Broken Beauty

by Stella Andrews

  He turns and strides off with his two passengers wriggling under his arms and I follow with a resignation that has been thrust upon me.

  It doesn’t take long for us to reach a large SUV in the yard and as the kids scoot into the back, I almost feel a panic attack coming on. I can’t do this. I can’t go there—the outside world. Bad things happen there and I’m not ready.

  I must be frozen to the spot before I feel a rough hand fold around mine and a soft husky voice say in a whisper, “I’ve got you, darlin’, you’re safe with me.”

  I raise my eyes to his and beg to disagree. His words may say one thing, but the eyes say another. However, his touch is like an electric shock re-starting my frozen limbs to life and I feel my legs move as if I’m a puppet controlled by him as I allow him to help me into the passenger seat beside him.

  Trying so hard to get my breathing under control, I stare at the ground and count to ten. I’ll be ok, I can do this. It’s just ice-cream.

  “Pia, what’s your favorite flavor?”

  Cassie’s voice brings me back and I say softly, “Vanilla.”

  Maverick snorts beside me and whispers, “That figures.”

  For a moment, I just stare at him in confusion and then the penny drops and I feel myself blushing furiously as the look he sends me tells me vanilla would definitely not be included on his menu.

  As he starts the car, Cassie and Jack start chattering excitedly in the back and I lean back and close my eyes, letting their soft, innocent voices wash my fears away. I’ll be ok, I must be ok because being not ok, is no longer an option.

  6

  Maverick

  How the fuck did this happen? I left Ryder and Snake, intent on burning rubber, not taking two kids and the one woman I should avoid most in the world on a trip into town. Lou had me over a barrel and she knew it. How could I say no to her, or the children? I should have done. I should have just walked away, but one look at Sophia and the terror in her eyes made up my mind in an instant. She’s petrified and it can only be because of that bastard that took her. The trouble is, I don’t want to know the details. I don’t want to hear her story and I don’t want to spend any time with her because if I do, I may have to act and I am not prepared to destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to build the past few years, to be destroyed in a heartbeat.

  Yes, this woman will destroy me and everything I’ve worked hard for if I let her and so I must keep away for both our sakes.

  I let the kids chatter the nonsense that is usual for their age and try to distance my mind from the woman sitting like a statue beside me. I may not see her but I feel her and it’s surprising me more than I thought. I can’t tear my mind away from the scent of the woman sitting beside me and find myself imagining inhaling every part of her as I make her mine. I want to growl in frustration because she doesn’t know it but she is mine. She always was and now fucked up fate has delivered her to me on a platter. But I’m not hungry and I should hold that thought because the beast in me is roaring to be set free. Just a fraction of movement causes my attention to stand guard and the air cracks between us with an electricity that could set us on fire.

  By the time we reach town we have not shared two words and that’s how it’s gonna stay if I get my way. The kids will distract us and then I will return them home and get the hell out of here. Maybe a road trip is just what I need right now because I need to get my shit together.

  Fucking mafia, how ironic is that?

  We find a space outside for the truck and by the time we head inside, I’ve got my head in the game.

  Grabbing a booth in the corner, I curse as the kids slide in beside each other, leaving me to share the confined space with Sophia.

  She edges into the corner and looks around her fearfully, shrinking into her seat so as not to draw attention to herself. The waitress heads over and looks at us with interest. “What can I get you all?”

  “Strawberry please.”

  Cassie smiles with an excitement which makes me chuckle inside. So happy over an ice-cream, kids are easily pleased.

  “Chocolate for me please?”

  Jack grins and I have to smile because he is one heap of trouble waiting to grow up into an even greater one. In fact, they both are because these kids don’t know it yet but they will have the world at their feet and god help anyone who gets in their way.

  I turn to Sophia and she smiles nervously. “Um…”

  I quickly interrupt, “She’ll have the house special with lots of toppings, same for me.”

  Sophia opens her mouth to speak and I whisper, “Allow me to introduce you to the wild side.”

  I wink as she stares at me in shock and I laugh softly, whispering, “Vanilla is most definitely off the menu for you darlin’. Trust me, you’ll love every mouthful.”

  I love the flush that creeps across her face and the spark that ignites those gorgeous green eyes. She runs her tongue around her lips and I inch a little closer, wanting nothing more than to lick the ice-cream off her naked body and hear her moan my name. I don’t think either of us remember there are kids present because her breath hitches and she breathes a little faster and then blushes as Cassie says in a sing song voice, “Sophia and Maverick sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.i.n.g.”

  Jack laughs loudly and Sophia looks at them in shock as I grin. Fucking kids.

  Shaking her head, Sophia says quickly, “Honestly, Cassie, you’ve got that wrong.”

  Cassie grins at me and I wink, making her giggle and whisper behind her hand to Jack, who nods vigorously. Hell, even these kids see it and so I try to distract my attention onto them.

  “So, you’ve got a new baby brother since I was gone, what’s he like?”

  “Daddy said he’s named after a prince because his daddy’s a King.”

  Cassie looks so proud it draws a rare smile from my lips and Jack looks a little put out. “I heard he cries all the time.”

  “He does, but that’s what babies do; mommy told me.”

  Cassie looks so serious as Jack shrugs. “Babies can’t play football or climb trees. I’m glad he’s not in our house.”

  “Shut up, Jack, don’t talk bad about my brother or I’ll punch you.”

  Cassie looks so fierce I almost want to laugh out loud and thankfully the ice-creams arrive in the nick of time, diverting their attention from a possible fist fight.

  The kids fall on their ice-creams as if they’ve never seen one before, and Sophia looks at hers warily as it stands before her in all its decadent glory.

  I take my spoon and god only knows why, I push it in the middle of the bowl and offer a huge spoonful to the woman looking wary beside me.

  “Open.”

  Without saying another word, I hold the spoon against her lips and Cassie says loudly, “Try it, Pia, it’s the best.”

  Slowly and tentatively she opens her mouth and as I push the spoon inside, I imagine a very different part of me in its place. As her lips close around the metal shaft and pull the cream inside, I discover a raging hard on that’s no business being there.

  I watch intently for a reaction and she half closes her eyes and moans with approval and then opens her eyes and stares at me with those sparkling green eyes and nods. “You were right, it is good.”

  For a moment, I can’t form words, but then I’m aware of the amused expressions on the kids’ faces and pull the spoon away quickly and turn my attention to the ice-cream instead. “Told you, I’m guessing vanilla is off the menu in the future.”

  “Maybe, but then again, I’ve never been a fan of ice-cream.”

  She says it slowly and with a sadness to her voice that causes me to look and I see the loneliness in her eyes that only one who knows what that feels like can truly understand. She bows her head with a sigh and continues to play with her food as the kids chatter about school and some kid called Billy Merino.

  I tune out and lower my voice, whispering, “You can shut the world away, darlin’, or you can open the door and let it
in. You might find it’s not as scary as you think it is.”

  I feel her tense and she looks down and I watch the shutters slam shut as she says tightly, “Who said I wanted to? Maybe I prefer my own company.”

  “If you do, it’s because you haven’t found the right company to keep.”

  Leaning back, she half turns and directs those cold eyes at me and sneers. “And you think that’s you?”

  “I’m not saying that. Have I asked to be here? No, the reason I’m asking is that I can tell you’re in a bad place right now and probably don’t know where the exit is. I’ve been there and can show the way. Not because I have any other motive than helping a fellow human being in trouble. It’s what we do. We build up broken angels and mend their wings so they can fly again. If you won’t listen to me, there are fifty more where we come from who would only be too happy to show you the right path. Think about it.”

  I turn away and carry on eating and say nothing more. All the time I want to punch my fist through the table because how those words left my lips, god only knows. I’m not interested in anything about her, but my stupid mouth has other ideas. Do I want to help this woman, fuck no because in helping her, I’m sending myself straight back to hell?

  7

  Sophia

  I’m struggling to breathe. Just being here is enough to break me, but sitting beside Maverick is a whole new experience. Fear is something I’ve lived with my whole life. From an early age I was guarded and told to trust no one because absolutely everybody was out to get me. I was born with a target on my back and it was only a matter of time before it got hit. Well, I was hit bad and for the past five years I have allowed myself to be controlled by my family—the one remaining member of it at least. When I was taken, I was told something that shows I should keep on running because I will never be safe. It’s why I want to hide away from the world in a place I know they can’t find me.

  But now, sitting here doing something most normal people take for granted, is proving to me how different I really am. I feel as if I’m having an out-of-body experience and yet sitting beside Maverick calms me. He keeps the world away because for some reason I feel safe with him. He is unconventional and a world away from the usual men I have lived with all my life. Yet there is something so fearless about him that builds up my confidence like it never has before. He is cold, calculating and so incredibly hot, I can’t see straight when he’s around. What would it feel like to be with a man like him—with any man because the one experience I had sworn me off men for life? Yet when he looks at me with those wicked eyes, he strips me bare inside. He causes my blood to boil and my inhibitions to melt because I want to sample what it would feel like having a man like him show me what I’ve been missing.

  So, I sit in silence trying hard to gather my frantic thoughts around me and then he says loudly, “Come, let’s get you all home before they send out the search party.”

  Cassie and Jack look disappointed. “Please can we stay a little longer?” Jack frowns and Maverick says in his husky, deep voice, “You got a good reason to stay soldier?”

  Jack looks him in the eye and sits up tall and straight. “My mom told me I had to learn my spellings before dinner, sir and I want her to forget about it.”

  I stifle a grin as Maverick turns to Cassie. “And you?”

  She does the same and says loudly, “My mommy told me I had to tidy my room and I want to watch Cinderella.”

  They look at Maverick with faces full of hope and he growls, “A good soldier keeps a clean house and keeps up with his studies. Permission to stay denied.”

  The kids look crushed and Maverick fixes them with a stern look. “If you’re good and do as you’re told, I will bring you both back here for ice-cream next week. Deal?”

  Their screams cause a few heads to turn in our direction, making me shrink even further down in my seat.

  Without warning, a hand shoots out and takes mine firmly and Maverick growls, “I’ve got you, darlin’, nothing can get through me to you.”

  Resisting the urge to snatch my hand away, I find instead my hand clasping his so tightly it must hurt. Physical contact alone is a strange experience for me because none of the guards would dare touch me and my brother certainly never showed me any affection this way. It takes my breath away as I realize how nice it is.

  As we walk to the front of the diner, I feel the stares of the people all around. They must think we’re a family and it shocks me to realize I wish we were. Do I want this—a family of my own one day? Family means something very different to me and yet, here, with Maverick beside me and the two most adorable kids in tow, I find I want this more than any of the riches I’ve enjoyed until now. This is worth all the gold in the world - a real family.

  Maverick settles the cheque and then takes my hand once again and almost pulls me from the diner. Cassie and Jack start play-fighting until Maverick growls at them to stop. Then he opens the door and barks at them to belt up and shut up and slams the door behind them.

  Then he takes my hand once again but before opening the passenger door, leans in until my back is firm against the metal and he crowds the world out. Suddenly, it is only him. He is all around me and I see nothing but those dark, dead eyes looking at me as if I’m prey. Leaning in, he whispers huskily, “As soon as those kids are safely back with their mamas, you and me are gonna talk.”

  I stare at him in fear and his lips brush against my ear as he says firmly, “Non-negotiable. It’s your choice, either you open up to me, or you live in fear your whole life. That life is found when you dance between your greatest desire and your biggest fear. We just need to discover what that desire is darlin’ and use it to set you free.”

  The fact he is so close makes me lose my mind. I can feel the heat from his skin in the air that I breathe and it is laced with a yearning for something he can offer me that I sorely need right now—hope. Yes, Maverick is asking to help me and I would be a fool to turn him away. However, those eyes tell a different story and both of us know that in opening myself up to him, will bring with it a different set of problems altogether. Will I step into the pit of hell and make a deal with the devil? It certainly feels that way because at this moment I would do anything for this man because for the first time in my life—I am interested.

  By the time we reach the Rubicon, I finally know why it bears that name. The point of no return—it certainly feels that way.

  As we pull up in the yard, I see Ryder standing with a few of the others and watch as Cassie shrieks and runs to him, jumping straight into his arms. The look on his face brings a lump to my throat as he holds her close and strokes her hair lovingly, whispering in her ear something that makes her giggle. How I wish my own father was a man like that. The tears burn as I think about my own family and as I brush them away, Maverick growls. “Stay with me darlin’.”

  We walk across and I don’t miss the interest in Ryder’s eyes as he sees who I’m with and then he smirks, prompting Maverick to snap, “You can thank Lou for this and just for the record, it’s a favor, a one off that means shit.”

  Ryder laughs softly causing Maverick to mutter under his breath and before I know what’s happening, he grabs my hand once again and pulls me after him at speed. I almost fall over my own feet as he drags me god only knows where and I don’t miss the amusement on the men’s faces as they watch us go.

  Before long we reach the building where the Reapers have their rooms and my heart starts racing inside. Surely, we’re not going there—to his room.

  Apparently, we are because he doesn’t even give me a choice before punching in the entry code and slamming the door behind us.

  “Slow down.”

  I plead with him as he drags me behind him and he growls, “Let’s get this over with.”

  I feel hurt and just a little betrayed as I sense his anger and fight back the urge to tell him to go to hell, but something deep inside me wants this conversation. I want to open up to someone and see if he can make it all
go away. It may as well be him because I don’t care what he thinks of me - of my family but I do care what happens next because I know I can’t carry on living like this.

  By the time we reach his room, I’ve won my own argument with myself. If he wants me to open up, he had better be prepared for what he hears because it’s not the happiest of tales and I expect he can do nothing about it, anyway. If anything, it might buy me a bit more time here under their protection because even I know I’m on borrowed time. They don’t owe me anything and it’s only a matter of time before they tire of me and send me right back to hell.

  8

  Maverick

  I’m not sure why I changed my mind, but it probably has something to do with the fact Sophia is obviously scared shitless. Despite who she is, I can’t stand seeing a woman like that and I keep on telling myself I’ll hear her out then offload the problem to Ryder to deal with. It’s not gonna become mine because I don’t do mafia, end of. However, even I know I’m fast falling into that world where the shadows claim your soul.

  As we reach my room, I don’t even try to be gentle and snap, “Sit.”

  Pointing to my couch, I almost push her down and she stares around her in amazement.

  “You live here?”

  She says it in shock and I snap, “What’s the matter with it, not your usual standard, Princess?”

  “No.” She shakes her head and appears to forget why we’re here because she says with surprising emotion, “I love it.”

  I look around in surprise because it’s nothing special, but she shakes her head and whispers, “It’s perfect. I never knew.”

  “Knew what?”

  I am genuinely concerned about this woman’s sanity because it’s just a room, but she turns to me with tears in her eyes which makes me sit down hard beside her in shock. “It’s just like home.”

  “That, I find very hard to believe, darlin’.”