by Sam Crescent
Their marriage gave Liam the security he enjoyed. It meant he could come and go as he pleased. All she had to do, if she decided to have a relationship, was to be discreet. Nothing long-term, and no love matches. Liam also demanded he get to know the man or woman she decided to include in her life.
She hadn’t fallen for anyone. One relationship when Easton was really young had shaken her to the core. She had heard about violence within the home but had never seen or been part of it.
When her boyfriend had smacked her across the face, she had been shocked. When she wouldn’t have sex with him, he’d beaten her up so bad she had to go to the hospital. She had pressed charges, and not long after that, she’d met Liam.
In another life they might have been perfect for each other.
“Are you going to talk to him?” Liam asked.
“I don’t know if I should talk to him. We left things so … no, I’m not going to talk to him. I don’t owe him anything.”
“The man just found out he has a son. You think he’s not going to try and see him.”
“You can stop that, right?” she asked.
“There are a lot of things I can do. I’m a powerful man, and I can make sure Easton never comes near his son.” Liam frowned. “Let’s start calling them Senior and Junior. What made you think to call them the same name? This could get complicated.”
“After Easton pushed me aside and pretty much told me that it was never going to happen between us, I knew I didn’t want to waste time on what wasn’t going to happen, so I, erm, I figured naming him Easton would be a reminder to me as well. To always be careful who I gave my heart to.”
“It makes a lot of sense, but, sweetheart, I’m going to be real, Easton is not going to back down.”
“You said so yourself. You can fight.”
“Of course I can, but Easton has something I don’t have.”
“What?”
“Senior is Junior’s father. He has DNA, and I’ve got nothing.”
“But he didn’t want him. He didn’t want his son.”
“Did you ever get to tell him he has a son?” Liam asked.
“No. I still had my pride, and I wasn’t going to go hunting for a guy that tore my heart out, stomped on it, set it on fire, and then proceeded to cut it.”
“Colorful,” Liam said. “He’s one-quarter of the Four Kings. He’s a powerful man.”
“So are you.”
“I know, but if he was to pull the company behind him, there’s no way for me to stop him. Unless a judge rules different, Easton is going to see his son.”
Scarlett glared at the business card.
“You’re not going to kill Easton through a single glance at a card. No matter how much you want to set it on fire.”
“What do you suggest?” she asked.
“Go and see him. Invite him here so I can get a good look at my competition.”
She laughed as Liam wrapped his arms around her. “Competition?”
“I wasn’t meaning Easton. You could be my competition for this guy’s affections.”
Scarlett didn’t want to imagine Liam and Easton together, but it didn’t stop her from enjoying the potential view. They were both sexy men. Liam appeared stronger to her, more muscular than Easton.
It would be one sexual fantasy, but no, she wasn’t going to allow herself to go down that road. Who hadn’t thought of them in a man sandwich before? She could safely say Easton and Liam were the two men in her world that she had fallen in love with without a doubt. It wasn’t going to happen though. Not in this lifetime.
“You want me to invite him to dinner?” she asked, running the card across her lip.
“Why not? I don’t see a problem in getting involved with Easton. We’ll get to know if it’s worth calling my lawyers, and we can try and stop any kind of bad press that could come of this.”
She wrapped her arms around Liam’s neck. “Look at you, always thinking of the future.”
She dropped a kiss to his lips, and for a few seconds, Liam caught the back of her head.
“Ew, gross, guys. Come on,” Easton said, interrupting them.
She laughed. “Of course.” She rolled her eyes.
To their son, they were a married couple. They shared a bed, and kept up the pretense of their relationship.
Scarlett knew it was anything but.
Liam spent a great deal of time in the city, and she could only allow herself to wonder exactly what it was he did.
She grabbed her bottled water. “I better go and figure out a cab, and what to say to him.”
“You do that.” Liam slapped her on the ass as she walked past.
Rolling her eyes, she kept on walking. She loved being with Liam. It was just missing one thing from their life. Now that Easton had reared back up in her life, she didn’t know what to make of it, or what to think.
****
From the moment Liam had met Scarlett, she had been completely honest with him. She’d been a struggling mom, and had even brought her kid to an interview. Of course, she had no idea who he was, and she’d just unloaded her life story. At the time, he had a few different people to interview for his housekeeper, but the sheer desperation in Scarlett’s eyes had struck him hard. Scarlett had been honest with him, but he’d not been anywhere near honest with her. Not then, not in the last five years, and certainly not now.
There were parts of his story that was a truth. He was bisexual. He loved men and women, and had had relationships with both.
When he first met Scarlett, she’d been recovering from a beating that a boyfriend had given her. She hadn’t gone into details, but he also believed it may have gone a step too far, and the boyfriend may have forced himself upon her even after she said no. Again, she had never said anything, but just the way she was with him, keeping him at arm’s length.
He was in love with Scarlett.
There was one of his lies. She wasn’t just a convenience for him. He was completely and totally in love with her, and her son. He adored the kid. He was so bright and funny. They gave him a family. The other lie he had told her was he wasn’t looking for forever.
He was.
When it came to Scarlett, what wasn’t to love? She was sweet, smart, kind, a beautiful woman, not to mention her curvy, bigger body. Scarlett wasn’t embarrassed by her curves, and Liam, well, he loved to feel them against him at night, or at any time. It was night when he got to feel her, and know he wanted her for a lot more than just a quick fuck. She had soft, large hips that were just designed for a man to hold onto as he took her hard, claiming her as his. Her tits were nice and full, and he imagined them in his hands most days of the week. She had a body designed to be loved, to be protected, and he’d made the vow to be that man.
He wanted a long-lasting relationship with a man and a woman. Yeah, there was his other lie. He wanted to live an unconventional relationship. Since meeting Scarlett, he’d not been with another woman or man.
He’d tried. There had been the occasional date, but nothing had progressed. He couldn’t even bring himself to kiss another woman or man. The nights he spent in the apartment in the city were because he needed a break.
Sharing a bed with Scarlett was pleasure and torture all at the same time. He got to spend hours with her in his arms. Whenever she fell asleep, she was like the dead. He’d watch her sleep, hoping that one day, he could turn his lies around with her.
He loved how comfortable she was with him. The way he could hold her, touch her, love her, and she didn’t mind, and she wasn’t afraid of him. He couldn’t stand for her to ever be afraid of him.
Easton.
The kid’s father.
Could it really be possible for him to get what he always wanted? A family. He loved Scarlett and he was willing to give anything a go, but Easton, he needed to meet the man that had once owned a piece of her heart. He had to see if there was a chance of a future. If there was, he could work with it, help their feelings grow to include him. He
wasn’t ashamed to be a manipulative bastard. He didn’t get where he was today by being the good guy all the time. He’d even warned Scarlett a few times over the years that he wasn’t what he seemed.
He just couldn’t break her heart or her trust.
Each time he promised himself he’d tell her the truth, she’d enter their bedroom, snuggle down, and he’d hold her, resting a hand on her hip, and he just couldn’t bring himself to lose that. He knew it made him an asshole, and so many other words, but he could live with that.
For five years he’d given her time. He’d given her the chance to get over her last relationship, to build her fragile heart and to find herself again.
The woman he met five years ago had been close to shattering underneath the weight of expectation. Of being a mother. Her family had turned their back on her all those years ago, and he’d promised to never do that.
After she finally repaired herself, there was just never a time to explore what could be. Part of it was fear of what she’d think and feel. He wanted everything with her, but not if it came with a price. There were only so many things Liam was willing to gamble, and Scarlett’s feelings wasn’t one of them.
****
The following day, Easton paced his office. He still didn’t get her full fucking name. He’d even called his PI to try to get the details of the woman who booked the birthday party, but again, all those details were private and the people at the restaurant wouldn’t budge. Even when money was being offered to bribe them. They wouldn’t give any information away.
“You’re still pacing,” Romeo said.
“That I am still doing. Can’t you tell?”
“You have a bad attitude, all because of this woman.”
Karson entered the room. “And we didn’t even get to know her.”
“Yeah, and I think it’s time that you spilled the details,” Axton said, entering his office.
All of his friends sat in the chairs, waiting.
“I didn’t call a meeting, and I don’t want to share. This is not a sharing occasion.”
“I don’t care if it’s share-worthy, we still want to know. You’re pacing like a crazy person,” Romeo said.
“I’ve not touched a drop of alcohol. I’m still clean,” Easton said.
Axton sighed. “None of us said you did or are going to. Why do you think we think the worst of you?”
“That is a tongue twister,” Karson said.
“Look, guys, I know I screwed up. I did so big time, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it again. Of course I’m not. I’m not that big of a screw-up. I’m not that big of anything.” He groaned. “I hate this. I really do. Scarlett and I, we have a history.”
“An eleven-year-old history,” Romeo said. “I’m just pointing that out there. You must have gotten her knocked up not long after Carla’s death.”
“Taylor’s already done the math,” Axton said.
“How is she dealing?”
“Okay. She hasn’t threatened to leave me. She said it’s hard, but at the same time, you can’t live in the past. We’ll see.”
“I don’t want to be the cause of you and Taylor falling out.”
“You won’t be. If things ever end between us, it will all be on Taylor,” Axton said.
“You’re not going to take any of the blame?” Romeo asked.
“Nope. I’m in love with my woman. I have been for a long time, and if she can’t see that, and she wants what happened years ago to get in the way of that, it’s on her, not me. I’m just a man trying to make this all work.” Axton shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about me. I want to talk about you and what is going on with you.”
Easton moved to the edge of his desk. “Her name’s Scarlett.”
“Do you have a last name?” Karson asked.
“No, I don’t know her last name. If she told me, I’ve forgotten it.”
“Classy,” Romeo said.
“We met at the camp. The one I was sent on after Carla’s death. I tried to stay by myself, to not make any connections, and well, Scarlett was very determined to help me be a distraction. Not for sex.” He looked at his friends’ smirking faces. “It wasn’t like that.”
“It had to have been like that at some point for little Easton to come about.”
“We did end up having sex, but it wasn’t straight away. It was a slow burn.”
“A couple of weeks isn’t a slow burn,” Axton said.
“It was for us. Twenty-four hours a day in each other’s company. She was so fucking hot. She’s gotten more beautiful, but I can still remember her smile. The way she laughed. I don’t know how she did it, but she got me to have fun. She got me to forget all about Carla and the life that was waiting for me back at home.”
“It didn’t last? You didn’t think to bring her home?” Karson asked.
“My father had killed my last girlfriend, and she’d been pregnant with my kid. Scarlett hadn’t told me anything of her life. I talked about Carla and you guys, but I didn’t tell her anything else. I didn’t want it to interfere with my time there. By the end of camp and it was time to go home, I knew I had to end things. We were going to college, and we were going to be taking over the Four Kings. I didn’t have room in my life for a woman. Not for Scarlett. She didn’t belong in our world. I couldn’t be responsible for the loss of her smiles. So I ended it. I did it harshly, so she knew without a doubt not to come look for me. I already had blood on my hands. I couldn’t add hers.”
“What makes you think you’d have hurt her?” Karson asked.
“Carla.”
His friends groaned.
“You’re not responsible for what happened to her,” Romeo said.
“I’m not? You really think I’m innocent?”
“I didn’t say you were innocent.”
“If I wasn’t so damn stupid in trying to win a fucking bet about popping her cherry and getting her to fall for me, I wouldn’t have knocked her up. My dad wouldn’t have seen her as a threat, and I wouldn’t have been wanting to run away from it all. Carla’s death is very much my fault. I didn’t kill her, but I signed her death sentence the moment I made the bet.” Easton sighed.
“My name’s Scarlett Knight.”
Easton looked past his friends to see Scarlett standing in the doorway. She knew the truth already about what happened to his ex-girlfriend.
Scarlett wore a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt. She looked amazing, calm, put together. Her blonde hair was bound on top of her head, with strands falling down all around her.
Yesterday she had looked beautiful, today even more so.
“Scar,” he said, getting to his feet.
She had her arms folded across her stomach, and he saw the wedding band on her finger.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“You gave the impression you wanted to talk after what you saw.”
“You mean my son? How did you find me?”
“You described yourself as one of the Four Kings. This company is called that, so it wasn’t hard to guess.”
“All this time you knew where I was.”
“All this time I was busy raising my son. It had nothing to do with finding you.”
“He’s mine.”
“Do you want to go there, with how you ended everything? I’m not here to pick a fight with you, and especially not in front of your friends.”
Easton looked at his friends, who were watching the interaction. They were all fucking nosy bastards. “Axton, Karson, Romeo, this is Scarlett. Scarlett, this is everyone.”
“Hi,” she said.
There was no smile on her lips. Her gaze went straight back to him.
“You’re married.” He pointed at the wedding band.
“Yes, for nearly five years now. Liam, my husband, he wanted me to invite you over for dinner.”
Easton frowned. “Let me get this straight, your husband wants to have dinner with me? Does he know Easton’s mine?”
“Of course he does. We’ve been together five years, not eleven.” She closed her eyes, and he watched her take a deep breath. “We just want you to come over, have dinner, talk. You can maybe meet Easton. I don’t know. It’s just a chance here to catch up. Talk.”
“We’re talking right now.”
“I’d feel more comfortable with Liam present.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I didn’t say you would. This is already hard, okay? For me, you have no right to Easton. No right to be in his life.”
“I didn’t get the chance to have a say in that.”
“You did. You’re just forgetting everything else that came with that, Easton. I don’t want to fight or argue about this. I did what I thought I was right.”
“Does your husband always get what he wants?” Easton asked. He didn’t even know who the man was, but already, he hated him. The mystery husband got to keep Scarlett, to have her every single night and every single chance he got.
“Do not even go there,” she said. “Liam is a good man. A good father. Believe me, this is a gift from him. He doesn’t have to comply with anything. Here are our details. Call that number on what you decide.” She handed him a card, and within the next second, she was gone.
He glanced down at the name, not seeing it.
This wasn’t how he saw today going.
“Fuck!”
Without waiting for any encouragement from his friends, he rushed out of his office and followed Scarlett to the elevator. It hadn’t arrived yet.
He stopped beside her. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“I do. I didn’t want this to happen between us. For us to argue when we’ve not seen each other in a really long time.”
She sighed and turned toward him. “I don’t want to argue either. I didn’t expect to ever see you again, and I’m really sorry about all of this.”