I’m pretty sure I’ll be sick of wearing tents by the time they get here. “Or I can save it for you when you get pregnant.”
“The dress will probably be out of style by the time I have a baby.” No. That would ruin my plan.
“I want our babies to be close in age, like us.”
“You have high expectations if you plan on our children being that close in age. That means I’d have to find a husband and get pregnant within the next year. That would be completely putting my life on fast-forward.”
It could happen. “I admit Sin and I are having babies way sooner than I would’ve planned, but fate and I didn’t share the same schedule. I couldn’t be more pleased about it now.”
“I’ve literally never known you to be so happy.”
It’s not difficult with a husband like Breck.
“Sin changed everything. I realized the white knight wasn’t for me. I prefer the alpha wolf. He never hesitates to devour me.”
“Shit. That’s hot.”
She can’t imagine how scorching it is.
“Is he alpha in all ways?”
“All the ways that count.”
There’s a tap on the door. I’m in the middle of changing into my new maternity comfies so I dart for the bathroom. “I’m sure that’s Kyle or Blare. Will you see what they want?”
I’m pulling my hair into a ponytail when Ellison comes into the bathroom. “It was Kyle. He asked me to tell you that Mr. Breckenridge has come to see you and is giving him and Blare the rest of the evening off. Kyle said they’d report back for duty in the morning.
Thane went to Dublin with Sin. My heart immediately begins pounding. “Oh God. Something has happened.”
I dash to the living room.
“Oh my. I believe that is excitement to see me.”
Abram. Not the Mr. Breckenridge I was expecting but I won’t complain. At least it’s not Thane here to deliver bad news. “Why are you here?”
“We’ve not had the opportunity to talk since your husband gave me sixty lashes. I thought we might catch up while he’s away on Fellowship business.” Sin delivered sixty lashes to Abram? He didn’t tell me that.
Abram’s back is turned so he can’t see Ellison when she comes to the doorway. He briefly looks away when he places his hand in his jacket so I motion with a quick nod for her to go. She promptly retreats.
“What do you want?”
“Things were pretty perfect in my world until you came along.”
I can’t believe he’s going to be whiny about this. I expected better from him. “I’m sorry you had to join the rest of us in an imperfect world.”
“I was on top, and now I have nothing.”
I wonder if Abram was the same person he is today when they decided to appoint him. If so, that was a bad call. “You were on top because Thane and Sin temporarily placed you there. It was never truly yours.”
“I took on Sinclair’s responsibilities for years while he had fun and fucked around with any woman he chose. Believe me, there were plenty of them. I ruled with an iron fist. Did a fucking good job and have gotten little gratitude for my sacrifice.”
Total psychopath. “I think sacrifice is a poor word choice to describe your role as second in leadership.”
“Regardless of the name we use, it all came to an end because of you.”
It’s just like Abram to place blame. “It was agreed Sin would take his place after he finished his traineeship. It would’ve happened even if I had not entered the picture.”
“He would’ve been content to continue the way things were for years, but you put ideas into his head. Marriage. Babies. Coming together to rule The Fellowship as a dual powerhouse while you push me out the door.”
The longer we talk, the closer he eases toward me, putting me on high alert. “You need to back away before I have Kyle and Blare put you out.”
He takes his gun from his pocket and waves it around as he speaks. “I sent them away. They needed a break so I’m your protector tonight.”
Abram is my husband’s uncle. Kyle and Blare don’t know the troubles we’ve had. They wouldn’t have a reason to think Abram would harm me. I’m certain they left without any concern for my safety.
An intelligent person can outwit one using a pistol in place of his brain. Isn’t that what I’ve always said?
“What can you possibly think you’ll gain by killing your nephew’s wife and children? Surely you don’t think that’ll end well for you.”
“Perhaps not, but it shall give me a great deal of satisfaction.”
“Sin will never let you live if you do this. Killing me will be your death sentence.”
“He won’t know it was me. I’m going to make it look like The Order paid you a visit.”
He has a plan. That means this didn’t just occur to him but I must convince him he hasn’t thought of everything. “You were the one to send Kyle and Blare away. Do you think they won’t tell Sin?”
“They won’t if they’re dead.” It may not be a foolproof plan, but he’s clearly given that part thought. The lack of its ingenuity doesn’t keep him from carrying it out.
He’s delusional. He thinks he won’t be caught because in his mind, he’s too smart for that.
“Drop your weapon or I’ll shoot.” Ellison stands in the doorway pointing my Beretta directly at Abram.
I wasn’t the only daughter Harry taught to use a handgun. This princess holds her own at a shooting range. On occasion, she outshoots me.
Abram takes his eyes from me but not his gun. “Ah. Sister Dearest is coming to the rescue?”
“I don’t want to shoot you but I will to protect my sister. Lower your weapon now.”
Abram turns from her and steadies his arm. He’s aiming for my chest. My heart.
He smirks. Because he thinks he’s won.
Ellison’s first shot hits him in his right shoulder. The second in his right upper arm.
He staggers toward the wall and holds it for support. He drops the gun, sending a discharged shot into the wall, before falling to the floor. I move quickly to kick the gun from his reach.
“Oh my God. What have I done?” Ellison screams. Her eyes are large as she cups her mouth with her hand.
She needs reassurance. “You had no choice. He was going to kill me.”
Abram is unmoving. Eyes closed. Bleeding on my wood flooring.
She assesses him. “He’s breathing and has a heartbeat.”
A heartbeat is a tough one to pull off when you’re heartless.
“We have to call 911 or whatever it’s called here.”
She’s out of her mind. I’m not phoning anybody to help him. “The only person I’m calling is Sin.”
I fetch my phone and dial my husband.
Ellison sits on the floor beside Abram. “Who is this man?”
“Abram Breckenridge. Sin’s uncle. Jamie and Westlyn’s father.”
“Shit! Shit! Shit! I just shot Jamie and Westlyn’s dad?”
Sin answers. “Hello, my sweet Bonny. Missing me?”
“We have a problem.”
I recount the events for Sin. He’s relieved to know I’m all right but I’m not positive he won’t be on the next plane home so he can finish Abram off. He’s livid.
“He’s lying in the middle of our living room floor unconscious and bleeding. I don’t know what to do.”
“This mess isn’t for you to fix. I’ll call Jamie to come for him. I’ll catch the next flight home so I can deal with this quickly.”
“What will you do to him?”
“I have no choice. Allowing him to live is giving him another opportunity to try this again. He could be successful next time. I can’t let that happen.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sinclair Breckenridge
It’s early morning, still pitch-black, when I arrive home from Dublin. Bleu stirs when I come into our bedroom and turns on the lamp. “Hey.”
I go to her side of the bed and pull her
into my arms. “Did he hurt you at all?”
She puts her arms around me and squeezes. “We’re fine.”
I hold her for a moment¸ breathing in her aroma. Peaches and cherry blossoms.
“I knew he hated you but I never suspected he was capable of this.” Had I known, I would have already killed him myself.
“No one really knows the things a psychopath is capable of until they act.”
“How was Jamie when he came for Abram?” I ask.
“A fucking mess. And Ellison is as bad.” I’m sure she is. This isn’t the life Bleu’s sister is accustomed to. I’m certain she’s never shot anyone before.
“Ellison saved you and our babies. I’ll need to find a way to thank her for that.”
Bleu tugs on my tie. “Take all of this off and get into bed with me.”
I remove my suit and toss it over the chair in the corner before climbing in next to her. “Better?”
She turns off the lamp and scoots close. She puts her head on my chest and tosses her leg over mine. “Much.”
I rub my hand up and down her arm. “The only reason I’m not at his place putting another bullet in him is because I wanted to come home to you first. I needed to see for myself that you were fine.”
I move my hand to her belly. She’s hit a growth spurt this month. Her bump feels like a cantaloupe under her skin. “How are the wee ones?”
“Both looked perfect today.”
Not being with Bleu for the ultrasound was painful. It means I’ve missed another milestone. “Tell me about them. Have they grown much since the last scan?”
“I couldn’t believe how much. They were so funny––butting heads already.”
Sounds very much like Mitch and me. “Starting early.”
“That’s what Ellison said.”
I have a gut feeling. “I think both are boys.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a hunch. You aren’t getting a feeling about it yet?” I thought mothers had some sort of special intuition.
“Nothing. Nada.”
Savannah said she could tell us their genders on this scan. “You didn’t sneak behind my back and find out?”
“Absolutely not.”
I feel so guilty about not being with her. “I’m sorry I missed it. I really wanted to be there. I swear I’ll try my damnedest to not let that happen again.”
Her hands are on my shoulders, massaging tense muscle. “It’s okay. I understand you have to be away on business. It’s disappointing because I always want you with me but I’m not angry.”
Bleu never gives me shit about anything. I don’t deserve her. “I’m damn lucky to have such an understanding wife.”
I rise and push her on to her back. I kiss the side of her neck as my hand roams the side of her body. “I don’t like being away from you. I want to be close. Is that okay?”
“Always.”
I move to untuck the covers from beneath the mattress at the foot of the bed and crawl up her body, kissing her legs as I move upward. I suck the skin of her inner thigh into my mouth. It makes a smacking sound when I release it. “Did you miss me?”
Her fingers are laced through my hair, her nails lightly scraping my scalp. “Terribly.”
I move up so we’re face to face and push her legs apart. They’re soft and smooth. “Freshly shaved. I like.”
I try to kiss her but she moves her mouth away, shaking her head. “I need to brush.”
I grasp her chin, holding her face in place. “Don’t care.”
I press my lips to hers but she’s obstinate, refusing to open. “Stubborn arse.”
“Hard ass.” She palms my cheeks, digging her fingertips into them.
I chuckle as I move my mouth over her jaw to her neck. I grasp the backs of her thighs to pull them up and apart. She locks her ankles behind my back and I’m completely encompassed by her legs. “I love feeling you wrapped around me.”
I glide my fingers through her slit. Not as wet as I like but I can fix that.
“Do you think it’s safe to use the small vibrator?”
“Don’t know why not as long as you don’t put it inside.”
I want three things: to make her forget the night’s event, get her drenching wet, and give her a magnificent orgasm. “Let’s play with it.”
I fetch her bullet from the top drawer of my nightstand. I turn on the switch and use the orb to tease her outer lips. I can’t see her because we’re in the dark but I hear slow, deep breaths––the first sign I’m successfully warming her up.
I press the vibrator to her entrance. Her breath becomes louder. I slowly drag it up and down her slit. In no time at all, she’s slick and prepared to have me slide inside her.
I position my tip at her entrance. I glide it through the moisture there, getting it slick, before thrusting into her. Once I’m inside, I press the orb against her clit above our union. She spreads her legs wide and pumps her hips upward meeting me stroke for stroke.
This little vibrator is powerful stuff. It’s stimulating as hell, even for me.
“Ohh … shit.”
I love hearing her say that. “That good, huh?”
“Oh … yeah. It’s that good.”
I thrust in and out while holding the bullet against her clit. “I missed you so much while I was gone.”
She reaches for my face and pulls me down for a kiss. Still no tongue. “I missed you too. I hate being in our bed alone.”
I move slowly, mindful of the hard bulge of her belly pressing against my abdomen. The vibration of the bullet intensifies as I allow more of my body weight to press against her. She squeezes her legs around me hard. “Shit. I’m already coming.”
She tenses, holding me hard against her. She comes around me. An internal force grips my cock, milking it for everything it has. It’s my undoing every time.
When I’m completely emptied and satiated, I roll next to her. I find her hand and bring it to my mouth for a kiss. “That was great. Quick, but still great.”
“I can’t help it. Everything down there is so sensitive right now. It’s like dynamite ready to detonate with one touch.”
“I’m not complaining.”
We get quiet. I’m relaxed, my eyes shut. It feels like only a frayed thread connects me and consciousness.
Great sex is the best kind of sleeping pill.
I’m in that realm just before you drift into sleep when my phone rings. I’d love to ignore it, but such is not a luxury I’m blessed with.
It’s Dad.
“I’m with Abram. He’s asking for you and Bleu.”
That gets my attention.
He comes to my house to kill my wife and then asks that we visit him? He’s out of his mind. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”
“Not at all.”
I want to see him too. I’m anxious to tell him he’s going to die. And not quickly. “We’re on our way.”
Bleu isn’t keen about going to see Abram. I tell her she doesn’t have to, but she’s like me. She’s curious to learn what the devil wants from us.
When we enter Abram’s bedroom. He’s lying in a massive four-poster bed covered in luxurious linens worthy of a king. He’s surrounded by those who love him––Torrie, Jamie, Evanna, and Westlyn.
It’s difficult for me to believe I once loved him as well. But no more. I have nothing but hatred for him.
“Leave us,” he tells his immediate family. “I have things to discuss with Thane, Sinclair, and Bleu.”
His first words are for Bleu. “You could’ve killed me while I was lying on your living room floor. But you didn’t. I think that’s because you’re Fellowship loyal.”
Bleu smirks. “You’re highly overestimating my character.”
“You may have gone against your better judgment but you still called Jamie to help me. That means I owe you my life.”
He’s trying to smooth this over. “A life you won’t be clinging to for much longer because you?
??ve given me no choice. Yours is the ultimate betrayal and there will be no other. You are a threat to my family and I have every right to end your life according to Fellowship code.”
“I understand your feelings, Sin, but I called you here to atone for what I did. To make a barter. My life in exchange for what your wife wants most.”
Of course he wants to barter so he can live. “No. I’m not leaving you alive so you can make another attempt against my wife.”
“She didn’t end my life but she had the opportunity. I’ll never try to kill her again. You can trust my word.”
I can’t give him the chance to make me regret letting him live. The cost is too high. “You say that until you take the next stab at her. I can never put faith in you again.”
Bleu puts her hand on my arm. “He said he could give me what I want most. I’d like to hear what he’s offering.”
A smug expression crosses his face. He’s captured her attention and he knows it. “I’ve uncovered the truth about Amanda Lawrence’s murder.”
He’s going to use my wife’s torment as a way to save himself. “You’ve no honor. You’re a disgrace to The Fellowship and I’ll be happy to rid the world of you.”
“Then you’ll need to ask yourself which you want more: to kill me or end your wife’s search, which will make her very happy.”
“You’d deny me of the truth?” my father asks.
“I will, as long as I can use this information as a bargaining chip.”
“I want to hear what he has to say.” Bleu doesn’t hesitate, taking no time to consider the consequences of his proposal.
“You want to know so badly, you’d choose to let him live after all he’s done to you?”
I already know the answer. “Yes.”
Abram will get to keep his life but he won’t live it within The Fellowship. That’s one thing I will not bend on. “I’ll agree to this because it’s what Bleu wants, but there are conditions. From this point on, you are exiled from The Fellowship. You’ll never have contact with any of us, including your immediate family. You’ll never see Torrie, Jamie, Evanna, or Westlyn again.”
He replies without delay, void of any reaction to being told he’ll never again have contact with his wife and children. “Done.”