As the large car swept up the drive heading to the front porch, Liam O’Grady sat forward and stared in a reaction approaching disbelief.
Finn St Just was watching, narrow-eyed as well.
A figure was in the middle of the lawn, dancing in the rain in abandon, with grace and fulsome enthusiasm, her arms thrown up, face turned the rain.
Bianca Cruz.
Her white T-shirt was plastered to her body, revealing her curves, the shorts she wore clinging to her thighs. And with her lovely oval face turned up to the rain, her heavy brown hair clinging like a sheet to her curvaceous body, she looked like an ethereal spirit, a water nymph, swept up in the magic of the moment, relishing the rain…
St Just smiled slowly, his firm mouth turning up at the corners. He had never seen such a sight in his whole life, he mused, as he watched, unable to take his eyes off the figure, for the girl seemed utterly oblivious to the car which had come to a halt on the porch. True, it was raining and she seemed to be lost in her own world.
Liam O’Grady was reacting differently altogether.
His black brows drew together fiercely, for just the sight of that lovely figure, round and curvy, her curves made more prominent by the rain, made him get a raging hard on.
St Just was out of the car and striding across the lawn and just then, Bianca caught sight of him. Laughing, she tripped across to him and threw her arms around his neck as she sang out excitedly,
“I’ve been accepted! I got into Winterdale University for a semester!!!”
St Just held her, knowing that his expensive brown Brioni suit, which had cost a fortune, was ruined, to say nothing of his Zegna triple stitch leather sneakers.
But he did not care; the feel of the soft woman in his arms, her heavy brown hair plastered to her head, her wide mouth smiling as her brown eyes danced in joy; that was the only thing that mattered to him.
Her joy was infectious.
Impulsively, he lowered his head and crushed her soft mouth, holding her by the waist,
He sensed her surprise but then, she melted into him, accepting his probing tongue, her body molding to his.
*
Liam O’Grady felt an explosive rage build up within him. He had wanted to drag Bianca, their Pet, to the nearest room to give her a f*ck she would never forget, take her repeatedly till she pleaded for mercy…
But it had been his brother, long-limbed, handsome Saint, who had stepped out of the car and strode across the wet lawns, to gather her in his arms and kiss her.
And from the enthusiastic response he was getting from their Pet, she loved his touch, thought O’Grady savagely.
They looked so much at ease like they belonged to each other and a feeling which ws entirely foreign to him, flooded his veins.
Jealousy, pure and green, and a staggeringly strong feeling of hate towards his brother for having charmed the girl so quickly…
His first impulse was to cross the lawn and tear her out of Saint’s arms.
But instead, he turned back to the car and growled,
“I have some important work,”
The driver looked at him, startled, for he had also been riveted on what was happening on the lawns.
O’Grady’s wingman slid into the front seat again and the car shot off back the way it had come.
*
The sound of the powerful engine of the SUV as it pulled away from the porch, broke the spell. The two people on the lawns separated slightly.
St Just stared after it, astonishment and annoyance warring on his face.
What had gotten into O’Grady, he wondered, his lips thinning in displeasure. They had planned to spend the weekend here, in the company of their Pet.
This had been a routine with the brothers, every time they brought a woman here. All the women had to sign a declaration that they were agreeable to be used by the brothers for their pleasure, for a period of however many months had been stipulated. Until now, it had generally been a three-month or a one-month contract. This had been the first time they had gone in for a long term, a one-year contract.
Again, it had been O’Grady’s idea.
Yet, here he was, returning almost immediately after having arrived at the house.
A sudden thought entered St Just’s mind. Had it something to do with the burning of the Casino?
He knew how possessive the Mafia boss was about his projects and he had been furious about the way the Casino had been attacked, making business suffer badly for a few days.
Had Liam O’Grady received some message regarding the business which had made him turn back and return to the town post haste?
*
Bianca looked at the tail end of the disappearing car in bewilderment. Suddenly, she felt cold and realized that she was drenched. She shivered.
“Into the house with you, little one,” said St Just and he scooped her up in his arms as he walked into the shelter of the porch. Ignoring the disapproving looks of Alfred and his wife, who had appeared at the kitchen door, he strode in and carried her to the living room, where a fire was already burning.
Gently, St Just deposited her on a chair and threw a blanket over her.
“Get her something hot to drink,” he ordered Alfred who left the room, throwing Bianca a dark look.
She sat for a while, shivering, then looked up at St Just, puzzled.
“Was O’Grady in the car?” she asked in a small voice and St Just grunted as he took out his phone and began to try to call his brother.
“The f*ck, man,” he snarled in a low voice, moving away from Bianca’s earshot, when his brother picked up,” Why did you leave? We were planning to break in our little Pet together, remember?”
There was a silence and St Just frowned. His brother seemed to be breathing hard.
Then O’Grady spoke, a forced cheerfulness in his voice as he said,
“I need to practice for the fight on Tuesday, Saint.” And then, with a sharp edge to his voice, he added,
“Besides, our Pet seemed to be thrilled to have you in her f*cking arms.”
Sensing his brother’s bafflement, O’Grady went on, taking a deep breath,
” I’ll come later.”
And with that, the phone went dead.
St Just frowned uncomprehendingly.
If he did not know his brother better, he would have thought that Liam O’Grady was jealous.
Laughing derisively to himself, Finn St Just turned away.
Liam O’Grady had run through women from the time he was thirteen, uncaring of who he hurt. He had never had a real relationship, not until now.
As for his aborted engagement plans, Paige Hardy had been a smokescreen; the Mafia man had been looking for a way to gain acceptability in political circles and make his way up in life.
So another little playmate, solely to be used to satisfy their sexual cravings and such a naive one like little Bianca Cruz was hardly likely to make him feel upset thought St Just.
Shrugging his broad shoulders, the tawny-eyed giant walked up to where little Bianca was sipping her soup looking very wet and b.
*
Bianca
Alfred showed his displeasure by slamming down the bowl of soup on the table beside me.
I bit my lip and sighed. I had been so happy, delirious, actually. But now, it was like a shadow had been cast over my joy.
St Just came to me and smiled, his crooked smile, like he did not want to smile, but he could not help himself.
“You deserve to be punished, little Pet,” he drawled, and I almost choked on my soup.
He chuckled and patted my back as I swallowed and looked at him, my eyes rounded in fear.
“P… Punished?” I whispered.
He nodded sagely, settling to sit down on the armchair opposite me, his long legs stretched out casually.
“Punished, baby. For dancing in the rain and getting me aroused.”
I blushed and lowered my head but I knew he had something planned as I studied him furtively.
He rose and indicating the bowl, he commanded,
“Drink up, Pet. Take a shower and then, I shall take you to my playroom.”
I nodded hollowly, looking up at him.
Then I rose and on wooden feet, went to do as he had told me.
*
Paige Hardy was a very angry young woman. Her father had raved and ranted when he heard that her engagement had been called off by Liam O’Grady.
“You stupid little girl,” shouted Daddy as he paced up and down, a glass of Scotch in his hands. Her mother was upstairs in bed, having begun to drink, as was her habit, from the early hours of the morning.
Paige often wondered why her Daddy had not made Mummy do something about her alcoholism. It was only as she grew older that the shocking truth hit her. Daddy was ashamed of the world finding out about Mummy’s weakness. So for the sake of looking good in society, he had let his wife slide, till now, she was a full-blown alcoholic.
‘Get that mobster back in your life, girl, that’s an order,” shouted her Daddy finally, having paced holes int the carpet, as she thought dazedly.
“We need him to get us out of our troubles.”
Paige studied her father.
Your troubles you mean, she wanted to shout, brought about by your gambling.
But she did not say anything. Daddy had developed a mean streak, and she had seen the bruises on her mother’s arms. Not that Paige cared; Mummy was not aware of many things around her, most of the time. But Paige did not fancy getting slapped around by her father, who was bigger than her.
She rose and said sulkily,
“I’ll try Daddy.”
He suddenly stepped forward, gripping her wrist and twisting her arm as he said in a low, menacing voice,
“Trying might not be enough, pumpkin.”
Paige went rigid with fear.
She broke out into a sweat as she said,
“Yes, Daddy. I’ll …I’ll bring him round.”
She pasted a fake smile on her face and her father let go of her hand.
Smiling, like her old Daddy, Hardy beamed in a paternally affectionate way, as though that frightening lapse of behavior had never happened as he said,
“Run along, then, little Munchkins.”
She walked out on shaky legs, shutting the study door behind her softly.
But once she was out of the room, she sagged against the wall, frightened.
What had Daddy gone and done? Why was he so desperate?
And worse, how could she get O’Grady back?
*