by Sam Crescent
“He’s certainly the life and soul of the party,” Gideon said.
Turning to his brother, he raised his beer, but didn’t take a sip. “He’s earned it.”
“We knew he was going to earn it.”
“Did we?” Jacob asked. “He looked ready to give up.”
“Nah, it’s Landon’s MO. He likes to make people think he’s defeated, and then bam, they’re fucked. It’s beautiful to watch.”
Releasing a sigh, Jacob glanced toward the door waiting for Riley Moore to arrive. It was always a sign of respect to allow the opponent to party with them. Riley had put up a good fight, and Jacob actually liked him. He was a good man, and he wasn’t searching for the wrong kind of attention either. Jacob hadn’t recognized him earlier, as his focus had been on his brother. Riley was one of the few Moores that Jacob could actually stand.
“Landon has a bad reputation.” Jacob had heard all about Landon’s temper, and he’d seen him do crazier shit than he had in the ring tonight. What he didn’t like was his brother’s lack of control. They all had a temper, and were all known to be vicious when threatened, but none of them ever lost control like that. Hitting a guy when he was down, it was against the rules, and he was pleased their mother fixed that problem, or at least said shit to make Landon think.
“Yeah, well, none of us are ever going to have a good reputation. Look at Abel, he slit a man’s throat in front of the wife, and made her clean the blade. Oliver fucks other men’s wives, and if it suits him, he makes them watch while he does. Damian, well, he’s just into serious fucking kink, and that speaks for itself.”
Jacob laughed. “Okay, so what is your issue? And mine?”
Gideon smiled. “You need to be in control all the time, and me, I’m just perfect.”
Rolling his eyes, Jacob looked out at the room full of people kissing each other’s asses. He spotted the Moores, who were lapping up the attention that their son had granted them.
“I fucking hate them,” he said, nodding toward the Moores. “They’re greedy as fuck, and they have gained a lot of enemies.”
“It’s the human condition.”
Rolling his eyes, Jacob made his way out of the room toward the kitchen where he found his mother with his father standing close to her.
“Why did you invite them?” Jacob asked. He was being completely unreasonable, but he didn’t give a shit.
“Their son fought Landon,” Maddox said.
“So?”
“It’s polite to invite the parents along with the failed opponent. I happen to like Riley, and if he ever wanted a job I’d gladly give him one. You’d work well with him, Jacob.” Maddox stole a piece of chicken, and Charlotte slapped him on the hand.
“I don’t like them here, and they shouldn’t be around Tamsin.”
“Tamsin is in bed, and we wouldn’t let anything hurt our daughter.” Charlotte glared at him.
Holding up his hands in surrender, Jacob looked back out into the chaos. He hated these parties that invited everyone who was big in their illegal field. Jacob recognized several pimps, drug lords, and he noticed lots of guns. His father had never had one of these parties go bad, but they always put him on edge.
The Denton name was a feared one, but that didn’t stop them from their fair share of enemies.
“What is it?” Maddox asked.
“We need to talk about the strip clubs.”
“What about them?”
Glancing at his mother, Jacob waited for her to leave.
“I’m not going anywhere, Jacob. I’m very much aware of everything your father does. I may not agree with everything he does. I won’t hide from it, and I will never be a wife and mother who pretends her sons are good, law-abiding citizens.”
“We are good, law-abiding citizens.”
Charlotte pointed a knife at him. “You’re going to look your mom in the eye, and lie? I seem to recall your broken knuckles two weeks ago, and then let’s not forget the fight at one of your gentlemen’s clubs. I’m not a fool, Jacob Denton. Do not even think to treat me like one.”
“Son, don’t even think to cause a problem. I never kept anything from her, and when you find the right woman for you, you’ll be the same.”
Rolling his eyes, Jacob stormed out of the kitchen into the back garden. He needed some fresh air. Listening to the door open and then close, he groaned.
“What now? Did I upset Mom?” he asked, finding his father stood beside him.
“It’s a nice night, and considering you’re the oldest, you don’t know your mother all that well, do you?”
Jacob shrugged. “I guess not.”
“Charlotte has always been a special kind of woman to me. She’s the only woman I will ever love.”
“I notice you don’t say she’s the only woman you’ve ever fucked!”
Maddox slapped him around the back of the head.
“Ouch!”
“Respect your mother. No, she’s not the only woman I’ve ever fucked. Before I met her, I screwed around. I was young, and I was an asshole. I didn’t believe what my father told me about finding the right woman, just like you. Then I found Charlotte, and she taught me what it really meant to be a man.”
Rubbing the back of his head, he glared at his father. Jacob had never been afraid of his father, and he wasn’t even afraid now.
“What do you want me to say?” Jacob asked.
“I don’t want you to say anything at all. Tell me what is on your mind?”
Jacob sighed. “Nothing. Nothing is on my mind.”
“I can’t help until you start talking real shit.”
Rubbing the back of his head, Jacob stretched up working out his over stressed muscles. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d been until that moment. Fuck, he loved his little brother, and he’d never wanted Landon to go through that kind of shit.
“Tamsin doesn’t have to fight, does she?” Jacob asked. Even at thirty-five the Denton name still surprised him.
“What the fuck? No. She’s a woman. Tamsin doesn’t have to prove herself to anyone.”
“Are you going to try to marry her off?”
“Even if I wanted to, that’s not my decision. Your mother and I, before we had you, when she realized what I was, it took her a long time to adjust.”
“Adjust? Mom had me when she was eighteen years old.”
“Nearly nineteen, and you think she wasn’t freaking out the whole time?” Maddox asked.
“I met your mother, fell in love, and that love has never once changed or diminished. I’d die for that fucking woman, but I was an asshole, and she didn’t have a clue what I was until after Abel was born. Shit got real fucking serious after that.”
“What happened?”
“She got scared and took you both away. I didn’t see her for six whole weeks. I couldn’t find her. It’s the first time in my life I ever felt real fear. I wasn’t there to protect her.”
Jacob hadn’t known this. This was one part of his life he didn’t actually remember. “What did you do?” he asked.
“I kept on working while trying to find her, but it was never enough. I was always one step behind her. It didn’t help that I realized what a total fucker I’d been. I never asked her anything about herself. Just assumed she’d be fucking happy with me. She had a Denton in her life, and I didn’t care enough about anything else.” Maddox took a deep breath. “After that, I went fucking mental.”
Jacob had known about his father’s days of being completely crazy. Nearly everyone he met talked about the moment his father showed his true colors of what a Denton could really be.
“How did you get her back?”
“She called me from England. I didn’t have a fucking clue that she actually had family over there, and she did.” Maddox laughed. “Charlotte called because she’d heard about a certain Denton causing shit over his woman. From that one phone call, I worked my ass off until I finally got her permission to fly out to England.”
“P
ermission? Why didn’t you just go?”
“I didn’t have a clue where she was. She wouldn’t tell me, so I talked to her every single chance I could on the phone. Even being miles away, Charlotte calmed the monster inside of me.”
“Monster? You’re not a monster.”
“Yet I have the respect of thousands the moment I walk into a room. Think about that, Jacob. I’m not a monster to my family, yet to others, I’m the bogeyman they’ve taught their kids to be afraid of.” Maddox took a deep breath, inhaling the warm summer night’s air. “I fucking love this time of year. Have you felt it yet?”
“Felt what?”
“The burning need to be with a woman.”
“Nope.”
“I’m really sorry for you, son,” Maddox said.
“Why?”
“You’re thirty-five years old. I was twenty when I found your mother.”
“And you almost screwed it up.”
“You’re going to screw it up, son. Just make sure you don’t take it too far.” Maddox slapped him on the back, and made his way back inside. “I hear the losing party has arrived. Let’s go and congratulate him.”
“It sounds like we’re mocking him more than anything.”
“Not at all. Riley Moore as far as I’m concerned is a decent guy, and I had him checked out. He’s one hell of a fighter who could have gone all the way if his parents weren’t determined to keep him as their prize puppet. I’m about to offer him a job.”
Jacob rolled his eyes and entered the house again. The silence that he was enjoying was long gone.
The sound of two women shouting caught and drew his attention. One sounded shrill and like an old cackling witch, but the other, it set his nerves on end and not in a bad way, not at all. Closing his eyes, he took in every single tone of her, which was like sweet music to his ears.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity but was in fact only a few seconds, he opened his eyes, and looked toward the sound.
Everything seemed to slow down as people seemed to move out of his way creating a path. He saw her straight away. Her back was to him. Her long blonde hair fell around her in waves. Even from this far away, he saw how damn curvy she was. Her ass screamed at him to be spanked. Walking toward her, Jacob was determined to have her, no matter what the cost was.
****
“This is the place?” Lou asked.
“Yes. Are you going to make a scene?”
She turned to look over at her beat up twin, and she was already damn angry again, hating her parents. “They’re in there?”
“Lou, seriously, I love you, but you don’t need to fight this fight.”
“I’m not going to fight with anyone, brother. I’m simply not going to take their kind of crap.”
“You know they wish you were a boy,” Riley said, climbing out of the car.
She followed suit, giving him a big beaming smile. “You do know that I haven’t cared that my parents can’t stand me. I find it fun.”
“Is that why you work at that strip club as a waitress?” Riley asked.
Lou paused, turning back to look at her brother.
“Oh yes, I know about the bar, and I know you slept with a couple of guys they hadn’t chosen for you.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “What you mean is I slept with people they didn’t approve of?” Lou had done everything to try to break the rules. She was tired of living a lie, and so far, her life had been one big fat lie.
“I love you, Lou. You’re my sister, my twin. I just don’t want you to get hurt. There are people out there who will hurt you just to rub our parents’ noses in it.”
Shrugging, Lou linked her arm through with his. “Don’t care. I love you, too, Riley, even when you’re too battered and bruised to realize it.”
Riley laughed. “Let’s go and impress the masses, and then you’ve got to disappear. I intend to take a woman home with me tonight.”
Wrinkling her nose, she walked into the house, which she’d never been in before. It was huge, like a mansion. She had to wonder if the Dentons’ neighbors had any idea who they were living next to. The basement was probably covered in blood and bleach. She shivered and did her best to hide her nerves. This was why she tried to stay as far away from their parents as possible. She hated these kinds of parties. People unnerved her. She was trying to work on her nerves by taking the job at the strip club, but so far, nothing had happened. It was easy to talk the talk, but her hands were shaking. She held onto Riley, hoping he didn’t see it, but knowing her very perceptive brother, he already knew.
From the moment they entered the house, they were swarmed by the crowd. She even spotted Landon, who made his way over.
Riley tensed up, and she truly believed they were both shocked when Landon wrapped his arms around them.
“Can you forgive me for being a total bastard?” Landon asked.
Her brother tilted his head to the side, frowning.
“I kept on hitting you. It’s not part of the sport, and I shouldn’t have done it.” Landon held his hand out. “Forgive me.”
Lou was shocked. She’d never known a Denton to actually apologize, and witnessing it now, yeah, she was in shock.
“There’s our son,” her mother said, shouting above the music to be heard.
She did her best to not roll her eyes, but she heard a snicker, and glanced over to see Landon chuckle. Behind him stood his brothers, who had seen her reaction as well.
“Who is this little spitfire?” Abel asked.
Lou knew all of the brothers names because Riley had made sure she knew who they were.
“My sister, my twin.”
“Holy shit, you both shared a fucking womb. How did she end up the most beautiful, and you a bag of shit?” Landon asked.
It wasn’t just the way he looked but also the way he talked. Lou finally understood what her brother said about Landon not seeming like a sixteen year old boy.
Before they could say anything, their mother was on Riley, pinching his cheeks and cooing over him.
Releasing her brother, Louisa folded her arms and watched the pathetic display from their parents. Looking at them, anyone would think that they loved their son when the real truth was, they had stopped him from getting a real chance in this life. It was moments like this that she had to wonder if Riley even had a clue what they had done to him.
“I see you brought your sister with you,” her mother said.
“Hello, Gertrude,” she said. It had been a long time since she called her “Mom”.
“Louisa,” Gertrude said. “What are you doing here?”
Laughing, she folded her arms. “Seeing as I was the only one there to clean up your precious son, I figured I’d come by to keep an eye on him. Make sure you’re not going to turn him into a sex slave.”
Riley groaned, and Lou didn’t care that they had an audience. She’d seen the way Riley looked, covered in blood tonight. Their parents hadn’t been there to offer him support, but they were prepared to take the credit now, and she wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Riley had won tonight, not them.
“Louisa, enough!”
“Do you really think people don’t see how damn false you are?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be working tonight?” her father asked.
She turned to Eric, her father.
“I got the night off.”
“You shouldn’t be working at such a place. If you just did as you were told—”
“I could be settled down with a nice husband, being used as nothing but a damn incubator for kids, right?” She cut her mother off before she got into the flow of telling her how damn good she’d be if she just did as she was told.
Lou was done with playing by the rules, and had been when she was eighteen.
“You rude girl!”
Before long she was yelling at her mother, and her mother was yelling right back at her.
After minutes passed, Riley finally stepped between them. “Go and
have a drink, Lou,” he said.
“You know I’m right.”
“I know, but they’re never going to listen. There’s no point in wasting your breath.”
“Ugh!” She walked away, not watching where she was going. People moved out of her way, which she was thankful for.
Leaving the main part of the party, she moved past the stairwell and paused. There at the top was a young girl. She had to be around ten and was so adorable with her dark brown hair and grey eyes.
“Hello,” Lou said.
The girl pressed a finger to her lips, and then waved for her to come forward. The young girl was so out of place that she found herself walking upstairs. There was a time when she was the same girl sitting on the stairs, waiting, listening. Taking a seat beside the young girl, she tucked her own hair behind her ears. The young girl was wearing some teddy bear pajamas.
“Hello,” she said. “I’m not allowed down there.”
“How come?”
“I’m too young, and my daddy says that young girls are not allowed around his not-friends.”
“Not-friends?” Lou asked.
“Friends that are not really his friends but he has to pretend like they are. He explained it to me when I was a lot younger. I’m Tamsin, by the way.”
“Louisa, but my friends call me Lou.”
“I like your name. It’s pretty.”
“Your name is pretty, too.”
Tamsin wrinkled her nose. “It’s not. My brothers tell me it’s a boy’s name all the time.”
“It’s not a boy’s name. Don’t listen to them. Boys don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“Really?”
“Seriously, you’ve got to be strong, and we have to work together against them.” She bumped her shoulder lightly with the young girl. Lou liked her. There was something about her that just put a smile on her face. She was still so young, and so oblivious to the world. It was refreshing to see.
“Are you trying to destroy my little sister?”
They both jumped as neither of them knew they had company. Turning around, she saw Jacob Denton leaning against the banister.