Complete Sin Box Set

by Georgia Cates

  “You have wonderful taste in dance partners, Liam.”

  Lorna stops dancing and looks at me. Hard to run away from me with a baby on your hip, aye?

  A bit of slobber dangles on Liam’s bottom lip, threatening to fall on Lorna’s shoulder, and I reach out to wipe it away. “Liam, it’s not cool to drool on your dance partner. You’ve gotta step up your game, wee laddie.”

  He bites his fist and drool runs down his wrist and arm. “He’s cutting a new tooth.”

  “Is that why he’s drooling like crazy?”

  “Yeah.”

  I reach out and catch another dribble before it falls on Lorna. “I can’t believe the boys are turning one today. Seems like they were just born.”

  “I can’t believe how quick they are. Blink for one second and it’s plenty of time for them to get into some kind of trouble.”

  “Well, they are Sinclair Breckenridge’s children. Did you expect them to be wee angels?”

  She laughs and I swear that it’s the most beautiful sound in the world. It’s a beautiful thing that I haven’t heard in a very long time. “I expect them to be hellions and they don’t disappoint.” She brings Liam’s tiny hand to her mouth and kisses his palm. “But they’re precious little hellions.”

  She looks so natural holding a baby. “You’re really good with him, but then again you’ve always been good with wee ones.”

  “It’s what I do now. I’m a full-time live-in nanny to three children.”

  A nanny. That’s a difficult job to come by. It sure beats the hell out of topless dancing. “What ages?”

  “Five, three, and a newborn. He’s eight weeks old.”

  Lorna has always adored children. I bet she likes this job better than serving drinks.

  “What family are you working for?”

  “Rona and Wallace Meyrick.”

  Fuck, I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen that married bastard get drunk and leave the pub with a woman who isn’t his wife. And Lorna has seen it plenty too.

  Bleu approaches and reaches out to take Liam from Lorna. “I’m cutting in. Mummy wants to dance with her birthday boy.”

  She winks and whisks away with Liam on her hip, leaving Lorna and me standing at the edge of the dance floor. And I know what I have to do.

  It’s a risk, a huge risk, but I can’t let this moment slip through my fingers.

  I hold out my hand, palm up. “May I have this dance, Miss Frazier?”

  You already know that you can have anything you want where I’m concerned. That was her answer four years ago. Tonight, I’d just settle for not watching her walk away.

  To my surprise, she takes my offered hand. No argument. No tension. No uneasiness.

  This is a change.

  With one hand clasped around hers, my other arm holds her body against mine. Not as closely as I’d like but I’ll take it.

  Her fragrance invades my nose and it’s both heaven and hell. As much as I want to talk to her, I hold my tongue and savor the moment. I simply sway to the music’s rhythm while my arms hold the woman that I adore with all of my heart.

  “You don’t know this song, do you?”

  It’s playing on satellite radio every time I get in my vehicle, but I can’t identify it. “I’ve heard it a lot. But no, I don’t know who sings it.”

  “I see that some things never change.” She smiles and rolls her eyes while shaking her head from side to side. “The song is ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran. He recorded it as a duet with Beyoncé, and that’s the version they’re singing tonight.”

  “I like it.”

  She leans back and her head tilts. “You do?”

  “Aye. Don’t you?”

  “It’s one of my favorites.”

  Lorna lowers her head, and without thinking, I lean closer. I press my nose to the crown of her head and inhale deeply. Her hair still smells the same too—vanilla, peaches, and cherry blossoms.

  I close my eyes and imagine what our lives would be like if every horrible thing over the last four years had never happened: Lorna would be my wife. She would be a mother and I would be a father. I wonder how many bairns that we would have at this point. One? Two? Three? Would they be boys or girls?

  She’d be mothering our own babies. Not Rona and Wallace Meyrick’s.

  “Why would you go to work for Meyrick when you know what a dick he is?”

  “Because I need a job.”

  “You don’t have to work for that bastard. You know that you always have a job waiting for you at Duncan’s.”

  She continues moving with me, saying nothing. Which is not a no.

  “I haven’t had a decent head barmaid since you left. The place runs like shite without you. I want you to come back.”

  “I can’t come back.”

  “I think that you can.”

  She shakes her head. “I can’t, Leith.”

  “Meyrick is going to try to fuck with you… if he hasn’t already tried something.”

  Lorna stops moving. “Do you really think I’d still be there if he’d tried anything with me?”

  “I don’t and I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing for me to say. It came out wrong.”

  I already know that I have to be careful with Lorna. I can’t make blunders like that with her. But I also can’t hold my tongue when it comes to her safety.

  “You’re living under that fucker’s roof. I don’t like it.”

  “Your liking it isn’t a requirement.”

  “I’m sorry. I know that I lost my right to have a say about anything in your life, but I’ll never stop trying to protect you.”

  “Relax, Leith. Wallace Meyrick knows that Sin and Thane took responsibility for me when my parents died. For that reason alone, he wouldn’t dare step out of line with me.

  And that could be the one circumstance that prevents Wallace Meyrick from going after Lorna.

  “He’d better not try a damn thing. I will end him if he ever does anything to hurt you.”

  “You may not think so, but I’m tough. I can take care of myself.”

  “You’re a very strong woman, and I know that you can take care of yourself, but you shouldn’t have to.”

  I should be taking care of you.

  I should be your protector.

  I should be your husband.

  You should be living under our roof, sleeping in our bed, and caring for our children.

  “I like my job. The kids are great.”

  Her employment with them is temporary. Meyrick is a ticking time bomb. I remember the way that he used to look at Lorna when he’d come into the pub. There’s no way that he’s going to be able to resist putting his hands on her when she’s constantly within his reach.

  “Promise me that I’ll be the first person you call if he so much as looks at you the wrong way.”

  “Don’t ask me to do that.”

  Despite the time that has passed and the life that Sin has with Bleu and their children, I still can’t bear the thought of Lorna turning to him for protection instead of me. “If you won’t reach out to me, will you at least promise to let Thane know what’s going on?”

  “Yes, Leith. I will tell Thane if I have a problem with Wallace.”

  “I’m here for you if you ever need anything. Anything at all. You can always come to me. You know that, right?”

  “I know.”

  The song ends and just like that night so long ago, Lorna steps away and lowers her face, slighting bending at the knees. “Thank you for the dance, Mr. Duncan.”

  “It was my pleasure, Miss Frazier.”

  Sneak away. Come to my flat. Forget everything that’s happened and just be with me tonight.

  What would her answer be if I had the courage to say the words? Would she be angry with me for asking? Or would she drop everything and come with me?

  I’m on top of the world because I feel like I may have made some kind of progress with Lorna. She didn’t run away from me tonight. We had a conversation, a
real one, and it wasn’t about shite from the past.

  Bleu was right. Every interaction between us doesn’t have to be about the past and forgiveness. I need to stop bringing up bygones. It’s time to move forward with Lorna. Work on our future instead of our past; it can’t be changed anyway. But first, I must ensure her present safety.

  I spot Meyrick across the room with a whisky in hand, looking three sheets to the wind. No surprise there. And he’s talking to Neil Rutherford. I hate that motherfucker too. I did even before he admitted to me that he liked looking at Lorna’s tits in her pub uniform.

  “Look who it is. The titty police.”

  “Yeah, motherfucker, and I’m here on patrol to give Meyrick a word of warning. Don’t fuck with Lorna. Don’t touch her. Don’t even look at her. You got it?”

  Meyrick chuckles. “Fuck you, Duncan. She’s my nanny. I’ll do whatever the fuck I like with her.”

  “She’s your children’s nanny. And if you touch a single hair on her head, I will kill you.”

  Meyrick leans toward me. “Guess what. Her bedroom is just down the hall from mine. Maybe I’ll pay her a visit tonight.”

  “Only if you want to die.”

  His only response is a fucking grin. And I want to knock it off of his face, but this is Liam and Harrison’s birthday party. This isn’t the time or place for a brawl.

  “You’ve had your warning. You’d be wise to remember that it’s the only one you’ll get.”

  “Hey, titty police. Why don’t you just fuck off already?” Neil says.

  I open and close my fist once, twice, three times. I fight the urge to give Neil the rest of what I should have given him the night we fought in my pub; a broken nose wasn’t enough for what he said that night about Lorna.

  “Another time, Rutherford.”

  “That’s what I thought, Duncan,” Neil calls out behind my back as I walk away. What an awfully brave asshole he is to challenge me at a birthday party for our leader’s children. Fucking coward. He knows that I would never fight him under these conditions.

  Neil is a bastard, but he is the least of my concerns right now.

  Wallace Meyrick is the one who’s worrying me.

  Chapter 2

  Lorna Frazier

  I knew that Leith was going to be at the boys’ birthday party tonight. And I was ready for that. But the way that I felt when he held out his hand and asked me to dance? I was not prepared for that.

  “I can’t believe it. You just talked to Leith.”

  “I did.” But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up the entire time. How is it possible that a man you love can give you butterflies and nausea at the same time?

  “And you danced. Your hand was inside his and his arm was around your waist. And he was pulling you close.”

  “Yes, yes, and yes.”

  “How did it feel?”

  “Wonderful… and awful at the same time. I loved being close again, but I want more than a dance with him.” So much more. And I’m terrified that running away from Leith for so long has ruined any chance of that happening.

  “This is the first healthy step that the two of you have taken together in a long time. I think it’s a sign of things to come.”

  “I hope so. It felt so good to be in his arms again.” But it didn’t last long enough.

  Bleu looks over my shoulder and smiles. “Well, well. He must have thought that it felt good too because he’s coming this way.”

  My mind barely has time to register what Bleu just said when I feel Leith’s fingers touch my upper arm. “Hey, can I steal you away for a minute?”

  It’s impossible to steal something that already belongs to you. Oh, how I would love to say those words to him just to see his reaction.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Leith leads me away from the tented venue and into the guesthouse. “Is everything okay?”

  “Everything is definitely not okay. Do you lock your bedroom door?”

  Not the words that I was expecting. “What do you mean?”

  “The room that you stay in at Wallace Meyrick’s house. Do you lock the door at night?”

  “No. I leave it open because one of the children usually wakes during the night.”

  Leith mutters something beneath his breath. “I want you to start closing and locking your door.”

  “I can’t do that. It’s my job to get up with the children at night.”

  Leith steps closer and grasps my upper arms. “You don’t understand, Lorna.”

  “What is going on? You’re scaring me.”

  “I just had a very disturbing conversation with Meyrick.”

  “About?”

  Leith sighs and hesitates a moment before replying. “I needed that bastard to understand what his boundaries are where you’re concerned.”

  Oh God. “What have you done?”

  “I told him that I would kill him if he touches you.”

  Leith wants to protect me, and I absolutely love that, but I can’t afford to lose this job because he and Wallace have words.

  “He’s my boss, Leith. You can’t go around threatening him like that.”

  Leith’s mouth forms a hard line. “That fucker said that he might pay you a visit tonight.”

  “I know Wallace is a dick and he drinks too much and he likes having other women, but I don’t believe that he would come to my bedroom and try anything while his wife is in the house.”

  Leith covers his eyes with his palms and then pushes his hands up, holding the sides of his head. “You greatly underestimate him. How do I make you see that?”

  Leith overestimates him and he needs to see that. “You threatened him in front of other brothers?”

  “Fuck yeah, I did.”

  Then there’s the answer. “You probably pissed him off and he wanted to save face.”

  “Let’s say that you’re right. Do you really want to take that kind of chance?”

  “I don’t have a choice on this.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I gave up my flat to live there.” Well, I didn’t exactly give it up. I was forced to leave because I couldn’t afford it anymore.

  “I’ll find somewhere else for you to live.”

  Leith doesn’t know, no one does, but I barely have two pounds to rub together. My money is gone. Being unemployed for so long drained my savings, and it’s going to take months of free room and board for me to be able to save enough to get back on my feet.

  Fellowship life is difficult for a single woman without a husband or parents. My choices of employment are limited. Working as a barmaid at Duncan’s is out of the question—Leith ruined that for me. And I lost any chance at ever working at the gentlemen’s club after Leith threatened Lyle Campbell. He’ll never let me near his stage again. And even with all of my experience, he won’t even give me a job serving drinks.

  This nanny job is a good gig for me. It doesn’t pay much, but it’s one of the few respectable positions out there for a single girl within the brotherhood. Plus, I have a nice roof over my head that doesn’t cost me a thing.

  “I can’t lose this job, Leith. There’s nothing else out there for me if I do.”

  “I told you that you have a job at the pub waiting on you. And you already know that I’ll pay you a hell of a lot more money than that cheap bastard.” Leith closes his hands around mine and steps closer. “I need you, Lorna. Please come back.”

  Oh God. I’ve missed looking into those deep brown eyes.

  I close my eyes and shake my head. He’ll never know how much this shatters me. “I can’t.”

  “Give me one good reason why you can’t.”

  I want to go back to work at Duncan’s. I love that place. And I’d like nothing more than to work by his side every day, but I can’t watch him be with other women. It hurts too much. I wouldn’t survive it again.

  “I can’t, and I really need you to leave it at that.”

  “I’ll never l
eave it at that. And I’ll also never stop asking you to come back.”

  “Then we’ve come to an impasse.”

  “We may be at a temporary impasse on the job but not on your closing and locking your bedroom door.”

  I open my mouth to argue and he reaches out, placing his fingertips against my lips. I want so badly to open my mouth and suck his fingers. I consider it. But I’m afraid he’d pull away and reject me.

  “I’m serious, Lorna. If you won’t leave your position, you must take measures to protect yourself from him.”

  “I’ll close my door.”

  “And lock it.”

  “Yes, Leith. I’ll lock it.”

  “And you must make a point to never be alone with him in the house.”

  That’s an easy one. I always have the children with me. “All right.”

  “Good girl.”

  Good girl. Damn, it’s been so long since I’ve heard Leith call me that. I’ve missed hearing it so much. Those two words bring chills across my skin and I melt on the inside. Only happy memories are attached to his calling me that. And most of those memories involve us being naked.

  “Shite,” I whisper beneath my breath, louder than I intended.

  “What is it?”

  I don’t want to tell Leith; he won’t like it one bit. “Wallace is my ride home.”

  “No fucking way; he looks like he’s been tossing back whiskies most of the night. But I wouldn’t let you get into a vehicle with that fucker even if he wasn’t sloshed. I’ll drive you… that is, if you’ll let me.”

  That is, if you’ll let me. His words are a reminder that there was a time not so long ago when I would have refused a ride from him. But tonight is different. I haven’t seen Leith in months. I’ve missed him so damn much. And that’s why I’m choosing differently tonight. I’m not running away from him this time.

  “I would really appreciate a ride home. Thank you.”

  “I’m happy to do it.” Leith nods in the direction of the backyard. “I guess we should go back to the party.”

  Tonight is different between Leith and me. It feels like old times, and old times for us has almost always included sneaking away in secret to be together.

  I would say yes if he asked.