I lifted the remote and pressed the button. Lights flashed on a towering black beast parked three spots away from the sedan we’d driven in. I barely saw it, my mind still captured by the things Ben Rossi had divulged to us. The secrets. The lies…more importantly, the fucking betrayal.
How the hell could we get out of this?
We were all quiet as we made for the sedan, each one torn between the reasons why Jack Castlemaine would be connected to someone like King…and what the fuck that had to do with Ryth.
Only, none of that really mattered. My only priority right now was keeping us alive until we could get the fuck out of here. The moment I popped open the trunk and stared at the mess inside, I realized this affected one of us more than the rest. I turned my head as Ryth opened the back door and climbed inside. She grabbed the packets of dressings and the fucking antibiotics, then straightened.
Her damn knees wobbled, making her brace against the door, then turn a panicked gaze my way. I looked away, fighting the urge to pull her into my goddamn arms. She stared my way, then straightened, thinking I hadn’t seen her fumble.
But I had…
And I didn’t like it one bit.
“Wait…you’re not saying anything,” T muttered, and cut me a stare. One jerk of his head toward the massive four-wheel drive and he added, “Don’t tell me you’re not impressed.”
Ryth followed the comment, glancing my way again as I bundled up the mess of clothes tossed into the trunk. “As long as it keeps us safe, I don’t give a shit what I drive.”
I strode toward the thing. “Rebel, come girl.”
The pup scrambled after me as I yanked open the back door and tossed the clothes on the floor, eyeing the bulging duffel bag I assumed was full of money, guns, and new phones. I bent instead, grabbed our girl, and lifted her to the floor. “Need you to look after Ryth, okay?” I murmured in the mutt’s ear and gave her a scratch on the head. “She needs you.”
Then I turned around and froze, witnessing something I never thought I’d see in my life. Tobias reached out to take a woman’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. Ryth let him, glancing toward Caleb, then me.
Desire flooded me, desire, and fear, and desperation. I had to find us a way out of this, no matter what it took. I stepped backwards, grabbed the dressings and bottles of pills from her hand, and helped her into the four-wheel drive. Tobias rounded the vehicle and climbed in the passenger seat, leaving Caleb to sit beside Ryth in the back.
“Address is here,” Tobias called from the front, “as well as new phones and some cash.”
Caleb opened the duffel bag between the two of them. “Clothes, enough to change into anyway.”
“Good.” I walked back to the sedan, then scanned the area around us before I grabbed the guns from under the false floor, and closed the trunk, then I tossed the keys onto the driver’s seat and left the sedan behind.
Once we left the yard, we were on our own. Benjamin Rossi’s reach only went so far. I climbed behind the wheel, stowed two guns under my seat, and handed the others to my brothers. “Got the address?”
My pulse hammered as I reversed the car and watched Ben and one of his men head toward us. He gave a nod as we left, motioning for his man to take the sedan. We needed no trace left behind, of us or where we were headed.
That thought haunted me as I drove out of the compound and back into the flow of refrigeration trucks. I looked in the rear-view mirror when I turned off and headed for the city. Tobias scanned the cars in the side mirror, a gun in his grip, pressed against his thigh.
Rebel whined, sensing the tension in the car, as I took the quiet backstreets to the address Ben had given us. There were manicured lush gardens and massive houses set back off the street. There was green as far as you could see until I turned the corner and slowed the car, staring at the looming black and gray four-story mansion that sat at the end of the cul-de-sac.
“Jesus,” Caleb muttered from the back seat.
Jesus was right. I pulled into the driveway and rolled down the window as the towering black metal gate opened and two men carrying semi-automatic weapons strode out. I searched their faces, not finding a familiar stare, and muttered. “You know these guys?”
“Yeah,” Tobias answered as one neared my window.
“Briar,” T called.
The guy leaned down and met my brother’s stare without saying a word, then shifted that steely glare my way, then to the backseat. “Tobias,” he said slowly. Ex-special forces, that was easy to see, even before I caught a glimpse of his eagle- globe-and-anchor tattoo. “Mr. Rossi told us to expect you. We’re to provide protection while you’re under his roof, for as long as you need it.”
He met my stare when he said it.
Friendly, I didn’t give a shit about.
But being trained…now that’s something we could use.
“Parking’s around the back. You have the code to access the house in the details Mr. Rossi left for you. There’re panic buttons in each room that send an alert straight to us if anything happens. Rest assured, we’re not letting anyone in that doesn’t belong here.”
A hard exhale and I felt some of the tension ease
“Ms. Castlemaine.” The bodyguard turned to Ryth. Tobias stiffened beside me, and I caught Caleb jerk his gaze from the house to the Marine as he softened his tone. “I just want you to know I’m personally invested in this. Your father…your father was a good friend to me. He was the one who introduced me to Mr. Rossi and who helped me when I needed it. I’ll keep you safe.”
T narrowed his gaze on the Marine. “Thanks, Briar,” he snarled. “We already got that covered.”
The Marine gave him a nod and stepped away. I smothered a flare of jealousy, hit the button for the window, and pulled the four-wheel drive inside.
“He’ll keep you safe,” T muttered under his breath. “What the fuck does he think we’ve been doing?”
I’d would’ve smiled at the venom in his tone if I didn’t feel the fucking poison in my own chest. I glanced at the rear-view mirror, catching Caleb as he scowled and stared out the window.
“He seemed nice,” Ryth said quietly as I pulled the SUV around to the rear of the house and parked. “I don’t even know my father’s friends.”
“And that’s the way it’s gonna stay,” Tobias snapped as he climbed out, muttering, “if I have anything to do with it.”
I caught her smirk as Ryth shoved open her door and called, “Rebel, come on.”
T was jealous. Fuck, we were all jealous. The bodyguard better keep his focus on the grounds. I didn’t want to have to put the bastard down. But I would—I rounded the four-wheel drive, catching Caleb looking behind us—we all would.
Tobias neared the electronic keypad, punched in the number in his hand, and opened the door. He limped a little as he headed inside. I grabbed all I could while Caleb gathered up the rest and we followed.
If the house had looked impressive from outside, the inside was stunning. Black and chrome, with polished concrete floors. All I heard was Rebel’s nails tap, tap, tapping as she ran inside.
“Rebel!” Ryth called out, following her into the gloom.
But as beautiful as the place was, I just didn’t care. My focus was fixed firmly on the future, on our future. I headed inside through the short hallway, dumped the stuff from the car onto the stone kitchen counter, and turned to scan the area.
“There’s a weapons room filled with some impressive shit back there,” Tobias muttered, gesturing over his shoulder as he made his way further into the house.
“Rebel!” Ryth called as she came from deeper in the house, only to throw her hands into the air when she neared. “I can’t control her.”
I forced a smile. “Then don’t.” Her belly released a loud growl, causing her to wince. “Hungry?”
“Fucking starving,” Caleb answered as he cut across the expansive living room from the floor-to-ceiling tinted glass windows. “How about I make us some food?”
“I’ll help,” Ryth offered.
I left them and made my way deeper into the house, catching sight of a glass-walled elevator beside the wide set of stairs. I took them, climbed up to the second floor, and slowly made my way through the house. Five bedrooms, one with an open bathroom that looked like a Bali oasis, complete with rainfall shower and a pebbled floor with real-life oversized plants, and off that what looked like a…sex room.
I gave a chuff, closed the door to the Mafia boss’s private sanctuary, and kept moving onward. The top floor looked like it was for guests to close themselves off in private luxury. But that wasn’t us.
This wasn’t a damn holiday. This was survival. Instead of the bedrooms upstairs, I went back down to the second floor as smells of butter melting in a frying pan, then onions and garlic, drifted up the stairwell. The lower floor bedrooms would be where we stayed. The last thing we needed was to be woken up and having to scramble down three flights of stairs to get the hell out of here.
The bedroom doors were already open as Tobias strode out, his limp a little more noticeable. “There’s two bedrooms here, as well as Ben’s study.”
“Perfect,” I answered. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one thinking about an escape plan.
T glanced toward the stairs, then moved closer and kept his voice low. “Who is after us?”
“Now, you mean?”
He nodded.
“I’m not sure yet, I need to talk to Caleb.”
Tobias scowled. “Why?”
I licked my lips. T was a fucking grenade right now and the last thing I needed was to pull the damn pin. “Let’s just say I need more information.”
My brother moved in front of me, his scowl turning darker. “Information about what?”
I hated to say the name, each time I even thought of it, chills ran down my spine. “Killion.”
T flinched, the corners of his lips curling as a savage glint sparked in his eyes.
“You think he’s behind this? You think he’s the one The Order sent?”
“I think Ben’s right. He paid good money for something that he doesn’t possess.”
“That something is our fucking sister.”
“I know…” I met his deadly stare.
Ryth’s laughter cracked out as scurrying sounds of the damn dog shot from one side of the house to the other. Fuck, she almost sounded happy. Almost sounded…normal.
“Then we talk to Caleb.” Tobias turned toward the sounds. “Then we plan.”
“Then we plan,” I agreed.
Tobias jerked his head toward the kitchen as Ryth let out a low moan that was followed by, “that’s so damn good”.
He limped harder, as he made his way back down the stairs. The image of him holding Ryth’s hand was stuck inside my head. My brother had looked happy, at least, as happy as he could be in this whole fucked-up situation. I’d never seen him so much as take a woman on a second date, let alone hold her damn hand. But here he was…
My brothers’ voices mingled with Ryth’s, echoing in the space. I left them to enjoy that small sliver of normality and instead, turned my focus to Ben’s study. I grabbed the new encrypted phone from my pocket as I walked and punched out a message to the Mafia boss.
I’m in need of a PC, any way I can use yours?
Then I hit send and moved to slip the phone into my pocket as I opened the study door and stepped into the dim room.
Rossi: Figured as much. There’s a new MacBook in the study, internet password and other details listed on top. Let me know if you require anything else.
The damn Stidda Mafia boss thought of everything. I made my way to the bookshelf and found the new laptop waiting in the open, along with all the passwords I’d need. Laughter reached me through the open door as I got to work setting up the laptop and started logging in to my accounts.
I was lost to the familiar glare as I opened secure portals and worked my way into all the crypto accounts I had, as well as my electronic wallet. While the happy sounds of my family thrummed in my chest, I got down to work liquidating and cashing out every asset I ever owned…
To buy us a way out of this.
It felt like just seconds when the soft thud of bare feet drew my focus to the doorway. Ryth stepped in with a smile, carrying a plate. “I helped with the tasting, but that’s about it, I’m afraid. Caleb is a much better cook than I am.”
I turned as she neared, took the plate, and even though I’d passed starving four hours ago, I pulled her into a hug. “Don’t be upset, Caleb is a much better cook than all of us. Did you eat?”
“A little.”
“Good.” I smiled as she leaned down and kissed me.
I wanted more, a lot more. But she needed food and I needed to work, so as much as I hated it, I broke the connection with a soft slap on her ass. “Now, go eat, and let me work.”
She gave a smile and left, but stopped at the door to murmur. “I love you.”
Jesus…
My pulse thudded as I stared at the woman who’d stolen our hearts. “I love you too, princess.”
She gave me the most perfect fucking smile before she turned and walked away. I held onto that smile and used it to fuel me as my fingers flew across the keyboard. It’d taken me years to accrue this much wealth, years of watching the crypto market, buying when it was right, then trading out when it wasn’t. Years of watching, of hunting, of being ruthless, and I was about to undo all of that in a single night.
I opened up secure messages and typed out an email to my stockbroker, as well as a young real estate hunter who’d been after the apartment complex for the last twelve months. I was ready to sell…tonight.
By the time I sat back and took a deep breath, I realized I’d forgotten the food Ryth had brought me. Food that was now long cold. Still, I ate, then went back to work until my fingers ached and a heavy throb started in the base of my skull.
When I looked up from the screen, it was dark outside. Shadows no longer hovered in the corners, they now consumed the room, and silence came from the doorway. I swallowed a flare of annoyance, hating I’d lost the time with her, but this was important. I helped myself to a glass of Scotch from Ben’s cupboard and returned to the screen, watching the market rise slightly before I pressed sell.
Sell…
Sell it all…
Every last thing.
Everything I fucking owned.
I logged back into the messages and found one from the real estate hunter who sounded like he’d almost tripped over himself to get his hands on the keyboard. Name your price. That’s where we were at now, he’d chased me that long. We were well past niceties and desperation, so I punched in a figure, one that was outrageous and three times what it was worth…
But there was potential.
So much potential, which is what had made me purchase the property in the first place.
A property I’d thought I’d eventually own with my wife.
Thoughts of Natalie tried to push in, but none of them were good. None even compared to what I’d found with…my damn sister.
Beep.
I glanced down at the response. Sold. I’ll have the contracts drawn up in the morning. I’d say it was a pleasure, Nick, but I just paid out the ass for this. I doubt I’ll sit properly for a goddamn month.
There was a twitch at the corners of my lips as I logged out. “Yes, you did,” I muttered. “And I appreciate the money, believe me.”
Movement came from the doorway. She moved like the damn shadows, this woman, as she stepped in slowly, dressed in my old hoodie with her bare legs peeking out underneath. Christ, she moved me. I glanced at the clock and it was almost midnight, no doubt the others were long in bed.
“Can’t sleep?”
She shook her head.
I pushed the chair back. I’d done all I could tonight. Sold it all…now it was just a matter of waiting for the money to come in. Money that would buy us a future…with her.
I opened my arms as she rounded the desk and stepped between my thighs. She took a look at the scrolling numbers on the screen. “Sorry if I interrupted you.”
The thunder in my chest only grew louder. “Princess.” I lowered my gaze to my damn clothes that covered her perfect body. “You can interrupt me any damn time, especially when you look like this.” She gave a small smile as I wound my arms around her waist and lifted, sitting her on the edge of the desk, then pushed the laptop backwards. “Our brothers?”
“Passed out.” She shook her head. “Caleb’s asleep in one of the bedrooms and T is out like a light on the sofa. I put a blanket over him and a cushion under his head. But once they ate, they were basically gone.”
“Figures.” I smiled and shook my head, running my hand along her bare thigh and under the hemline of the hoodie. “I like you wearing my clothes.”
“You do?”
That throbbing sensation in my chest swelled. “Yeah, baby. I do.” I focused on the feel of her and that hunger inside me pushed to the surface. If she only knew how much I fucking loved her…
If she only knew…
Her touch came along the edge of my jaw, her nails grazing my stubble as she tilted my gaze to hers. In the wash of the flickering light from the laptop, I met her stare. The sight was compelling, slamming into my chest, and my body responded instantly. I’d never felt this way before, never so…fucking raw.
I slid my hand between her knees, parting her thighs. “My brothers have been a little rough,” I murmured, searching her eyes for the truth as I asked. “Is your pussy sore?”
She started to shake her head, then stopped. “A little.”
I gave a nod, and kissed her warmth. “Then let me lick it better.”
Her fingers spread out against the back of my head. I kissed her skin and slid the hemline of my hoodie up as she parted her thighs. That same urgency that had filled me all those months ago resurfaced. We were back in the Mustang the day after our parents announced their engagement, sitting in the park…and that same demand still lingered between us. “Show me, princess.” The same words escaped as I lifted my gaze to hers. “Show me.”
She sucked in a hard deep breath, then widened her legs for me, still holding my stare.
My throat tightened, choked up with emotion. This…slip of a woman made me feel. Fuck, she made me feel so much.
More than I wanted.
Yet, here she was…
I was the one to break the stare, my voice husky. “I’m going to find a way out of this, princess. I’m going to find a way.”
She answered instantly. “I know you will.”
There was so much faith in her voice, pure conviction. It only made that brushing pang in my chest move deeper. She loved me…she loved all of us. I lowered my gaze to the elastic of her panties and slid my finger underneath.
Love…
It consumed me as I tugged her panties aside and kissed the top of her slit. I wanted to do more than fuck her. I wanted to taste and relish and drink her down. But as her hand cupped the back of my head, I realized this wasn’t going to work. I wanted more. I grasped the waistband of her panties and dragged them down. “Lift, princess.”
She braced her hands against the edge of the desk and her heel found a hold against Ben’s drawer before her ass rose enough for me to slide them off. I dropped the lace to the desk, wanting my line of sight as I placed my hands on her knees and parted them.
Pink waited between her thighs in the flickering light. Her body trembled under my touch, making me seek her stare. Was she nervous… scared? Was her body thrumming like mine? “Is this okay?”
She nodded as I slid both my thumbs over the lips of her pussy, gently pressing them together, and dragged all the way to the top. I never pushed in, never looked away, just went back down, sliding over her slit, then moved up again once more. Over and over, without parting her lips, and each time when I neared her clit, I eased that pressure just a little, watching the sparks of nerves in her stare turning into something a little hungrier.
She wiggled her ass a bit.
I shifted my focus to the movement of callused thumbs. My hands weren’t meant to touch anything so goddamn perfect, so…pure. “I’ve never wanted to fuck you more than I do right now.”
Her body rocked as I stopped my touch on either side of her clit and massaged. A moan tore free, low and guttural, and her fingers trembled as she reached for something to hold on to.
“You can hold onto me,” I murmured, then lowered my head and licked the top of her slit. She whimpered as I slid my thumbs over her flesh to dance around the sensitive area of her clit. Fuck, she was wet…glistening in the goddamn lights.
And as the numbers flashed across the screen, selling my millions in possessions, I bent my head to lick her again. “Mine,” I whispered before I parted her pussy lips and drove my tongue into her core. Mine.
Her body bucked, and her hand drove my face harder against her. I reached up, grabbed the soft flesh of her ass, and yanked her forward until she balanced precariously on the edge of the desk. “Lie back, princess,” I demanded.
The thud of her elbows hitting the desk followed. I splayed her out against the mafia boss’s desk and licked the mess I’d created.
“Oh, God.” She lifted her leg, bent her knee, and opened wide for me.
I gripped her ass and licked that sweet pussy from ass to clit, then pulled that tiny nub into my mouth and felt her body pulse. “That’s the way, princess,” I murmured, releasing one hand to gently slide two fingers inside.
She bucked and quivered. I couldn’t look away as she came apart under my touch.
This was more than sex.
More than desire.
More than love….
Because there weren’t the right words to capture this.
Her pussy clenched around my fingers as creamy slick flowed.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I whispered, watching my sister come. “So fucking perfect.”
She moaned, and her hand moved to cup mine, with my fingers still buried inside, and as I watched her, I was slammed with a wave of terror, one so brutal it snatched the air from my lungs. I slid my fingers free and clenched my fist, holding onto her desire as hard as I could.
She seemed to sense something was wrong. Her head lifted from the desk and those gray-blue eyes found me in the dimness. “What is it?”
I couldn’t say the words, couldn’t find a way out of the agony that gripped my chest. She pushed up, fear moving in her eyes, alive and real and hungry. “Nick?”
I looked away at the lights shimmering off her thigh. “One day, you’ll want more,” I started. “You’ll want a husband and a family. You’ll want more than we can give you.” Fuck, the words felt like acid, searing the back of my throat. “When that time comes, we’ll step away. You have my word on that.”
We’ll step away…
We’ll step away.
We’ll step—
“What the fuck did you say?” She shoved upright, her voice faint and fierce and trembling all at the same time.
I forced myself to meet those innocent eyes. “Ryth, we’re your—”
“Family,” she declared forcefully. “Lovers. Brothers. Mine.” The bottom of my hoodie fell as she cupped my chin. “There is no stepping away for me, don’t you get that by now?”
The soft chuff was reflex, as was the small shake of my head. “You’re young—”
“And you’re stupid if you can’t see I’ve fallen in love with you. Nick. I’ve fallen in love with all three of you. I don’t care about marriage, or kids. But if I did want to have kids…and if you did, as well…then…then we’d explore that together.”
Kids?
A family?
Dried, bloody smears on the floor pushed in. Not like the one we’d had with our own father. A real family, one not built on lies and betrayal…but on love.
On what we had…
Even if it was forbidden.
“Got that?” she whispered.
I gave a nod. “I got it.”
“Good. I don’t want to hear that ever again and I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear it now. I’d get down and ride you right now if I was sure my legs would take my weight.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “It’s only fair,” I responded. “You steal my hoodie and I take your ability to walk…for a second, at least.”
She smiled, then chuckled as she lifted her arms. “Then it looks like you’d better carry me to bed.”
I rose from the chair, closed the laptop, and reached for her. “Whatever you want, princess…whatever you want.”
