by G. Bailey
“What do you think?” Izzy has pulled her dress down on the one side so I can see a tattoo just over her ribs. Her bra blocks a bit of it, but I can see its four different-coloured roses, they are on a vine going across her ribs and her mother’s name is written just under it in fancy writing.
“It’s lovely; did Luke design it? It looks like one of his,” I say, because I’ve seen all of his designs at the tattoo shop in town. I was lucky Luke wasn’t in when I had my tattoo done. I would have to owe him another favour. He hasn’t collected the first one yet, and it worries me. The youngest King brother is definitely the sneakiest.
“Yes, he did it actually. Hurt like hell but worth it. Blake loves it.” She winks, and I laugh.
“I bet he did, I want the same reaction from Elliot tonight,” I say, feeling a little nervous. What if he doesn’t like it, or it’s going too far too soon?
She laughs and shakes her head at me as she sorts her dress out.
I sort my phone and small purse bag out before putting on my new, leather jacket. I totally bought this because it reminded me of Elliot. I really don’t know how, but that man is making me crazier than I thought I’d ever be.
Blake is waiting in the kitchen in our apartment when we come out, and I see his eyes basically devour Izzy. I roll my eyes when he pulls her into a hot kiss.
"Guys, we should be leaving," I mutter, knowing they’re both ignoring me. Harley is hosting a party for Sebastian and Elliot at his house, and Blake is driving us both.
"Sure, sorry, but I had to do that," Blake says, throwing a wink at my blushing friend.
"Yes, she looks hot, but we have got to go," I repeat myself.
"Come on, beauty. Allie can't wait to see the birthday boy," Blake teases as we walk out, and I hit him on the arm when he walks past.
We all get into Blake's large jeep, which is difficult with my dress but I manage it without help. It makes me think back to Harley’s truck that Elliot borrowed. That thing was a nightmare to get into.
It takes around thirty minutes to get to his house, and it's packed, with cars filling the long driveway. We have to park a little away from the house because we can't get close.
"Man, it's busy," Blake says, turning off the car.
"My brothers are popular. Well, they used to be with the ladies," Izzy says.
I don't reply because I don't like to think of Elliot's past with girls. I know after his breakup with his ex-girlfriend, Lily, he slept around a bit.
"Come on," Izzy shouts, noticing me walking a little behind them.
Izzy stops to grab my hand, and we all walk into the house together. I can't see much between the number of people in the kitchen and the hallways. I say hello to a few friends from school as we go past. I do manage to grab an unopened bottle of wine off the side and find a glass. Unluckily for me, I lose Blake and Izzy somewhere. I'm guessing they are in the large lounge, where the music is blasting from. I push past a few people in the hallway before I make it into the lounge. I can't see anyone I know, but just as I'm about to leave, a hand touches my arm and makes me look into the grinning face of Gage.
"Hey, gorgeous, wow that dress." He whistles a hello and steps closer to me.
"Hey, Gage, have you seen Elliot?" I ask him.
"No. Anyway, how have you been? I've not seen you in a while," he asks, placing a hand on my upper arm, which makes me a little uncomfortable.
"I've been good, you?" I say, moving away from him a little, but he doesn't notice.
“Better now that I don’t have that bug. I’m glad you’re better, I did try to see you, but your boyfriend wasn’t keen on that idea.” He grins, and I smile.
“That’s Elliot,” I reply, looking around the room.
"Hey, angel," a voice whispers in my ear, and an arm snakes around my waist, pulling me back into a hard chest I know very well.
"Hey, cookie." I grin when he kisses my neck.
"It's my birthday, can we lose the nickname as a present for me?" he whispers in my ear.
"Nope," I say loud enough for him to hear me.
It’s only then that I notice Gage has gone, so I turn to look at the handsome, birthday boy. Elliot's black hair is slightly styled but still has that messy, sexy look because it’s growing out. He is wearing a tight, black shirt, which shows off his muscular build, and has black jeans with his usual boots. Holy cow, he looks sexy.
"Wow, Allie, I thought you looked good from behind, but fuck me," Elliot says more to himself as his eyes look over every part of the dress, turning me on insanely.
I take a sip of my drink before Elliot takes it from me, putting it down on the desk near us and pulling me into a smouldering kiss. Elliot lifts me enough that I can run my fingers through his soft hair, which causes him to gently bite my lower lip.
"I want to show you your birthday present," I say, pulling away from him a little.
“I liked the presents you have already given me, including the wake-up call this morning.” He looks down at me, confused. I turned up in his room at ten in the morning, dressed in a lacy, black bra and crotch-less panties. Elliot thought they were a great invention, just as much as I did. I had to blindfold Elliot so he wouldn’t see the tattoo, and I kept the covers over me until he went to the bathroom. It was so much work to make sure he didn’t touch the tattoo by accident.
"Can we go to your room?" I say.
"I like the sound of this." Elliot instantly grins, taking my hand and leading me through the people who try to stop him to talk.
I don't see many people I know, but they all say ‘hello’ or ‘happy birthday’ to Elliot. We finally make our way upstairs. As we walk past Sebastian's door, it opens to a messy-haired Maisy, who smiles.
"Alliecat." She throws herself at me in a big hug.
"Maisybear, I missed you," I say, remembering that between dance class and dating Elliot, it's been two weeks since I've been able to see her. I know she is busy with interviews for university and Jake. Jake is getting so big now and loves to say ‘daddy’ all the time.
"Me, too. Can you come to mine next week?" she asks and sorts out her dress out as Sebastian walks out of the room with a grin, which matches his twin’s.
"Allie, Elliot, now where were you guys sneaking off to?" Sebastian winks.
"To have sex like you guys clearly did," I say bluntly, and Maisy goes red. I sigh, thinking I must have said something a little rude, again.
"At least, you’re honest." Sebastian laughs, putting an arm around Maisy, who laughs too.
"Where's Jake?" I ask, picturing the cute little boy who looks so much like his mum.
"With my dad for the night. I miss him." Maisy sighs.
"Come on, let's get some drinks before I take you back to bed, again," Sebastian says, making Maisy giggle, and they walk off, saying bye.
"My twin has the right idea," Elliot whispers into my ear before putting his arm around my waist and leading me into his room. I walk in as he shuts the door and raises an eyebrow at me.
"Close your eyes," I say gently.
"All right," he mutters before doing as I asked.
I kind of get goose bumps because he trusts me enough to do as I ask.
I quickly take my dress off so I'm standing only in my heels and bra. I can’t put any knickers on under this dress or you would be able to see it.
"Okay. Open your eyes," I say a little breathless because I’m so nervous. I see his eyes widen as he looks me over, and I turn to the side slightly so he can see the tattoo.
"Allie," he says my name softly with his eyes locked on the tattoo on my leg.
Elliot kneels in front of me and gently kisses the tattoo. I sigh a little because it's a bit sore still, and he is so sweet.
"Happy birthday. Do you like them?" I ask, feeling a little nervous.
"Allie, I–" he stops, standing up and taking my face between his large hands.
"I love you," he says, shocking the hell out of me, and his eyes never leave mine as he kisses me.
>
I pull away to reply, but I'm not sure what to say, and then Elliot kisses me again.
"Don't say anything. Just know that I goddamn love you, Allie."
My eyes water with happiness as he kisses me again, this time I'm more aware that I only have a bra on and Elliot's hands go down to my bare ass, squeezing.
Bang, bang, bang.
Elliot’s door is knocked on, and Elliot drops his head to my shoulder before letting me slide down his front.
"Elliot, unless you want your birthday cake gone, you best get down here," Luke shouts.
"Fine," he shouts back, and I grin at him.
"It’s chocolate fudge; I should I know because I made it," I say. Elliot grins.
"My favourite, how did you know?"
"Sebastian talks about my cakes a lot. In fact, everyone tells me their favourite cake flavours when I’m cooking. Gage is really annoying for it. I haven’t actually cooked him one yet," I say with a grin.
"No talking about other guys while you’re naked. And I know it sounds crazy, but your cakes are for me." He grins.
I roll my eyes while pulling on my dress.
"We will continue this later," Elliot promises before leading me out of his room with a sigh.
Elliot stops, turning to me and pushing my hair behind my ear. He leans forward and whispers, "By the way, I'm taking the dress off you next time." I shiver as he gives me a knowing look before tugging my hand, and I snap out of my daydream of what Elliot is going to do to me later and follow him down the stairs.
We find Harley in the kitchen, and we walk over.
"Hey, you two," he says, taking a sip of his beer. Harley looks younger tonight, wearing a blue jumper and jeans. I can see his hair is braided back into his usual knot at the back of his head, and it looks really nice. Long hair really suits Harley; his hair is almost black like Elliot's, but it's a tad lighter.
"Hey, enjoying the party?" Elliot asks.
"I guess," Harley mutters, looking bored. It's odd because Harley is only twenty-four but acts forty. I guess it’s because looking after everyone all the time has made him forget how to have fun.
"Want a drink, sweetheart?" Elliot asks, distracting me from my thoughts.
"Yes, please," I say with a smile.
"Okay, I will be right back," Elliot says.
"You’re good for him. Elliot was always so quiet and serious, but with you, he looks happy," Harley comments, watching Elliot walk away.
"Thanks. Elliot's a good man," I say.
"He is. How's uni?" he asks.
"I wanted to talk to you about that. I’m dropping out, and I want the job you offered. I want a job I enjoy, and, for me, dancing is that," I tell him, and his eyes widen a little bit, but that’s all the reaction I get.
"It's good to like what you do, and I am happy you have accepted my offer. You will need an assistant," he says as a reply, and I nod, agreeing with him.
"How's the expansion? I can't wait to use the new sauna." I laugh with Harley.
"I'm sure I could let you in when it's done before anyone else. It should be another month; they are just painting now, and then the checks will be done," he replies.
"I would like that; I can’t wait." I laugh.
"All the new rooms have been booked out for classes. Don’t worry, I kept yours open. I had a feeling you would accept. The children are going to be happy; the waiting list for a new dance class is over a hundred now."
"Here you go." Elliot hands me a glass of wine and moves to stand close to me.
"Alliecat, there you are, Sebastian has already found his cake and, well, I thought the two of them could use some time together," Maisy says as she stands next to Harley.
"You might want to go and save your cake, it's in the dining room with Sebastian and Luke," she says to Elliot, who nods and gives me a kiss on the cheek before quickly leaving. I can't help but chuckle.
"Jake pulled himself up onto the sofa today." Maisy smiles widely, and I see Harley’s whole face light up.
"That's amazing. I can't wait to see him tomorrow," I tell her.
"He loves his Uncle Harley. Or ‘Har, Har’ as Jake says." Maisy laughs.
"I think it's going to be a while before he learns to say ‘Auntie Allie.’" I smile at her.
"He is growing so fast. Sebastian already wants another, but I've just started applying for university, so we will wait. Well, if I can convince him to." She laughs with us.
"I'm going to find the boys," I say with a wave and make my way past people to the dining room. What I find in there really doesn't surprise me. It should, but it doesn’t.
"It's my Goddamn cake," Elliot growls, holding one end of the large plate holding the chocolate cake.
"Yeah, well, she's your girlfriend so she can make you one anytime. I have to suffer and bribe my way to a cake." Sebastian pouts, holding the other end as they both pull. Luke is sitting on the table with his legs on a chair, laughing his head off, and the rest of the people in the room are watching with smiles.
"You just ate your own cake," Elliot replies, look very angry.
"Yes, but I want this one, " Seb replies.
Honestly, they are like children over food. I’m surprised there are any single King brothers left when they love food so much, you can just cook for them.
"No," Elliot says firmly.
"Yes, you know you love me. And I'm your twin, we have to share; it’s literally what twins have to do," Sebastian says seriously, making me laugh, and I decide to help.
"Sebastian, how about I make you a cake at your house on Monday? I'm coming over for the day anyway," I say gently.
"Fine, but it better be this one. Some advice, bro, don't let this one go, or I'll have to kill you," Sebastian says with a smirk, letting go of the cake and pulling me into a big hug. I feel squashed as Seb hugs me, way too long I might add.
"You know what, you can have the cake if you put my girlfriend down. I would rather have her."
"Damn, why didn’t I think of that? I should have just hugged her quicker," Seb says when he lets me go, and I'm suddenly pulled back into a hard chest with Elliot's arms around my waist.
"Have the cake," Elliot says, pointing to the cake on the table but glaring at Seb, who is grinning. I know that grin, he did that on purpose to get the cake.
"Best birthday." Sebastian sighs, getting a large plate.
"You’re going to make yourself sick," I mutter, but Sebastian ignores me, cutting the cake.
"I have something else I want to eat. We're going to my room," Elliot whispers into my ear, and I smirk.
"Funny, I'm hungry too; how about I find something to suck on?" I whisper back, and I feel how much I'm affecting him against my back.
"Best birthday," Elliot repeats Seb’s word with a whole different meaning before we are moving quickly to his room. Elliot keeps his plan to undress me, and he does it painfully slow. We don't leave his room for the rest of the night.
75
Elliot
“Your dad is dead!” Arthur shouts bluntly as he walks into the house. I stand quickly with Harley next to me as Arthur walks into the room with four of his thugs.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Harley says, standing and crossing his arms in front of himself.
“Don’t play fucking games with me, boy. He told me you all knew before I put a bullet in his head.”
The grief I expected to feel isn’t there; in fact, I fucking hoped he would die trying to kill Arthur. I hoped they would fucking kill each other. Father told us last week about his stupid plan to kill his best mate.
“We knew. We couldn’t stop him.” Harley shrugs. Arthur pulls a gun out of his pocket and aims it at my head.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you all.”
“We fight. We are the best, and you know it,” Harley says calmly, if it wasn’t for the tightly clenched fists at his side, I wouldn’t know he was worried.
“You fight for me now. Three-hundred fights, and you
win every fucking one of them. If I tell you to fight, you fight,” Arthur says.
It will take us years to fight that off. That’s a stupid amount of fights each. We would be lucky to win that many, we are good, but fuck, that would be a miracle.
“Deal,” Harley says, and Arthur lowers his gun. I was never worried he would fire it. Arthur doesn’t kill people himself, he never does. His guards do it for him. That’s what my father always said. Our father was different, he liked killing people. He told us often enough.
“Where is his body?” Harley asks, a firm demand in his tone.
“On the driveway, next to the trash, where he belongs.” Arthur says before he walks out, with his guards following.
"So here is your final paperwork, the owner wanted to thank you for the quick payment," the estate agent says as she hands over a pile of signed paperwork for my new apartment. It's in the building opposite my club, which I feel will be useful as I plan to be more hands on in my work there.
The apartment is a two bedroom on the top floor. I'm standing in the open-plan living room and kitchen. It is nicely decorated with a modern theme with a white-tiled kitchen and new appliances, which I bought with the apartment, littered around. The lounge has three, two-seater leather sofas in front of a fake fireplace with a large TV above it. I might buy a bigger TV now that I think about it. There are double doors that open to a little balcony in the room too.
I shut the door, saying goodbye to the estate agent, and walk around admiring my new bedroom. I damn well hope Allie likes it enough. It's has a large, dark-wooden bed, nearly the same as the one I have at Harley’s, which takes up a lot of the room. I've brought new wardrobes, which are on each side of the bed, and some matching chest of drawers too. There is an en-suite in this room, and the spare as well.
I take my phone out of my leather jacket and send a quick text to Allie, seeing if I can get her over here today.
Allie: Sure, send me the address, I can be over in about ten x