by Penelope Sky
“I know Maverick hasn’t talked to him, and I wish they could work it out.”
“Mr. DeVille is stubborn. And his father is even more stubborn. I don’t think their story has a happy ending. Ever since his wife died, that man hasn’t been the same. Not to me, any of the other servants, and definitely not to his kids.”
I’d forgotten Maverick had a sister. He never talked about her. “Maybe I could talk to him…”
“And get yourself killed?” she asked incredulously. “That won’t do anyone any good—unless you kill him on your way down.” She didn’t hide her venom for the man who was so cold to Maverick. She clearly had great affection for her employer.
“I just want to talk…not fight.”
“I don’t think you’ll have the option.”
I wanted to press her for information, but I knew I wouldn’t get anything. She was far too loyal to Maverick to give me any help. And if she knew what I had in mind, she would tattle on me right away. “Thank you for dinner.”
I sat on the couch in my room with the TV on. It was getting late, and I suspected Maverick was home by now. A part of me hoped he would come to my bedroom, even if it was just for a quick chat. But the silence continued, leading me to believe such a visit would never take place.
I grabbed my phone and texted him. Do you have company for the evening? This man was so handsome, so confident, and so sexy that he was magnetic. He attracted the attention of every person in the room, like honey attracting a swarm of bees. Finding a beautiful woman for a night of meaningless passion was easier than opening a bottle of wine. He could get laid whenever he was in the mood. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he were already with someone else, forgetting about our night together like it didn’t happen.
A few minutes passed before the three dots popped up on my phone. No.
My heart gave a slight thump in excitement. Do you want company…?
I always want to fuck—if that’s what you’re asking.
I didn’t just want sex. I wanted to spend time with him, ask him about his day. I wanted to share a bottle of wine and run my fingers through his dark hair. I wanted connection, intimacy.
I went upstairs and stepped inside his bedroom.
He was sitting up in bed, wearing just his sweatpants as his powerful back leaned against the headboard. His ankles were crossed, and his bare feet reached toward the end of the bed, athletic with a prominent arch. Every feature he possessed was somehow masculine, somehow sexy. An iPad was sitting in his lap, and his eyes were glued to the screen like he was reading something.
I shut the door behind me and stepped inside.
He finished reading whatever held his attention then he lifted his gaze to meet mine. His hair was still styled from his shower, and his jaw was clean from his shave. He watched me with those eyes that reminded me of a hot cup of coffee on a cold morning. They were penetrative, intimate. He set aside his device without taking his eyes off me.
I moved to the other side of the bed and stripped out of my clothes, keeping my panties on.
His eyes trailed over my body, examining the curve of my tits and my waistline. He seemed to like the white color of my underwear, the way it matched my pale skin. His eyes were focused on me, slowly turning from calm to intense.
I pulled back the sheets and slipped into bed beside him. The second my body softened into the mattress, I felt comfortable. The mattress was probably identical to the one I had in my bedroom, but his felt so much better. With my body turned on the side, I looked up at the beautiful man who hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
He finally scooted down then turned over, his head resting on the pillow right beside me. He didn’t ravish me right away, taking his time as he undressed me with his gaze. His cologne was fragrant, the scent that made ovaries melt.
My hand moved to his chest, and my fingers pressed into the area where two slabs of muscles met right in the center. Slowly, my hand explored until it found the drumbeat of his heart, the gentle thump as his body worked to stay alive. He was warm to the touch, scorching hot. My eyes followed my movements, appreciating all of his beauty. “How was your day?”
“I thought you came here for sex.”
“I did. But I still want to know how your day was.”
He turned contemplative, like he considered ignoring the question. “I had a lot of shipments go out today. Some of my wheels have aged to perfection, and now everyone wants them. They had to be loaded onto the truck for delivery.”
“You help with that?”
“No. I just make sure it gets done. I have foremen who help with management, but my father taught me that if you want things done right, you have to do them yourself…and he was right.”
My fingers glided down to his hard stomach, feeling the hard grooves. “Have you spoken to your father?”
“No. And when I do, I know it won’t be pleasant.”
“Have you considered reaching out to him? You know, soften the tension.”
His eyes were nearly the color of his hair, deep brown. His tanned skin reminded me of olive oil, so stunning. “Softness is weakness in my world. It’s essential to be respected—especially by your enemies.”
“Your father is your enemy?”
He gave a slow nod. “Unfortunately.”
“I hope it won’t always be that way.” Especially since I was the reason they were pitted against each other. The last time they were in the same room together, it seemed like one of them was going to die.
If he was still angry with me, he didn’t show it. “My father is stubborn.”
“Only because he’s upset. He’s not thinking rationally.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I wished there were something I could do to repair the damage between them, to bring father and son back to the same side. Caspian was despicable, but he was still Maverick’s father. I wanted them to have the relationship I had with my father…to be close. “What’s your sister’s name?”
A slight reaction took place on his face, a dilation of his eyes. He wasn’t as relaxed as he was a moment ago, the subject making him tense. He’d never talked about her before, only mentioned her in passing. “Lily.”
“Pretty name…”
“She’s a pretty girl.”
My lips slightly lifted into a smile, moved by what he said. “You two are close?”
His eyes dropped. “We’ve gotten closer since my mother died. Dealing with our father made us allies. We’re both hardheaded and stubborn, so we didn’t always get along. But you know what they say, tragedy always brings people together…”
“I’ve never seen her come by the house before. Do you see her often?”
He kept his gaze averted. “No.”
“Why? Does she live somewhere else?”
He turned back to me, hostility in his gaze. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Just curious… You know everything about me.”
“I doubt that.”
“I’m not asking to be nosy. I just like talking to you.” It was easy to look past his rough edges when I knew how good he was underneath. He was protective and honest, the kind of qualities any woman would want in a man. When he let his walls come down, he was irresistible.
“She’s here in Florence—but she’s in rehab.” He watched my gaze and studied my reaction.
It was hard to stay stoic when the information was so surprising. “Oh…I’m sorry.” I’d never dealt with addiction or knew anyone with a problem. But I saw Maverick drink like he could easily be addicted himself.
“She and my mother were really close. It wasn’t just her death that devastated her. It was also how she died…it really disturbed my sister. She quickly slid into drinking. When she developed a tolerance for that, she moved on to something stronger…and just slipped away. My father made it worse and pushed her to her breaking point. To this day, he’s never visited her in rehab. He’s never even talked to her about it…just disowned her. Apparently, it’s too hard
to pick up the phone and check on your own fucking daughter.” Bitterness exploded out of his mouth like a burst of flame. “So, now it’s just the two of us…and I have to be what she needs.”
He seemed to take care of everyone around him, including me. But who took care of him? “She’s lucky to have you.”
“I’m all she’s got.” He looked away again, his eyes filled with sad thoughts. “This is why I prefer fucking instead of talking. Nothing good ever comes from talking.” His eyes shifted back to mine, a little darker than before.
My hand slid to his arm, my fingertips gently sliding over the mounds of muscle. “That’s too bad…because I like talking to you.” I slid my body closer to his and hooked my leg over his hip, bringing our faces just inches apart. My hand slid into the hair at the back of his neck, and my fingers caressed the soft strands. The instant I started to touch him this way, he relaxed a bit. It seemed to be his favorite spot, his weakness.
His eyes stayed on mine, a little less hostile than before. His hand rested on my thigh and slowly slid up to my ass, his large fingers warm to the touch. When he reached my thong, he gently tugged on the lace, like he wanted to pull it off.
When I came to his bedroom, sex wasn’t the biggest issue on my mind. When he had been seriously injured, we lay in bed and watched movies all day, forced to cuddle and talk. That’s what I wanted the most from him, to have that kind of relationship. After I’d pissed him off, it disappeared. Slowly, it began to rebuild, his anger fading away.
I wanted to look in those beautiful eyes forever, but the comfort started to soften me, started to make me slip away. My eyes closed and my fingers halted in his hair, locked around the strands I loved to play with. This house was an impenetrable fortress, but I never felt as safe as I did when I was by his side.
It only took me a minute to drift off to that moment between consciousness and sleep. I was on the edge, about to tip over and fall into the abyss. That was when I felt Maverick’s movements. He pulled the sheets down and over my body, spreading them on top of me and tucking me in. Then I heard the click of the bedside lamp as he turned off the light. His body returned to mine, and he lay in the same position as before, tugging my leg over his hip.
Then he let me sleep.
4
Maverick
I pulled through the open gates and approached the two-story castle. Just like my estate, my father’s place was situated in the countryside, still living in the same home he’d shared with my mother.
Sometimes I worried it was poisoning his mind. Her ghost haunted the hallways. Her presence in the walls and furniture constantly reminded him of what he’d lost. He turned his injured mind into a madhouse.
Just as I stepped out of the car, he strode out the house. Summer was over, and fall was subtly rolling in. A night like this would still have been filled with heat just a month ago, but now it had touches of coolness. He wore a black jacket over his collared shirt, his dark hair matching his mood.
I walked toward him, my gun stuffed into the back of my jeans. It was loaded and ready to fire. All I had to do was click off the safety. I’d never thought I needed protection around my father, but now I saw him as a serious threat. He’d nearly killed me at the house—and he would have killed my wife if I hadn’t stopped him.
He stopped in front of me, several feet in between us since this was a hostile meeting. The outdoor lights provided enough illumination so I could see the sour look on his face—and I was sure he could see mine. He was probably packing under that jacket. Why else would he be wearing it?
He was the one who had called this meeting, so I stood silently as I waited for him to speak first. Maybe this was all a ploy to kill me, to take a cheap shot under the flag of truce. If he were anyone else, I would eliminate him immediately. It was always a bad idea to let a threat go unchecked. But our shared blood made me soft, made me hope for a more optimistic resolution.
He stared at me with the same hatred, like he was ashamed I carried the DeVille surname. With beady black eyes that blended in with the night, he watched me without blinking. “Have you put her down yet?”
His men kept tabs on Arwen and me, so he already knew the answer to his question. He was just trying to make a point. “Arwen is different from us. She saw two innocent women who needed to be rescued—so she rescued them. I know that thwarted your plans, but it wasn’t personal.”
His eyes narrowed. “You aren’t a teenager anymore, Maverick. Why are you still so weak for pussy?”
I stood my ground and didn’t react, even though it was such a crass thing for a father to say to a son. “You’re the one who made me marry her. All of this happened because of you. You brought a stranger into the family. If you hadn’t done that, then she wouldn’t have let the girls go. Cause and effect.”
He took a step closer to me. “It was necessary.”
“We would have found Ramon on our own—eventually.”
“If she’s such a burden, then put a bullet in her damn head. Be done with it.” His hands hung at his sides, and they both tightened into fists. “All she had to do was keep her head down and shut her mouth, and she would have had a nice life. She’s lucky to wear such a respected surname as DeVille. But if she doesn’t understand loyalty, she doesn’t deserve it. Put her in the ground.”
Her father was long gone, and she did betray my family when she snuck around behind my back. She hijacked our plans and took matters into her own hands. If one of our men did the same, they would be executed. We had every right to dispose of her, to give her the ultimate punishment. I’d be a bachelor once more, having that house to myself without a wife to protect. She was a woman who easily attracted the obsession of men, so I had to chase them away with my frightening growls and sharp teeth. Not to mention, I had a seven-foot mutant to worry about now. Killing her was the pragmatic choice. It was a choice I was justified to make.
“Maverick.” My father lowered his voice, turning lethal. “Kill her.”
I could go home right now and put a bullet in her head. I could stand over her bed while she was sound asleep. She wouldn’t even know what happened because it would be over so quickly.
He took another step closer to me. “Did you hear me?”
It was dead silent in the middle of the night. Of course I heard him.
“She doesn’t deserve your protection, Maverick. She’s a two-timing whore. She deserves to die a whore’s death.”
My eyes narrowed on his face, unnerved by the insult she didn’t deserve.
“Kill her. Or I’ll kill you.” Now, we were close together, our eyes locked and full of menace. “Put that bitch in the ground, or I’ll do it myself. And then I’ll throw you in with her.”
My father had threatened to kill me several times now, and each one was more painful than the last. Without my mother on this earth, I was easily expendable. There was no love in his gaze, no affection in his heart. At least Arwen remembered my birthday. At least Arwen asked how my day was. At least she was there for me when this demon never was. “I choose her.”
The rage that took over his face was indescribable. Two explosions happened in his eyes, and his eyebrows furrowed as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. Like a billowing cloud about to drop a storm, his eyes grew darker and darker.
“Goodbye, Caspian.” I turned my back to him, knowing there was a serious chance he would draw on me and put a bullet in my back. But if my father really did such a thing, I wouldn’t have much motivation to live anyway. I’d lost my mother, my sister was in rehab, and my father disowned me. I had no one.
There was only one family member left, one person who shared my name.
My wife.
I worked around the clock for the next few days. As long as I stayed busy, I didn’t think about the threat Caspian had unleashed. He wanted to murder my wife and toss my body in with hers. I wasn’t afraid of death because I saw it as merciful. When the human body collapsed under intense pain, opting out was the best gift
that could be given.
But it disturbed me that my own father wanted to murder me.
If my mother were still alive, she’d beat the shit out of him.
I finished dinner with a client in the city, one of my big vendors that operated restaurants throughout the country. We talked numbers and increasing production to meet those demands, and then we parted ways.
I walked to my car in the darkness, thinking about the business I’d just grabbed. When my family business had existed in the underworld, our lives had revolved around money, drugs, and territory. The cheese business took a back seat. But now it was my only priority since I had become a law-abiding citizen. It was a much more relaxing livelihood.
But I couldn’t enjoy it because I had two psychopaths for enemies.
I turned the corner and was approaching my Bugatti when my phone rang in my pocket. I glanced at the screen and saw Arwen’s name. I got into the car, started the engine, and then took the call through the car. “Yes?”
“We haven’t spoken in three days, and that’s how you greet me?”
I turned the car around and sped through the streets, driving like an asshole because I was an asshole. The corner of my mouth rose in a smile at her attitude, noting the way she told me off when others were too scared to do the same. “It’s been a long day.”
“I doubt it.”
With one hand on the wheel, I tried to focus on the road instead of picturing her beautiful face. She was probably at home in her bedroom, wondering when I would be back. “Is there something you needed?”
“Do I have to need something to talk to you?”
I wasn’t used to this kind of relationship, where I had someone I spoke to on a daily basis. We didn’t discuss business or crime. We didn’t discuss anything in particular, just as I would with a friend. She became someone in my inner circle, someone like Kent. But I also fucked her…which was interesting. “Most people want something from me.”