SEALed Bride: A Bad Boy Romance (Includes bonus novel Jerked!) (29 page)

I held up the drinks. “Thought I’d join you.”

She didn’t say anything as I sat down, but she did take the wine. I cracked open my drink and sipped it, looking out at the city. I had to admit, it was a spectacular view; off in the distance, I could see City Hall, and all the buildings in between. Even though I had seen it many times, it never got old. The summer night was cool and comfortable, and Bren was wearing short cotton shorts and a thin white cotton T-shirt. I had a feeling that she was going to be sitting out on the roof deck; when she was younger, she always sat out there at night when she had something on her mind.

“I’m surprised you’re not with that blonde girl,” she said.

I glanced over at her. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. She was just coming on to you pretty hard.”

“What do you care?”

“I don’t care. What were those girls doing here, anyway?”

I sighed. “Just part of the party, I guess.”

She snorted. “Typical of my dad.”

I paused, not sure how to handle it. “They were Davin’s doing, actually.”

“Well, whatever. I don’t care who you talk to.”

I grinned at her. She sipped her drink, but I could see it plain as day on her face. She was annoyed and a little jealous, though I know she’d never admit it. I looked away, letting the silence take over, and found myself wondering about her ex-boyfriend, Vince Fabrizio.
How the hell did Bren get involved with a guy like that?
I wondered. I glanced over at her.

“What?” she asked, catching my eye.

“I was just thinking. How’d you end up with that guy, anyway?”

She got quiet for a second, and I wasn’t sure if I had pushed her too soon.

“I don’t need a lecture,” she said.

“No lecture. I’m just genuinely curious.”

She took another sip. “I don’t really know, honestly. I met him in the city one night. He was a little pushy and kind of an asshole, but charming. He took me to a diner, bought me food, and didn’t try anything. Or at least nothing too intense.” She paused, lost in a memory. I could tell her eyes were far away. She looked back at me, focusing in on the present. “I guess we just fell into it after that.”

I nodded. “Did you know about his business?”

“Not at first. After we got serious he told me some things, but it wasn’t until later that he told me everything.”

“And how did you react?”

She cocked her head at me. “What’s with the interrogation?”

“Sorry. It’s just been awhile. And plus, I need to protect you from this guy.”

“No, you don’t,” she said, getting annoyed.

I loved the way she looked when she was frustrated. I wanted to grab her hair, pull it gently toward me, and feel her skin against mine. She looked incredibly sexy in her nightclothes, and I could practically see her nipples through her thin shirt.

I grinned at her. “Come on, you don’t want me around to keep you safe? Your own personal knight in shining armor?”

“Yeah, right. Don’t knights have a code of honor or something?”

“Hey, I have a code. I may be a criminal, but I have a code.”

“I’m sure. ‘Fuck bitches, get money,’ isn’t a code of honor.”

I smirked. “It is in some circles.”

She laughed. “What about you, then? That girl seemed pretty familiar with you.”

I shrugged, not ashamed of my past. I’d been with my fair share of women over the years. ‘Fuck bitches, get money,’ really wasn’t my code, but it was pretty close. At least, it had been for a very long time.

“I’m not exactly chaste, if that’s what you’re asking.”

She laughed again. “I’m not surprised.”

“Yeah, why not?”

“I mean, look at you.”

I grinned at her and raised an eyebrow, and she quickly blushed, covering her embarrassment with a sip of her drink. There was her sexy look again. It was getting harder and harder not to pull her by the hips into my lap.

“I have changed a little bit since you last saw me.”

“Yeah, you’re not such a scrawny weirdo.”

I laughed. “I was never scrawny.”

“No, maybe not, but you were a weirdo.”

“You didn’t seem to mind.”

She smiled, but looked away, and there was another short silence. I wanted to reach over and gently pull her face back toward me, kiss her lips like I did that night years ago, taste her perfect skin and mouth and tongue, but didn’t. I couldn’t, not while the adoption was still looming over me. How could I have anything with her if she was legally my sister? I mean, it wasn’t like we were raised in the same house, at least for the vast majority of our lives, and I wasn’t blood related to her. But still, O’Brian would be devastated. I couldn’t imagine how he would react.

“Anyway, it’s getting late,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Thanks. For tonight, I mean.”

I shrugged. “Not my doing. But I’m glad you got along with your dad.”

“Yeah, me too.”

He’s adopting me; you’re going to be my sister,
I wanted to say.

“See you in the morning, I guess.”

“Bright and early.”
Me and you, brother and sister.

“Night.” She stood, finished off her drink, and then walked back toward the doors.

I gripped my chair, wanting to call her back, wanting to tell her, but couldn’t. Things were decent between us, or at least not totally strained and frustrating. I didn’t want to break that. There would be plenty of time to tell her tomorrow. Besides, how could I ask her to turn around, when I got such an outstanding view of her perfect ass? She opened the doors and went inside, closing them softly behind her.

I cursed and drank my beer, looking out over the city. What a fucked situation. I was going to become her brother in only a few weeks, and all I could think about was sliding her soft skin down along my cock. I wanted to bite her lip and make her shiver.

Tomorrow. I’d tell her tomorrow.

M
y mouth felt sticky as I climbed out of bed. Bits and pieces of the night before came back to me, especially my conversation with Colin. Despite the hangover, I felt pretty good for the first time in a while. I was in a safe place, far away from Vince, and I had more or less made up with my dad.

Although, there is still some tension with Colin,
I reflected, making the understatement of the century.

I got out of bed, threw on a hoody and some slippers, and walked into the bathroom. I looked like a mess; I did a quick comb of my hair, mostly just to tame it, and brushed my teeth. As I walked back out into the hallway, I could smell fresh coffee coming up the back kitchen staircase.

It wasn’t exactly early, so I doubted it was my dad. Plus, from what I remembered, he didn’t really hang around the house very much. I walked down the cramped stairs and poked my head out into the kitchen. Sitting down at the island was Colin, sipping some coffee and looking at a newspaper.

I smirked. “Good morning.”

He looked up. “Morning, beautiful.”

“No, don’t even start already.”

He shrugged and put the paper down. “Coffee is on and I made breakfast.”

“You made breakfast? I didn’t think you cooked.”

“I don’t. I bought it from the deli on the corner, which is as good as making it.”

I laughed. “That’s not cooking, that’s buying.”

He gave an exaggerated shrug as I poured myself a cup of coffee. There was a little pile of bagels plus some cream cheese. I grabbed one, nibbling at a corner.

“What’s on the schedule, Princess?”

I ignored the nickname. “I’m not sure. Are you following me around all day?”

He shook his head. “Nope, I have my own shit to take care of. Just making conversation.”

I sat down across from him. “What do you do, anyway? Besides breaking knees and cracking skulls.”

He sipped his coffee, a weird smile on his perfect face. “Basically just that.”

I imagined him bringing a baseball bat down on some poor guy’s legs. Even though he looked amazing in my mind's eye, all sweaty and intense, it made me shiver.

“I don’t want to know the details, do I?”

“It’s probably a lot more boring than you think.”

“Yeah? You go into an office every morning too, I bet.”

“Fuck no, no office.” He grinned. “Not
that
boring.”

“Well, whatever. So long as you’re not in my hair all day.”

“Don’t pretend like you’re not going to be bored out of your mind without me.”

“Please. The day I’m bored because you’re not around is the day I’ll eat my own shoe.”

He looked down. “What size do you wear?”

I rolled my eyes and he laughed. I took a sip of coffee and felt a little bit better. The hangover was still nipping at the edges of my brain but between the caffeine and the brushed teeth I was beginning to feel a little more human.

“Since when do you read the newspaper, anyway?” I asked him.

“Got to stay current in our line of work.”

“Oh yeah? Seeing which friends got arrested in the crime blotter?”

He laughed. “Yeah, actually. Sometimes.”

I grinned. “Anybody today?”

“Let’s see.” He turned a few pages, then cleared his throat. “Ah, here’s Mickey the Nose, pinched for stealing candy from babies.”

I laughed. “Mickey the Nose?”

“Thought it sounded suitably 1930s gangster-like.”

“Oh yeah, that’s perfect.”

He put the paper down and grinned. “See, you’re already warming up to me.”

I looked away and realized he was right. I loved staring at his perfect jaw as he spoke, and couldn’t help but get fixated on his full lips. Plus, I hadn’t laughed much in a while, ever since Vince took over my life.

“Maybe you’re not as repulsive as I thought.”

“See, Princess? Progress. Soon you’ll be knocking on my door, begging for me to finish what I started the other night.”

I rolled my eyes. And there he was, back to his usual self. “That’s doubtful.”

“You don’t think I noticed your heavy breathing when I grabbed you up there?”

“I think that was from revulsion.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve seen the look you gave me plenty of times before.”

“Annoyance? Hatred?”

“Pure desire, Princess.”

I threw my bagel at him and he laughed. “And stop calling me Princess,” I said.

He stood up and shrugged his shoulders, still grinning his perfectly infuriating and incredibly charming smile.

“Sorry, can’t help myself sometimes.”

“Heading out?”

“Yeah, I am. Call me if you need anything.”

“What’s your number?”

“It’s in your phone.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did you take my phone?”

He laughed. “No, you’ll have a missed call. That’s me.”

I relaxed. Taking my phone, scrolling through my texts, that was the sort of thing Vince used to do. He said that if I had nothing to hide, if he could really trust me, then I should be completely open and honest with him. But of course, because of his work, I couldn’t ever look at his phone. That was just one of the many ways he guilted me into letting him control everything.

“Yeah, okay. Sounds good.”

He gave me a funny look. “Everything okay?”

I nodded. “Have a good day cracking skulls.”

He laughed. “Have a good day being bored as hell without me.”

Before I could think of a good retort, he walked out of the kitchen. I heard the front door open then shut, and I was alone in the house for the first time since I had come home.

I looked around. The place had been my home for most of my life, but it felt foreign and empty and strange. When I was young, it was almost never quiet. But suddenly, it felt oppressive, like I didn’t belong there or something.

With a sigh I got up, taking my coffee with me, and decided to try and be a productive human being.

––––––––

I
leaned back in my chair, enjoying the morning sun drying my hair. After another cup of coffee, and a long, hot shower, I felt back to my normal self. I looked down at my phone, and frowned at the missed call. Not trying to read too much into it, I added Colin into my contacts, and then kept scrolling down until I stopped at a familiar name. I smiled to myself as I tapped it and the phone started to ring.

“Hello?”

“Nick? It’s Bren, how are you?”

“Oh shit, hey! It’s been forever.”

I laughed. Nick and I had been friends back in high school and had kept in touch through the years. He had visited once or twice, but we had drifted apart in the last few months, mostly because Vince hadn't wanted me to be friends with too many guys. Nick was gay, but that didn’t seem to matter to Vince. Actually, if anything, it was probably worse. Nick lived in Philly and was a “working artist,” which meant that he was a barista at Starbucks and tried to sell his paintings on the sidewalk.

“I know, way too long.”

“What are you up to?”

“Well, I’m actually in Philly.”

There was a pause. “No shit? You haven’t been back here in forever.”

“I know, it’s insane. Anyway, I wanted to see if you wanted to get lunch.”

“I absolutely do.”

I smiled to myself as we set a time and place, and I hung up. It was really good getting back in touch with Nick; he had been one of the few people that I really trusted back when all the shit first happened. I couldn’t tell him all the details, but he probably figured it all out on his own anyway. As far as I knew, though, he thought that my dad and I had fought about me going away to school, and that was what had caused our falling out. He had tried to get me to come back home a bunch of times over the years, but I always made excuses.

And then suddenly, I was home. It wasn’t exactly planned, but it happened. I had grown up in Philly; I knew its streets better than anywhere, even New York. But for some reason, it all felt so strange to me. As I looked out across the skyline at the tall buildings glinting in the sunlight, I had the strange sensation that I didn’t belong there. I wanted it to feel like home again, but I knew it would take time. And it was strange, trying to find my place in the city that was supposed to be my home, especially with Colin around all the time.