Dominic (Saint Brothers #1)

by Kristan Belle

  I almost had to crane my neck to look at him and I wasn’t small at 5’7”, but he made me feel tiny.

  Green eyes and dark hair. Did it get any better than that? The bonus was that this guy was muscular and ruggedly good looking. He didn’t look like he belonged behind a desk or in a bank. I imagined him to be an outdoorsy type, working with his hands on some kind of construction site. I could see through the deception of the suit he was wearing.

  “Are you okay?” He asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

  I realised I’d been stood there open-mouthed staring at him. What a bloody fool. There was probably a puddle of drool at my feet. But none of the women in here could blame me. This was one damn fine specimen of a man. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  “I didn’t hurt you?”

  “Not at all.” I couldn’t help the little smirk that pulled at my lips. There was no way I could have not felt the firmness of his chest as we collided. I only came up to his shoulders and I could have easily broken my nose on those rock-hard pecs of his as I walked out with my head down. Ah, but it would have been worth the pain.

  “Do you have a name?” He asked with a small smile and that quirk of his lips had my stomach clenching. The low rumble of his husky voice made me want to cross my legs.

  Surely this man had to have a flaw? Did his personality suck? Maybe he was a serial killer? Okay, maybe that’s a little drastic, but he was a hot as hell and from this brief moment of conversation, he seemed nice enough. Plus, someone this nicely wrapped couldn’t be as sweet as sugar all the way through, could they? Oh, what I wouldn’t give to find out…

  “Fallon.” I grinned as he held out his hand to me.

  “Well, it was nice bumping into you, Fallon. Maybe we could do it again sometime?”

  Laughing, I nodded. On first impressions, this guy had it all. I bet he was a dud in bed. No one could be that perfect.

  He turned to walk away and I realised I didn’t even know his name. I couldn’t call out to him, what would I say? I would only look an idiot, so all I could do was stand there and watch his firm ass move further and further away from me.

  I stood there for a few minutes even after he was out of sight before walking back to the girls’. I wasn’t looking for a man, really I wasn’t. But, perhaps it was like I had told Taylor, it found you when you were least expecting it? Not that I wanted to read too much into the situation. After all, he had only bumped into me and asked for my name, it wasn’t like it was a marriage proposal. But, still, it was nice to dream.

  “What took you so long?” Olivia asked as soon as I sat back down at the table.

  What a rude question to ask? How was she to know I hadn’t been in there throwing my guts up or stuck sat on the toilet? My sister was never one to be too sensitive about these things. “I bumped into someone.”

  She glanced over at me, not believing me for one second, but I wasn’t about to elaborate. He was my little secret. One that I would be taking to bed with me tonight to join me and Mr B.O.B.

  “We were just talking about ice decorations for the reception.”

  I kept my sigh to myself and tried not to look too bored. “Let me go and get Taylor and then you can fill me in on what I’ve missed.”

  If I was going to go down this road of boredom, Taylor was coming with me. She was my wing-man and was going to live up to the responsibility of saving me from my sister, whether she liked it or not.

  The rest of the evening went pretty much as I expected. The girls didn’t like to stay out too late, wanting to get home and get their beauty sleep. The wedding ideas were tossed around but Olivia kept everything very hush hush with regards to her final decisions.

  I didn’t see Mr Hottie again. And it wasn’t for lack of trying. I think I must have gone to the toilet so many times that the others thought I had cystitis. But, I didn’t see him. After our little encounter, it sucked going home alone.

  Dominic

  Coming out of my office, I was pleased to see that things were finally winding down. The club had been heaving tonight, but I was stuck in my office dealing with one problem after another.

  This wasn’t my kind of place. I know that sounds crazy seeing as I own the joint, but I didn’t build it out of love. I started this place because I knew it would be a money-maker.

  Rich bastards came in here to exchange stories on how much money they made, which of their wives or girlfriends they were entertaining that night and all that crap. That wasn’t my thing at all. But as long as the drinks kept flowing and the cash kept coming in, I wasn’t going to complain.

  The last thing I needed to do tonight was see Mitch Hanniger. He was a rich stiff who was having problems with one of his business. In all fairness, I liked Mitch and he worked hard for what he had, which was something I respected. Apparently, money was disappearing right, left and centre and he wanted to speak to me and my brothers about investigating it.

  I said I would meet with him as a favour, as a friend. This wasn’t my kind of deal, but Mitch preferred to meet me here at Decadence, and Kellin and Austen didn’t have the time to make it tonight. They had enough on their plates already and I agreed to take over this initial meeting. Mitch was an old pal and I would help him out if I could. All I needed to do was find out the bare bones of what was needed and then my brothers would be able to take it from there.

  Even though things were starting to come to an end, there were still plenty of people out in the main room. I couldn’t see the bridal party that had been sat there earlier. They had left a bit back, taking with them that stunning girl I nearly sent flying on her ass.

  I couldn’t recall seeing her in the club before, but I knew of some of the women at her table well enough. To them, I was some kind of enigma. Not many people knew the face behind the business and that was the way I wanted to keep it. Hell, even half my staff didn’t know who I was and they worked for me. They didn’t know me, but I knew them. I made it a point to keep an eye on my business, whether it was Decadence or Sinners.

  But, her, I didn’t know. There was something about her that made my cock throb, but it was also more than that. However, I hadn’t had time to do anything about it tonight and now she was gone. It was probably for the best, seeing as I had to sit with Mitch, but it was disappointing. She wasn’t a regular in here and I had no way of finding out who she was.

  I would remember her if I had seen her in here before. She had a hell of a figure that she didn’t seem aware of, hiding it behind clothes that covered her. All I wanted to do was wrap that long chestnut hair around my fist as I pounded into her from behind.

  Shaking the thought from my mind, I needed a drink. I didn’t need a woman on my mind. I didn’t need sex clouding my thoughts.

  Moving over to the bar, no one seemed to bat an eyelid at my presence. It seemed that if the suit was expensive enough and the ink was covered up, my face fit into this scene. Little did they know I was the one that owned this place, paid their salaries and provided them with this crazily expensive place to party. And that was just how I wanted to keep it.

  It wasn’t that I was ashamed or anything like that. I just didn’t want the hassle of having my face plastered all over the place as the next eligible bachelor. Flitting between Decadence and Sinners suited me perfectly and would provide a nest egg for the future.

  That was what I was working towards, it was all I was working for. I wanted the future to be secure for me and my girl. Nothing else mattered. Obviously, the extra money that was coming in was handy to help out my brothers, but my girl came first. She was the most important thing to me.

  Moving over towards the bar, I smiled at Sheena. She was an exception to the rule. She knew exactly who I was and what I was doing at the club. But that was because we’d grown up as next door neighbours and I had helped her out of a rough spot and given her this job to when she needed it. She was a nice girl and was slowly turning her life around.

  She already had a shot lined up for me when I sat at the
bar. “Thanks, darlin’.”

  Sheena smiled back at me sweetly, “Not a problem, Dom. How are you tonight?”

  “I’m good, thanks. How’s things with you?”

  “The apartment is finally coming together.” She looked excited at the prospect of her own place and I was pleased for her and happy that I could help.

  “Busy tonight?”

  “Aren’t we always?” She laughed.

  “Who was that party that came in earlier? With Olivia Winterly?” I tried to ask casually as I looked around the bar. For some reason, I couldn’t get that girl out of my head.

  “They came in to start planning her wedding.” Sheena rolled her eyes and laughed. For some reason, it always amused her the way the wealthy lived their lives.

  I nodded. “Did you recognise any of them?”

  Sheena shook her head. “Not really. Was there anyone in particular?” She eyed me knowingly.

  “Mr Saint. Good to see you.”

  Turning around, I saw Mitchell standing behind me. Thank God for that. He’d saved me from a grilling by Sheena, who strode off chuckling. We moved over to one of the tables, keeping things casual while Mitch told me his troubles. I would have preferred to have gone into my office, but he didn’t want to make it too obvious that he was seeking me and my brothers out for help.

  The meeting went pretty much as I expected and I called through to Kellin to update him on the situation as soon as Mitchell left. There wasn’t much else for me to do at the club, so I left it in the capable hands of my manager and headed home. I knew my girl would already be asleep, but at least I would be there when she woke up.

  Chapter Four

  Dominic

  “You’re talking utter bullshit.” I laughed. Chester was at it again, telling tales about the women he had been with in the last week. Apparently, there had been him and three women last night. We all knew him well enough that three would be way too many for him to handle.

  “I’m serious!”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Kellin elbowed him in the ribs.

  Chester sat down heavily on the chair at our table, sulking.

  “Kel, go get him another drink. I think our boy needs to drown his sorrows.” I laughed.

  The bar was as busy as always. I had to pop in to catch up on some paperwork, which wasn’t something I did often. My days were for that kind of mundane thing, but I’d forgotten some last minute adjustments and decided to call in for a drink with my brothers at the same time. Lauren may do the majority of the paperwork, but that didn’t mean I didn’t go over everything with a fine tooth comb. This was my livelihood and I had to protect it.

  For the last few days, I’d had it easy. Decadence was bringing in the cash and Sinners was a madhouse like always. Lauren seemed to be regaining some of her lost spark, which out of it all, was the main thing at the moment. She wasn’t just an employee, Lauren was a friend and we all looked out for her.

  Glancing at my watch, I sighed. “I need to get going soon.”

  “How’s Lily?” Kellin asked.

  “She’s doing great. You should pop over and see her sometime soon. She’d love to see you.”

  “We’re all going to have dinner at dads in a couple of weeks, aren’t we?” Jared asked as he sat down at the table.

  “Yeah, that should be fun.” I rolled my eyes. It was always manic when the family got together. My dad and step-mum loved to throw a monthly meal to get everyone together. It was noisy, but good to get everyone under the same roof. Sure, us brothers managed to hang out quite frequently at the bar, but work and home commitments often meant that we weren’t all together at the same time.

  My phone started to vibrate in my pocket and I pulled it out with a groan. The call was coming from Decadence which could only mean trouble. “Yes?” I answered as I got up. The music was too loud in the bar and I needed to go into my office to hear.

  “Dominic? It’s Sheena.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked, immediately concerned.

  “Everything’s fine.” She reassured me.

  “So, to what do I owe the honour?” It wasn’t often she called without good reason. The last time was when she told me about Helen and brought the whole situation to light. She didn’t like feeling like a rat, but she felt she owed me and I appreciated her looking out for my interests. I couldn’t help but worry what was going on now.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just thought you’d appreciate knowing that the girl is back in here again.”

  “Which girl?”

  “The one you were drooling after the other night. The one with the Winterly woman.”

  I fell silent for a moment. “Thanks Sheena.” And I hung up the phone. What was I supposed to do?

  Leaving Sinners, I didn’t explain to my brothers where I was going. They would assume I was going home, but I rattled off a quick text to Rachael to make sure she was cool to stay with Lily for a while longer before heading over to Decadence.

  This was madness. I didn’t go out of my way to chase women. At the bar, they came flocking to us and we could have our pick every day of the week.

  There was something different about her. I didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t like I knew anything about her. Fallon. That was all I knew, her name. But it didn’t stop me from wanting to get to know her better.

  I wasn’t delusional. I wasn’t out looking for a lifelong partner or anything like that. Living in the moment, that’s what I did best. All I could do was offer a night at the most. I had been burned in the past and wasn’t about to put myself through that again. There was too much going on in my life for some woman to come in and screw things up for me.

  Tonight. That was what I was going to have with her.

  Fallon

  Why was I back here again? Taylor didn’t need asking twice. She loved Decadence and was hoping to see John again.

  Who was to say that he would even be there tonight? I had never seen him in there before, but I could only hope. Why was I even going there looking for him? Was I finally losing my marbles?

  I had to admit to Taylor what was going through my mind. She had been over the moon when I told her that I was into a guy. Like my family, Taylor was worried that I was too tied up in my work to worry about meeting anyone, but she also knew not to push it like my family did. But, seeing as I was here making the first move, she was all for coming along and supporting me.

  Moving across the room, I quickly sat down and started drumming my nails on the table. Glancing around, I couldn’t see him in there yet. Elliot wasn’t working, either, so I wouldn’t have anyone else to take my mind off things.

  “Is he here?” Taylor whispered excitedly.

  “No. I can’t see him.” I sighed. What was I doing? Making a big old fool of myself, that’s what. “Can you see John?”

  “Not yet. He text me to tell me he’d be in a bit later.” She sat back and smiled as the female server came over to us. Taylor ordered a glass of champagne, once again luxuriating in the elegance of the place. I stuck to a glass of Pepsi. I didn’t care about sophistication, I just didn’t want to drink.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes and watched the people around us. Coming off a shift at the hospital, I couldn’t help but see the difference money made to peoples’ lives. They say that money can’t buy you happiness, but it sure can buy the things to help you live comfortably.

  Today, we’d had a homeless man brought into the hospital. He’d been beaten, simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some group of thugs thought he was fair game and that kind of thing made my blood boil. If only he had a small portion of what these people had, that man would have had a roof over his head and been somewhere safe, away from people who would hurt him.

  Running a hand through my hair, I was jolted out of my thoughts by a little squeal from Taylor. “I take it John’s here.”

  “He’s just walked in.” She beamed a smile and waved coyly to a man who had walked into the main room of the club.

/>   He was good looking in a traditional kind of way, all smart with not a single hair out of place. He looked like he had come straight from the office, but as he drew closer, you could smell the cleanliness of soap and aftershave.

  “Taylor, you look beautiful.” He smiled as he kissed her on the cheek.

  “Thank you.” She blushed slightly and turned to me with a twinkle in her eyes. “John, this is my best friend, Fallon.”

  He smiled down at me, sparkling white teeth that had clearly had been worked on. “Nice to meet you, Fallon.”

  “You, too.” He wasn’t my type, but Taylor obviously liked him a lot so I was willing to play nice.

  “Would you both like a drink?”

  I chuckled. “Don’t let me cramp your style.”

  “Are you sure?” Taylor asked, eager to spend time with her new man but not wanting to leave me on my own.

  “Of course. Have fun you two.” I winked at her and she happily walked over to another table across the room arm in arm with John.

  It made me happy to see her like that. She wanted a man in her life, someone to make her happy and feel loved. I guessed that was pretty much what we all wanted deep down.

  “Fancy seeing you here again.”

  I didn’t turn around straight away. Even though we had only exchanged a few words, I would know that voice anywhere.

  A shiver ran through me. I didn’t think my luck would hold out and that he would be there tonight. But there he was, sneaking up behind me and making my skin heat even before I set eyes on him again.

  “That’s your best pick up line?” I smirked, knowing he couldn’t see my face.

  “At least I didn’t ask if you came here often.” Laughter laced his words. “Can I get you a drink?”

  Taking a deep breath, I ran my finger around my still full glass. “I’m good, thanks.”

  He was silent for a moment, making me wonder what he was thinking. “Can I sit down or are you waiting for someone?”