Mr V (Mrs R & Mr V Book 2)

by Jessie Courts

  Olivia’s heart was hammering in her chest but she managed to keep her cool. “What history? I don’t understand?”

  “It’s not my place to tell you Livs. Just know I did nothing wrong and Joe knows that. He just needs time to get over it and it’s for him to decide whether to tell you. I’m sorry. It’s the most fucked up set of circumstances I could ever imagine…”

  Luc knew in that moment that things weren’t going to go the way he had desperately wished for. Olivia’s eyes shone bright with unshed tears and her bottom lip wobbled slightly. “I..I can’t do something that I know will intentionally upset my Dad if you can’t be honest with me Luc. And today is his wedding day and then he’s on honey moon for two weeks.”

  “Olivia. I’m being as honest as I can, please believe me baby.” Luc placed his hands on her upper arms and pulled her in close unable to resist. He was naturally a very tactile person and he needed to feel her in his arms but flat palms pushed firmly against this chest and he staggered backwards slightly at the force. His face was a mask of hurt and his chest ached at their predicament.

  “No Luc. You are asking me to choose between you and my Dad. How am I supposed to do that when you’re lying to me? Dad’s only ever been truthful with me. We’ve known each other for five minutes and you’re asking me to trust you over him?” A stray tear leaked out the corner of Olivia’s left eye and Luc wiped it away gently with the pad of his thumb.

  “S’ok baby. I’ll back off. This is precisely why I shouldn’t have come back. Joe always wins.” Luc gave Livvy a heartbreakingly sad smile and hung his head slightly. “I’m going to go because you deserve to enjoy tonight and Joe needs his family with him. Maybe we can meet before you go back to the States. I’ll leave it in your hands; whatever you want Livs. You should know though; I was always coming back for you; today was just a happy coincidence for me. Well, maybe that’s a stretch but you know what I mean.” Luc gave a half laugh then he gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted her mouth to meet his own. He brushed his lips across her full soft ones and kissed her chastely.

  “Oh hell no!” A loud bellow; a sudden flash of movement and Luc felt his feet leave the ground. Joe had hauled him backwards and was currently in the process of trying to dislodge his arms from his body.

  “Daddy!” Olivia screamed and tugged at Joe’s arms but the man was on a mission and his arm muscles were locked solid around Luc’s chest. Luc battered at Joe’s forearms trying to break free but Joe wasn’t letting go.

  “Fuck off Joe. I can’t breathe man.” Luc shouted and was struggling desperately but Joe was handling him like a rag doll thrusting him left and right and roaring threats about killing him for touching his daughter oblivious to the fact he was crushing the poor boy to death. Luc started panting as panic set in. His vision was going hazy and he knew he was about to pass out. The only thing left to do was a long shot but Luc had no options so like a toddler in the throes of a massive tantrum he made his body go stiff and threw his head back hard. While he didn’t actually succeed in breaking Joe’s nose he obviously made enough of a connection for the bigger man to yelp and loosen his hold so Luc could scramble away. Lurching after him Joe’s attempts to reach Luc were thwarted with the arrival of Ryan who stuck himself in the line of fire and managed to block Joe from the boy.

  “What the fuck is going on? Vincent I thought you’d left – I knew you were trouble.” Ryan narrowed his eyes at Luc accusingly then snapped his head around to Joe. “Would one of you kindly explain?” Joe was heaving in deep breaths attempting to calm himself. Luc had his hands on his knees gulping air and Olivia stood to one side gaping at them both.

  “On our wedding day Joe? Really?” Rachel stood with her hands on her hips in front of her husband demanding his attention. “Nothing to say? That’s ‘mighty’ convenient?” She shoved his right shoulder and Joe looked suitably contrite for a moment until he spotted his Olivia rubbing the back of the brat Vincent’s head.

  “Don’t fucking touch him!” he roared over Rachel’s shoulder. Ryan looked at Olivia then at Joe then he caught a looked shared by Rachel and Luc and knew in that instant that whatever this was about had something to do with that look. He groaned knowing this was only going to get worse if he didn’t step in and do something.

  “Luc – you need to leave. Whatever this is it needs to wait until after the wedding celebrations.” Ryan made a move towards Luc but the boy only shook his head and took a step nearer to Olivia. They instinctively reached for each other and Ryan watched with increasing dread as they joined hands. “Come on Luc. Whatever you did can’t be that bad. I’ve never known Joe to hold a grudge for long; he always says that life is too short for that shit.” Ryan was trying desperately to lighten the moment.

  Luc snorted. “You don’t know the half of it.” Facing only Olivia, Luc continued. “This is crazy and fucked up and our relationship hasn’t even really had a chance to flourish but I can’t deny how much I like you and I think we could have a real future together and be happy. I’m falling in love with you Livs.” A noise to the side distracted both of them and suddenly Luc’s breath left him as pandemonium broke out. Before he knew it he was on his tiptoes with Joe’s hands wrapped around his throat.

  “Tell me I did not just hear you say you loved my daughter Vincent. Say it!” Joe yelled in his face as Luc frantically grabbed at Joe’s hands. Ryan was on him in an instant but Joe whipped his head around to his friend. “Don’t!” Ryan froze at the venom in his friend’s voice but Rachel was having none of it.

  “Joe! Joe! Put him down. Oh my God Ryan, make him stop.” Rachel was tugging on Ryan’s arm but when she went towards Joe he caught her around the waist and pinned her to his chest. “Let me go Ry. He’s going to kill him.”

  “He won’t. I know Joe.”

  Rachel shook her head and kept wriggling but Ryan was way too strong. “Not this Joe you don’t. You don’t know him around Luc.”

  Joe growled and Luc was gasping for breath still struggling. “Tell me motherfucker that you have not been sleeping with my daughter.”

  Rachel stilled immediately. “Oh no. Luc? Please Joe stop it you’re really hurting him.”

  Ryan frowned. “Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

  “I’m begging you Ryan.” Rachel sounded really frantic. “You need to stop this. Please.” Rachel was breathless and clearly distressed and Ryan relaxed his hold on her. She ran to Luc immediately yelling at her husband to put him down but she could see Joe was in a rage and nothing she said was getting through.

  “Joe!” Ryan shouted at him. “He’s not worth it brother. Put him down.” Ryan grabbed hold of one of Joe’s huge arms but Joe growled at him and shoved him away hard. Joe returned his attention to a very red faced Luc and narrowed his eyes. Joe’s huge shoulders were taut and his dinner jacket pulled tight across the huge expanse of his back. As he tensed his muscles the fabric screamed in protest but Joe paid it no mind, Armani or not he could care less at this stage. He had a point to make.

  “It’s not enough you fuck my wife but now you’re fucking my daughter too. What did you do Vincent decide you couldn’t have Rachel so you’d go after Olivia? Do you have some kind of warped fascination with the women in my life? Are you really that desperate?” Joe snorted; he was seething; his anger was rolling off him in waves and his intense focus was on Luc’s discomfort. His self-control was at breaking point and he needed for Luc to leave. Yet Luc continued to struggle and protest his love for Olivia. He was clutching at Joe’s hands around his throat rasping out how wrong Joe was but in the end he got too wheezy and as Luc’s eyes began to roll back in his head, Joe lost patience and finally released his hold and Luc slumped to the floor. Rachel rushed over to the splayed out body of her former lover and immediately started to fawn over him but Luc batted her away humiliated and breathless. Olivia stood stock still, feet frozen in place clearly in shock trying to fathom her father’s declaration that her boyfriend
was fucking her stepmother. Scrambling to his feet, a visibly dishevelled and shaken Luc pulled down his jacket and raked a hand through his hair; then taking a deep breath calmed himself and to everyone’s disbelief bravely approached Joe. In a surprisingly steady all be it raspy voice, Luc directed his words at his furious nemesis.

  “I told you last time not to put your hands on me Mason but you didn’t listen then and you’re not listening now.” He prodded Joe in the shoulder with his forefinger causing the man to raise an eyebrow but other than that he didn’t react. Ryan shifted nervously and eyed Joe with trepidation. Luc continued. “You can beat me to within an inch of my life; you can let your daughter think I’m some kind of evil lothario when you know I’m not, but I will never stop trying to love Olivia. This has nothing to do with Rachel and really; it has nothing to do with you. How the hell was I supposed to know who she was – she doesn’t even have your Goddamn name. And even if I did know, I would have risked it because she’s worth it. Livvy is an amazing woman.” Luc ran a palm over his chin. “You’re an arrogant bastard Joe Mason but I never thought you were selfish. Denying your own daughter happiness because of some misplaced sense of what? I don’t even know why you’re so angry with me. Your idiotic macho pride is making your brain soft mate.” Luc taunted Joe unrelentingly. “She’ll pick me over you because we’re good together, and then Rachel will leave you because you’re so damn hard headed; even Ryan will hate you for causing Livvy pain. You’ll be left with nothing. Nothing and only yourself to blame!” Luc was growling out his words through gritted teeth intent on tormenting Joe into seeing reason. Joe hissed at his words and lunged but Luc dodged him easily now his adrenalin had kicked in. Laughing at the bigger, older man, Luc teased. “Slow. You won’t catch me unawares again Joe. You need to calm the fuck down and accept that one day I may well be your son-in-law.”

  “Never!” Joe charged without warning and this time he clipped Luc’s shoulder making him stumble. Taking the opportunity Joe caught Luc in the throat with his solid forearm and the boy went down flat on his back gasping for air yet again. Joe placed a size 13 dress shoe on Luc’s chest exerting just enough pressure so that he was pinned to the ground flailing around exasperated at his own helplessness. Joe snapped at him. “Listen to me you cocky son of a bitch. I’m stronger than you, faster than you and richer than you. I can fuck you up in so many ways you won’t know which way is up. If I say you aren’t ever to see her again I mean it.”

  “Grandpa.” Joe frowned leaning down to hear what Luc was trying to say. “My kids are going to call you Grandpa!”

  “Jesus that boy has a death wish.” Ryan gasped.

  Joe hauled Luc up to his feet never relinquishing the hold he had on him and pulled back his right arm and was just about to land a punch right in the middle of Luc’s pretty face when a terrified voice cried, “Daddy?” Whipping around to see that Livvy was gesturing desperately for him to stop unable to formulate words she was so distraught.

  “Bastard.” Luc cried at Joe, determined to make him pay for how he affecting Livvy. Re-energised he struggled free of Joe’s hold just enough to clip him on the chin with a fairly decent right hook. “Jesus – fucking iron jaw or what?” Luc shook his hand feeling a little smug that he’d got one over on Joe until he realised the man hadn’t actually moved.

  “Really?” Joe cocked his head at Luc while rubbing his chin. “You think you got me good Vincent?”

  “Oh no.” Rachel shoved Ryan forward. “Do something. I know that look.”

  “Joe.” It was a low warning. Ryan also knew that look. When Joe stilled and became calm it was his friend at his deadliest. “Don’t do it Joe. Think of Olivia.”

  Never breaking eye contact with Luc, Joe replied in a soft tone. “Oh but I am thinking of Olivia.” And then with the elegant movement of a trained kick boxer he swung his leg high in the air and landed his foot in Luc’s chest knocking the boy flying. Luc hit the floor with a thud barely able to comprehend what had just happened only that he seemed to be on the floor again. Groaning at the dull ache in his upper body Luc gave up and passed out. Olivia screamed at her father and dropped to the floor by Luc cradling his head in her lap crying quietly. Rachel slapped Joe around the face and Ryan rushed to check the boy was still alive while yelling at his friend. “You stupid motherfucker. I am so not proud of you right now.” In the background, the wedding guests had started to gather with low murmurs and whispers creating a soundtrack to the on-going drama. Jess and Lucy frantically pushed through the crowd eager to check on Luc, and George and Leo rushed in behind them. They helped Ryan get Luc onto a nearby couch where he slowly came to valiantly trying to catch his breath while his concerned friends fussed around him.

  “Livs.” Luc croaked desperately worried she’d reject him over her father, but much to his relief she plonked herself down by his side and gathered him up into her arms all the while staring daggers at her father. Olivia had regained her composure brushing away the tears from her eyes and replacing her sorrow with loving care for her man. Luc sighed caring little for his own well being now that it was obvious Olivia really did want to be with him. Out of curiosity he sought out Joe who was pacing back and forth running his fingers through his dark hair looking utterly frustrated and much to Luc’s surprise a touch contrite. Luc’s heart tightened in his chest at the man’s distress because he understood the man’s despondency and despite Joe nearly killing him, Luc still held out hope that they could be amicable in the future. He hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself but Luc had admired and respected Joe Mason from the moment he’d met him even when he was sorely pissed off with him and at the beginning totally jealous that he was with Rachel. Now he just wanted the man to like him - and not just because Luc was falling in love with his daughter.

  Joe caught Luc’s stare and snarled at him; turning on his heel he searched for his wife while calculating how much damage he’d already done to his fledgling marriage. He scanned the lobby ignoring the accusatory stares of his close family and friends until his eyes landed on the only thing that really mattered; Rachel. There was the love of his life at reception talking animatedly to the girl behind the desk. Crossing the floor with a few strides of his long legs, Joe joined her bracing himself for the wrath of his new bride.

  “Fuck off Joe.” Rachel didn’t even need to turn around to know her brooding hulk of a spouse was close by. She could feel him. Joe shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and waited while his wife organised a room for Luc. A double room it seemed. Oh no fucking way.

  “What in God’s name do you think you’re playing at?” Joe hissed at her. Rachel twisted around slowly and the look on her face made him take a step back. Her normally pretty brown eyes were a swirl of fiery emotion directed straight at him and he could see the rage and fury that seethed visibly just below the surface. Joe actually shuddered for probably the first time in his whole life. This was Rachel at the angriest he’d ever seen her and his heart felt heavy at the knowledge it was his fault. His fingers flew to his beard and he tugged at the hairs on his chin. “I ruined our wedding didn’t I? I told you I was shit at this stuff. I don’t blame you for leaving me – I fucked up. I’m so sorry Rach.” And he was. This was meant to be such a special day and now it would be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

  Rachel narrowed her eyes at him and stuck her hands on her hips leaning her torso towards him. “You stupid oaf. I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the day. It’s just one day. And I’m not leaving you because you’re going to make this right Joe Mason hotshot lawyer but crap fucking father and husband.” Joe’s shoulders slumped but his heart thudded in his chest while his wife continued to hurl insults at him. To be honest, once she said she wasn’t leaving him, Joe hadn’t really cared about anything else. In fact now he was having a hard job keeping his dick down because oh hell, Rachel looked so fucking sexy all riled up; hands flying; chest heaving and red in the face. Her spectacular tits were spilling over her bodice and Joe swallowed hard.


  “Joe! Joe!” He looked up at Rachel. “Up here you fool.” She pointed to her face and Joe raised an eyebrow not terribly keen on being called a fool but stopped short of saying anything for once knowing when to keep quiet. Rachel sighed and lost some of the fire in her tone needing Joe to really hear her. “You hurt Livvy and you hurt Luc and you disrespected me. Your fists may have done physical harm to Luc but the pain was inflicted on us all by your thoughtless runaway mouth. Bloody hell Joe. I’m so cross with you.” Rachel closed her eyes and squeezed them tight in an effort to control her temper. “We need to talk this through properly but right now Luc needs some rest so I got him a room. And yes, I have no doubt Olivia will be sharing it.” Joe went to protest but she held up her palm to him and he clamped his mouth shut all be it so tight a tick started in his jaw. “They are adults Joe and it’s about time you grew up too.” Rachel reached over to the desk and picked up the room key cards. The immediate wedding party were all staying over at the hotel so they didn’t need to worry about getting home and now it seemed so was Luc.

  Joe shook his head; his jaw still ticking. “Of all the fucking men in the world; why did Olivia have to end up with him?”

  Rachel took his hand in hers and kissed it. “Who knows Joe? It’s fated, just like we were meant to be together. Why is it so much of an issue?”

  Joe took a minute to answer studying his wife’s beautiful face. Then he yanked his hand out of hers. “I can’t discuss this here. Send the guests home then come find me. I need a drink.” Joe turned his back on his friends and his family and his new wife and stormed off towards the hotel bar. Rachel gaped at her husband’s retreating form. She stomped her foot and actually growled in frustration.

  “Jesus, that fucking man!”