My sparring partner, Danny, and I dance around each other in the ring at my club, simply called Mennetti's. I duck a blow and come back up, fists flying and hit him in the jaw. For whatever reason, I'm feeling a little on edge and need to work off the steam building up inside of me.I have no idea why I'm feeling antsy and a little out of sorts. Maybe it's the humid weather or, more than likely, the fact that I haven't gotten laid in almost four months. Danny spins and kicks out, but I lift my hand and block the move. The club encourages every type of fighting from boxing to mixed martial arts. I've spent years learning all the different moves and techniques, honing my skills to perfection. Lately, however, something has been off, and I can't quite place my finger on it.Normally, I can lose myself at the club all day. My life revolves around training and fighting, and the Friday night fights held here are packed. Anyone worth his salt wants to participate in the Friday Night Fight at
Letting my eyes shut and my thoughts drift, I inevitably think about my brothers. Their level of happiness right now is stupid. Stupid happy. Ever since Connor fell in love with Trish and Rylan fell in love with Solana, it's been like one giant love fest filled with sappy expressions of feelings, public displays of affection and babies. I have one nephew already, Griffin, and another on the way.I may have no desire to commit and jump into marriage and fatherhood, but those two knuckleheads have embraced it wholeheartedly. And, I can't deny it—they're thriving and I've never seen them happier. Connor used to walk this dark line, but Trish has pulled him back from the edge. And Ry was always the moody and sarcastic one, but Solana seems to bring out his inner sunshine.I think my brothers have gone soft.Right now, Connor and Trish are vacationing somewhere in the mountains near Denver because the moment he found out she'd never seen them or been skiing, he spirited her away. He's such
I wake up early the next morning, make some tea and settle down at the kitchen table. My dad is still in bed, sleeping off his hangover, and probably won't get up for at least a few more hours. But I couldn't sleep.In the back of my mind, I keep thinking about the letter I found. Twenty-five thousand dollars is so much money. I mean, I know it isn't for some people, but for me, it's a bloody fortune. As someone who lives paycheck to paycheck and is the sole breadwinner, there's a lot I could do with twenty-five grand. But I certainly don't want to owe it.After blowing on my tea, I take a careful sip. I suppose there's no sense in worrying about it. Like my dad said, no one has come asking for payment and the more time that passes, the better. It's a little hard for me to believe the Mennetti family let everyone's debts die along with their father, though. I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that we're on borrowed time and, one of these days, someone representing Nol
Despite being angry, something that almost looks like respect flickers through his dark eyes."The little lass has a bigger set of balls than her Da," he states and they both chuckle. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to pay the money you owe right now, old man, or we'll have to resort to more persuasive methods."I'm waving the cane back and forth, ready to fight, but no one seems to be paying any attention to me. Guess they don't think I'm much of a threat, but they shouldn't underestimate me. Just because I'm smaller doesn't mean I can't kick some ass.Running forward, I lift the cane and slam it down on the giant's back who's still holding my father's shirt in his meaty fist. The other thug moves up behind me, rips the cane from my hands and wraps his arms around me in a tight hold."Let me go!" I yell, kicking and squirming, trying to break loose. But his grip is firm and I end up biting down hard on his hand. With a howl, he releases me and I face off with the jerk ho
Sully's news has me concerned. If my uncle returned from Ireland to try to take over, I need to get back to the family compound and try to get in touch with Connor. That might be pretty difficult, though, since he and Trish are staying in some remote cabin off the grid.We were never overly close to our Uncle Desmond. From what I've heard, he and my father ran things together for a while, but then started butting heads. They had a falling out and Desmond left to run the family business over in Ireland.That's the rumor, anyway. I was only twenty-three at the time and too busy training and fighting to care about a power struggle between my dad and his brother. The last thing on my mind was what my dad did for a living because I never wanted to take over. As the older twin, that was always Connor's future responsibility. Then Desmond left and I never gave it a second thought. But now it's my business and I need to figure out what's going on.I grab my keys and wallet and head downstairs
"You can't just come in here and take over. Connor is in charge now and—""No, he's not," Desmond interrupts, a very self-satisfied gleam in his blue eyes. "Sean, please show Roberto who is truly in charge now."I watch as Sean pulls out an official-looking stack of papers and starts spewing out a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. Contracts and similar such nonsense aren't where my strengths lie, so I don't have much to say after Sean finishes his spiel. Connor is the brains of this operation while I'm the brawn. Rylan is pretty damn slick, too, though, and he might better understand what's going on. Why Desmond thinks he can steamroll his way back into our lives and take everything over is beyond me.I do catch on to a couple of things, though, and commit them to memory so I can tell my brothers. First, according to Sean, it seems our father's will had a clause which states no drastic changes to the business operations could occur within two years of his death.Well, so much for that. We c
A cold fear slithers through me as the enforcers drag me into a big, beautiful home and up the staircase. They toss me into a large suite and close the door. A lock clicks and I turn around, taking in everything I see.There are a few suitcases in the corner, presumably belonging to Desmond Mennetti, but the rest of the room has a woman's touch. The floral bedspread and scented candles are decidedly feminine as well as the pastel artwork of a watering can with lilies and roses strewn around it. Whoever had this room before Desmond was obviously a woman and I'm thinking it may have been Nolan Mennetti's widow.But would he really kick his brother's wife out of her home?Sadly, from what I saw, I have a feeling her would. Desmond Mennetti is a callous bastard and something strange is going on here."That isn't your room. It belongs to my mother."I remember the man with the bright cobalt blue eyes mentioning his mother. That would make this Maeve Mennetti's room and that means the big,
A cold fear slithers through me as the enforcers drag me into a big, beautiful home and up the staircase. They toss me into a large suite and close the door. A lock clicks and I turn around, taking in everything I see.There are a few suitcases in the corner, presumably belonging to Desmond Mennetti, but the rest of the room has a woman's touch. The floral bedspread and scented candles are decidedly feminine as well as the pastel artwork of a watering can with lilies and roses strewn around it. Whoever had this room before Desmond was obviously a woman and I'm thinking it may have been Nolan Mennetti's widow.But would he really kick his brother's wife out of her home?Sadly, from what I saw, I have a feeling her would. Desmond Mennetti is a callous bastard and something strange is going on here."That isn't your room. It belongs to my mother."I remember the man with the bright cobalt blue eyes mentioning his mother. That would make this Maeve Mennetti's room and that means the big,
"Welcome to the family, Luca. Officially," Connor adds, his champagne flute extended, and we all chuckle. The toast makes my heart happy because for the first time, what's happening between our families is genuine.Looking down the table, I take a moment to soak in what I see—endless smiling faces and a fierce love that brings tears to my eyes. Except for Matthias, Anna and Giovanni, everyone is here and it's amazing.We're at the hotel, celebrating in the attached restaurant. My brothers sit with their wives and my two nephews are being held by their glowing mothers. Trish and Connor are incredible parents and I hope to follow in their footsteps one day. Same with Solana and Rylan who is healing up quite nicely and being fussed over constantly by his adoring wife. Roberto and Adeline will be having their own little one soon enough and the way he looks at her makes my heart tumble.My mother sits beside Harrison Shepherd who's been welcomed into our dysfunctional chaos with open arms.
The intensity of her sucking increases and even though I'm trying to be good and not blow, it's getting damn hard. "Fuck, Finley," I swear. It's all too much and the moment she hums and those little vibrations skate up my aching length, I grab her shoulders and pull her up."I wasn't done," she says with a frown.Fighting for control, a muscle flexes in my jaw as I turn her toward the tub and help her step inside. "I want to come inside that sweet pussy, baby girl. And you're going to take my cock deep inside you and ride it hard. Can you do that for me?"She licks her lips in answer and I nearly blow my wad.Lowering myself into the tub, I guide Finley down to straddle me, and rest my arms along the porcelain edges. She takes a moment to get situated then shifts forward, spreading her legs wider. I drop a hand into the warm water, grasp my throbbing cock and push at her entrance. "Take it all," I encourage her. "Every last inch."With a soft moan, Finley starts to sink down, her body
After losing the assholes enforcers, the drive back to the city is uneventful. And that's fine by me. I've had enough adventure to last a lifetime. From this point forward, all I want is to focus all of my attention on Finley and make her the happiest woman in the world. I know I have some more apologizing to do, but right now, I just want to make it up to her.And my plan is to start with multiple orgasms. Butter her up a little first then pour my heart out and beg for her forgiveness. Hopefully, it's a good plan.I've lost what little faith and trust I had in Matthias, so I tell Roberto to drop us off at the hotel where their mother is staying."But I want to stay with you," Finley murmurs softly. She's curled up on my lap and my mouth edges up."You will. Don't worry, I'm not letting you out of my sight. I just don't want to go back to the apartment my father gave us. I'll never trust him again and we'll get our own place soon, tesoro."When Roberto finally pulls the Jeep up to the
My knees give out and I drop down to the rooftop patio, shaking so hard. The sound of pounding boots fills the air and I immediately tense—until I see Luca. He sweeps out onto the terrace, pulls me up and I sag against him."Thank Christ," he murmurs, pressing a string of kisses against my temple. "C'mon, we need to go."We lace fingers and jog back through the storage room then down the three flights of steps."How did you get away? Where are my brothers? Rylan? Is he okay?" I manage to ask."We overpowered some enforcer scum," he tells me. "Rylan was grazed by a bullet, but he's okay, and your brothers are loading him up into the Jeep right now.""I-I killed him," I murmur, still feeling a little shell-shocked."Don't think about it," he says, sliding an arm around my shoulders and holding me close. "You did what you had to do."I send up a little prayer that Desmond's twisted body is lying on the side driveway and not here in the front because I don't ever want to see it again. Luc
Luca seems to be on the same page. "Do you really think you can get away with this?" he asks. "Matthias is coming for you and there isn't a soul more ruthless than him. He won't rest until you're no longer a threat.""He's right," I add. "Matthias will fight you until his last breath.""You think I'm scared of Matthias?" Desmond scoffs. "After I take care of you, he's next. I've already hired the hitman to take him out."Luca and I exchange a quick look. Is he telling the truth? I have no idea, but it's definitely possible. We need to get away from Desmond, but how? Suddenly, two huge enforcers appear and Desmond motions to us."Grab them," he orders.My heart sinks as I'm yanked away from Luca and the enforcer forces me to walk toward the house. I have no idea what Desmond is planning, but I'm really starting to worry about my brothers. Where are they?I find out the answer as soon as we enter the house. Connor and Roberto are each sitting in a chair, tied up, and it looks like they
My eyes snap open and I carefully move my arms and legs. All good, no breaks. I have no idea how I'm still in one piece and all I can do is thank my lucky stars. Then I call out for Luca."Luca..." Turning onto my side, I look for him, but my eyes are still trying to focus after being knocked silly. Coughing from the smoke, I struggle to pull myself up into a sitting position, squinting through the thick billows of ash and black clouds. Finally, I spot Luca a hundred or so feet away from me.He's lying on the grass and not moving."Oh, God, no." Is he hurt? Or worse? Heart in my throat, stomach dropping in dread, I pull myself to my feet and stumble over to him. Falling down beside him, I lay my hands on his chest and lean down. "Luca?"When he doesn't respond, everything in me sinks hard and fast. Panic sets in and my fingers curl, grabbing hold of his shirt and shaking. "Luca!" I hiss.This can't be happening. He came to rescue me, told me he loved me and would never leave me...and
"We have a big fucking problem!" Luca snaps into his comms unit. "Stay away from here. Desmond has the barn rigged with explosives and I need to get Finley untied! Stall him!"My heart plunges. Connor and Roberto abruptly stop walking after Luca warns them that they're heading straight into a trap. Which, of course, is going to let Desmond know that something is up. But, thank God, Connor seems to play it off smoothly as he reengages Desmond in conversation.But, I know my brothers will only be able to stall for so long before Desmond realizes something is going on. He's too damn smart and ruthless.Luca stays low, working frantically on my bindings and I'm twisting, pulling and turning until my scraped wrists start bleeding."Fuck!" Luca glances up and I see fear and worry flash through his molasses eyes. Connor and Roberto have turned back around and continue talking to Desmond again, still stalling, and I don't see Rylan anywhere.Suddenly, chaos erupts up by the house and we look
By the time we get to the compound, I'm on the edge of my seat and ready to get this done. I want my woman back in my arms where she belongs and I'll do anything to make it happen.Roberto drives around to the rear of the property and lets me and Rylan out. We're splitting up so we can keep an eye on things better. I slide the tiny communications unit into my ear and we test them quickly. Everything appears to be in working order and Roberto gives us a salute."Stay in touch," Connor says."Roger that," Rylan responds and I give a sharp nod.The Jeep drives away and Connor and Roberto head to the front gate. The plan is for them to meet up with Desmond while Ry and I will stay under the radar, keeping a close eye on things. If Desmond deviates from the plan or tries to be sneaky in any way, we'll be ready."Ready?" Rylan asks."Let's do this."We move through the woods and sneak onto the property. From here, the plan is to split up and move to opposite sides of the large rear yard."S
Sweeping around the corner, our plan foremost in my brain, we walk straight into two enforcers and immediately jump them. They aren't expecting us and we use the element of surprise to our advantage. It's four against two and, even though the guys are big, they don't expect us to come flying out of the blackness and attack like wraiths.Roberto and Rylan quickly overpower the guard on the left while Connor and I take down the burly guy on the right. I tackle him at the knees and he drops hard while Connor slugs him with a fist to the face. We work well together and I pop up, lift my gun and slam it down against the base of the enforcer's skull. He drops like a brick and Connor gives me a nod.Glancing over, I see Roberto just finished doing the same thing.Once the guards are taken care of, or at least momentarily out of the picture, I stalk over to the cell and see Sean Flannigan cowering in there like the weasel he is and always will be. Looking down, I see the cell door is locked.