…however hot and gorgeous she’d been – didn’t make up for all the time she’d been apart. Didn’t change that she’d been married to his brother for eight goddamn years and certainly didn’t change the fact that she seemed just as headstrong and stubborn as ever.
…Goddamn, she was veritable fire.
“Don’t give up, man.”
Shane looked up at Alex incredulously. The dark-haired man had fixed him with a look that was half amusement, half empathy. “You been after her for this long. Why give up now?” Shane’s gaze merely narrowed.
“Aren’t you supposed to be telling me to move on to someone else? To give up the bullshit I’ve chased all my life?”
Alex merely smirked. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But, I have to tell you, my friend,” He rounded the bar to choose another bottle of cognac for them, “Eight years…that’s a lot of fucking dedication. You let it go and you’ll always wond
er what might have been.”
Shane gazed around the great room, with its marble pillars, gigantic TV and breathtaking view. A heated breath of frustration escaped him. “Yeah. I could have had all this…if I’d just let the old me go.”
If anything, he thought Alex might be pleased with his admission. No sooner had the words left his mouth, however, than the older man scowled. “You can shut that shit up, Shane.” He immediately retorted, raising he bottle in his hand to gesture towards his companion with its neck. “You sound like me, and I swear to God, you don’t want to be me. That’s what I’ve always admired about you.”
The cognac bottle hit the bar with a thunk as Alex finished pouring both their drinks. “It should have been me in that cell, Shane. Me. And if I know you, you’re beating yourself up about some shit you didn’t do. You want Holly? Then you go after her. I’ll do my part, look up these cunts that are on your back, and you keep her safe. Do we have a deal?”
He extended his hand to the man on the other side of the bar, and, for a moment, Shane could only stare, dumbfounded. Alex admired him. For what? All he’d ever done in his life had led to loss. Loss and pain. What was there to admire in that?
…though he had to admit…seeing a niece he thought might never have accepted him…that was worth it. Simply getting to see Holly again…that was worth it.
If he was someone to be admired, Shane couldn’t help but think he was a damned fool.
But he’d never refused help from a friend – and Alex was about all he had now, son of Jackson Paine or no.
Reaching out, he clasped Alex’s hand in his own, his lips curving upwards slightly. “We have a deal.”
Chapter 9
Good.
Holly couldn’t remember the last time anything had felt so good.
Two strong, lean arms wrapped around her, a mouth hotly whispering between her ear and a hand between her legs, working her into a frenzy. Her breath left her in short, frantic pants as her hips bucked against the deft fingers that plunged in and out of her. She wasn’t sure if she was screaming, moaning, or some mix of the two – only that she was on the cusp of release and she had never needed anything so badly in her entire life.
“So fucking beautiful…” The voice in her ear grew more and more familiar with every word breathed against her quivering form. While she might have thought the tone was her husbands, with each passing moment, the possessive baritone sounded more and more like Shane.
Shane.
Holly awoke with a start, drenched in sweat, the man’s name on her lips.
Within an instant, she realized that she was in her bedroom and not some insubstantial dream space – that the stickiness between her thighs was entirely her own doing. With a low groan, Holly threw off the covers, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed as she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.
As usual, she was blasting the air conditioning, and as such, she had no right whatsoever to be as hot as she was.
But her body, at some point, had taken leave of her mind – and at three am on a Thursday morning, she was assaulted with desire for a man that the otherwise told herself she could forget:
Shane.
Since that night in the office, Holly tried to convince herself that she was furious with the man – that nothing he could do could make her speak to him again. Of course, she realized what special brand of crazy she must appear for being mad at him for taking care of her, but Holly had long decided to use her fury as a shield.
It was a bad idea for Shane to get close to her anyway. She had far more trouble than she could handle these days; the last thing she needed was to entrap a man who had only just earned his freedom. Not even bodily entanglements with her were worth it just now…not with extortionist Kirk Luckston in the picture. He was the kind of man that would kill someone as soon as he looked at them, and Holly had no idea what she’d do if he discovered her developing feelings for Shane and got jealous.
Though she’d always considered herself strong, she didn’t know if she was strong enough to see another person killed in front of her.
Especially not Shane.
Shane, who had touched her like she’d never been touched…who had made her feel things she thought were impossible. The mere memory of him slipping inside of her – of every long, firm stroke driving her hips against the desk…Jesus Christ. No wonder her flimsy panties were soaked.
Holly rose from the bed on wobbly legs and made her way downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. While it might cool the flush on her skin, she doubted it would quench the fire burning low in her belly.
No. Only one thing could do that – and she’d be damned if she let herself be tempted again. For all Shane knew, he wasn’t welcome in her household or the restaurant again – and all because he resisted her ridiculous demand.
Holly drank her glass of water slowly. Since Tommy died and she’d taken charge of the restaurant, she was used to being obeyed. The staff liked structure and she was happy to give it – it helped her take her mind off her grief- and so it had been a while since anyone, even Kelly, had questioned her.
When Shane had all but demanded that she get her leg seen to, it had irritated her, yes, but there had been another, unexpected side-effect: arousal.
The man telling her what to do had made her hot as hell.
As much as Holly had loved her late husband, Tommy had not been aggressive in the bedroom. He had always been a soft and tender lover, which she thought she appreciated…at least, until Shane had his way with her. When it came to sex, the man was nothing like his twin. Shane was firm, commanding, and took her pleasure more than he coaxed it from her.
Her eyes drifting closed, Holly remembered the sounds the man made as he mouthed her roughly between the legs and her bare toes curled against the cold tile floor. It had been almost two years since she’d last been with a man…Since she’d been with Tommy.
Holly knew that if she had an ounce of decency in her body, she’d feel some sort of guilt for sleeping with her husband’s brother.
…not that any sleeping had been involved.
But as Holly stood at the kitchen counter, trying to drag her conscience through the mud, she only found herself aching for Shane so badly that she trembled. God, if he would just touch her…kiss her…then maybe everything would be alright…
“Mommy?”
Holly started at the tiny voice in the dark behind her, whirling to see Maddy standing not three feet from her. She breathed a long sigh of relief as the hand she’d clutched to her breast in alarm slowly relaxed. “Maddy, honey…you scared me half to death.” She set her glass back down on the counter before starting towards her daughter. “What on earth are you doing up so late, pumpkin?”
She fully expected Madison to draw back from her. That had, after all, been her daughter’s prerogative over the past year. Madison didn’t like to be touched and she often brooded alone in her room.
This time, however, Maddy came to her, her tiny, bare feet padding across the kitchen floor until she reached her mother to curl small fingers into the fabric of the cotton nightgown Holly wore. “Mommy, where’s daddy?”
Holly flinched slightly. She’d managed to stave off her daughter’s questions about Shane for over a week now without directly having to address Maddy’s misidentification. Truth be told, she’d simply hoped that her daughter wouldn’t linger on the notion that Shane meant to stick around forever.
She should have known better.
If she really wanted to let Shane go, she would have to be gentle, yet firm with the little girl.
Silently praying, Holly knelt before her, taking Madison’s slim shoulders in a gentle grip. “Honey…you know I love you right? More than anything else in the world?” She fondly tucked a dark strand of hair behind Maddy’s ear, her heart swelling in her chest at the little girl’s radiant smile.
When Madison nodded, Holly continued with the utmost care. “Honey, your dad went away to be with the ang
els. We talked about this…you remember when we went to see his grave?” Already, Maddy had started to shake her head, her eyes widening. “Maddy, listen to mommy.” Holly took her hands gently. “Shane is Daddy’s brother. He’s the one who came to the house a few weeks ago- the one who bought you the doll…and I don’ t know when we’ll see him again.”
Instantly, Madison’s face crumpled. She shoved out of Holly’s arms, backing away as tears began to course down her cheeks. “I want Daddy,” She demanded on a sob, her face reddening. “I want my daddy!” Her voice rose to a pitch so shrill that Holly’s ears rang and an ache started at the base of her skull.
“Maddy, honey-”
“I want Daddy!”
Holly was tired. She’d been woken by a fearsomely arousing dream about a man she could never be with, her bi-weekly session with Kirk Luckston was just around the corner, and she was still caught between grieving for the man she loved and resenting him for the secrets he’d kept from her. She’d been stressed out for as long as she could remember, and the entire time, she’d somehow kept herself calm because she was convinced things would change.
Well, in an entire year, Maddy had changed little. She’d begun to eat, certainly, and she stopped waking Holly up every night with complaints about the temperature, but she often found herself at her wit’s end when it came to Madison’s surly, withdrawn behavior.
When Shane had come, he was a godsend simply because he allowed her a moment to stop and breathe – even if she couldn’t quite convince Madison that he wasn’t Tommy. No matter what she tried, Holly’s daughter seemed fixed in the past – there was nothing she could do to get Maddy to let go.
And all at once, it was too much for her.
“He’s gone, Madison!” The words snapped from her with the intensity of a whip, before she could stop them. “Tommy is dead! He isn’t coming back! It doesn’t matter what you want! Wanting won’t change anything! It will only make everything hurt more!”
The moment the words left her mouth, Holly regretted them. Behind the statement was a slew of emotion never meant for a child – let alone an eight year old – to be witness to. For a moment, Maddy just stared up at her, her green eyes wide and disbelieving. Then, without a word, she turned and fled up the stairs and back into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
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