by Hamel, B. B.
I didn’t know how much I had missed that feeling.
“It’s been too long,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
He pulled away and looked at me, still smiling. “Past is past. I’m just happy you’re home.”
I nodded, not able to say anything back. He looked around the room.
“Okay, assholes,” he said to the crowd, breaking the tension. “My daughter is home now, so let’s all drink and quit staring at her.”
A few men laughed and the place returned to normal, the soft buzz of conversation creating a background pattern. Dad looked back at me, a huge smile on his face.
“You look so much like your mother,” he said.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Spitting image.”
“You’ve gained weight.”
He laughed loudly. “Yes I have, and nobody around here has the balls to tell me it to my face.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Over my dad’s shoulder, I noticed Colin leaning against the counter watching us with a soft smile. There was something strange in his expression that I couldn’t place. He caught my eye and nodded to me, his smiling turning more genuine. I gave him a little nod back, but was quickly whisked away by Dad, apparently to be paraded around to the guys and introduced to everyone.
The night was a haze, but I felt so much more relaxed than I had in a long time. I hadn’t realized how much of a burden it had been to be in an unspoken feud with my father for so long, especially considering how close we once were. But suddenly I was back, and although things could never go back to normal, I could at least try and move forward.
After all, the man was always going to be my dad, whether I wanted that or not. And in that moment, I had to admit that it felt good to be home.
Even if I was surrounded by a bunch of scantily clad women and dangerous criminals.
Chapter Four: Colin
Davin, that piece of shit.
I scanned the room, trying not to let my sour mood show too much. The beer in my hand was cold and I could feel the condensation drip down onto the floor. I rubbed the water into the tile with my foot, grinding my teeth.
The girls were not supposed to be part of the party. It was meant to be just some core guys, a few people Bren would recognize to make her feel at home. Instead, Davin had decided to invite a bunch of goons Bren had never seen before, plus a few of the mob groupies that hung around O’Brian’s pub. They were pretty much the opposite of welcoming, with their big tits and skanky outfits. Fortunately, Bren didn’t seem to notice the girls, or at least she didn’t seem to make a big deal about them, but it pissed me off anyway.
It was a subtle dig at me and everyone knew it. There was no other explanation. If O’Brian got pissed about the girls being in his house, Davin knew that I’d be held responsible, since I was the one supposedly watching over his daughter. Worse, he knew there was no way I’d throw him under a bus for it, either. You just didn’t rat on someone like that in the Mob, it just wasn’t done, even if that person was being a two-faced snake. I had to admit, it was a pretty devious and clever play. Fortunately, when O’Brian showed up, he was in too good of a mood to give a shit about the girls, but he did give me at least one meaningful glance. I’d probably pay for it later on.
But the thing that pissed me off the most was that I had fucked every single one of them. Davin must have picked them out for that reason, and the other guys all knew it. Back when things had first happened between Bren and me, Davin had noticed the tension between her and I. Which meant that he was well aware of our past, and he probably suspected that tension hadn’t completely gone away. He was absolutely right about that. The mob sluts were a way of reminding me that he knew, and could tell O’Brian at any time.
I shook my head. Davin was a dangerous piece of shit. I was going to have to do something about him sooner rather than later.
As I took a drink, I noticed one of the girls, a blonde named Stacey, was staring at me from across the room. She smiled at me, this seductive little look, and I quickly glanced away, not interested in dealing with her shit. Of all the girls there, she was the one I had been with the most recently. I could still remember her full tits and thick blonde hair as she sucked me off just two weeks earlier. And now she’s sitting in my boss’s kitchen, giving me ‘fuck me’ eyes, I thought. I wasn’t the type to give a girl more than a night or two, but she didn’t realize that yet. I hoped she wasn’t interested in more.
But who was I kidding. They always wanted more.
That was the last thing I needed. I looked back over at Bren and smiled softly. The reunion between her and O’Brian had gone really well, much better than I had expected, and they were busy catching up. There were plenty of cliché Irish toasts to health and happiness and alcohol and whatever else. Bren was smiling in a way I hadn’t seen since she had come home, and she looked absolutely fucking perfect, like the girl I had kissed that night years ago. She made all of the other women look plain compared to her. I remembered the feeling of her full tits pressed up against my chest earlier when I pulled her against me, and how frustrated and annoyed she seemed. I wasn’t sure what I had been thinking, but I suddenly needed to have her against me, and loved how hard she pretended that she didn’t like it. And how fucking hard it made me to feel her warmth and body so close. It brought back a whole wealth of feelings, and I was having trouble not thinking about all of the dirty shit I wanted to do to her.
As I scanned the room again, I realized that it was late, and the guys were starting to filter out. I wasn’t drunk, but I could tell everyone else was. Bren was on her fourth or maybe fifth glass of wine and had a healthy red shade to her cheeks, and O’Brian was laughing a little too loudly.
Fucking Brenna. I knew it was crazy to get involved with her, especially with the adoption looming over my head, but I couldn’t stop myself around her. It was like I had no control over my dick. Or maybe my dick had all the control over me.
“Hey Colin.” I looked up, pulled out of my thoughts, and saw Stacey leaning against the counter next to me, smiling that seductive smile of hers.
“What’s going on?” I asked, distracted.
“Nothing. Just wanted to see what you were up to.”
I shrugged and looked away from Bren. Stacey was giving me that look again, the one that practically screamed how badly she wanted to ride my thick cock. Two weeks ago, I would have taken her up into the shower and fucked her from behind until she yelled my name, but for some reason that had absolutely no appeal to me. The only person I wanted was Bren, as much as I hated to admit it to myself.
“Drinking. It’s getting late.”
She didn’t take the hint. “Yeah, it is. Want to go somewhere?”
“I have to stay here.”
She took a step closer to me and put on finger on my chest, her little smile playing along her lips. I could tell she was purposefully leaning forward to give me a good view of her full tits, and I didn’t mind taking a little look. Still, I frowned, not at all interested. Even if her tits were pretty damn nice.
“Are you sure?”
“I said, no thanks.”
She pouted. “Come on, Colin, I was just thinking about two weeks ago.”
I gave her a look. “Don’t make me say ‘fuck off’ again, Stacey.”
“Whatever, asshole.” She turned and walked back to the table, hips swaying.
I glanced back over at Bren and my heart nearly stopped. She was staring over at us with a weird look on her face. As we locked eyes, she turned away, said something to her dad, and disappeared upstairs.
Fuck, I thought. She must have misread the situation and figured I was into whatever Stacey was desperately trying to sell me.
After Bren disappeared upstairs, O’Brian looked around the room like he was seeing it for the first time. “Hey, assholes,” he called out. The conversations died down. “Night’s over now.” Without another word he headed upst
airs in the wake of his daughter.
I grinned. Typical O’Brian. He went from affable and the life of the party one second, and gruff and short the next. He sure knew how to tell people to get the fuck out when he was sick of them.
The room was still for half a beat, and then everyone stood up and began filing out the door. I looked over at Davin, who was busy smirking at me like he had won some fucking bet. I looked away and began cleaning the place up, tossing away empties and straightening the cabinets.
“Good little party, eh, Colin?” Davin said, coming over and grinning.
I looked at him. “The trick with the girls didn’t work, asshole.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that.”
“You got a problem, you come to me. No more of these fucking games.”
Davin frowned and stepped closer. “Listen to me, boy. You should feel lucky I’m playing games with you. I’ve been in this business a lot longer than you have. If I wanted to ruin you, I fucking would.”
“You sure you want to be saying this to me?”
The air was thick and tense with the promise of violence.
“You may outrank me, boy, but I don’t bow to you.” There was something dangerous and slick in his eyes.
I stood firm, face impassive. “Go home, Davin. I have to clean this shit up.”
He grinned and the tension broke.
“Yeah, you sure do. Get to work, little maid.”
I tensed my fists as he turned and walked out the door. Nothing would have satisfied me more than breaking his teeth on my knuckles, but that would have been suicide. No matter how annoying Davin was, he still was a Right Person, and one of O’Brian’s closest people. I couldn’t settle my issues with him through violence.
I’d have to come up with something else, and soon.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the kitchen, and finished straightening the place up. I knew that I could have left it all there until the morning, and let O’Brian’s staff take care of it, but I felt bad staying in his home and not carrying my weight. When it was decent enough, I grabbed another drink from the refrigerator, and paused. Bren’s face as she turned and went upstairs came back to me. I grabbed a glass of wine, poured it full, and went upstairs.
I had a pretty good idea of where she would be. I wasn’t sure why, but I figured it would be good to have some time alone with her. I went up to the third floor and pushed out through a pair of glass double doors that opened out onto a fairly large roof deck. The railings were all wood, clean and painted white, with furniture scattered around the space. White Christmas lights were strung around the edges, but only the nearly full moon provided any visibility.
Sitting in a chair off to one side, her feet kicked up on a little glass table, was Bren. She looked up at me as I walked over.
“What do you want?”
I held up the drinks. “Thought I’d join you.”
She didn’t say anything as I sat down, but she did take the wine. I cracked open my drink and sipped it, looking out at the city. I had to admit, it was a spectacular view; off in the distance, I could see City Hall, and all the buildings in between. Even though I had seen it many times, it never got old. The summer night was cool and comfortable, and Bren was wearing short cotton shorts and a thin white cotton T-shirt. I had a feeling that she was going to be sitting out on the roof deck; when she was younger, she always sat out there at night when she had something on her mind.
“I’m surprised you’re not with that blonde girl,” she said.
I glanced over at her. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. She was just coming on to you pretty hard.”
“What do you care?”
“I don’t care. What were those girls doing here, anyway?”
I sighed. “Just part of the party, I guess.”
She snorted. “Typical of my dad.”
I paused, not sure how to handle it. “They were Davin’s doing, actually.”
“Well, whatever. I don’t care who you talk to.”
I grinned at her. She sipped her drink, but I could see it plain as day on her face. She was annoyed and a little jealous, though I know she’d never admit it. I looked away, letting the silence take over, and found myself wondering about her ex-boyfriend, Vince Fabrizio. How the hell did Bren get involved with a guy like that? I wondered. I glanced over at her.
“What?” she asked, catching my eye.
“I was just thinking. How’d you end up with that guy, anyway?”
She got quiet for a second, and I wasn’t sure if I had pushed her too soon.
“I don’t need a lecture,” she said.
“No lecture. I’m just genuinely curious.”
She took another sip. “I don’t really know, honestly. I met him in the city one night. He was a little pushy and kind of an asshole, but charming. He took me to a diner, bought me food, and didn’t try anything. Or at least nothing too intense.” She paused, lost in a memory. I could tell her eyes were far away. She looked back at me, focusing in on the present. “I guess we just fell into it after that.”
I nodded. “Did you know about his business?”
“Not at first. After we got serious he told me some things, but it wasn’t until later that he told me everything.”
“And how did you react?”
She cocked her head at me. “What’s with the interrogation?”
“Sorry. It’s just been awhile. And plus, I need to protect you from this guy.”
“No, you don’t,” she said, getting annoyed.
I loved the way she looked when she was frustrated. I wanted to grab her hair, pull it gently toward me, and feel her skin against mine. She looked incredibly sexy in her nightclothes, and I could practically see her nipples through her thin shirt.
I grinned at her. “Come on, you don’t want me around to keep you safe? Your own personal knight in shining armor?”
“Yeah, right. Don’t knights have a code of honor or something?”
“Hey, I have a code. I may be a criminal, but I have a code.”
“I’m sure. ‘Fuck bitches, get money,’ isn’t a code of honor.”
I smirked. “It is in some circles.”
She laughed. “What about you, then? That girl seemed pretty familiar with you.”
I shrugged, not ashamed of my past. I’d been with my fair share of women over the years. ‘Fuck bitches, get money,’ really wasn’t my code, but it was pretty close. At least, it had been for a very long time.
“I’m not exactly chaste, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She laughed again. “I’m not surprised.”
“Yeah, why not?”
“I mean, look at you.”
I grinned at her and raised an eyebrow, and she quickly blushed, covering her embarrassment with a sip of her drink. There was her sexy look again. It was getting harder and harder not to pull her by the hips into my lap.
“I have changed a little bit since you last saw me.”
“Yeah, you’re not such a scrawny weirdo.”
I laughed. “I was never scrawny.”
“No, maybe not, but you were a weirdo.”
“You didn’t seem to mind.”
She smiled, but looked away, and there was another short silence. I wanted to reach over and gently pull her face back toward me, kiss her lips like I did that night years ago, taste her perfect skin and mouth and tongue, but didn’t. I couldn’t, not while the adoption was still looming over me. How could I have anything with her if she was legally my sister? I mean, it wasn’t like we were raised in the same house, at least for the vast majority of our lives, and I wasn’t blood related to her. But still, O’Brian would be devastated. I couldn’t imagine how he would react.
“Anyway, it’s getting late,” she said.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Thanks. For tonight, I mean.”
I shrugged. “Not my doing. But I’m glad you got along with your dad.”
“Yea
h, me too.”
He’s adopting me; you’re going to be my sister, I wanted to say.
“See you in the morning, I guess.”
“Bright and early.” Me and you, brother and sister.
“Night.” She stood, finished off her drink, and then walked back toward the doors.
I gripped my chair, wanting to call her back, wanting to tell her, but couldn’t. Things were decent between us, or at least not totally strained and frustrating. I didn’t want to break that. There would be plenty of time to tell her tomorrow. Besides, how could I ask her to turn around, when I got such an outstanding view of her perfect ass? She opened the doors and went inside, closing them softly behind her.
I cursed and drank my beer, looking out over the city. What a fucked situation. I was going to become her brother in only a few weeks, and all I could think about was sliding her soft skin down along my cock. I wanted to bite her lip and make her shiver.
Tomorrow. I’d tell her tomorrow.
Chapter Five: Brenna
My mouth felt sticky as I climbed out of bed. Bits and pieces of the night before came back to me, especially my conversation with Colin. Despite the hangover, I felt pretty good for the first time in a while. I was in a safe place, far away from Vince, and I had more or less made up with my dad.
Although, there is still some tension with Colin, I reflected, making the understatement of the century.
I got out of bed, threw on a hoody and some slippers, and walked into the bathroom. I looked like a mess; I did a quick comb of my hair, mostly just to tame it, and brushed my teeth. As I walked back out into the hallway, I could smell fresh coffee coming up the back kitchen staircase.
It wasn’t exactly early, so I doubted it was my dad. Plus, from what I remembered, he didn’t really hang around the house very much. I walked down the cramped stairs and poked my head out into the kitchen. Sitting down at the island was Colin, sipping some coffee and looking at a newspaper.
I smirked. “Good morning.”
He looked up. “Morning, beautiful.”
“No, don’t even start already.”