Taking His Rage (Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)

by Gwen Allen

  "That's not what I'm doing. You know I can't help bossing you around," he says, like that's some kind of excuse.

  I think my head is going to explode. I can't take any more. Everything is starting to hit me all at once and I can't breathe. That's when Vince grabs me and hugs me.

  "I was just being stupid," he whispers in my ear. He feels so warm and solid. I want to melt into him. "I won't tell you to calm down any more. I'll just hold you whenever you need me to. That's a better deal, right?"

  I blink back tears. I hate Vince, but now that he's holding me, I do feel better. But from the sound of it, he wants to make another deal. Great.

  He's just going to be crushing my heart to pieces until I die. If he wasn't holding me, I would tell him where he could stick his deal. But it feels too good. I don't want him to let go.

  When I sniffle a little, he squeezes me against him even tighter until I can't breathe. I can't deny how safe I feel right now. Being in his arms again, I think my heart will burst. I just want to stay there. I do. But I can't. This is just another meaningless gesture. It's not real. Nothing with him is real.

  I pull away. "I need to call my mom," I say and Vince gives me his phone. I talk to her for a while and minimize what happened. "Someone broke into the café. No. I'm fine," I assure Mom when she starts asking if I'm hurt.

  "We are heading back right this minute. Where are you?" she asks.

  I don't want to tell her I'm at the hospital. "I'll be at the café," I say uncertainly. By the time she gets back, I will be there most likely.

  Vince shakes his head though. I glare at him, but he takes the phone out of my hand. "We'll meet you at the house," he tells Mom.

  I hear her say, "Vince?"

  "I'll have Julie at the house once the police are done here," he tells her without telling her where "here" is. I should be grateful for that even if I'm not grateful for his interference.

  "I guess it's good that you're there?" Mom says, but it's definitely a question.

  Stewing silently, I grit my teeth. It's not like I can contradict Vince while he's talking to my mom. I don’t want to upset her. But once he's off the phone, I start yelling again.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I ask him.

  "Did you really think you would be staying over at the café after what happened?" he asks sounding kind of mad himself. "You need to be at the house where you will be safe and comfortable and with your mother."

  I know he's right but I'm still pissed off. We sit down in a waiting area until the police come here to take our statements. While we wait, Vince gets a few cuts on his face treated.

  After the police arrive, I feel like it takes forever to take down our statements. Vince stresses that I'm pregnant and that's why we came to the hospital instead of waiting at the café.

  I also hear him say that I saved his life. I kind of forgot about that, but now I remember how fear and adrenaline surged through me when I saw that Vince was in danger. I didn't feel that way when I was the one in danger.

  Finally we're allowed to go and Vince drives me to the Henderson mansion. As we go in, it's dark. Vince flips on the lights and asks me, "Do you want to go up to your room and lie down?"

  "It's not my room. I'll wait for my mom in there," I say and point to the nearest sitting room.

  "Dad texted me and they'll be here in about an hour," Vince tells me and comes in with me. When I take a seat on the couch, he swings my legs around so I'm sitting sideways with my feet up. Once that's done, he just can't sit there, be quiet and leave me in peace. Of course not. He sits down with my feet in his lap.

  What the hell does he think he's doing?

  "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" he has the nerve to ask me.

  I pull my feet in. "When was I supposed to tell you? While you were calling me names or while you were telling my mother about us? Or maybe while you were leaving town and telling me you never wanted to see me again?" I ask while my voice shakes.

  "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have left if I had known," he says.

  "That's big of you," I say sarcastically.

  "I was stupid to run. It won't happen again. We're in this together," he says decisively and tries to take my hand.

  I flinch away. "Like hell we are."

  "This is my child. That means you're in my life forever. Get used to it!" he says and his blue eyes flash.

  "I will not! You don't get to..."

  Vince cuts me off. "Julie, we're getting married and don't even think of saying no to me." His voice is commanding. His face stern.

  "Married?" I say to him, stunned.

  "What the hell did you think? I'm not about let you run around unmarried with my kid in you," he says like it's a done deal.

  Standing up, I take a few steadying breaths then I tell him as calmly as I can, "You might be the father of this baby, but that doesn't give you any rights over me. Sue for custody if you want, but..."

  "Custody? No. Don't you understand? There is nothing I wouldn't do for you. And I'm never letting you go," he says and gets to his feet too.

  "Why are you doing this to me?" I ask and clutch at my aching head.

  "Because I love you."

  I stagger back and Vince reaches out and catches me. Now I'm standing in the circle of his arms, looking at him uncomprehendingly.

  "I couldn't face how I really felt about you," he tells me. "That's why I was acting like a complete ass. Then I was driving and driving, and it was killing me to be so far away from you. Last night, I passed this diner that was open 24/7. I could see a girl inside that kind of looked like you. I turned the wheel and skidded into the parking lot. Of course it couldn't be you. So what the hell was I doing? That's when I noticed that I made a U-turn. The car was pointing back the way I came. I looked at the diner window again. The girl in there didn't look anything like you, not one bit. I just saw what I wanted to see. Some part of me—maybe my heart—made a decision that I wanted to see you again. I wanted to be with you. I drove non stop, went straight to the café. I noticed that the door was unlocked so I went in. Seeing the light in the back, I figured someone was still in there working. Then I saw what was happening. I should have killed him."

  There was a pause as Vince stares at me worriedly, with a tempestuous look in his eyes. I'm not sure if I'm breathing, but I think I should just take a breath or two to make sure. I'm still trying to absorb all this, but only one thing stands out to me.

  "Did you say you love me?" I ask stupidly.

  "More than anything. Now will you marry me already?" Vince says and glowers at me.

  "I see." I'm still kind of out of it, but I gather my wits well enough to push away from him and tell him. "Vince, you either propose to me properly, or I'll cut off your balls and feed them to you. Because I want to marry you more than anything. I've wanted to be with you since I first laid eyes on you, even when you were a complete and utter jerk, and even when you were running out on me like a coward. Now propose like a man or you will be sorry you ever met me." Done with my demands, I take several shaky breaths.

  Vince looks confused for a moment then he looks mad. I don't know what he's going to do. The words have only just left my mouth, and already I'm kicking myself for not just saying yes. I'm afraid I might have lost him.

  After I've been so demanding, he might take back his proposal, such as it was. Maybe he won't want to marry me enough to ask again. It might be on his terms or not at all.

  I would still say yes. I wouldn't be able to help it, but I really want a nicer proposal than that. If I marry Vince, I will be married to him forever, even if he dumps me on the side of the road. I'll be his for life.

  Now that he has stared me down, he takes my hands in his. As he speaks, his voice is low and sexy, and my heart feels like it's just going to leap out of my chest. "Julie, I love you and I'm sorry I hurt you. I'll never leave you again. I have to be with you. I need you and I'm dying to marry you and make you mine. I'm happy you're having my baby, but I wo
uld want to marry you anyway. Will you forgive me and marry me? Please." He sounds kind of gruff when he says all that and not very apologetic. But his eyes are looking into mine, and they are so beautiful and loving, like I've never seen them before.

  He's hardly finished and I can't wait to say yes to him. "Yes, I'll marry you, you jerk!" Then I say it a few more time, not wanting to miss my chance. "Yes, yes, yes!"

  Vince pulls me into his arms and kisses me to shut me up. Then he asks me, "You have anything else to say?"

  "What?" I say petulantly. "If I have to. Yes. I love you too." I say it kind of grudgingly because he made me so mad, but I have tears in my eyes. And when he grabs me and holds me, I start crying like a baby.

  I'm still crying even as he kisses my face all over. He kisses away my tears and then kisses my mouth, and I taste my own tears, and I'm so happy. I find surrender and love and everything good in his arms.

  Epilogue

  ~

  Julie

  There are two babies in the Henderson house. Mom and Curtis named their son Riley. He has blue eyes, but they aren't like Vince's. They're Mom's big, blue eyes. But when Vince holds him, they definitely look like brothers.

  Vince, our baby and I are staying at the house too. Mom had to have a c-section, and I wanted to be with her once she came home. Also Vince said no house in existence was good enough for me and the baby, so he's having one built for us.

  He is as insane as ever, but he dotes on Izzy like you wouldn't believe. We gave our baby girl the very serious name of Isabella, but we don't actually call her that. Vince is amazing with her. Any time I see him holding her, so tiny in her daddy's big, strong hands, I can't stop myself from crying.

  "You don’t want her to think her mom is a crybaby," Vince stage-whispers to me.

  "You shut up. I love you both so much, it hurts," I sob. I love them more all the time. I don't know how I'll survive it.

  But the three of us weren't so easy to explain to our parents. Once he found out I was pregnant, Curtis got very protective of me and angry at Vince. Mom was mad at him too, but she was more focused on me and how I was doing.

  They wanted us to wait to get married. Vince wanted us to get married immediately. I split the difference and asked for a wedding in the wild rose garden. Vince wasn't so sure about that.

  "I want your mom to celebrate this with us," I told him and he agreed.

  Mom and Curtis took a while to get used to the idea that we would be together forever. It helped them to see how good Vince could be to someone he loved. That man can be really sweet when he puts his mind to it.

  In private, he's still a rough, demanding bastard and I love him for it.

  The end

  Hard Money (Dark Billionaire Romance)

  Why is Mason Langley offering her money to sleep with him? Fiona would say yes to him even if he didn't pay her. All he has to do is kiss her, press her up against the wall, and she would be his. He's gorgeous and rich. He can have any girl just for the asking, and Fiona is nothing special. She's just a regular girl. What does he want from her that he has to pay for? She's afraid to find out the answer.

  Fiona is working hard trying to put herself through college. When her job puts her in danger, Mason is there to save her. But that isn't the end of it. Fiona needs money so she can finish two more years of college. Mason offers her a deal. Though she is inexperienced and unsure of herself, she agrees to earn that money the hard way.

  Mason wants an arrangement without intimacy. He isn't a nice guy. He can't trust. He can't love, so he pays for what he wants. Can Fiona handle that, or will it be too much for her body and for her heart?

  And what about Mason? He claims he only wants what he paid for, but deep down in his heart, he wants something more. He yearns for what he doesn't allow himself to believe in. Mason secretly longs for the one woman who can give him what he needs – her complete devotion and her whole heart.