by Jamie Begley
“You’re not going to hurt me,” she told him with just as much certainty as he had told her she wasn’t going to scream the second he pulled his hand away.
Something in him changed again, bringing the half-hearted smile back to one side of his lips. He brought the hand that wasn’t over her throat up to her face, running his long, cold, tatted fingers down the side of her cheek to gradually sweep her thick brown hair behind her left ear. He kept pushing until the locks fell behind her left shoulder, exposing her tanned skin. When he then began leaning down, she would have sworn he was going to kiss her exposed shoulder. Instead, he stopped and turned his mouth to her ear, getting so close that, when he spoke, his scruffy beard tickled it. “You sure about that?”
Adalyn bit her lip, trying to fight the warmth that was rising in her belly. She really, really needed to get away before she did something she would soon regret … Most likely regret.
“You hurt me, and you’re dead. Considering you’re not a Caruso, you’re in enemy territory. You’ll be in much bigger trouble hurting one of their women than if you were simply stealing a ring.”
Angel backed up only an inch, telling her he knew she was right.
She turned her head slowly, wanting to look into his dark depths once more before she had to leave.
“Don’t worry; I’ll keep your secret. But you’ll owe me.”
He spanned his hand along her throat, stretching her neck up farther. “Sweetness, I’m the last person you’d want owing you.”
She could hear the hint of a threat in his tone, but it didn’t stop her. Too enticed by the angel, she whispered, “Something tells me I do.”
“I was wrong about you.” Letting his eyes travel all over her, he finally dropped his hand from her throat as he took a step back. “You are stupid.”
She guessed a part of her should have been hurt by those words, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she must have been stupid for not screaming when he had removed his cold hand from her mouth.
When she twisted the doorknob and cracked the door open, the light from the hallway began to illuminate the shadowy man, causing a dim halo to outline his body. She couldn’t help smiling as she stepped out and started closing it, causing the halo surrounding him to slowly disappear.
“Probably, but I wasn’t the one stupid enough to steal from a Caruso.”
Something So Irresistible
Natasha Madison
Available Now!
Prologue
“You may now kiss the bride,” Judge Reynolds says right before Max grabs my face in both of his hands.
“I love you,” he whispers, then his lips land on mine, gently and full of love.
My hands go to his waist as I close my eyes and take in the safety of my husband.
“I love you with everything that I am,” he murmurs against my lips. I smile and look into his crystal blue eyes.
“I love you more,” I say. He lets go of my face and we shake the judge’s hand. He grabs my hand and we walk out of his chambers while my chiffon train trails us.
Max proposed to me three hours ago. He got down on one knee and vowed to love me and only me till his last dying breath while I stood there in the middle of the shark reef in the Mandalay Bay. It took me two seconds before I nodded and got down on my knees with him, buried my face into his chest, and cried from happiness. I was completely and utterly in love with him. And not one person in my family knew. Well, none of the men knew. But this isn’t about them. This is about me, about Max, about how he took my heart into his hand and treated it like delicate crystal, making sure he bubble wrapped it to keep it safe.
Now here I am, watching my husband dressed in a black tux hold my hand and me in my two-piece lace dress. It is beaded from my collar all the way down. It ties around my neck but leaves my back bare. My arms are also bare. A gold belt ties the second part of the dress, floor-length split chiffon. My legs slip out while I walk, showing off my something blue, which is my Carrie Bradshaw Blue Manolo Blahnik.
As soon as the door to the chapel opens, my chiffon dress blows up almost like Marilyn Monroe’s, the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas almost non-existent since we are off the Strip. Someone in the distance must have snapped a picture because his flash went off.
“I think someone just took a picture of us,” I tell him while we make our way to the car that is waiting for us.
“Angel, it’s Vegas, everyone is taking pictures.” He waits for me to get in before climbing in after me. “So, my wife, where do you want to go?” Max turns to me and smiles while his thumb rubs the hand he’s holding.
“Back to our room.” I look at our hands. “I want to go back with you and lock the door and just be with my husband.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He pulls me to him, his arm going around my shoulder, and I fit perfectly in the crook of his arm.
We watch the city lights come into focus again once we get on the Strip. Walking through the lobby, I hold on to my husband’s hand, watching his ring glisten in the light. Max unlocks the door for us. Walking in, I head for the living room that is now turned into what looks like a small reception. Gone are the couches, and in their place is a cast iron square with blush pink roses wrapped all around it. Tea lights make it across. All the furniture is gone. The only thing in this room are blush roses, which are my favorites.
“This place looks like a fairy tale.”
Max walks to me, holding a bouquet in his hands. “For you.” He hands it to me as our song “Dive” comes on.
“Dance with me?” I ask him as I walk to him.
“Every single day of my life.” He wraps an arm around my waist. I hold the bouquet around his shoulders and we hold our free hands to his chest.
He takes his phone out and raises his hand, snapping a picture of us. I’m looking at the camera while he looks at me. “Stunning,” he says quietly as his cell phone rings. “Angel, don’t freak out.” His voice is curt, tight.
I don’t have to time to say anything because my phone buzzes with a text from Matthew.
Allison, when you get this you better call me.
“Oh my God.” I look at him. “What did we just do?” He looks at me shocked, steps back, and away from me.
“Max.” I reach out to him while he dodges me.
“A mistake.”
I don’t know if he’s asking or telling. My heart hurts as his eyes go dark. He darts out of the room and the front door slams after him. As I stand here in my wedding dress, a tear rolls down my face, and I look down and see my glistening wedding band.
1
Allison
I can’t be late, I can’t be late, I mutter to myself as I run around my new bedroom in Karrie’s old brownstone. Karrie is married to my big brother and hockey god Matthew Grant. Well, he’s a god now, but he started off as the bad boy of hockey, getting kicked out of the league three years after being drafted first pick.It was the lowest he could go, and he came home with his head hung down and his tail between his legs.
He wanted to sit and sulk, but our stepfather, Cooper Stone, wouldn’t let him. Cooper Stone, who actually is the biggest name in history. He holds all the records that all these young kids strive to beat, yet fall short. He was at the top of his game when he met my mom and fell head over skates for her. I say stepfather, but in reality, he’s the only father I really know. My parents got divorced when my father had an affair. I was three at the time and Cooper came in two years later. I mean, not only did he fall in love with Mom, he fell in love with me. How could he not? I was the cutest thing ever. We, Matthew and I, were a package deal, a package that Cooper took without thinking twice about it. Slowly but surely, my father started weaning himself out of my life. At such a young age I had no idea really because I was never missing love. Cooper always showered me with it. Hook, line, and sinker. He became even better when Mom gave birth to the twins, Zoe and Zara. Those two are the reason Cooper tries to rule with an iron first. From the first moments they c
ame screaming into the world, they gave new meaning to fiery redheads. My baby brother, Justin, stays in the shadows, quiet, rule abiding, and perfect, but little do my parents know I just found his secret Instagram and that shit is anything but angel like.
So now here I am on my first day on the job and I’m not going to be late. You are looking at the New York Stinger newest Public Relations Representative. I know what you’re thinking, that I pulled strings to get the job, and you couldn’t be more wrong. I was one month away from graduating when I got a call from Doug, the owner of Cooney Communication as well as the owner of the best hockey team in the world, he is also Matthew’s father-in-law, asking me to meet him for lunch. I didn’t know what he could possibly want. I thought maybe he needed help shopping for Karrie, so I went. I was surprised to see that it was only us.
“Hey, beautiful girl,” Doug said to me as he got up and kissed my cheek. He had been calling me this since Matthew and Karrie got married almost seven years ago “How is it Cooper hasn’t locked you up in a tower yet?” He sat down.
“Well, Zoe and Zara just made their latest home school teacher quit when they put rat traps under the table. It’s a good thing the woman was wearing shoes.” I laughed, thinking about Zoe when she called. “From what they told me, it was a chain reaction and all one hundred traps went off at the same time.” I shook my head, picking up my water and bringing it to my lips. “So now Mom says he better brush up on his math skills because he will be teaching them until they can find someone else.”
“Those two are going to be hellions when they get out into the real world. Either that or they will take over the world. I’m just glad that I shower them with gifts.”
“Smart man.” I put my water down. “Now what is this meeting about?”
“Straight to the point. I knew I liked you. I have a job I want to offer you.” He folded his hands in front of him.
I sat up straight in my chair. “Why?”
“What do you mean why?” His eyebrows shot up.
“Why me? I’m not even done with school.” I pointed out.
“No, you’re not, but Mindy has given her notice. Seems that having a husband and carrying a child isn’t so easy, so she needs to step back. She will still be with the company as a PR consultant, but...” He looked at me for a reaction, and if I’m honest, I was shocked as fuck. It would be my dream job. Public Relations for one of the original six teams, one that my brother was the captain on. One that just won back-to-back cups. “I need someone, and pardon my words, with balls of steel to handle up to fifty men who range from princesses to cranky. Besides, I trust you.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll think about it. You would start in September when the season starts. One of the perks is that you can stay in the brownstone, since it is just sitting there.”
“People are going to think I got the job just because I’m family of sorts,” I voiced my concerns.
“Fuck what people think. You are going to have to prove yourself. And I have no doubt that you will.” He smiled at me. “Go home, talk it over with your family, then let me know. No hard feelings if you pass on it.”
“Okay,” I said, not even knowing words were coming out of my mouth. “Okay, I’ll do it.” I didn’t have to talk to my family. I was going to be twenty-three. I could make my own decisions and this was the biggest one I’d ever make.
He clapped his hands, beaming. “You won’t be sorry.”
I picked up the glass of water again. “Oh, the question is will you be sorry when Cooper and Matthew find out that I’ll be traveling with the team of fifty men?” I smile, thinking about them blowing a gasket.
“Now that’s a phone call I would kill to be a part of.”
Sitting down, I brought my phone out and Facetimed them. I swallowed as they answered.
“So, princess, what is this meeting about?”
My mom put her hand on his arm. “Cooper, you need to relax.”
“So I got a job offer.”
“Did you?” Mom asked, surprised at this news. “That’s amazing! Doing what?”
I looked at my mom and then at Cooper. “Doug offered me a job with the team as their PR.”
Mom’s smile went slowly away as the tic in Cooper’s head bulged.
“No. Not a fucking chance in hell.” He pushed away from the table and disappeared from the screen. “We go way way back to when I was playing; no way should he give you an opportunity without checking with me.” His shouting was heard but I couldn’t see him.
“Just a second,” I said to him. “Hear me out.”
He came back holding my mother's hand. “This is such a great opportunity for me.”
“You will be traveling with thirty men,” Cooper said. “Jock men.”
“Actually about fifty, but are you saying that when you traveled with your PR girl you wanted to sleep with her?” I asked him. “Are you saying that Matthew tried to sleep with Mindy every single time? Are you saying that—” I didn't have time to say anything else before he put his hand up.
“That’s enough. I would never ever think about sleeping with anyone besides your mother.” He kissed her hand. “Never in a million years would I do that to her. But, not all of them are like me or Matthew.”
“I know that, Dad, I do, but you have to trust me. Your little girl is growing up.” I threw my hands up. “Or actually I’m already grown and I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about this. How about this…if I feel for one minute that someone isn’t nice to me I’ll tell you or Matthew and then you guys can go in and do your crazy thing.”
The rest of the phone call was exactly what I thought it would be. Cooper balked and demanded to see a copy of the contract, where he stipulated that I be put on another floor away from the team, which I vetoed. And, well, then when I called my brother, Karrie told me that Matthew’s vein in his neck ticked for hours.
I rush around the messy room, grabbing my black tight jeans and blush pink silk button-down shirt. Once I button it up, I tie a bow around the collar with the silk that is hanging down. I tuck the front of the shirt in my pants while I roll up the sleeves. I take out my blush suede Louboutins with matching purse from the closet. I smile at my collection of princesses shoes; that is what I call them. When I turned sixteen, Cooper handed me a credit card and called it Cinderella’s slipper. I smile thinking how he really treated me like a princess.
Running down the stairs, I get a message that my Uber driver is waiting. Grabbing my sunglasses, I lock the door and rush into the car. I have thirty minutes before I get there, so I apply a coat of mascara, as well as lip-gloss. I pile my hair on the top of my head in a messy bun. By the time we show up at the arena, I’m in the zone. Well, almost in the zone, if I didn’t almost trip over a guy walking in my way while he types on his phone.
When we smash into each other, my phone falls to the floor and shatters. “Fuck.” I bend and pick it up. My heart shatters like the screen just did.
“I’m so sorry.” His voice comes out gravely, deep, rough.
“It’s fine.” I look up at the man and I’m taken aback. He’s wearing a perfect black tailored suit, with mirrored Ray-Bans. His chest is broad and huge while his biceps look like they are going to rip out of his suit a la Hulk. His jaw is clean-shaven and his lips are perfect and plump. Wait, what the fuck is this, plump lips? Who am I? His hair is also perfect as it’s cut short on the side and flips over on top. You would think this man just stepped off the cover of GQ. But I know what is behind those glasses. Blue fucking eyes.
I look at what can only be described as a devil in disguise. Max fucking Horton. If there was ever a man I wanted nothing to do with it is him. Yet here I stand in front of him while he reaches out to see my phone, and my hands ache to feel his fingers on mine.
“It’s fine.” I snatch it and walk away from him while he mutters “bitch” under his breath. And in that moment, I couldn’t agree with him more.
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Jamie Begley, Rider's Revenge