Eleusis (Stacked Deck Book 9)

by Emilia Finn

  “Um…” When Evie climbs down from the side of the ring to follow Olivia, and Oz merely clears his throat of the awkwardness that settles on the room, Bobby rocks back on his heels and meets my eyes. “So… we’re good in here?”

  I give him one short, sharp nod.

  Bobby looks to Oz. “Do we have a problem? Because I didn’t forget the bit about you wanting to shake me down.”

  Oz looks to me, his pupils wide, and his nostrils flaring. He wants to rage at me, he wants to shoot me dead. But he can’t do that shit without losing everything he’s worked for. So on a huff of rage, he turns away and storms out of the room to leave just me, Ben, and Jamie, plus whoever else is standing around to watch the show.

  “Thank fuck,” Jamie exclaims. Then, “Ben. Go away.”

  “Nope.” Ben backs up out of my space, but stops in the corner of the boxing ring, and slides down the padded side until he sits with his back against the corner, and brings his knees up. “I’m gonna chill the fuck out right here and watch you guys train.”

  “Ben…”

  “What?” He looks directly into my eyes and doesn’t back down. “He’s a heavyweight, I’m a heavyweight. We’re gonna meet up in competition, so it would be smart business to study his technique, right? It’s what we do.”

  “Yeah, with videos!” Jamie snaps. “Ben, you can’t just watch us train. That’s not how it works.”

  He drags his electric blue eyes away from me and stops them on Jamie. “So move me.”

  “Sasquatch! Fuck.”

  “Move. Me.” Ben rests his hands on his knees and lays his head back against the padded corner of the boxing ring. “Pick me the fuck up and move me, or get on with your shit. He thinks he can watch my sister, then there ain’t a fucking person on this planet that will stop me from looking at him.”

  “You just heard her,” Jamie argues. “She told him to stay away. She doesn’t want him, she doesn’t wanna know him, and she’s big enough to look after herself.”

  She doesn’t want him, she doesn’t wanna know him.

  “I’m done for today anyway.” I tear open the Velcro on my gloves, one by one, and drop them to the canvas. “The room is all yours, Conner.”

  “Good.” Ben waves me off. “Fuck off, pussy. Don’t let me catch you near my sister again.”

  Olivia

  Pure Intentions

  “No, Mom. I can’t come over tonight. I’m sorry.”

  “But, babe.” Mom’s chastising voice coming through my phone is laced with disappointment aimed at me, but with a large side-heaping of impatience for my little brother and an unhelpful cashier at the store. “I’m making pot roast for Oz and Uncle Alex. Ben and Smalls are coming, Jules and Avery. Lachlan is about to run into the street into oncoming traffic. Lachlan! Get your butt back in this store!”

  “Mom…” Snickering, I sit in my car and stare into my rearview mirror to check my face. I’m pale – like, paler than usual. My eyes are wide, bright, almost like I’m suffering from some kind of shock. “I’m going to dinner with Brenten tonight, you’re cooking dinner for the police force, and Ben and I really shouldn’t be in the same space right now.”

  “You afraid he’ll lock you up and keep you away from all the boys?” she teases.

  “No.” I roll my eyes. “I’m afraid that if I get too close, I’ll strangle him dead, and then you’ll get mad at me. I can’t be trusted not to hurt him at this point.”

  “Livi,” Mom sighs. “He loves you.”

  “Yeah, and Daddy does too. But if I have to watch him throw one more tantrum about William, I’m gonna strangle him too. I’m done with the caveman act, Mom. I’m a grown woman, I’m strong and smart, and I swear to Christ, I’m just saying, I get why you shot my sperm donor.”

  “Olivia!” Mom chokes out. “That’s just… That’s…” She whistles. “Damn. Please don’t shoot anyone. It makes getting jobs more difficult.”

  “I can’t make any promises. Which is why I’m not coming to dinner. Tell them I love them, but also tell them to back the hell up.”

  “Fine.”

  In the background, I hear the rhythmic beep-beep-beep of Mom’s groceries passing through the checkout, and behind that, a holler that I know belongs to my kid brother.

  What the hell were my parents thinking, creating another Ben, but mixed with a whole heap of Oz Franks’ DNA? Whose apocalyptic bullshit idea was that?

  “Lachlan!”

  “Mom, I have to go. I just pulled up at Brenten’s place. I’m going in, I have my hooker heels on, and maybe I’m gonna do things tonight that Daddy and Ben never have to know about.”

  “Honey…”

  “No judgment,” I cut in. “Remember? Never any judgment. We promised.”

  “I’m not judging you, Liv. Thanks,” she tells the cashier, then collects her things and wrangles her kid, all without breaking concentration from what she’s saying to me. “If you want to date a man, I’m not going to stop you. You are a grown woman, and women your age do…” She lowers her voice. “Sex. Women have sex. And hell, I believe good sex is great for the immune system. So I’m totally supportive.”

  “But…?”

  “But Brenten?” she sighs. “I just… I hope it’s not a revenge thing. An I’ll show them! thing against Oz and your brother.”

  “Well, that’s gross.”

  She snickers. “Like I said, if you wanna have sex, go for it. Be careful, do it safely, have fun. But I want you to be happy with your choices, and not do it as some kind of rebellion just to annoy the barbarians. If you want to have sex with Brenten, then…” She pauses for a moment before saying, “gross.”

  “Mother!”

  She laughs. “He’s just not my type. But, if he’s yours, then I will support you. One hundred percent, zero judgment, please wash your hands before you come home.”

  “Lindsi Conner!”

  Snorting giggles echo through my phone and into my ear.

  I glance away from my mirror, and instead, up to the multi-story apartment building directly in front of me. He doesn’t know I’m here yet. He doesn’t know I’m coming at all, and that in itself is an exciting thrill that makes my palms sweaty.

  “I love you, babe. That’s all I’m gonna say. Be safe, be happy, be brave.”

  “Safe, happy, brave,” I repeat on a low whisper. “I promise.”

  “Then that’s all I can ask for. Listen, I have to go. Lachlan is going to send me gray with worry. Did you know Oz bought him shoes, but, like, with the wheels in the bottom?”

  “Skates?”

  “No! Like actual shoes but wheels pop out of the bottom sometimes. They’re insane, Liv! What the hell was he thinking?”

  “He was thinking about all those years he spent skating at Uncle Alex’s house when they were kids.” Unsnapping my seatbelt, I grab my purse and push my car door open. “I’m getting out of my car. I’m going on a date, and it’s super likely I’ll be spending the night in this apartment. So if you want peace with all the guys, keep them busy at your place, and don’t let them patrol the town. Who’s on shift tonight?”

  “At the station?” she asks. “I don’t know. I think maybe a couple of the younger guys.”

  “What’s going on with that taskforce stuff Daddy was losing sleep over?”

  Mom sighs and steps outside until the sound of beeping registers changes to the sound of a single car puttering its way along Main Street. “It’s still keeping him awake. But tonight, both he and X are rostered off.”

  “So pot roast.”

  “Pot roast,” she agrees. “Be safe tonight, honey. I won’t tell anyone where you are.”

  “Appreciate it.”

  I step through the building’s front entrance amid the click-click-click of my heels, and glance around at the bank of mailboxes, and a long bench seat that also kind of doubles as a plant holder. Or, well, a plant holder that doubles as a bench seat. The walls inside are brick, the stairs concrete. Not very upmarket or fancy, but
certainly secure and clean.

  When my line beeps to indicate another call incoming, I check the screen and draw a heady breath. “Mom, I have to go. My other line is ringing, and I’m already inside the building.”

  “Love you, honey. I trust you to be able to judge a situation and remove yourself if you have to.”

  “Thank you. And I can,” I tack on. “I can take care of myself. Goodnight, Mom.”

  “Night, baby.”

  As soon as that call goes dead, I accept the next and begin up the stairs. “Hi, Brenten. I can’t talk for long, I just arrived at Mom and Oz’s for dinner.”

  “Oh…” Despite the fact he was yet to speak, I can still tell that his voice drops a few tones from excited to that “oh”. “Dinner with the parents tonight?”

  “Yup. Pot roast, and Ben’s about to give me the beady eye, so…”

  “So you just… alright. Dinner with the parents. Didn’t think to invite me?”

  I turn at the top of the first flight of stairs, and begin onto the second. “Would you like to come to dinner, Brenten? Mom is making pot roast, but it’s not quite done yet, so you have time to head on over if you like.”

  “Hart twins there?”

  I drop my gaze to the floor to hide my smile – from who? I don’t know – and shake my head. “Yes, they’re here. You need to understand that the Hart guys are family to me. We’re all family, so you’re gonna have to get used to it, and stop asking me if they’re around.”

  “Stop asking?”

  “Yes. From here on out, let’s just assume that they’re always around. That way, there are no awkward surprises when they actually turn up, and you get to practice not being afraid of them. They’re really not so bad, you know?”

  “I’m not afraid of them!” he snaps. He’s totally afraid of them. “I just don’t want to eat dinner with a couple of guys who’ll happily set me on fire if it means they can get rid of me and their convictions.”

  “But they’re my family, which means if you and I are meant to be forever, then they’ll be at our wedding. If you don’t bury the hatchet now, then it’s super likely they’ll hijack the wedding and make a scene that includes a keg stand and ping pong balls. You need to choose where and when you want this showdown, Brenten, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll make sure it’s not during a family wedding.”

  I turn at the next flight of stairs, and continue up. “They’re really not so bad, you know. I could send them to your place right now; they could bring pot roast in Tupperware, you guys could hang out and play cards, get to know each other in a real, genuine way. Their mom is like, five feet tall. What’s so scary about that?”

  “No thanks,” he grumbles. “Maybe another day.”

  “Another day?” I smile and slow at the end of a long hall. “You busy tonight?”

  “Yeah. I think I’ll stay in and do a little work. I’ve always got something to do, so I guess I’ll do that, you do dinner with them. Will you come to me after?”

  “Um…” I begin moving again and slow in front of an apartment door. “I don’t think so. I think I’ll be here awhile, and after that, I’d rather just go to bed. But maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Maybe,” he sighs. “Hey, listen, Liv. Before you go?”

  “Mm?” I bring my hand up in preparation to knock, but don’t make contact just yet. “What’s up?”

  “What do you know about Larkin Pryor and the local law enforcement’s relationship with him?”

  “You are not seriously asking me that right now,” I demand. “Dammit, Brenten. I am not your middleman or a well for information. Do your job, do it on your own steam, don’t ask me again.”

  “Geez,” he hisses. “Fine. I’m sorry I asked.”

  I shake my head and bring my fist to the solid wooden door with a fast one-two rap. The sound echoes, first in front of me, then coincidentally through the phone.

  I frown when the realization forms in my mind. “Do you have visitors?”

  “Yeah. I dunno. Let me get this, Liv. I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay.” My eyes whip to the door in front of me, the moving handle. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  The door swings open, and a broad man stops in the doorway so I have to angle my head back.

  “Um…” I swallow and bring the phone away from my ear. Maybe the dregs of my boyfriend’s voice rattle around inside my brain, but my eyes focus on a man much taller than me.

  He’s so broad, so ridiculously broad and muscled that it’s just not normal. I was raised with a heavyweight fighter for a brother, I was raised inside a gym with meatheads who spanned the larger end of the male spectrum. But even so, I still look at William Quinn’s shoulders now, and feel the strange pulse of butterfly wings in my stomach.

  My heart races, and my eyes flicker up to his. He stares back at me. No words, no reactions but to stand in the doorway in jeans… and nothing else. Blue jeans, the same color as his eyes, the button undone, so a pair of black boxer shorts beneath are visible. His abdominal muscles are defined; one, two, three, four, five, six, and possibly a few more. A V slides down into his shorts, but the V is somewhat overshadowed by heavy muscles that sit above it – Jesus, I work in a gym, but I have no clue the name of that muscle.

  His navel is a half innie, half outie, like maybe the doctor messed up when cutting it, and now this is the way it sits. Thick, blue veins pulse beneath the tight skin on his arms, and his pecs stand proud and defined.

  “You… uh…” I clear my throat and try to remember my bravery from only twenty minutes ago when I slid my feet into these shoes. I look to a single patch of ink on his chest – script, but it appears to be in Latin – and tilt my head like that might help me read another language. “What does that say?”

  “It says ‘Olivia’s bootyhole probably tastes delicious.’” His eyes flicker over my cleavage, then up to my eyes. “Can I confirm?”

  “Can you conf—” I shake my head. “Confirm what?”

  “Your asshole,” he says in his low, rumbling tone. “I can’t know if my tattoo is correct unless you drop your panties and let me get a taste.”

  “Of my…” I swallow. “My bu–My…”

  “Your ass, Olivia.” He takes a single step back – invitation – and grins when I hesitantly step inside.

  It’s like there was a forcefield in the hall. For as long as I didn’t step over the threshold, I would be safe, and he was unable to touch. But now I’m inside the lion’s den, the bear’s cave, the insert-a-cliché-here, because-my-brain-stopped-working-when-he-said-bootyhole.

  I stop in the middle of this space – the kitchen – and turn back as William closes his door and flips the locks. One ominous click. Two. Three.

  He turns at his door, studies me for the world’s longest minute, then he grins and licks his lips… and basically undoes me. “Why are you here, Olivia?” He stalks forward in slow, intimidating steps. “I mean…” His low, gritty chuckle is like sandpaper on my clitoris. “I know why you’re here. But for me to give you what you want – what you need – I’m gonna need you to say the words out loud.”

  “Why are you so brash and crude?” I stand my ground and refuse to step back, but that’s as far as my bravery extends, because my voice breaks. “You don’t have to be so aggressive about it.”

  “I’m only aggressive about you, Beautiful Olivia.”

  He stops so close that I could rest my chin on his naked chest. I have to fold my neck back to maintain eye contact, which means the ends of my hair tickle my back and add to the electricity sizzling in the air, but that turns molten when William slides a hand around my neck and cups it.

  Control? I ask myself. Or support?

  “I’ve felt aggressive about you since the first moment I saw you.” He smiles and folds his neck just a little lower so the tip of his nose almost touches mine. “I’m only a man, a mortal, and you swing your hips when you walk.”

  “It’s just a walk,” I breathe o
ut. “It’s just—”

  “Olivia?” He pauses and smiles. “It’s a preview. A fuckin’ tease. Because if that’s how you swing when you’re only walking, imagine how your hips will move when I fuck you. And then, if you wanna get all evolutionary and shit, your hips tell my caveman brain that you’re gonna be a pro baby-maker. You got all the goods, Olivia. And until we get to the evolution bit, I’m gonna enjoy the shit out of your womanly curves. Now tell me,” he bends lower, and darts his tongue out to moisten his own bottom lip. But when the tip of his tongue touches my lip, my knees almost give out. “Why are you here? I swear, I won’t even make you say please.” He gently pushes his hips forward until the solid length of his dick touches my stomach. “I can’t hide the fact I want you. It’s right there for the world to see. So you know what my cards look like. But yours…” he shakes his head. “You’re always so guarded and secretive.”

  “I have a boyfriend.”

  He scoffs so his hot breath touches the back of my throat. “Yawn. That line is getting tired. But if that’s like a roleplay game you wanna run with, then I’ll play. Am I the big bad wolf, Olivia, and you’re the innocent Red? Is my role to force you to be with me, that way you get to tell everyone it wasn’t your fault?”

  Yes! “You couldn’t force anything from me. I will put you on the ground if you try.”

  He nods and brings his second hand up to cup my neck. Now he’s definitely controlling me, and much like in my self-defense class, he wraps his thumbs around – threat – but strokes my skin – tenderness. “Where does everyone think you are?”

  “My mom and dad think I’m with Brenten.”

  He nods for a moment and nibbles on his bottom lip. “And Brenten?”

  “Thinks I’m with my mom and dad.”

  “A loop,” he grins. “A tidy little loop that’s gonna get you caught real easy. Are you looking to fulfill a fantasy with me, Olivia? A romp with the poor boy, a fast fuck, even while you have a boyfriend?”

  “Are you saying no?”

  He brings a hand away from my neck and down to the front of my shirt. It’s loose tonight, floaty and easy. With a wolfish grin, he dips the end of his finger between my cleavage and drags my shirt forward until he gets a full view of my bra and stomach.