B.I.L.F.: A Brother In Law Romance

by Dark Angel

  “No wonder you hate his guts…”

  “That’s just part of it,” she says to me and takes a deep sigh.

  I can tell there’s another bombshell coming.

  “You see, Lester is my stepfather,” she whispers in a resigned tone, and hunches her shoulders as the word stepfather falls out of her lips. I don’t even want to imagine how it’d be to have the devil for a stepfather. “He has been trying to shut me down through unofficial channels, but I’m not making his life easy. That’s why he pressed you into all of this. He can’t get the police inside Python without a valid reason, and Austin already spends a lot of money on security so that none of Lester’s criminal dirt bags can ever step a foot inside here. But he’s growing reckless and Austin and I, we’re making a real dent on whatever operations he has a finger on, and we’re hurting is wallet. And I figure he’s pretty pissed about that.”

  “You figure right, yeah,” I say, thinking back to how he stormed my club, raining hell on me. “I’m so sorry, hun… I can’t even begin to imagine how it’d be like to have someone like him for a stepfather.”

  “My mother was a fool,” she whispers, and tears start welling up in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and recomposes herself, looking at me as if nothing had happened. She’s tough, I have to give her that. “But she loved him. She never knew anything about this and, by the time I discovered what he was up to… I couldn’t bring myself to tell her,” the woman that I know as Mistress Strokes says to me.

  “She had cancer, you see? She was thin and sickly, and she almost never left the hospital… I just couldn’t do it to her, tell her the truth… So I sucked it up. I played along,” she says, reliving the memory. “Lester never found out how I always snooped around his office whenever he was out, gathering whatever piece of information I could put my hands on. Back then, I didn’t know why I was doing, I just knew I had to. I couldn’t stand still while that dirt bag was… was doing all that.”

  “You were very brave,” I tell her, speaking in a soothing tone.

  “Thank you. But you’d do the same.”

  “I’m not sure. I’d probably just freak out and pummel him into submission with a fireplace poker.”

  “I should’ve have thought of that,” she says with a chuckle, and I notice that she has relaxed her hands, her palms now resting easily in her lap. “Anyways, I haven’t seen him since my mother passed. The day I came home from the funeral, I just emptied one of his bank accounts and took off. I wandered around New York for a whole day, not knowing what I was going to do… So I just grabbed one of the addresses I had found in his office, and headed there,” she recounts.

  “I thought it’d be one of the places where they were holding women, but it wasn’t. It was just a warehouse filled with street hookers, and I realized then that he was shaking them down so that they could keep working,” Mistress Strokes continues. “I talked to them anyway, and one told me that she was actually thinking of leaving the life; she had a son, you see? She wanted to be better. Anyway, she told me she was coming to Python, because the owner had a reputation between the street hookers: if you really wanted to straighten up your act, Austin would help you without asking for anything in return.”

  “And that was when she showed up in here. Nervous and shaking, clutching a backpack to her chest,” Austin laughs, and I finally realize how much he cares for Strokes. She’s his protegé.

  Mistress Strokes sighs.

  “I’m tired of it always being women who get persecuted, Destiny,” she tells me and I nod. I’m the same way. Remember? How I said I could have sex with anyone I wanted to? And fuck off if they didn’t like it?

  Well, while I was going out spreading my legs, Mistress Strokes was putting herself in danger to free women.

  We could all be more like her.

  “With the information I stole from Lester, and with Austin financing things we started saving as many women as we could and we were making a difference,” she goes on. She stops and pauses. “We still are, and Lester wants to stop us at all costs. He’s not going to give up.”

  “Well neither are we, goddamit,” Austin says, first looking at me and then exchanging a glance with Strokes. “We can’t let him destroy what you’ve fucking built. Whatever it fucking takes, we’ll bring that motherfucker down.”

  “And how are we going to do that…?” Mistress Strokes asks him, looking at me.

  I see where she’s going and I chime in, not sure what Austin is thinking either. “Lester’s got the entire NYPD at his fingertips,” I tell him making it seem like I’m worried about whatever Austin is planning, but what I’m really thinking of is the child I’m carrying inside my belly.

  Is it really a good idea to go to war with Lester when I’m expecting Austin’s baby?

  “All I know is we’re looking at Python right here,” Austin grins gesturing to the three of us, the confidence in him making him look as handsome as a movie star, “and Python is where dreams come true, ladies.”

  He gets up and looks at us before finishing. “Let’s make this dream fucking come true as well.”

  Austin

  I’ve been having trouble fucking sleeping since Mistress Strokes told Destiny her story. The horrified look in her face told me something I really needed to realize: Lester has to be fucking stopped.

  There has to be a way to do it.

  Somehow.

  “Austin…?” I hear Destiny’s voice coming from the bed, and I see her head peeking from under the covers. Her hair is disheveled and she has no makeup on but, somehow, I think that seeing her like this just makes me love her even more. Fantasies and mirrors are fun, but I think that the simple things are the ones most worthy of our attention.

  And that’s right.

  I fucking love her. I’m sure of it by now.

  I mean, I’ve been telling you for a few chapters now.

  And regardless of what I do next, there’s one thing I need to do first.

  I need to fucking tell her.

  “Yeah, babe, I’m here,” I reply to her query.

  I’m standing against the wall-to-ceiling windows in my (or should I say our?) bedroom, wearing nothing but boxer briefs. We fucked like crazy when we got home tonight, Strokes coming clean about everything drawing us even closer, but I just couldn’t fall asleep.

  Even when Destiny drifted off, I remained awake, staring at the ceiling and counting the minutes. Eventually, I just got out of the bed as quietly as I could and came here to the window so that I could watch the city outside.

  There’s something about New York that calms me down. Which is kinda fucking ironic, don’t you think?

  This city which really doesn’t fucking sleep, it just has a soothing effect on me. Whenever I need to think, New York and its bright tall skyscrapers are what I turn to. Just like that tonight.

  “What are you doing over there? Come back to bed,” she tells me in a lazy tone, still half-asleep.

  “I can’t sleep. I’m thinking,” I admit. My brain has been working non-stop since I came to the realization that I couldn’t postpone a showdown any longer. The game between Lester and me and Strokes might have been a chess match, but now it’s time to just kick the board and turn this into a boxing fight.

  “Thinking?” she asks, and I roll my eyes. It’s not like I don’t fucking think. “About what?” She sits up on the bed, staring me. My eyes dart to her naked breasts, and I remember how it felt to feel them under my hands a while ago. My cock twitches inside my boxer briefs, but now isn’t the time to be thinking of sex. I’m far too worried for that, which is another first for me, that’s for sure.

  I drag my feet back to the bed and sit next to her, holding her hand. “I’m trying to think of a way out of all this.” I smile faintly but, to be honest, I don’t have the slightest fucking clue about what we can do.

  Even though we know what Lester is involved in, we have no evidence. Zero fucking proof. He might be a bastard, but he’s a cunning bastard. He always
does his dealings through someone else, and even his financials are handled through a fucking patsy.

  As far as I can make out, the Commissioner is immune to whatever we do. And now he’s closing in on us… He even gave Destiny an ultimatum. He wants her back on her side or he’s going to go fucking berserk on us.

  But there’s no way I’m ever going to let go for that talk he wants to have. Unless…

  Oh, fuck!

  Why didn’t I think of this before?

  It’s so fucking obvious!

  “Babe, I fucking got it. We can fight him!” She looks at me with a pale smile, and that isn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting. I was looking for some enthusiasm, even some excitement, but all she manages to present me with is a weak smile. What’s going on here? “Babe, what is it? We can end him fucking once and for all.”

  Then, she says something that just hits me out of nowhere. “Austin… Why don’t we just leave?” she whispers, lowering her voice so much that I can barely hear her words.

  “Leave?” I ask, shocked.

  “Yeah. Somewhere else… Somewhere far away from here,” she says to me. “Away from all of this. I… I don’t know what might happen if we go up against Lester. It’s too dangerous for you, for me and for…” She stops, hesitating, and runs her tongue between her lips. “Austin, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “What?”

  She pauses. Takes a deep breath.

  I can’t wait any fucking longer.

  I need to tell her.

  “I love you, Destiny Renee,” I tell her.

  “I’m pregnant, Austin” she says, and I don’t know if she just replied or what.

  Wait.

  What?

  I didn’t see that fucking coming. “What did you just say?” I ask her in disbelief.

  “Never mind me,” she says to me. “What did you just say?”

  My mouth hangs open as I try to understand the ramifications of what she just told me. Pregnant? As in p-r-e-g-n-a-n-t? I must have heard wrong.

  “Austin,” she says again. “I love you too.”

  “Pregnant?” I ask.

  She nods. “Do you still love me after I told you?”

  Is she fucking joking?

  No, I didn’t hear wrong. She’s pregnant. Pregnant! I jump on top of the bed and hug her so tightly she has to push me away from her.

  “I don’t even know what to say.” I look at her with a dumb smile, feeling so fucking happy.

  I wasn’t this happy when I became a millionaire for the first time, and I wasn’t this happy when I opened Python.

  This is a different kind of happiness. A fucking baby?

  I mean…a baby?

  Can you fucking imagine it? I’ll tell you something, with Destiny’s genes and my DNA, it’s going to be one badass baby. Smart, beautiful and brave. My child.

  “I was afraid of what your reaction would be,” she confesses, her weak smile turning into a genuine one. There’s a glint in her eyes, and I realize that my reaction was everything she needed.

  I realize something.

  “Yes I still fucking love you, Destiny Renee,” I tell her.

  She smiles.

  “Good,” she says. “Because I fucking love you too. And I’m glad you’re not upset.”

  “Are you crazy? I’m so fucking happy, babe,” I say as I hug her once more, and then kiss her on the lips. “Now I know why you want to leave.” Now that we’re going to have a child, everything changes. I’m not just fucking around with my life, or even with Destiny’s; there’s a whole new life to consider.

  “Yeah… I’m just a bit afraid, that’s all,” she whispers, instinctively placing one hand over her belly, as if she’s trying to protect our kid from the whole mess of the world we’re in.

  “Okay, okay. Let me think,” I take one deep breath, trying to rearrange the thoughts inside my head. This changes everything. But one thing is obvious: I can’t go forward with the plan I came up with. I can’t put Destiny in danger. “You’re leaving then, Destiny. I’ll arrange a place for both of us… Somewhere warm where you can rest and enjoy yourself. California? What about Europe?” She cuts me short by placing her index finger over my moving lips.

  “Austin… You said ‘you’re leaving’. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

  “Babe… It’s just for a while. I have to face Lester.” There’s no way around it. Sure, I'm going to be a father now, but a lot of women depend on me. What kind of example would I set for my child if I just walked out on hundreds of women who are victims of sex trafficking? And leave Lester to prosper? He’d give free reign to all the human traffickers in the city, make New York a hub for the worst scum that’s ever walked the Earth. I can’t walk out on this. Even if it costs me everything—all my money, even my life, I have to do my best to finish off that fucking bastard.

  “When I’m done with all this I’ll go and join you… Or you can come back to New York. Whichever you prefer, babe,” I continue, but she’s not buying it.

  “No, Austin, stop it. That’s not happening.” She’s laying the law down and I know it. Her decision has been made, and she won’t change her mind. Fuck, I really don’t feel comfortable with her staying in New York. “I get it why you want to stay… And you’re right, we can’t turn our backs to this. Strokes doesn’t have a chance without us.” She takes a deep breath, mentally preparing for her next words. “What’s your plan?” She asks me.

  “No, I don’t want you involved in this any more than you are right now,” is my only answer.

  “The plan, Austin. Tell me.” Do I have the right to make decisions for her? She’s as tough as I am.

  With a resigned sigh, I start explaining what’s on my mind. She sits there quietly, just taking in my words and nodding slightly.

  “That’s it,” she says afterwards. “We’re doing it.”

  “Babe, I don’t feel comfortable about it… Not anymore, now that I know you’re pregnant.”

  “We’re doing it,” she whispers, her lips a straight line, and that’s it. We’re doing it. “It’s going to work, Austin. I know it will,” she says in a soothing tone, placing one hand on my face and laying a tender kiss on my lips.

  It’s going to work.

  I know it will.

  I mean, it has to work.

  Or we’re all fucked.

  Destiny

  Here we go, I think as I raise my closed fist to knock at the door right in front of me. I drop my hand against it three times in quick succession and then I wait, my heart beating anxiously inside of my chest. I hear footsteps inside of the house, and then a man inside roars, “Who’s there?”

  “Guess,” I respond in a calm and poised voice, and the door swings open as if someone yanked on the doorknob from the other side. Lester is standing in the doorway, barefoot and wearing jeans and a plaid shirt. “Hi there, handsome,” I purr with a smile, and walk past him and inside his house. I smile inwardly at the look of confusion on his face, but then I hear the door slam shut and I remember what’s at stake here.

  “Destiny,” he simply says, his lips a straight line.

  “Oh, you remember me,” I tease him, walking straight into his living room and sit down on the couch where he was just watching a game. There’s an open beer sitting on the coffee table, and the Giants are preparing their next play on the flat-screen TV. I lean back against his couch, crossing my legs and allowing the hemline of my tight dress to climb up and reveal more of my legs. At the same time, I take my jacket off, revealing the low cut of my dress, Lester’s eyes darting straight to my cleavage. “Lovely place you have here.”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Destiny,” he hisses, walking around the couch and staring me down. “What are you doing here?” I sigh and look down at my hands, trying to organize the right words into a coherent sentence. Then, I look up at him and let my smile fade away.

  “I’m sorry, Lester,” I start, putting on an expression of commiseration. “I was an idiot
.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asks me, a confused frown on his face.

  “I… I let myself be fooled by Austin,” I stammer, pursing my lips and trying to look like a damsel in distress. “He sweet talked me and he… I was a fool, Lester. All these months I had the perfect man right in front of me, but I guess I never realized it before,” I continue, my heart galloping inside my chest. This has to work, I pray to myself, this has to work.

  Slowly, Lester walks up to me and sits by my side, placing one hand right on my knee. “You came to your senses, then?” he asks me, that awful grin dancing on his lips. After what he did to me—and after I discovered who he really is—I can’t help but feel disgust every time I glance at him. He shouldn’t even be in jail, he should be hanged. You think that’s harsh of me? Well, just remember who he really is; Lester, someone who profits from human fucking trafficking. From selling women. Scum of the Earth.

  “I did come to my senses, yes,” I tell him, running my tongue between my lips and looking into his eyes. I place my hand on top of his and squeeze it lightly. “I don’t even care about the club anymore, Lester… I don’t know, when I realized what you can do, the power you hold… I want someone like that in my life. A real man, a powerful man… Someone like you,” I whisper, lowering my voice as I stroke his ego.

  He grins at me, his hand slowly moving up from my knee to my leg. I got him, I think as I take in the delighted expression on his face. Since the first time I saw Lester, I knew he had a thing for me. Call it lust, passion or even a twisted sense of love, but I knew he wanted me. He wanted me bad, and still does. It drove him mad that, even though he got to fuck me, I never gave him more than that. He knew that I just tolerated him, and that made him seethe with rage; he isn’t a man accustomed to not getting what he wants. But now here I am, sitting on his couch, telling him everything that he ever wanted to hear, calling him a powerful and real man.