by Simone Elise
Would that stop her from coming? I started to panic. “Why would he be wanting to see her?” He wouldn’t stop her from coming home, would he? If he gave her money, she wouldn’t be relying on Tae for cash and could do what she wanted.
“It’s a stop-over, from what she said. Actually,” he turned back to look at me, “She didn’t even mention speaking to you.”
I shrugged my shoulders. I was thankful she hadn’t because they would have had me backing out of my plan.
“She’s pissed about seeing dad though,” Tyler picked up on our conversation at the bar. “She told me last night that he keeps dragging her to dinner parties.”
“Surprised she is even putting up with him after he cut her off,” Cole said as he threw a shot down.
So they knew she had been cut off. “So how is she living if she doesn’t have his money?” I asked them. How did they explain her finances because she told me she relied on Tae and she wasn’t lying when she told me. I saw it in her face; she was telling the truth.
“Trust fund. Dad gave it to her,” Cole grunted.
“Before he cut her off,” Tyler added. “Or at least that is what she has told us.” He gave his brothers a pointed look. “We all know she is keeping something from us.”
“What has you saying that?” I said. Amber had thought she was pulling off a great show. Hell, even I’d believed she had got her life together and moved on.
“Some bloke she is dating,” Adam gave me a heated look, “Whom she wouldn’t be dating if you hadn’t fucked up.”
Dating? She isn’t dating anyone.
“Yeah, this Tae guy doesn’t seem her type,” Tyler added. “Too crystal-clear cut.”
“I don’t see a problem with her dating a normal guy,” Troy shrugged. “She meant it when she said she was done with criminals.” Troy threw a look my way.
When she was back, that was exactly what she was going to be doing. Dating me. I was going to be relentless once she was back. I would use my charm, I would use my looks. I would use anything and everything to get her back. Hell, I was relentless now, trying to get her back.
I smiled. Two more days. She would have to be back before the deal.
Chapter 47
Troy
“I’m out of smokes again!” Tyler snapped, looking at us. “I told you lot to stop using my packet!”
I glanced at Jax, who was smoking Tyler’s last cigarette.
“I told you to replace my packet,” Jax said, taking the cigarette from his mouth, sounding and looking calm. I don’t know what had changed. One phone call from Amber and he was back to his normal self.
Hell, I wanted him involved but he was basically taking over from me; finally stepping back up to his position. After over a month of doing his work and mine, I had got over it. If I’d known one phone call from Amber would have got his work off my plate, then I would have made him call her earlier.
Jax and Tyler started to get into an argument, while my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out.
Amber.
“Would you lot shut up, it’s Amber,” I shouted at them, and immediately their argument ended.
“Yeah Amber?” I answered.
“Did you know dad’s dating?” She basically barked at me.
“So?”
“So I don’t want a stepmom!”
“Dad never lets one get close, you know that.” I sat back in the chair. I was panicked for minute, she never just called. I thought something was seriously wrong. “Has he left yet?”
“Yes. I was forced to meet this one.” Amber made it sound like it physically hurt her to meet someone dad was dating.
I grinned. “Lucky you. Is that why you called? To rub your luck in our face?” I knew Amber hated the thought of dad dating anyone.
“No!” She blew out. “I was actually wondering what you’ve got planned for tomorrow?”
Weird question. We actually had the gun deal tomorrow. “Nothing of importance, why, need me to do something?”
“Yeah I do.”
“Name it.”
“Pick me up.”
My eyes widened and I stood up. “Wait, are you saying…”
“Yes, I’m coming home.” She answered the question I hadn’t even managed to get out. I could basically see the smirk that would be on her face as I went speechless for a second.
I grinned. “You’re coming home?”
All eyes snapped to me. I didn’t believe it. Amber was coming home. Was it dad making her come home? All this time I thought she would never come back on her own.
Tyler started firing questions at me, and Cole started barking them and I waved an arm at them to shut up.
“What time do we have to pick you up?”
“My flight gets in at ten in the morning. I suggest you bring a car.”
“I’ll make sure there is a car.” I was grinning so fucking wide. “When do you leave?”
“I’m boarding now,” she answered, and I could now hear the muffled sounds in the background.
“Wait, are you going to stay at the clubhouse, or did you work things out with dad?”
She scoffed. “Trust me when I say dad and I are not on good terms. No, I’m staying with a friend.”
“And who might this friend be?”
“Tae.”
“What, your boyfriend?” She couldn’t be serious right now. She was coming back and he was following her? “How serious are you two?” I had to ask. Surely they had to be serious if he was heading back here with her. “You make it sound like he lives here!” I picked up on it. She said staying with a friend, implying he had a house here.
“He has houses across the globe. One just so happens to be in our city. Actually, he is the one paying for my flight. I’m kind of tagging along on one of his business stop-overs.”
“What does he do again?” I remembered he was a suit. That was it. I was really kicking myself for not looking closer into him.
“Computer software; he is CEO.”
“And he is paying for your flight?” I said slowly. “Again, how serious are you two?” They had to be serious for him to be paying for her flight.
“He is a friend. A really good one Troy, so don’t make a bad impression when you meet him. Tell the rest that too,” she said sharply. “He has been paying for everything.”
“What?! You’ve been relying on this guy! If you needed money, why didn’t you ask? When did dad cut you off?”
“You knew he cut me off.”
“Yeah, but you said you had your trust fund.”
“No, I implied it because I didn’t want you worrying.”
Cole was barking questions at me by this point and was a second from taking the phone off me; I pushed him away.
“So, what are you his escort or something?” I didn’t hide my disgust. “You never rely on a man. Ever.”
“I’ve relied on Blake. I’ve relied on dad and now I’m relying on Tae so don’t screw things up for me when you meet him, and he wants to meet you.” She lowered her voice. “I’m begging you Troy, make a good impression.”
She was saying that like my life depended on it.
“Fine, I’ll tell everyone to behave,” I said, finally seeing it was very important to her. The last thing I wanted was for her to decide not to come back because she was scared we would scare off her boyfriend.
“See you tomorrow.” She hung up.
“Amber’s coming home?” Tyler looked delighted. “I knew she would change her mind.”
“Yeah, she is, but I don’t know if she is staying in town for long,” I muttered, finding holes in her story. She said she was tagging along on one of his business trips so did that mean when he flew out, so would she?
“What do you mean?” Jax got up and looked way too interested in the answer to that question.
I frowned. Why was he so interested? Did he still love her? I hadn’t seen him with another woman since she’d left. He’d even made it a point to push women off him. Did he still love her?
“Answer the question!” Jax snapped at me. Again, sounding too interested in the answer.
“She is coming along with her boyfriend. She said she is tagging along on one of his business trips.” I glanced down at my phone. “I don’t know if she is staying or flying out with him when he leaves.”
“Is it that Tae guy?” Cole asked. Cole had been the one to find out about Tae to begin with. We’d run him through the system; he was clean.
“Yeah, and she told me dad cut her off. She never got a trust fund and he is paying for everything, including her flight back here.” I gave my brothers a pointed look. “She wanted to make sure we made a good impression. Like our lives depended on it.”
“When I looked him up, it said he was single and a billionaire from designing software. Surely Amber wouldn’t settle for that type of guy,” Tyler said. “She’s never gone after a man for money.”
“No.” I glanced at Jax. When it came to Amber, she always followed her heart. “She must like him.”
“Well, that means we must be nice,” Cole said really clearly, causing all our heads to snap in his direction. “What!” He snapped at us. “I want Amber back. If that means she is dating a billionaire, so be it. I don’t give a fuck. I just want her back in the same country so if us being nice means she stays, then we will be nice!”
Cole was actually being level-headed and making sense. His normal temper usually goes up at the thought of Amber with any bloke but he had missed her so much he was willing to put that aside and let her date someone we would have no control over.
Hell, when it came to Amber and her boyfriends, we never had control.
“Ok, we play nice,” I said, confirming Cole’s plan. “We need to buy a house too. I don’t want her living in one of his places while he flies around the world screwing whoever he wants.”
Adam scoffed. “If Amber can do one thing, it’s make sure a guy is faithful to her.” Then he glanced at Jax. “Even you were.”
“Until you didn’t trust her,” Cole barked at him. “And we lost her.” He pointed a finger at Jax. “You and her are done. Don’t even think about breaking up her new relationship.”
Jax had been calm all week, but that calm expression he usually had on his face was gone. He was pissed off. Was hearing Amber had moved on hurt him?
“Amber isn’t in a relationship. You lot are jumping to conclusions.” Jax looked between us. “Seriously, she says a guy is supporting her and you all think her heart is involved.”
I scoffed. “Amber follows her heart. And we put up with it. We put up with it when she picked you, and if anyone is her friend, it’s you.” I took a step closer to him. “Don’t even think about crossing a line of friendship.”
“Like she is even going to be his friend!” Tyler looked at me like I was stupid. “She moved to another country to get away from him and now is coming back with her ‘friend’ who just so happens to pay for her lifestyle. She’s moved on.”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, she has, and we don’t screw that up.” I looked at Adam. “Organise a house.” With that said, we could all go back to doing what we were doing, which was waiting for this gun deal to be settled.
But I wouldn’t lie. I was looking really forward to seeing my little sister tomorrow. I just hoped this time she had picked a boyfriend that was worth her time.
Jax
Nerves. Wasn’t something I did. Never got nervous. My hand never flinched when I took a life. I never got nervous when it came to club decisions. Never once got nervous over a woman, but all that changed when I met Amber.
She made me nervous.
And right now I was nervous. I had played the chess game, put all the pieces together so she would end up back here. And now, as we waited at the airport for her, I kept clenching my hands into fists so the boys wouldn’t see I was that nervous.
They actually all looked pretty nervous themselves. Cole was saying in the car that he was freaking out a little about seeing her, seeing as they didn’t leave things on good terms, although he did say he actually made more of an effort to speak to her while she was away.
It was the first conversation Cole and I had had where he wasn’t barking at me, or disrespecting me. I had opted to go in the car, because I knew she would be in the car once we picked her up, so I left my bike at the clubhouse, and caught a ride with Cole. I had expected him to bark orders at me to stay away from her, but he politely asked me to be nice to her boyfriend.
Like he knew if he threatened me I would just take it out on Tae.
I kept reminding myself of my conversation with Amber. She said she worked for him. She said she didn’t date, but the voice in the back of my head told me there could be something more between the two of them.
The boys didn’t know the money Tae was giving her, she actually earned. They thought some billionaire was claiming their little sister.
They weren’t thrilled with it, but I think they would pick Tae over me. I was in a sour mood as soon as I realized that.
“Is that her?” Cole said, who was showered, clean and even had a shave.
I followed his eye line and saw the crowd part. And there she was. She didn’t look like her normal self. She wasn’t wearing jeans, or a dress. She was wearing a business suit; jacket and skirt. She looked like she had just stepped out of an office. Her hair was down though. My eyes were glued to her body as she moved. That suit framed her perfect figure.
People were stepping out of their way. My eyes bounced to the man I had competition with. Tae..
God, the way they were laughing and walking together, they looked like a happily married couple. Not business partners.
I knew then. This guy had feelings for her. Then I watched him take her hand, smiling at something she’d said.
“Looks like we were right about the couple thing,” Tyler all but groaned. “Seriously, she is going for someone like dad!”
That was exactly what Tae looked like. An upstanding businessman, with money. His suit, his rings, even his hair screamed it.
“Yeah, well our job is to not give her a reason to fly out when he does,” Cole grunted. “Behave, all of you.” He looked at me. “Don’t upset her.”
They all thought I would upset her, being here.
I looked back at her, and then I found her eyes were locked with mine. She had spotted us. Wasn’t hard to; people were giving us space.
Well, she hadn’t spotted us. She had spotted me and her eyes were glued to mine, and immediately I saw pain. She gulped and ripped her eyes away from me, and smiled when she looked at her brothers.
“Behave.” Cole said again just as Amber burst into a sprint, which was impressive in those heels.
“God, she looks older,” Adam said what we were all thinking.
Troy pushed Cole out of the way and walked towards Amber; seemed like he wanted to be the first to welcome her home.
I watched her wrap her arms around his neck, a wide smile on her face. We all walked towards them. Her boyfriend had grabbed the handle of the suitcase she had abandoned.
“Amber, you look,” Troy pulled her off him, “Professional!” He grinned. “And really happy.”
“I am!” She frowned, “Although I don’t know how to take the professional comment. Sounds like something dad would say.” She gave him a pointed look.
“Move over!” Cole pushed Troy over and wrapped his arms around her. “You forgiven me yet?”
“I told you Cole, months ago, I’m not upset with you,” she said into his chest, her voice muffled. “God, have you put on more muscle?”
“Says the girl who looks like she has given up eating,” he grunted back. “Seriously Amber, you have always been small, but I don’t approve of this new skinny frame.”
“I just train a lot. Tae is very into exercise.” She pulled back from him, grinning up at him, looking like she was telling the truth. Actually, I lo
oked closer at her expression. She was telling the truth.
Cole let go of her and Tyler was quick to take the opportunity to get a hold of her.
“I’ve missed you little sis.” Tyler lifted her off the ground.
“Yeah. I’ve missed you too Ty,” she said into his shoulder. “I like your neck tattoo by the way,” she said as he put her back on the ground.
“Got my other leg done too.”
“You will have to show me.”
“Yeah, Cole got the rest of his back done. In fact, we’ve all been getting our tattoos finished,” Tyler made conversation with her. He was right, we all had been spending more time at our tattooist.
Even me.
And I had one particular one that I had got yesterday that I wanted her to see.
“Must be in our blood or something cause Tae just paid for my back piece,” she said, and my eyes widened. She had done what?!
“What?!” Cole snapped at her. “Since when did you do tattoos?”
“Well, first I got that awful mark on my stomach covered, then I got the HellBound tattoo covered, which turned into a theme, which resulted in a back piece.”
“I thought you were never going to get that tattoo covered?” Adam picked up on something she had said a long time ago, and moved to hug her.
“I just had to let go of the past. Covering that was well, a needed step.” She was hugging him and then frowning. “Why didn’t you answer the other day?”
Adam and her relationship I never got. He wasn’t overly protective of her. They didn’t have the unhealthy relationship she had with Cole. She didn’t play with him, like she did with Tyler and she didn’t treat him seriously, like she did Troy.
If anything, they just supported each other. Maybe it was because they were closest in age but he was the one that had made the rest of her brothers come around when it came to me. He was the one encouraging me to make up with her.
In fact, he always supported her and I. Like he knew what her heart wanted, and he supported it, but he had told me not to muck up her new chance with a new guy. If she had moved on, I had to let her.
He was the only one of them that knew I hadn’t moved on from her.
And right now, they were having a silent conversation with their eyes.