Syren's Rebirth (Syren Series)

by Jennah Thornhill

  Yep, I’ve royally fucked this one up.

  Chapter Twenty

  Connor

  I’m sitting on a luxurious private plane, god knows how many feet up in the air with my family and all I want to do is go back in that bedroom and carry on beating the shit out of the fucker. Now I’m usually a ‘I don’t give a shit, do what the fuck you want with your life’ type of guy, but when it interferes with my family, mainly my son and wife, then I’m going have something to say about it. It took Allie months to feel comfortable leaving Syren with a nanny so she could return to work, only now Liam is fucking it all up. I do feel sorry for him that he lost his first love, but that doesn’t mean he has to fuck up and hurt others in the process. It’s a miracle we found Melissa and if he carries on acting like a fucking petty teenager then we’re going to lose her… then it won’t be just a beat down I give him, I’ll murder the twat.

  Coming out of the bedroom, the fucker is just standing there looking around at everyone with regret written all over his face. Johnny’s talking to me about something that I have no clue about. I haven’t been listening to a word he’s said, I’m too worked up still. His eyes land on me then quickly dart away to the women, but not quick enough that I still manage to give him my best death stare with a bit of growling thrown in for good measure.

  “Oi, fuckface. I don’t have to turn around to know who’s standing behind me, but less of the growling eh? You’re a human, not some wild animal, he fucked up he knows that. So now, let's hope he’s going to fix his shit,” Johnny says, finally saying something that makes me listen to him.

  “Fucked up is an understatement dude. I swear he’s fucked in the head. This isn’t the Liam we know.”

  “Exactly! He’s not the Liam we know right now, he’s got shit going on and you going all Rocky on him isn’t going to help.”

  “I suppose.” Is all I have to say.

  I watch him walk down the aisle of the plane until he reaches Mel. She hasn’t said a single word to any of us since we stepped on the plane and heard L and dirty Clarissa going at it. When Clarissa left the bedroom I thought Allie was going to actually commit murder, it took me and Johnny to hold her back. It’s safe to say that Clarissa won’t be our stewardess again after today. She’s very wisely kept herself busy and as far away from Allie as possible. Seeing as she’s used her brain for something, let’s just pray to all things holy that my knob head of a mate can use his and finally sort his shit out.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Melissa

  I officially hate the bastard!

  Yes, I do, I think I do. Oh god, I don’t know anymore. The only reason I’m still on this plane is because of the little boy who’s sitting across from me with his mother. I still have a job to do and a family who needs me.

  The second I stepped over the threshold and onto the plane I saw him with her, and the moment he laid his eyes on me I just knew. I knew what he was about to do. His eyes said it all. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to work it all out. Then not so soon after the door closes I hear them, actually no I hear her, screaming for God at the top of her lungs.

  Calm down love, he isn’t that good.

  Oh, who am I trying to kid, he’s fucking amazing. How I stopped myself from vomiting there and then on the plush carpet of the plane is beyond me. My stomach lurched into my throat and it took everything in me to push it back down.

  Allie was brilliant the entire time that was until she threatened to kill him. For a woman so tiny she sure has one hell of a temper when she’s pissed off. I wouldn’t like to get on her bad side. In the end it wasn’t Allie, who delivered the punch, it was Connor. Even from my seat I could hear the crack of his blows to Liam face, and for a second I felt sorry for him. Then I remembered what I’d heard and that feeling soon disappeared. When the woman he was with walked out I could see why he would want her in his bed, she’s gorgeous - tall, slim and legs that I would kill for.

  Since it all went down, I’ve kept myself to myself and tried to lose myself in my book, hiding my face and my silent tears behind my hair. Hearing a door click shut from behind me, my body stiffens and the sick feeling returns with a vengeance. My spine starts to tingle as I feel him approach the back of my seat, I swear to god if he touches me I’m going to lose it completely, how is yet to be decided. The hairs on my arms and neck stand to attention as he clears his throat wanting me to acknowledge him.

  In his wildest dreams am I.

  Giving the world’s fakest cough, I still ignore him, willing him to go and annoy someone else. My silent prayers go unanswered when he comes around to crouch down in front of me, pulling my book away from my face. Keeping my head bowed, unwilling to let him see the wet streaks on my face. I refuse to let him see me break because if I admit it to myself, that’s what he’s doing - he’s breaking me. Slowly and very painfully.

  “Mel, can you please look at me?” he pleads.

  I can’t do it though, I’m crumbling from the inside out. His coldness towards me, I can handle, but him shagging another woman mere feet away from me is something I just can’t cope with. I know he did it just to prove a point. How can someone be so cruel?

  “I need you to look at me Duchess, I can’t stand you being mad at me. I know I’ve fucked up, believe me I have the dent in my nose to prove it.”

  Duchess? Really? Well that’s a new one. Even though I’m extremely pissed off, I slowly raise my head to look him straight in the eye. I still have to ask the question, that’s running through my mind, “Duchess?”

  I raise my eyebrows indicating I want an answer from him. At the same time, I don’t relax my features. The last thing I want is for him to think we’re okay, when we’re not.

  “Yeah… Duchess. It’s a person who’s better than a queen in my eyes. Someone who’s elegant, sophisticated, yet has the raw sex appeal of a Duchess who doesn’t care if she breaks all the rules.”

  Oh wow.

  I say no more on the matter and just continue to keep eye contact with him. I also want to laugh at the statement about his nose, it means Connor did a real good number on him, but I can’t bring myself to do it right now. Him playing with my emotions and feelings is no laughing matter. Ashanti’s song, Foolish, runs through my mind and the more I play the song in head the more I realise it’s me, that’s me. I’ve been foolish, I can’t make him see the real me, to him I will always be Steph's little sister and nothing else. If sleeping with some tarted up tramp on a private plane is what he needs then he can go and do it, only he’s not bringing me into his fucked-upness. I’ve also come to the conclusion that The Beatles lied to us all as well, you don’t only need love. It’s not possible to have a relationship with anyone based purely on love, if you could life would be so much easier.

  I’m done.

  I won’t be anybody’s doormat.

  Steeling myself for my eyes to land on him, I quickly grow a spine of steel and raise my head. I’ll show him who his Duchess really is.

  “I’m going to say this once and once only, so you had better listen and listen really good. FUCK. OFF! The only reason I’m here is because of that little boy,” I say, pointing over at Syren.

  “I don’t want you to speak to me, I don’t want you anywhere near me. In fact, let’s pretend we don’t even know each other, shall we? You do what you have to do and I’ll do what I need to do, now will you please get out of my face and go back to your tart!”

  The look of desolation is written clear as day on his gorgeous face, but I won’t back down from this. Yes, I still have one big secret to tell him, but right now he doesn’t deserve to know. If this is how he treats grown adults, then I would dread to think how he would treat a child, and I will do anything and everything in my power to protect her. She doesn’t need to be messed about, she’s already been through enough.

  Clearing his throat, we notice the plane has gone radio silent and everyone has just heard what’s been said between the two of us. Looking sheepish, he stands up to hi
s full height and without saying a single word to me, takes a seat somewhere in the back. I’m proud of myself for sticking up to him, but why do I feel sick at the thought of never speaking to him again? For fuck’s sake, my head is mush, I can’t deal with this shit right now. Trying my best to put him to the back of my mind, I go back to my book and the sexy as sin Elliot - at least in this book they end up with a happily ever after.

  A short time later we’ve landed in Venice and have been whisked away in yet another fancy car and on our way to wherever it is we’re staying. Again it’s me, Liam and Max in the car together. If I thought the atmosphere was bad when we were on the way to the airport, well now it’s even worse. Even Max doesn’t say a word, concentrating on his phone instead. Driving through the streets of the city, I take in the scenery out of the car window. My heart melts when I see a couple who are maybe in their seventies, sitting at a little wicker table holding hands. The husband is looking at his wife in a way I’m guessing is the way he’s looked at her every day since they met. The love he has for her is written all over his face, it breaks my heart to think that I might’ve been able to have that with Liam. I guess the world works in mysterious ways. My sister was his one true love, I know that now.

  When I think I can’t take any more of this shitty car ride, we pull up outside the most gorgeous hotel I have ever seen. I’m so lost in staring at the tall building out of my window, I don’t notice until it’s too late. There’s journalists and cameras all waiting for the guys. Security is trying to push them back, but the fuckers are just fighting against them trying to get their star picture.

  “Seriously? Are these bastards taking the piss?” Max is way beyond pissed off.

  “How did they even know we were staying here?” Liam questions.

  “I have no fucking clue dude.”

  Just as Max finishes his sentence his phone rings.

  “What the fuck Con, we can’t get out here. They’ll maul us to death and then there's the kids.”

  He goes quiet for a moment, before he agrees to whatever it is Connor has said to him down on the phone. Clicking off his phone, he turns to the driver of the car.

  “Take us around the back, please Vin. They’ve got the doors open and ready for us.”

  At lighting speed, the tyres screech and we’re leaving all the madness behind.

  “You okay with all this Duchess?” Liam asks me.

  I nod my head, so I don’t give him the wrong impression by actually talking to him. I have to stand my ground and be strong on this. Before the car has even had time to completely stop, Liam has jumped out of his door and is pulling mine open, I’ve never seen the man move so fast. Except for one time…

  No.. .No I won’t think about that.

  We all quickly scramble through the back door of the hotel without being seen, the entire time it doesn’t escape me that Liam's hand hasn’t left the small of my back. We’re led up some stairs by the hotel’s manager and I can see Allie struggling with Syren, in my haste to get away from his touch I offer to take him from her.

  “Welly,” Syren gurgles as he makes grabby hands at me to take him. I smile at his name for me, we’ve been practicing the letter M and he still can’t say my name right. I don’t mind though because it’s become our thing now.

  Taking him into my arms I hear Liam huffing and puffing behind me in annoyance, well, it’s tough fucking shit. I’m grateful he got me inside the hotel safely, but it doesn’t mean for one second that we’re okay, because we’re not.

  Being who they are, the boys don’t have to go to the check in desk like us normal folk, they’re already checked in and have their key cards handed to them when they entered the building. This is everyday life for them, but for me, I’m in awe of the magnificence of my current surroundings. If I thought the Blackwood house was luxury at its best then I was sadly mistaken. This hotel has taken my breath away and made me feel uncomfortable all at the same time. Standing at the elevator bank, I look down at my attire and wish the ground would swallow me up whole, my Rolling Stones t-shirt and skinny jeans certainly don’t scream five-star hotel guest. Sensing my inner battle, I feel the heat rise up my spine when Liam comes up behind me and whispers in my ear.

  “You look beautiful, don’t stress.” Instead of taking the compliment like a normal person would, I ignore him and when the lift arrives I stomp off into it with Syren attached to my hip.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Liam

  Well, fuck me.

  I have well and truly screwed shit up this time.

  I’ve tried talking to her, I’ve even paid her a compliment and saved her from the vultures outside. Yet she still won’t talk to me. I guess she really is done with me.

  Why did I have to stick my dick in Clarissa?

  Because you’re a fucking numpty. A small voice in the back of my head tells me.

  Watching her as she walks off and enters the glass lift, her hair swishes and I catch a glimpse of something on the back of her neck. A tattoo maybe? She’s never mentioned it before. Connor’s punches to my face must have messed up my vision as I’m seeing things now that aren’t really there. I need to get a grip and figure out how I’m going to make her talk to me again.

  Taking the next empty lift, I let her go and lose myself in images of her naked.

  Her tits, perfectly round and perky.

  Her flat stomach and the way her hips dipped in when I ran my tongue along the bone.

  Her gorgeous pussy, the way it glistened at me as if it was calling me home.

  “You’re a dick,” Max says, at the same time he twats me one around the back of the head.

  “What the actual fuck dude? Don’t you think I’ve had enough violence for one day?”

  “I couldn’t give two shits you knobhead, that girl is heartbroken and it’s all your fault. I hope you’re happy with yourself and the slapper Clarissa. Was worth it, because let me tell you now, that woman is worth a million of Clarissa’s.”

  Seriously? When has he ever been the one to give relationship advice? His rule has always been to fuck them once and never to be repeated. Now he’s giving me shit over what I do, I don’t fucking think so.

  “Excuse me, but when did you become an expert on relationships? Last time I checked you were still fucking anything with a pussy that kept still long enough, what gives?”

  Looking at me out the corner of his eye, he shakes his head.

  “Nothing, it’s just she’s a really nice girl, you’d be an utter fool to let her walk away.”

  Well blow me down with a feather, Max does have a serious side to him. I guess there’s a first time for everything.

  “I may come across as a dick half the time, but you don’t know what’s going on up here,” he says, as he taps his head.

  “Okay. This shit stops now. Where’s my mate Max and what have you done with him?” I joke.

  Before he has time to answer me, the lift doors glide open and we’re on our floor. I’ve always shared a room with Max, we’ve had some wild nights partying together, but something tells me this time things are going to be very different. Connor and Johnny have gone off to their suites, leaving no sign of Mel anywhere. It goes without saying that she would be in Connor’s suite with her having to look after Syren, it pisses me off though that she isn’t in her own. How the hell am I supposed to talk to her if there’s prying eyes around us all the time?

  I throw my shit into one of the bedrooms and once I’ve checked out my busted nose, I head straight back downstairs to the bar. We aren’t performing until tomorrow so I’m going to drown my sorrows with my friends Jim and Jack. They don’t judge me or have anything to say about the choices I make in life. I can rely on them to always have my back.

  An hour later I’ve started to feel the effects of the whiskey when I feel a silky hand stroke down my back.

  “Well, if it isn’t Liam Williams, I never thought I would lay eyes on you again.”

  Fuck.

  Bollocks
.

  Shit.

  Someone fucking shoot me.

  Cassandra baggy vagina Hall.

  This woman is a leech, she takes what she wants, then bleeds you dry whilst doing it. Max and I had some fun with her the last time we were here, only when we woke up the next morning we found her gone, along with our wallets. We gave her the nickname of baggy vagina when we both agreed that it was like throwing your dick up an alleyway when you fucked her. Peeling her hand away from my shoulder where she’d left it, I quickly look around the bar. The last thing I need is anyone seeing me talking to this woman, especially Mel.

  “What in god’s name do you want Cassandra? Didn’t you get enough from me the last time?”

  Placing her backside on a stool next to me, she ignores my questions and makes herself comfy, calling the bartender over.

  “Pink Gin and lemonade please, make it a large one. He’s paying,” she tells him.

  She’s got some fucking nerve I’ll give her that much.

  “I’ll ask again Cass, what are you doing here?” My voice has an edge to it this time so she knows I’m not fucking about.

  “Oh get off your high horse Liam, I heard an old friend was in town. I just thought I’d pay you a visit, you know for old time’s sake.”

  She has got to be taking the piss.

  For old time’s sakes really?

  I fucked her once and believe me that was enough. I’m also certain she was the one that gave me a dose of crabs. Me and Max, well we were both scratching our bollocks for well over a week afterwards.