SEALed Bride: A Bad Boy Romance (Includes bonus novel Jerked!) (35 page)

The guy came at me, feinting left, but rushing at my right. I caught him as he tried to tackle me and I bashed my elbows down into his back. I caught myself against the wall and steadied my body weight before trying again. He grunted, and I bashed him again, pushing back off the wall. He staggered back, his face a mask of rage, but came at me again, punching for my face. I ducked and dodged and swung back, jabbing twice at his face. The first missed, but the second landed square in his teeth. Pain lanced through my knuckles and he grunted, stumbling back. I felt exhilarated, loving the adrenaline that was coursing through me. The only thing I loved more than a fight was fucking.

“Back off, Fabrizio,” I said, advancing on him. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I jabbed twice again, but he got his hands up to block them. I got in close, practically breathing in his eyes, as I shifted my weight and brought my knee up, landing it in his midsection. He stumbled back, grunting, clearly not expecting that. I knew I had the upper hand and had to press.

Before I could take him down, though, he spoke. “I’m not fucking Fabrizio.”

I paused. “What the fuck did you say?”

“I’m one of Jimmy’s guys. I’m not Fabrizio.”

He looked up at me, holding his hands up, and I got my first clear look at the guy. I had only ever seen Fabrizio in pictures, and although the guy had the same dark hair and dark eyes, their faces were totally different. I relaxed slightly, staring at him.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I said.

“Jimmy sent me to follow Fabrizio. I got made, though, and before I could get in and catch him, he got away.”

“Why did you attack me?”

“When you see a guy with a gun, it’s a good bet he doesn’t want to chat.”

I sighed and leaned back against the wall, panting. I let my guard down. The fight was over. My nose hurt like hell and I could taste blood in the back of my throat. The guy settled down on the floor. He looked about as bad as I felt.

“And who the fuck are you?” he asked me.

“Colin Blake, one of the Irish. Jimmy told me Fabrizio would be here.”

The guy nodded. “Colin. I’m Michael Flannigan.”

I nodded, still catching my breath. I had never heard the name before, but that wasn’t surprising.

“One hell of a punch you got.”

He grinned. “Yeah, you too.”

“So, what now?”

“Well, now I go home and ice my fucking ribs.”

“I mean, about Fabrizio.”

He shook his head. “The cocksucker is long gone. Who knows where he is.”

“You should fucking know.”

I was pissed. It was typical of the Italians to be sloppy in their work. If I had been following Fabrizio, I would never have been made.

He gave me an icy look. “You’re not one of my people. Watch yourself.”

I clenched my jaw then pushed off the wall and walked over to my gun. I picked it up, put on the safety, and slipped it into my waistband.

“Tell Jimmy to call if he hears something. And he better call soon.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I walked out of the room, leaving him sitting down on the floor. I walked down the steps and headed out the front door. My muscles were sore from the sudden burst of energy, and my nose was probably broken, but the worst part of the whole thing was that Fabrizio was still somewhere out there. And the fact that he gave one of Jimmy’s guys the slip meant he was probably pretty good. Or maybe Jimmy’s guy was just totally inept. Either way, I had my work cut out for me.

I had hoped it would be an easy job, catching Fabrizio, but so far he had managed to avoid both the Italians and the Irish. That alone was an impressive feat. O’Brian had pretty much half of the Right People out looking for Fabrizio, which was cutting into everyone’s profits, but he was worried about his daughter and was willing to do whatever it took to solve her problem. Philly wasn’t that big of a city; sooner or later, someone would rat him out. When they did, I had to be ready to do whatever it took to bring him down. I wasn’t about to be like Jimmy’s guy and let Fabrizio get away. I would do whatever I had to do to make sure he never got near Bren.

I climbed into my car and clenched the steering wheel.

The memory of Bren’s body pressed against my hard dick came flooding back. I had walked out on her, practically half way to finally getting to feel exactly what her smooth skin felt like under mine, all for nothing.

Fucking Fabrizio would pay for that.

I sped toward O’Brian’s, ready to finish what I had started earlier that day.

B
ack home, I stretched out on the couch in front of my dad’s big TV but didn’t bother to turn it on. I had planned on reading all afternoon, but Colin had decided to completely rework everything I'd had in mind.

One second he was telling me how badly he wanted to fill me up right there in the book store, and the next he was speeding through the streets like a madman and practically throwing me out of the car.

But the thought of his hard dick pressed up against me drove me crazy. I can’t stop imagining how soaking wet I was listening to him tell me what he wanted to do to me, and how badly I wanted it. All thoughts of our future relationship were gone, and there was only his body pressing against mine. I had never done something like that before, where we could so easily get caught.

And he doesn’t even like cats
, I thought to myself, grinning. I was acting like a kid with a crush but I couldn’t help it. Despite the lies of omission and what he did for a living, there was something deeply magnetic about that man.

Technically, though, I was still married. Although
I
knew that didn’t count, Vince hadn’t quite figured it out yet, and apparently it meant that he had a real claim to me. I was finished with him, with all of New York City. I only hoped that Colin didn’t get hurt hunting him down.

Suddenly, I heard the front door open.
Maybe it’s him, and it’s all over
. I sat up and looked over at the hallway as my father turned the corner and smiled in at me.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, a little disappointed.

“How are you?”

He walked into the living room and sat down on the big leather arm chair.

“I’m fine. Tired of being cooped up here, though.”

He laughed. “I’m sure you are. It won’t be much longer, I promise.”

“Is that where Colin is right now?”

He gave me a shrug. “Who knows with that boy.”

“Come on, Dad. At least keep me informed.”

“Since when did you want to know about the business?”

“Since I was stupid enough to marry one of you.”

That made him laugh, and he nodded.

“A real mess you got yourself into.”

I looked away. “Yeah.”

“But don’t you worry. You’re the safest you could ever be here.”

“I’m sorry you have to do this.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“And for all that other stuff. You know, back then.”

There was a short pause and I looked back at him.

“Water under the bridge. You’re home now.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“And you can stay as long as you like.”

I realized that it was the first time since I had come home that I was having a real conversation with my dad. We had talked at the little party he threw for me, but it was mostly meaningless chatter, the sort of stuff you did at gatherings like that. We hadn’t really talked about anything. In fact, over the years we had never really said much to each other, aside from empty pleasantries. I wanted to change that.

I wanted to change a lot of things.

“Dad, why Colin?”

He blinked at me. “What do you mean?”

“Why Colin? I mean, why are you adopting him, and why did you take him in back then?”

He nodded. “So, you know about that.”

“He told me a few days ago.”

“And what do you think about it?”

“I honestly don’t know. But why are you doing it?”

“That’s a good question.”

“I think I get what you see in him, and he tried to explain the whole adoption thing to me, but it didn’t make sense. So why now?”

“It’s a complicated answer, Bren.”

“Go ahead and try me.”

“Well, I wanted a son.” He paused when he saw how I reacted. “Not that I’m not grateful for you, Bren, because I am. But in my business, you need a son to pass down what you’ve earned. That’s all there is to it, and I wanted to be able to keep everything in the family.”

“But Colin isn’t your son.”

“No, not exactly, he isn’t. But I took him in and raised him and taught him everything he knows about the business. He did some things for me over the last few years you were away, some very difficult things, and I owe him a lot. That’s why he got the big promotion he did, even though there are other men who think they deserve it more.”

“Do they deserve it more?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but Colin is one of the smartest, most capable men I have.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you’re adopting him.”

“I want to make it legal. I know it seems strange that I would care about what’s legal and what isn’t, but it will make things easier in the long run. The Mob respects family above all else, and making him official will help solidify him as my son.”

“Okay, I get that. But what gave you the idea to do it now?”

He nodded, comprehending. “That was Davin, actually. He suggested I adopt Colin the day after you called, actually.”

“So, it’s all just a political thing? I mean, he’s not really my brother.”

I stared at him and hoped he understood what I was trying to get at.

“What do you mean? You don’t think of him as a brother?”

“No, I mean, I guess. But he’s not really my brother.”

“No, he isn’t. Not biologically, at least.”

I let out a long sigh and relaxed back into the couch. That was a good first step, at least. I needed Dad to understand that Colin and I weren’t siblings, not really. I knew that he would freak if he knew what was happening between the two of us, if there really was anything happening, but at least he wasn’t under some crazy delusion that we really were brother and sister.

“But does that matter?” he asked, looking at me.

I shrugged and didn’t answer.

“The two of you were never close back then, but you did live in the same house for a year. He was like an older brother to you.” He paused and looked at me. “He still is.”

“Yeah, an older brother.”

“It would mean a lot to me, Bren, if you could treat him like a part of the family. I know it’s strange and a big adjustment, and I know you were away for a long time, but you’re back now. I want us to all be together.”

I nodded, though inwardly groaned. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Good. It would mean a lot to me if we could all be a family.”

The last thing I wanted was to be Colin’s family. Family members didn’t do what I wanted to do with him, but I couldn’t disappoint my dad. Especially not when he was trying so hard to fix the mistake that I had made.

“I promise I’ll try.”

He stood up. “Okay, kiddo. I have to get going again. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Call if you need anything.”

“I will.”

He smiled at me again and walked out. I heard the front door open then shut, and briefly I wondered where he slept most nights, since he was so rarely at his own house.

Our conversation played over in my head as I lay there on the couch staring up at the ceiling.
I can’t think of him like a brother, even if I wanted to,
I realized. Worse, I knew that if I acted on what I wanted then I would be disappointing my father.

Which meant that I was stuck.

Annoyed at my situation, and angry at myself, I got up from the couch and went upstairs to take a shower.

––––––––

T
he music on my phone was loud, which probably explained why I didn’t hear the door open. I had just finished shaving my legs, and was about to shampoo my hair, when a voice made me nearly jump out of the tub.

“Cleaning up for me?”

“Colin?”

I heard him laugh. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Fuck, you scared me. What are you doing in here?”

“Checking up on you. Is everything okay here?”

“Everything is fine. You can’t come into the shower whenever you want to.”

“I have to make sure you’re safe at all times, even when you’re naked and soaking wet.”

“Don’t make that sound dirty. It’s the opposite of dirty. I’m getting clean.”

I could practically hear him grinning. “You have those yoga pants prepared?”

“No deal. You cut that outing short.”

“Something important came up. And duration wasn’t part of it.”

“Did you catch him?” I held my breath.

He paused. “No, he’s still out there.”

I could hear the disappointment and anger thick in his voice.

“You will.”

“You’re fucking right I will.”

“Okay, why are you still in here?”

“You want me to go, say the word.”

I paused. “I talked to my dad earlier.”

I heard him lean against something, probably the sink.

“Yeah? What was O’Brian doing here?”

“Checking up on me, apparently.”

“Things still weird there?”

“Getting less weird. Where does he stay when he’s not here, by the way?”

“Sometimes he sleeps on the couch in his office at the pub. Sometimes he stays at his other apartment around the corner.”

“He’d rather sleep on a couch than in his enormous room here?”

“It’s a nice couch.”

“Seriously, Colin.”

“He’s a busy man. He doesn’t always have the time or the energy to come back home.”

“Yeah, must be hard running a mob of violent criminals.”

“You have no idea.”

“He said something else weird, actually.”

“What’s that?”

I paused, not sure I wanted to say it. But for some reason, the idea of sharing it with Colin made me feel a little better. He was the only other person in the whole world that would understand what it really meant to let my dad down.

“He said he wants us to be a family. You know, since I’m home.”