by Nora Ash
If that happened to Liam…
The dark thing in my gut clenched and snarled at the thought.
If that happened, I could lose him.
“You’ve been seeing her a lot lately,” I said, keeping my tone casual.
He shot me a quick glance, and I could tell from the look in his eyes that I hadn’t managed to hide my worry completely.
“Yeah. She’s a good distraction.”
“Mmhm,” I hummed, not buying it for a second. Multiple birds were fine distractions—one was fucking trouble. “You in love with her?”
If I hadn’t known him so well, I would have missed the millisecond his fingers froze against his cuff.
“Nah, it’s nothing serious. Don’t worry.” He gave me a brilliant smile before he turned his back on me and headed to the hallway, grabbing his leather jacket on the way. “See you later!”
The front door slammed shut behind him, and I frowned into the silence that settled in our shared flat.
That was the first time my twin had ever lied to me.
I parked far enough away from the door Liam had disappeared into that when he came back out again ten minutes later hand in hand with a woman, he didn’t spot me. Not that he would have noticed much, the way he was looking down at her as if there was only the two of them in the entire fucking world.
The dark thing in my gut twisted when he stopped to brush a lock of her hair away from her forehead. The look on his face, then… of complete and utter worship. He loved her. He loved her the same way Blaine loved his wife, the same way Marcus loved the girl he threw everything away to be with.
It was like a mule-kick right in my sternum, and I had to clench my hands around the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white to keep myself from keeling over at the strength of the panic that tore through me at that look.
A tsunami of emotions warred inside that black pit in my gut, but at the root of it all was all-consuming, mind-numbing fear. Fear of losing the one person in this world that had kept me from giving in to the violence and despair that was our birthright. Fear of being left alone when she either got my twin killed, or if… I breathed deeply when the wave of jealousy so hot it burned my esophagus clawed its way to the surface.
If this was it for him, if that girl was to Liam what Mira was to Blaine, or Evelyn to Marcus… Then even if we somehow made it through the fight against our father, I would still lose him. It wouldn’t be him and me against the world anymore. She would take my place, and I…
I knew I’d never survive that.
15
Liam
Audrey’s parents lived a couple of hours outside of London in the sort of neighborhood I’d always mocked: white-washed villas, roses in the front garden, and Audis in the driveway. It reeked of upper middle class and weekend golf trips.
I glanced to the woman next to me, conscious of her bouncing knee and the way she was worrying her bottom lip. “Nervous?”
She flashed me a quick smile. “A little bit, yeah. I know it’s silly. It’s just… I want them to like you. And they’re so judgmental. Is that awful to say? Everything’s got to be a certain way, or it’s not up to their standards.”
“Miss Waits, are you implying I’m not every parent’s wet dream?” I shot her a teasing smirk that had her giggling and finally releasing her poor bottom lip.
“I’m implying that you’re very obviously not a rich banker looking to settle down and give my parents two point four grandkids so they can show off to their friends at the golf club.”
I huffed. As far as I was concerned, bankers were about the only people more corrupt than my Family. “Ah. They don’t appreciate a man who can give their daughter multiple orgasms, then? Pity, I was gonna lead with that.”
Audrey’s smile vanished, a look of abject horror taking its place. “Don’t even joke about it. Liam, you can’t say stuff like that to them, okay? They’re not…”
“Fun?” I finished, arching an eyebrow at her. “Concerned about your happiness?”
She flushed a light shade of pink and looked down. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to push all my issues onto you. I know it’s ridiculous—I’m thirty-two years old and I still crave my parents’ approval. I just never lived up to their expectations, or to my sister’s golden life, and it still messes with me sometimes.”
I took one hand off the steering wheel to brush her cheek. “Hey, calm down, love. You’re fucking amazing, and if they can’t see that, they’re right thick. I don’t care if they like me or not—but I do care that you’re happy. I’ll be on my best behavior, promise.”
The corner of her lips quirked up, and my heart gave a happy spasm. Fuck, she was so goddamn beautiful when she smiled.
“You know, the thing I love about you is that you’re exactly the opposite of what I was brought up with. I don’t need you to be on your best behavior—I just need you to be with me.”
My heart pounded harder in my chest once more, and I sank back in my seat with a soft sigh. It’d been a week since we’d started an actual relationship, and every moment we’d been together had been so fucking easy. When I was with her, even the shit going on with Perkinson and the plotting with Blaine and Louis felt like a distant nightmare. Audrey was my safe haven.
If impressing some pricks who thought their daughter needed to fit into some godawful mould of mediocrity would make her happy, then I didn’t mind playing along.
The Waits’ house was a detached villa like all the others in the neighborhood, with green privet hedges surrounding a lush garden. I pulled up in front of their driveway and parked the Jeep within view of the villa’s large windows. Telling Audrey to wait, I slipped out of the car and walked around to her side, opening the passenger side door and offering her my arm.
She giggled as she let me help her out, flashing me a happy smile before we turned toward the house, and my heart did an odd flip in my chest. I might just be fronting to give anyone looking a good impression, but being like this with Audrey… like an actual couple… it felt amazing. Like everything was just right.
She rang the doorbell once we made it to the front door, and it was opened so quickly I knew the woman opening it had been looking out the window at us as we approached. Nosy bird.
She looked a bit older than Audrey by a couple of years, with the same dark hair and brown eyes. Her sister, I guessed, even though they didn’t share the same amazing arse.
“Hey, Mel.” Audrey leaned in to give her sister a cheek kiss. “Mel, this is Liam. Liam, Mel. My sister.”
“Melissa,” her sister corrected as she shook my hand. “Forgive my sister, she’s not always good with proper introductions.”
I arched my eyebrows a millimeter at the unnecessary insult, but before either I or Audrey could say anything, another woman came fluttering into the hallway.
She was older still, with immaculately cut shoulder-length hair in what would’ve looked like a natural blonde, if it wasn’t for her age. She was small and thin with features like Melissa, but the smile on her face was all Audrey. Their mother, I guessed.
“Mum,” Audrey said, confirming my suspicion as she hugged her. “I want you to meet Liam Steel. Liam, this is my mother, Margaret.”
“Ah, the boyfriend?” Margaret extended a hand and I shook it, stopping myself from giving her a sturdy “business” greeting the second before I closed my fingers. The only time I was usually shaking hands with people was during meetings with other mafia Families. They usually involved quite a bit of strength—another way of displaying dominance.
“Yes,” Audrey confirmed. Her slight hesitance and the quick sideway glance she gave me made me fight back a smirk. Yeah, I wasn’t used to being called “the boyfriend,” and we hadn’t put what we were into exact terms. It was obvious Audrey wasn’t quite sure what I’d think of being labeled her boyfriend, but—somewhat to my own surprise—I didn’t mind it one bit.
“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Waits.” I noticed Audrey’s impressed side-glance.
Someone clearly didn’t expect me to be the kind of guy who knew how to kiss up to my girl’s parents. I gave her mother my best smile as I patted her hand still resting in mine.
“Oh, please, call me Margaret.” A faint flush warmed her cheeks, and she pulled her hand back with a slightly jolted movement. I shot her a wider grin, suppressing the urge to give her a knowing wink. Somehow I doubted Audrey would appreciate me teasing her mum about falling for the infamous “Steel-twin” smile. It wasn’t often on purpose, but quite a few women we’d shagged over the years had fallen into our beds because of it. And more than one had been at Audrey’s mother’s age.
“Come in, Peter and Sally are here, and the Joneses and Smiths.” Margaret seemed to have regained her bearings and ushered us into the living room. “Phil? Come greet your daughter and her friend.”
I arched an eyebrow at Audrey upon hearing her mother’s title for me in the slightly larger group of people filling the living room. She shot me a grin in return. “I’m too old to have boyfriends. Women over the age of twenty-seven have husbands or friends,” she explained in a hushed tone as a balding man about Margaret’s age made his way toward us with a jovial smile and a glass of amber liquor in his hand.
“Audrey.” He hugged her with his drink-free hand before looking at me, his smile fading somewhat. “Mr. Steel.”
“Mr. Waits,” I greeted, offering him my hand. The handshake I got in return made my bones groan. Apparently it wasn’t just in the mafia world you displayed your dominance with a handshake. Clearly Audrey’s dad was somewhat less enthused about meeting me than her mother had been.
“My daughter tells me you own a couple of businesses,” he said, and I got the distinct impression of getting evaluated by an opponent. “Aren’t you a little young to run a business?”
I ignored the dig at my age—no wonder Audrey’d been focused on the few years’ age gap between us if this was where she came from—and gave him my best smile. “Audrey’s been much too generous. It’s a family business—I only own a part of it.”
“Oh,” he said, a slight gleam of interest showing in his gaze. “So you come from a good family, then? What do you trade in?”
I suppressed a snort at the suggestion that my family was any kind of good. Sure, we might still have a tentative grasp of London’s underworld’s throne, but I was pretty sure no man would be thrilled to know his daughter was dating a mafia son. “We do a few things. I’m mainly involved in the nightclubs and bars.”
“Hm.” The hesitance on his face was clearly visible—apparently nightclubs weren’t quite fancy enough, but the promise of family money was seemingly still strong enough to spare me his full scorn.
It was interesting to watch, on some level. I’d known Audrey was pretty uptight from the first moment we met. I’d never thought much about why. Seeing her family, and especially her dad, made it pretty clear her messed up ideas of what was important in life came from them. It baffled me how they could look at a woman like Audrey and never think she measured up—but then again, my Family had its own yardsticks that others would think fucked up. If you were a Steel, you’d better be tough and know how to handle a situation—any situation—or you were toast. It didn’t matter that Louis and I hated the darker sides of the business, or that they’d driven Marcus nearly fucking insane. Our father had raised us to rule or die.
I guess by comparison I could give Audrey’s dad a bit of slack—if only for Audrey’s sake.
Still smiling, I wrapped an arm around Audrey’s midriff and pulled her in closer against me. “Of course, my family was thrilled when they heard about Audrey. She’s the smartest bird I’ve ever met—and they seem to believe that she will give up her job and put that brain of hers to work for us if I manage to keep a hold of her.”
I knew I’d won him over when his lips finally pulled up in a genuine smile. “Oh, of course. She is a very smart girl, her mother and I’ve always said as much. Tell me—Liam, was it? Do you golf?”
“I had no idea you were this good at schmoozing.”
I shot Audrey an amused grin before refocusing on the road. She was in the passenger seat with her bare feet on the dashboard, eyes closed as she carded her fingers through her now loose hair.
“You can say it—I completely won them over. I am, in fact, a god when it comes to handling your parents.”
“I don’t know about god,” she teased. “But yes. You were very good. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Figured it’d be easier on you if they didn’t hate your friend. I draw the lines at golfing, though.” I pulled up outside Audrey’s apartment complex and drew the handbrake. “Your stop, milady.”
“Want to spend the night?” She sent me a smile full of promises that made my cock awaken with a spasm. “I do believe you’ve earned a reward with that performance.”
“You have no idea how much I want to take you up on that offer,” I said, mentally cursing the nighttime gig my father had set up for us. “But I have to get to work. Raincheck?”
“Maybe,” she said, giving me her best shit-eating grin. “If you accept my dad’s invitation to go golfing.”
“You little witch,” I growled, but couldn’t hold back a laugh at her cheek. The difference between her demeanor now and before we went to her dad’s birthday party was like night and day, and something in my chest felt light with the knowledge that I’d caused that. I liked making her happy about as much as I liked fucking her—it just hadn’t really dawned on me before now that the two could be separated. With a teasing scowl, I slipped out of my seatbelt so I could lean over and kiss her soft lips.
She parted hers beneath mine and wrapped her arms around my neck, enveloping me in her sweet warmth. Fuck, but kissing her got me so goddamn hard! My cock ached to escape the confines of my jeans, and I mindlessly let a hand slide to her breast, squeezing the plump flesh gently. I was halfway starting to consider how to get her convinced to get into the backseat with me when she pulled back with a breathless laugh.
“I think we better stop now, before one of my neighbors spots us and calls the cops.”
“Fucking Mrs. Peterson,” I growled, earning me another laugh.
“Thank you, Liam.” Audrey grasped both my hands in hers, the smile slowly fading as she looked at me with so much sincerity my heart gave an uneasy flutter in my chest. “Truly. Today… it meant a lot.”
I smiled softly. “I’d do anything for you, love.”
She kissed me again, harder this time. Her need fueled my own, and by the time we finally separated again I was halfway on top of her, my hand fully up her skirt and underneath her knickers.
“You sure you don’t want to come up?” she breathed.
“Oh, I fucking want to,” I groaned. “Fuck.”
Audrey let out a breathless laugh and gently shoved my hand away. “But work. It’s okay. Come see me tomorrow once you’re off work?”
“Oh, I will.” I reached up to tweak her peaked nipple pressing against the fabric of her dress before I pecked her lips and slumped back in my seat. “Sleep tight, love.”
“Bye, Liam,” she said, giving me that smile of hers that had my heart beating faster in my chest. Fuck, I was so goddamn addicted to that woman.
I waited on the curb for her to get safely inside the building before I released the handbrake and put the Jeep into gear. But just as I was about to pull away, my phone beeped in my pocket.
Expecting an update on the job we were meant to be doing later I pulled it out to see a new message from Louis.
Get home now. Dad’s here. It’s bad.
16
William Steel
Of all my children, my two youngest sons had always been my favorites. I know they say you’re not supposed to have favorites, but let’s be honest here… every parent does. And mine were my two mischievous twins, with their red hair and easy laughter that reminded me so much of their mother—bless her soul.
Granted, it wasn’t a hard list to top these days.
&
nbsp; I nodded at Louis as he handed me a cup of tea before he slumped down in the leather sofa across from me and sprawled out. “So what brings you by, Dad?”
“Oh, just catching up. I heard through the grapevine that one of you has a girlfriend now? After the disaster with your brother, I thought it best to check in.” My “grapevine” shifted from one foot to the other behind me. What had the world come to when a man could trust his employees more so than his own flesh and blood?
The twins might be my favorites, but neither of them had taken a bullet for me. In fact, I was pretty sure one of them had been the one to nearly kill Wesley a few months ago, to save their traitorous brother. I hadn’t mentioned it to my right hand man—I didn’t need him getting distracted with idle thoughts of revenge. And, as much as the thought of my own blood saving the worthless scum who’s turned on his own father for a girl made me grit my teeth with anger, I knew my sons were loyal to each other. So long as they were more loyal to me, we didn’t have a problem.
Besides—no matter how loyal Wesley was, he’d never be a Steel.
Still, being Steels didn’t mean I trusted my two redheaded sons to pick my side over the rest of their family’s’. Not after how every single one of their blasted brothers had betrayed me over the past few years. So, I’d had Wesley keep surveillance on them.
But if one of them had truly been dumb enough to fall for a girl, maybe I could pull Wesley back to focus on more pressing matters. They were smart enough to know a woman was the easiest way for an opponent in this game to control you. No man with half a brain would hand over his heart if he was about to attempt mutiny against the Steel empire—not even one of the two impulsive twins.t to attempt mutiny against the Steel empire—not even one of the two impulsive twins.