Ruthless (A Lawless Novel)

by Lexi Blake

  “I would still feel infinitely more secure if Ms. Stratton here changed her name. I think then I could safely pay for any and all legal fees and use every power I have to ensure she doesn’t go to prison.” Drew picked up his coffee. “You have to agree to live here, though. We need to keep up appearances.”

  “Appearances?” Ellie kind of choked out the word.

  Mia had a spatula in her hand as she turned. “It’s only for a little while, Ellie. And Riley doesn’t expect anything physical from you.”

  Oh, he was going to try. The easiest way to get her back was to get her in bed. She craved love and affection and he would do his damnedest to give her plenty of both. She also craved family. She was a woman who needed to be needed, and his brothers could give her that, too.

  Ellie wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. Mia and Case had to go back to Texas soon and Ellie would be the only female among a group of sad-sack, needy men who were deeply grateful for any kindness a woman gave them. Hell, Bran thought the housekeeper walked on water because she did her job. Bran was like an overgrown Labrador retriever. Once Ellie figured that out, she wouldn’t be able to deny him affection. She would slowly become important to all of them and then she wouldn’t be able to leave.

  “I’m not marrying the man who screwed me over,” she said, her hands fisted at her sides. “If that means I have to get a public defender, then so be it.”

  He stepped in front of her to stop her from leaving. “Ellie, the lawyer is yours no matter what you choose to do, but please think about this. Marrying me gets the press off your back. It gets people talking about our marriage instead of our affair. Married people are boring.”

  Her brown eyes met his. “What do you get out of it?”

  “Time to convince you that we belong together.”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Ellie, I understand how angry you are with Riley, with all of us,” Drew said quietly. “You got caught in a war you never wanted, but you’re here and you aren’t going to be able to get out of the line of fire unless you choose to make a plea deal and give up your company.”

  “I’m never going to do that,” she said.

  “Of course not.” Riley put his hands on her shoulders and was so grateful when she didn’t push him away. “Marry me. It can be in name only unless you decide otherwise. We’ll make nice for the cameras and then you can go to your room and I’ll go to mine. When this is all over, we’ll divorce if that’s your choice, but Castalano will understand that you have the full support of this family behind you. Everyone he could use against you will understand that, too.”

  “You changed your name. I don’t think he knows who you are,” she shot back.

  “He does. He made sure I knew it,” he replied. “As he had me walked out, he told me I had my mother’s eyes.”

  The same mother Castalano had murdered.

  Ellie gasped, and there was the sympathy, the sweet nature he’d come to crave.

  “Ellie, if you agree to marry Riley, I’ll come out as the newest board member and I’ll throw my full support behind you,” Drew explained. “And when this is over, I’ll sign over my stock to you and ensure that you’re in a position where no one can take the company away from you again. All you have to do is go to the courthouse and sign some papers.”

  “I have to be Riley’s wife.” Her stare nearly burned a hole through him.

  “On paper, yes.” He intended to make it so much more.

  “Why are you doing this?” The question came out as a tortured whisper.

  “Because I love you and if I let you go now, you won’t ever give us a chance. You’re mad right now and you have every right to be, but you won’t always be so angry with me. I’m going to be sitting by your side when that day comes and I will grovel and beg and get on my knees and pray you let me back into your life. I don’t want my own life. I want ours. I want what we had.”

  “It was all a lie.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” He was going to have to get used to saying those words. He would say them until she believed it. “Baby, I asked you to marry me before Castalano pulled the rug out from under us. I meant that. I wasn’t trying to trick you. I thought if I could get you to marry me, if I could get that ring on your finger, you would have to think about kicking me to the curb when you found out the truth. I would have done anything to keep you with me. I was willing to walk away from 4L and my family because I need to be with you.”

  Her eyes had a sheen of tears and she shook her head, moving away from him. “I don’t want to hear this. After what you did, I can’t. What you did was criminal, Riley. All of you. Do you even care that you could have cost those workers everything?”

  “I wasn’t going to let it come to that,” Drew insisted. “I wasn’t going to stiff some old guy out of his pension.”

  “No, but you were willing to commit a crime to get your way,” she shot back, the argument giving her fire.

  Arguing wasn’t the way to win with Ellie. “We didn’t want to commit a crime, but we needed time to prove that Castalano is guilty of something.”

  “So you took it on yourselves to do whatever it took. That’s not fair to the other people you hurt,” she replied.

  “There’s no such thing as fair. We couldn’t let that man walk away with millions. He would have disappeared and lived out his life happily.” Bran’s voice had gone to a low growl. Sometimes the happy retriever remembered how long he’d been a stray. Bran’s typical demeanor was so easygoing that Riley often forgot how violent his brother could become. “That wasn’t fair, either. It wasn’t fair that we grew up in foster homes or that our dad and mom died screaming.”

  Bran’s jaw was tense, his body shaking slightly.

  Ellie’s whole being seemed to soften. She moved to Bran and knelt down beside him. “I’m so sorry about that. I’m very sorry for what my father did to yours. I wish it hadn’t happened.”

  Bran sighed and put a hand over hers, his anger deflating in a second. He never could keep his rage around a woman. “I know you didn’t have anything to do with it. I do. I don’t blame you in any way, but I can’t sleep knowing he’s got everything that should have been my father’s. He gets to retire. He gets to have grandkids. He gets this whole life and all because he took my father’s code.”

  “None of us sleep very well,” Drew admitted.

  Ellie sat down beside Bran, putting her free hand on his back. “I’m sorry things got so heated. I wish I could make it right. I’m afraid Castalano’s going to walk through the company taking whatever he wants and screwing everyone over. Somewhere along the way, my father started thinking about the company as his legacy. He was a horrible man, but he wanted his name to live on. It’s why he left the majority of his stock to me. He thought I could maybe do something important with StratCast. I don’t think Steven cares about anything but his own bank accounts.”

  “You can help.” Bran took a long breath. “You can help us and yourself and all those employees. You can take it back.”

  His brother was sometimes a genius because Riley saw the moment Ellie knew she was caught.

  She was still for a moment. “I want it in writing that you’ll give up the stock or allow me to buy it back when we divorce.”

  They weren’t ever divorcing if he had his way. “You’ll get 4L stock the minute we’re married.”

  “Part of the prenup I’ve had drawn up is that we divest ourselves of each other’s stock should you two divorce. You’ll get the StratCast stock. The 4L stock comes back to us.” Drew strode over and refilled his coffee mug. “I also promise to vote with you on your board. You could use allies.”

  “I intend to fight my firing so I can keep those voting shares,” Riley explained to her. “I’ve already filed a wrongful termination suit. I can drag this out. We can catch him, Ellie.”

  “And after we d
o, we divorce,” she said, but there was way more uncertainty in her voice than had been there before.

  “If that’s what you want.” He kept his own tone calm, not wanting her to hear the satisfaction he was feeling. All he needed was time. She wouldn’t be able to hold on to her anger forever. If she was living here with them, she would inevitably come to care about them. Bran and Mia were completely lovable. Drew was an enigma, but one Ellie’s soft heart would likely want to help.

  Did he want her to stay with him because she fell in love with being part of a family? Did it matter as long as she stayed?

  “All right, then.” She glanced over at Mia. “Is there any way I could get something to eat?”

  “Of course,” Mia said with smile. “Omelet? I’ve got every ingredient known to man. I swear Case would eat gummy bears with his if I let him.”

  “Hey, gummy bears go with everything,” her husband insisted.

  And there was that smile that brightened his life. Ellie shook her head. “I will skip the gummy bears but go heavy on the veggies, please.”

  “See, someone who doesn’t eat like a seven-year-old.” Mia hummed as she began prepping.

  “Thank you,” Ellie said as she settled in next to Bran.

  When Riley sat down across from her, the table finally felt right.

  Twelve

  She was making a horrible mistake. She stood in the reasonably clean bathroom at the courthouse and stared at herself in the mirror, grateful for the few moments alone. This was not how she’d thought her wedding day would go.

  Her second wedding day. It seemed like she was forever on the raw end of the wedding stick. Now she was actively going into a marriage with the full knowledge it would fail. Because she wasn’t going to get her happily ever after with a man who could betray her like that. No matter what he said.

  There was no question about it. She thought briefly about running. She could take off and run as far and fast as her Prada heels would carry her.

  Which wouldn’t be far. She rather suspected the Lawless clan knew that. Designer shoes were really a trick by men to slow women down. Put a chick in four-inch heels and suddenly she couldn’t sprint away and find a new life as a mole person underground. Ellie had thought about it on the ride over. She could rule there. She could be queen of the mole people. She would take care of them and they wouldn’t ever turn on her. She could happily live out her life being the queen of the sewer because no one would try to steal that from her.

  What the hell was she doing?

  “Are you all right?” Mia stepped inside. She’d changed into a lovely pink sheath dress that likely cost more than most people made in a month.

  The whole clan was in designer duds, including Mia’s hunky husband. They were too gorgeous, too much.

  “I don’t belong here.” She meant that on so many levels. She shouldn’t be marrying a man so she could stay out of jail. She shouldn’t be selling herself for protection.

  She should be marrying Riley because she loved him. Unfortunately, that love was in the past tense. She could never trust the man again.

  “In the courthouse?” Mia asked. “I wish we could do it someplace nicer, too.”

  “No, I meant here with all of you.” How would she function in the penthouse? Should she view herself as an employee? Or an ally? She’d been on her own most of her life. Suddenly being around so many people was odd. “Did you have to come? Riley and I can sign some papers on our own.”

  “It’s my brother’s wedding,” she said with a quizzical half smile. “Where else would I be? Drew doesn’t like to be photographed, but the rest of us will stand beside you when the inevitable reporters show up.”

  Ellie groaned. “Will they?”

  She could be yesterday’s news. Literally. It would be a relief.

  “Oh, they’ll show up. Garrison’s here, too, and trust me, that man only shows up when the cameras are around. He’s got a statement and everything. I know this marriage isn’t what you planned, but you’re one of us for a while. You should get used to being intrusively supported. I think it’s because we got split up so young. We’re doing the obnoxious-sibling thing now. And if you think this is bad, you should meet Case’s family. They’re twice as bad, twice as many, and they’re all heavily armed. His oldest brother makes Drew look like a soft little kitten.”

  She couldn’t imagine anyone making Drew Lawless look weak. The man oozed power and pure will.

  She straightened her skirt. “Well, I’ll try not to get too used to it. I’ve been married before. This is more people than who attended my first wedding.”

  “Just you and your family, huh?”

  Ellie scoffed. “More like me and Colin and a slightly drunk pastor in Vegas. My father couldn’t be bothered and my sister didn’t care until later when she decided Colin was the perfect man for her.”

  “Did you invite your father?”

  “I wanted a big wedding.” It was silly, but she’d wanted a white dress and all the trappings. She’d thought she was starting her own family and wanted everything to be perfect. “He gave us the tickets to Vegas since he was using the company jet that week. He told me to be back at work on Monday or I was fired. Gosh, I don’t miss my father.”

  “Well, he was a murderer. So no fatherly affection. Here, let me fix the back of your hair. The wind did a number on it.” Mia moved in behind her.

  Ellie stayed still as Mia began smoothing down her twist. It was odd to think of it, but this woman was about to be her sister-in-law. Mia had already done more for her than Shari ever had. “My dad wasn’t big on affection. He viewed me as the smart one, though, so I got placed at StratCast young. The only time my father seemed willing to spend much time with me was at the end. I think once it sank in that he was really dying, he became afraid of being alone. That was when he told me the secret.”

  “But he didn’t mention Castalano or Patricia Cain?”

  She watched Mia in the mirror. The other woman’s jaw had tightened, but her hands remained gentle. There was nothing about Mia’s demeanor that told Ellie she was angry. “No. I asked because obviously they’d been there in the beginning. Patricia sold out her shares when she got her television show, but she had a major stake in the beginning.”

  “He didn’t tell you they had anything to do with my parents’ murders?”

  “He was a little out of it by the end.” She tried not to think about those last days. She’d sat by his hospital bed, the dutiful daughter to a father who had never loved her. She’d figured out long ago that she couldn’t measure her life by how other people treated her. It was how she treated them that made her Ellie. She hadn’t been able to abandon her father. “Sometimes I wonder if he knew it was me he was talking to. He said he could only speak for himself. And then he talked about a cave where all the sins were kept. That was when I knew the drugs had kicked in.”

  Mia chuckled. “I think it’s a good thing you were with him. You would have regretted it. No matter what he did, he was your father. I worry I’m going to feel that way about my brothers one day.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She finished up and moved away. “I love them so much, but I think revenge is more important to them than family or love or anything. Drew’s become single-minded. Why am I saying become? He always was. Now that single-minded focus has shifted from how to keep us together to how to tear apart the people who hurt us. I know he thinks he can handle it, but if getting to them means giving up a piece of his soul? I don’t want that for him.”

  “This isn’t only about what Steven did to your parents, though that would be enough. I always meant to go to Drew and tell him what I knew.”

  “But you were going to wait until after the buyout so your people were out of the line of fire.”

  Mia seemed to understand her. “Yes. Steven didn’t care. All that mattered was taking what
he needed. He’ll strip the company bare. He’ll take everything my developers have worked so hard on and sell it for parts like a stolen vehicle, never understanding or caring about what it could have been, could have done for the world.”

  “If you think about it, he’s really trying to do it again. He stole my father’s code and built a company. Now he’s trying to steal from your developers. Do you really think he won’t let the project play out?”

  She shrugged. “I think this particular project won’t really start making money for a decade or more. He might have that or he might not. It would be far easier for him to sell the project to someone else under the table. A bit of corporate espionage from the top of the food chain.”

  “That would be nice to prove,” Mia mentioned.

  “I’m sure they’ve done lots we would love to prove.” She was stalling. Drew had managed to find a friendly judge who had waived the twenty-four-hour waiting period and would marry them on a weekend. “I want you to know I’m going to do my best to be unobtrusive around the condo. Riley’s already told me he doesn’t want me to find an apartment. Apparently our cover is important now. I don’t want you to think I’m going to take advantage of your family.”

  Mia nodded. “And you should know I’m going to do everything in my power to draw you in and make you love us because it’s a sausage fest in there and I need some estrogen to hang with, sister. At least when we’re with Case’s family there are plenty of women around.”

  “Armed women.” Apparently. Now she was curious about the Taggart side of the family.

  “You have no idea. I’ll give you a couple of minutes, but don’t take too long. Riley’s worried you’ll run away. I told him no one can run in those shoes.” Mia winked, and Ellie was left alone again.

  Her second marriage. Soon it would be her second divorce. All that mattered was getting her company back. She would let the Lawless brothers deal with Castalano and the rest.

  Her cell trilled and she looked down. Steven. That bastard had the balls to call her?