The Other Brother Part 3: Illicit

by Lauren Hawkeye

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  THE OTHER BROTHER PART 3: ILLICIT

  First edition. March 10, 2015.

  Copyright © 2015 Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes.

  ISBN: 978-1928068273

  Written by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  The Other Brother Part 3: Illicit

  Dear Reader,

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Read on for an excerpt from Dahlia by Design by Tawny Stokes, coming soon!

  Read on for an excerpt from One Night With The Billionaire by Lauren Hawkeye, coming soon!

  One Night With The Billionaire Excerpt

  Read on for an excerpt from Two Are Better Than One by Suzanne Rock, available now!

  Dear Reader,

  We are so pleased that you’ve picked up the final part of The Other Brother! In this last third of the story, we’ll discover if Seth and Allegra can find their happily ever after... or if Theo manages to ruin things forever. We have both had so much fun working on the story!

  We hope you enjoy The Other Brother Part 3: Illicit!

  Happy reading!

  Chapter One

  SETH

  “Hello, brother.”

  My hands shake as I press my cell against my cheek. “If you’ve touched her, I will kill you.”

  Theo laughs. “Ooh, so dramatic. Is that what your time in New York taught you? How to be a drama queen?”

  Though it damn near kills me, I swallow thickly and remain silent. I can’t let him know that he’s gotten to me, though I can feel fury radiating from every cell in my body.

  “That’s right, bro.” Theo emphasizes the last word, and I grind my teeth together. This man is not and never will be a part of my family. “I have my sources, too. I’ve been keeping an eye on the boy who tried to kill me. I know more about you than you’ll ever guess.”

  Normally, this would make my heart stop. News of my kink becoming public knowledge—that could bring my empire down. But right this moment, I know I’ll take out an ad in the New York Times with a picture of me dressed in leather and brandishing a whip if it means keeping Allegra safe.

  “Where is she?” There’s no point using Allegra’s name—we both know she’s the only one who matters here. And though he hasn’t said anything about her, not knowing where she is makes my every instinct fire.

  I don’t know if she’s safe. And that is just not acceptable.

  “She’s around.” There’s a smirk in his voice. He’s enjoying this. If he was here, I’d kill him.

  “Have you hurt her?” My voice nearly breaks with the question. I can’t let him hear how much I need to know. I don’t know how much of this is about Allegra now, and how much of this is to get back at me, but I won’t give him any extra ammunition.

  He doesn’t answer and it nearly kills me not to beg him.

  “Theo.” I almost shout. “Have. You. Hurt. Your. Sister?”

  “No. Of course I haven’t.” He sounds amused and slightly insulted. “I’m really not sure why you think I would, Seth.”

  “I swear...” Sucking in a deep breath, I pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers. “If you touch her, if you touch one hair on her head...”

  “Oh, I never said I wouldn’t touch her, brother dear.” He laughs again, and the sound chills me to the bone. “I said I wouldn’t hurt her. Though I suppose with your... interests... you wouldn’t really understand the difference.”

  Don’t do it, Seth. Don’t rise to his bait.

  It takes tremendous effort, but I manage to keep my voice calm.

  “Can I speak to her?” I hate having to ask. She’s mine. Mine to protect.

  Clearly I’ve failed at that. I need to make things right.

  “She’s tied up for a moment.” I can hear the pleasure in Theo’s voice, even over the phone. “Maybe later.”

  I can’t stay still any longer. I have to move. I have to get to her. My car is destroyed, there is no way I can drive it, so I need a new ride. I could call a service and have a car come to get me, but if they don’t know who I am that will take far too long. I’ll get a taxi, and offer the driver more money than he’s ever seen to get where I’m going as fast as humanly possible.

  Jumping into the elevator, I press the button for the lobby. I need to keep Theo talking. As long as he’s talking to me, he’s not hurting Allegra.

  “You and I should get together and talk.” I’m certain that he has her, certain that he’s toying with me by not confirming it.

  “We’re talking now, Seth.” The mocking edge in his voice is sharp, a glittering blade that presses against my skin and slices deep.

  “Face-to-face would be better, don’t you think?” Back in New York, I like to have my meetings in person, because I know that I intimidate other people. It’s a weapon I use to my advantage.

  Theo knows better than to get in the cage with the lion.

  “Why, so you can beat me nearly to death again?” His words are light, but I hear the deadly edge beneath them. The deliberate calm of crazy.

  It’s fucking terrifying.

  The elevator finally glides to a stop and I impatiently push my way off and into the lobby. I’m across that floor in seconds. A teenage boy in a stuffy blue suit and an elderly woman with a Chihuahua clutched tightly in her shaking arms have to jump out of my way.

  “I’m sorry about that, Theo. I should’ve told you that when I got out.”

  It’s not entirely a lie. I’m not sorry that I did what I did. I am sorry that my actions set this chain of events in motion.

  I really don’t see the need to clarify.

  “There’s no point in lying.” Theo’s voice loses its mocking edge, becoming hard and brittle.

  Stepping outside, I hail the valet, gesturing for a taxi, hoping that I’m conveying my urgency without stepping away from the phone. The valet speaks into his headset while I wait on the curb.

  “What are you talking about?” My body is tense as I listen to Theo breathing on the other end of the line.

  “You’re not sorry at all.” He grunts while pure adrenaline shoots through my veins. “No, not at all. But you will be.”

  With that, he disconnects. I shout as all the blood drains from my face. As the taxi pulls up, my heart is thudding so hard I can feel it in my throat. My hands tremble, a mix of fear and rage, as I open the door to get into the taxi.

  I’m not sure what I’ll do if anything has happened to her. But even if he hasn’t done a thing, Theo had better hope he’s nowhere to be found.

  He’s made his intentions clear—he will have Allegra, at any cost. In my mind, this is tantamount to signing his death warrant.

  I don’t care if I’m locked away forever. I don’t give a shit if I get the death penalty. As long as beautiful, bright Allegra is safe.

  “Where to, sir?”

  I like details, and normally would note the number of the cab, the features of the driver before we pull away from the curb, but today? It’s all a blur.

  I give the driver the address, sliding a hundred dollar bill through the partition, though the ride won’t cost more than forty. “There’ll be another three hundred in it if you get me there in ten minutes.”

  Going the speed limit, it would take twenty, bu
t without another word, the driver peels away from the curb. I obviously got into the right taxi.

  As the car races through the streets, I try Allegra’s number again. It rings and rings, the shrill sound echoing in my ear before finally going to voice mail. I try it again, with the same results.

  Not being able to do anything isn’t acceptable, and it’s all my fault. My presence here, the fact that I made myself a noticeable figure in Allegra’s life? I might as well have painted a target on her back.

  I consider calling the police for about a second, and then decide against it. I’m going to Allegra’s house, but there’s no guarantee that’s where Theo has her. In fact, considering it’s the first place I’ll look, chances are good that they’re not there, but I don’t know where else to go.

  The taxi driver pulls up to the house in exactly nine minutes. I peel off some hundreds from my billfold without counting them and toss the cash back into the cab as I exit. I run up to the front door, not caring anymore who sees me. Discretion is no longer a luxury I can afford.

  Trying the doorknob, I curse when I find it locked. I start to bang on the door, and I can feel my hands bruising as I simultaneously pound my fists on the ugly wood and ring the doorbell repeatedly.

  “Allegra!” I shout as loud as I can. If Theo’s in there with her, then I want to attract all the attention I can get. “Allegra!”

  I can smell the metallic scent of blood as my repeating banging splits open the skin on my knuckle. I don’t care. I need to get into this house.

  Finally I hear footsteps pounding down the stairs that I know are in the hallway a few feet from the front entrance. The door opens and a wild mix of emotions surges through me when I see the face standing just inside the doorway.

  “Little early for such a ruckus.” I can feel the weight of the gaze that I haven’t seen for so long, can sense exactly the moment he realizes who I am. I can see the horror and anger that comes with the recognition.

  “Seth?” He looks as if I’ve slapped him, and I curse, even as a pang runs through me. In all probability, this man wants to kill me as much as I want to kill his son.

  I hate that I hurt the man who once opened his home to me. I wish I had time to make things right.

  I don’t. At least, not right now.

  “Sam.” I can feel how rigid I am, tension stiffening my limbs. “Is Allegra here?”

  “Get the hell off my property.” His face is like thunder. “You have no right, no right to stand here and ask me anything. No right to say my daughter’s name.”

  “Yell at me later.” I try to keep my voice calm, but it just isn’t working, and I wind up shouting. “I need to know now. Is Allegra here?”

  Maybe it’s the look on my face, or it could be the dark edge in my voice. Sam narrows his eyes, takes a step back from the doorway before answering, suspicion heavy in his voice. “She’s here.”

  I sag with relief, the sudden loss of adrenaline making me shake. Not very manly, I suppose, and even a week ago I might have berated myself for the weakness.

  Right now? All I can do is feel.

  Reaching out, I grip the doorjamb in an attempt to steady myself.

  “You have thirty seconds to get out of here before I call the police.”

  Blinking, I look into Sam’s face. I recognize the wild look there, the animal instinct to protect his own.

  He has no idea. No idea at all. And if he’s the man I remember, when he finds out, it will crush him.

  “It’s okay, Dad.”

  The sound of Allegra’s voice, floating out of the dimly lit space behind Sam, nearly breaks me. I look into those glittering emerald eyes, and even as she speaks I’m pushing past Sam to get to her.

  “Seth.” Allegra’s face flushes as I grab her in my arms and lift her right off her feet. I can feel her relax into me even as she pushes at me with both hands—what she really wants conflicting with the need to keep this thing between us a secret from Sam.

  “You’re safe.” Fuck Sam. Pressing my face into her hair, I inhale the sweet and familiar scent. She’s safe. She’s safe. This becomes my mantra as I hold her tight, my hands gripping her back, afraid she’s going to disappear.

  Over her shoulder I can see Sam studying the embrace, can see his thoughts playing out over the work-roughened features.

  Clearly, Allegra knew I was back in town. Clearly, there’s some kind of relationship between us, something more than she should have with a stepbrother she hasn’t seen in six years.

  And clearly, this is not the kind of affection that a young woman and her estranged stepbrother typically have for one another.

  “Allegra Jayne, you have exactly ten seconds to start talking.” His fingers twitch, and I’m pretty sure that he’s wishing he was holding the rifle he used to keep locked away in his den. “Though I suspect I’m not going to like the answers.”

  “Just... give me a few minutes. Please.” Allegra stops shoving against me, and I let her back down onto her feet, though I don’t let go. Sam’s gaze travels down to where my hands rest on the curves of her waist, taking in the possessiveness of the gesture, and his face reddens while a vein in his temple starts to visibly throb. “We’ll talk. I promise. But I need... I need to talk to... to Seth.”

  “This better not be what I think it is.” Sam’s expression is murderous as he glares at me, then pins Allegra with the same stare. “This boy here tried to kill your brother, Allegra. He almost did.”

  The reminder of Theo again chills my blood, and my fingers, resting on Allegra’s waist, tighten.

  “Dad. Please,” Allegra pleads, but doesn’t step away from me. Doesn’t deny what’s between us to her father, even though I know she wants to deny it to herself.

  Sam’s mouth opens then closes again, soundlessly. Shaking his head, he slams the door shut and turns, stomping his way into the kitchen.

  Allegra turns back to me, about to say something, probably to shout at me, but I don’t give her time. I am there, arms around her, my mouth on hers. Backing her up into the wall, I bury my hands in her hair and crush my mouth to hers as if my life depends on that kiss.

  I’m not entirely certain that it doesn’t.

  Chapter Two

  ALLEGRA

  I know I should push him away. That look on my dad’s face tells me that I’ve crossed a serious line, one that I may not be able to step back over.

  But... Seth is shaking. And the way he’s holding me... this isn’t the confident man I’ve come to know since he came back to town. I can’t find it in myself to push him away, at least not yet.

  Plus no matter how wrong my mind knows this is, no matter how upset I am with him, my body knows the truth. It’s content just to be near him.

  Finally I come to my senses and push him away. I have maybe three minutes before my dad decides he’s waited long enough and calls the police on Seth for trespassing. To his mind, Seth is the entire reason for the downfall of this family.

  Just two days ago, I’d thought so, too. Now... I’m not so sure.

  “Why are you here?” It almost kills me, but shove back from the warm comfort of Seth’s arms. It feels like tearing the scab off a wound, letting it begin to bleed again.

  “I had to make sure you were safe.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels, his grey eyes locked on me.

  “Of course I’m safe.” I frown at him, irritation and nerves rising like an incoming tide. “Seth, we’ve talked about this. What could possibly have happened to make you come over here like a crazed idiot?”

  Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair but doesn’t look away. “I called your cell and Theo answered it.”

  Just saying my brother’s name makes his jaw clench.

  “What?” Despite my best intentions, anxiety starts to dance along my skin. “That’s not possible. I’ve been home the whole time.”

  “Go check.” His voice is flat. My stomach turns.

  “I always have it. I keep it in my ba
g.” Defiance is easier than acceptance, so I march toward the stairs. “My bag is in my room.”

  Seth follows me up the stairs, crowding close behind me like he expects me to be attacked at any moment. I feel like I’m seventeen, sneaking a boy up to my bedroom—I’m really surprised that my dad hasn’t come out of the kitchen yet with a shotgun and a smile.

  We shuffle into my room. The room is small and Seth is big, taking up more than his fair share of space. It’s weird, having him up here in the place where my dreams about him first began.

  Needing the space, I hurry to the bed. My tan leather handbag rests on the rumpled comforter.

  “See?’” But then I squint. The flap where I keep my phone is open. I always buckle it shut because I’m afraid of losing my cell.

  My stomach drops as my fingers slide into the compartment, find the cool screen of the phone. It’s where it’s supposed to be. But I can’t shake the feeling that something’s amiss.

  “Allie.” Seth steps toward me, but I hold up a hand, willing him to stay back. My gaze darts around the room—nothing seems wrong. It’s just this feeling, this sticky sensation in the air that clings, telling me something’s not right.

  My stare falls on the tall white dresser near the window. I don’t know why I’m drawn to it but I quickly cross the room, pull open the top drawer, which holds my underwear.

  “Shit.” I exhale so hard it hurts. Everything is in place. I don’t know what I’d been expecting.

  But I can’t shake that feeling... the one that tells me Seth has been right all along.

  “What did Theo say on the phone?” I don’t turn from the dresser, because I really don’t want Seth to see my face. He’ll know then that I am creeped out. That I’ve been putting on a show. That my bravado is completely fake.

  Others might question a detail as small as fastening the compartment on my purse. Not me.

  Somebody was in my bag. Somebody wanted my phone.

  “Nothing, really.” Seth sounds distracted, and it sparks my temper

  “So what, you two just had a normal conversation? Caught up on old times?” I spin around. “It couldn’t have been nothing. Nothing wouldn’t have made you act the fool and come running.”