Vote Then Read: Volume I

by Carly Phillips

  Adrienne laughed and waved at Dimitri as the two of them went back to the bakery. Adrienne couldn’t help but watch as the two walked closely together, talking to one another as if they had done this morning trek countless times before. She wondered what all of that was about, but knew it was not only none of her business, but she also had to get into the shop before she froze. She’d wait for the cops there. The other shops wouldn’t be open for another hour at least, so it was pretty empty in the area, but she didn’t mind. Fewer people to deal with and see the front of her part of the building.

  Even as she walked inside, careful not to touch any paint and mess, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d felt some sort of zing when it came to her sister and Dimitri. It was probably just because the two of them were beyond attractive and had chemistry that spoke of what was most likely friendship, but Adrienne could always wonder. Of course, if anything did happen, it would be a mess of epic proportions, considering how the two knew each other.

  She was just about to turn on the lights and take a look around when a hand covered her mouth. She froze for the barest instant, knowing she’d made a damn stupid mistake.

  “I told you to leave,” the man behind her spat. “You’re ruining our community. Why couldn’t you get that? If destroying your business won’t get you out, then I’ll have to destroy you.”

  He ripped at her hair, tugging her to the side and pushing her into the wall. She screamed and turned, punching out with her fist. She got him in the jaw, her key digging into his flesh. He shouted, blood pouring down his face and onto his pristine suit. It was the same man that had come into MIT the first day. The same man who had threatened them, only to seemingly disappear. But if he was here now, maybe he hadn’t been all that far away, after all.

  “Bitch!”

  Adrienne was fast, but he was faster. He grabbed her arm, practically wrenching it from its socket, and she sucked in a breath as pain shot through her system, forcing bile up her throat, coating her tongue.

  “Fuck. You.” She tore her arm away, a sharp pain ricocheting down her arm, but she ignored it. She had no idea what his problem was, but she knew if she didn’t get out of there soon, she wouldn’t be leaving MIT’s doors at all.

  “You were supposed to leave,” he shouted. “You were supposed to get scared off from the graffiti. The others were supposed to push you out, not want you near them. They weren’t supposed to rally around you. Then the cops were supposed to shut you down. So was sanitation. But you kept fucking your way to the top, didn’t you? Because that’s the only way you got through all those barriers. You slept your way to get what you wanted. Used those hips and tits and that ass of yours, and now you’re ruining our good name in this part of town.”

  Adrienne honestly couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. This man wanted MIT gone because it set a poor example or some shit in his mind? Yet he had the audacity to call her those things? To accuse her of using her body?

  He was not only seriously deranged, he was also a dangerous asshole with apparently enough power to get at least some people to listen to him—or that’s what he thought he had.

  The man came at her again, and she ducked, using her shoulder to get him in the gut. Only she’d used the shoulder he’d hurt, and she retched, the pain almost too much. It wasn’t her dominant shoulder, thank God, but she knew she was in trouble if she didn’t get out of there.

  He came at her again, and she kicked him in the balls, using the pointed toe of her boot. The man went to one knee but still reached out for her. He had her cornered, but if she kicked out again, she might be able to run out of the building and call for help. She’d dropped her phone and keys after the first punch and could have rightly cursed herself for doing so.

  He lunged for her again, but the door opened behind them at that instant. Mace was there, fury on his face as he grabbed the stranger into a headlock. She kicked the man in the balls again for good measure, and through the anger in his gaze, she saw pride on Mace’s face.

  The man went limp in Mace’s arms, blood draining from his face from what had to be a tremendous amount of pain—she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d busted a ball or something. The asshole deserved it.

  Dimitri and Thea were through the doors right after, with Dimitri pushing Thea behind him. Adrienne was damn grateful for that, even though her sister didn’t look too happy about it.

  Adrienne’s adrenaline seemed to have waned completely by then, so she backed up to the wall and slid down, her eyes on Mace.

  “Hey. Thanks.”

  “Jesus Christ.”

  He was still holding down the man who had tried to destroy her dreams and had hurt her, but all she could think was that she was damn lucky she wasn’t alone.

  “I fought back.”

  Mace smiled then, just a small one, but enough that she relaxed marginally. “Yeah. You did.”

  “But thanks for saving me anyway,” she put in. He didn’t laugh, but she didn’t think he could right then.

  “I called the cops,” Thea said as she went to her. “They were already on their way for the vandalism, but they’re probably coming faster now. And they’ll probably need an ambulance.” She didn’t touch Adrienne but was near enough that it was comforting. Adrienne wasn’t sure she could handle being touched right then anyway. Her shoulder and head where he’d pulled at her hair hurt way too damn much.

  Dimitri moved to help Mace, and then Abby was inside the building soon after, sitting next to Adrienne. She smelled of tea, while Thea smelled of sugar and chocolate, and Adrienne couldn’t imagine a better place to be than in between them—other than Mace’s arms.

  When the cops came, they took in the scene, and Adrienne knew that things would finally get back to normal—however normal things could get with the Montgomerys.

  She’d fought back, she reminded herself. She’d won. And Mace being there was just icing on the cake.

  “I’m fine, Mom, stop hovering.” Adrienne leaned into Mace’s side, her good shoulder against his firm skin. Daisy sat on his lap and moved over every once in a while so she could kiss Adrienne’s boo-boos. Adrienne had fallen in love with the kid, and she hadn’t even processed it, but they’d have time to figure it all out.

  “You are in a sling for your shoulder and bruised from where that bastard threw you into the wall.” She winced and looked down at Daisy then at her granddaughter, Livvy, who was hiding behind Shea’s legs because she was being shy today. “Sorry. He got me all riled up. Don’t listen to me when I say bad things, honey.”

  Daisy just smiled shyly before burrowing into Mace and reaching out to play with Adrienne’s hair.

  “My shoulder will be fine in a couple weeks. I can still work some, just not as much as I want to, but there’s plenty of admin work I can do while the guys pick up the slack. I didn’t tear or break anything, just tweaked it.” She wanted to say more, but with Daisy in the room, she was afraid of things that might scare her.

  “Hey, Daisy, can you show me your new toy box?” Roxie asked. “I didn’t get to see it before you got it. Want to come, too, Livvy?”

  Daisy nodded and wiggled off Mace’s lap before taking Roxie’s hand and leaving the room. Livvy had taken Roxie’s other hand, and now it was only adults in the room who could speak freely about what was going on.

  “I still can’t believe all of this happened,” Thea said. “And Dimitri and I feel horrible that we were right there and didn’t even know until we saw Mace running. I’m so sorry we didn’t get there earlier.”

  “You might have ended up hurt, too. I’m fine. The shop is fine. And Isaac Crawford is behind bars. Or will be once they repair his ruptured testicle.”

  Her brother, father, and Mace all winced, while Shea, Thea, and her mom did a group high-five. They were as bloodthirsty as she was, and she liked it.

  “So, this man was an asshole,” Shea began. “A rich asshole, who didn’t like the idea of a dirty tattoo shop on his precious, clean street.” She s
pat the words, and Shep wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

  “That sounds about right,” Mace put in. “Apparently, as he was screaming that his balls were bleeding—ouch by the way—he told the cops everything.”

  Adrienne growled. “He hired people to damage the building and used his connections to call in to sanitation to try and get us closed down. He never imagined that any respectable tattoo and piercing shop would be cleaner than most buildings in the city. We have to be. And ours is damn clean, thank you very much.”

  “And he called the cops with a fake report on drugs? Or did he hire that out?” Thea asked, her arms wrapped around her middle.

  “He did that himself and told the cops that he’d hired out for some things but didn’t think it was illegal to be sure there weren’t drugs in his nice and family-friendly community.” Adrienne rolled her eyes. “Uh, idiot. False claims aren’t something you want to deal with, thank you very much.”

  “And he did all of this because his platform for being a leader in the community was safe and clean and as mundane as you could possibly get,” Mace put in. “We didn’t know who he was because he’s not a leader of our community, but apparently, he’s a big deal or some shit.”

  “I don’t care how big he is. He got caught, and he might lose a ball. Fuck him.” Adrienne gave a quick nod as she said it, and once again, the men in the room winced. They would just have to get used to it because she was damn proud of what she’d done, even if she’d never been so scared in her life.

  Okay, she might have been more scared when Daisy was sick, but that was another matter.

  The rest of them talked about what they were going to do and how they might have another grand opening party to celebrate the fact that they’d survived Crawford’s assholery and would try to remove the taint of what the man and his ideas of clean and safe had done to the building as a whole.

  She listened with half an ear as the people she loved most talked about her dreams and her shop and leaned into Mace even more, knowing she was safe. She had the man she loved, a future she could count on, a family that cared for her, and a business she could call her own.

  In the end, Adrienne Montgomery was one lucky woman—sling and all.

  “I love you,” Mace whispered. “So damn much.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “I love you, too.”

  The resulting awws in the room forced her to roll her eyes, and she ducked her head as her family laughed. There were some things that would never change, and her family embarrassing her because they loved her was one of them.

  And she wouldn’t change it for the world.

  18

  “That’s it, move back on me, let me see you ride my dick. Take it all in.” Mace growled the words softly as Adrienne knelt on all fours in front of him, fucking herself on his cock. She was just so damn sexy when she did this, and he knew they were going to have to wake up in either this position or something similar for a long time to come.

  “Hurry up and make me come already, we’re going to be late, and I’m shaking.”

  He grinned at her tone since she was so far on the edge that just one flick over her clit would set her off. So he did just that and watched how she shattered on his cock. Her face went down onto the mattress, her body spent, and he dug his fingers into her ass as he pumped hard, quickly coming himself because he loved the feel of her around his dick so damn much.

  When he collapsed beside her, she half-heartedly patted his hip. “Good game, Knight. Good game.”

  He laughed and kissed her bare shoulder. “We’ll go over the highlights later. For now, we need to shower.”

  “Separately, or we’ll really be late.”

  “And I need to make sure Daisy is up and ready to go, too.” They were at his house as they had been more often than not recently. Adrienne had practically moved in. He figured after the holidays, he’d ask her officially. But for now, Daisy was getting used to Addi being around almost all the time, and he loved it.

  Jeaniene still called every day to talk to Daisy, but she was firm that the custody arrangements were the right thing for everyone. He wasn’t sure how their daughter was going to feel as she grew up, but since he couldn’t change things, he’d just make sure Daisy was as healthy and whole as she could be. And Addi was already picking up the slack where he knew he wasn’t fully able to. They were a team, and he was damn lucky he realized that before it was too late.

  “Sounds like a plan, Knight.” She turned and kissed him before skipping toward the bathroom. He just shook his head and grinned. She always got such a boost after morning sex, and went all limp and sleepy after nighttime sex. He never understood how there could be such a difference between the two, but he figured he’d learn since he wanted a lifetime with her to find out.

  He wasn’t ready to propose, wasn’t ready for that kind of change in Daisy’s life yet. But he and Addi knew it was a sure thing. They’d even talked about it because the two of them didn’t want any more misunderstandings or hurt feelings because they were too afraid of what they might say.

  One day, she would be his wife and help him raise Daisy. For now, she was simply his, and he was hers, and Daisy was getting used to the idea of a new woman in her life. Small steps, but strong ones.

  By the time the three of them were finally ready for the day, they were indeed late, but his parents hadn’t minded. Since today was Thanksgiving, he, Addi, and Daisy were doing two meals: one with his family, and one with hers. He had a feeling since the Knights and the Montgomerys were so close already, one day soon, it would end up as one huge meal. He’d probably be grateful for that. Maybe having his sisters in the same room for long periods of time with Addi’s wouldn’t be the best thing in the world since they’d probably make plans for dominating the world, but he was just happy everyone got along.

  Daisy was chattering away with his parents while eating her turkey, and Mace just smiled, tugging Addi to his side.

  “Yeah?” she asked softly.

  “Just happy.”

  She grinned. “Me, too.”

  “You guys are so cute it’s actually a little sickening, but I love it.” Violet smiled from the other side of the table and laughed. She and Sienna had come down from Denver since they had the day off work and had brought their two friends they’d known for ages. The four of them had been thick as thieves since college, and Mace was happy that they had each other since his sisters couldn’t come down to Colorado Springs every day or weekend like he or they might have liked.

  “We try,” Addi said, her eyes sparkling. “It takes practice, but our goal is to be so cute, we surpass cute and get right into syrupy.”

  They all laughed and went about their meals, talking about everything and nothing. Addi’s sling had come off a couple of days before, and tomorrow she’d be right back in her booth, tattooing like the crazy talented woman she was. He knew she’d been missing it for the past week or so, but she was healing, and the bruise on her face was almost gone. She’d covered it fully with makeup today so her parents wouldn’t worry, but he was just glad it would be faded completely soon.

  They finished their first dinner and bundled the three of them up before going over to the Montgomerys for round two. He knew they’d be rolling out the door by the time they were done, but he didn’t mind. It was damn good food and company, and that was all that mattered.

  “You’re here!” Livvy called and ran right up to Daisy. The two of them hugged and jumped around as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks rather than a day. They ran off hand-in-hand to the living room, and Mace shook his head, grinning.

  “You know, she used to do that to me. Now, she doesn’t even notice when I’m here with Daisy.” Addi mock-sniffed, and he kissed the tip of her nose.

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Dork.”

  “Yes, you’re both dorks, but that’s why we love you,” Thea said as she took their coats. “I don’t kno
w how the two of you are doing two dinners, but more power to you.”

  “I’m going to have to cut back on potatoes and rolls I think.” Addi bit her lip. “Okay, never mind, because I love those, and I’m just going to be a blimp later, and I don’t care.”

  He patted her ass. “Just more for me to handle.”

  She laughed, and Thea made gagging noises but laughed along, as well.

  “Did you bring Molly?” Adrienne asked as they made their way to the family area. Roxie and Carter were talking with Addi’s parents, a slight distance between them that Mace didn’t understand, but then again, he didn’t know them as well as he should have. They all waved them over as Thea answered.

  “No, she wanted to stay home and not do anything.” Thea shrugged. “I guess I get it. But then I almost invited Dimitri since he’s alone too, and hell, he’s my friend just like Molly is, but I didn’t want to take sides, so now they’re both alone and doing whatever, and I’m here with you guys.”

  Mace hugged her, and she smiled up at him. “Sorry you’re having a crappy day.”

  Thea patted his chest, and Addi raised her eyebrow before winking. “It’s okay. I’ll be full soon and won’t care. I’m just crabby.”

  “More wine?” Addi asked. “Wine helps.”

  “Yeah, it does,” Thea agreed, and Mace let her go so she could top off her glass.

  Addi’s dad handed him a beer, and soon everyone was drinking and talking about their lives and the latest Bronco game. His best friend, lover, and future wife leaned into him, and he sighed, knowing that this moment would be one he would always come back to and remember.

  He’d run from what he could have and who he could be because he’d been afraid to hurt those he loved, but in the end, he’d gotten everything he’d ever dreamed of.

  He had his art, his work, his daughter, his family, and his best friend.

  He’d fallen for her long before he truly knew what falling meant.

  And when Adrienne Montgomery looked up at him with a promise in her eyes that meant he would still be finding out bits of that secret for years to come, he knew he’d fallen just right.