CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Griffin – June
A va climbs into the backseat of my Escalade, and all I see is skin. Long, toned, sun-kissed legs in a short-as-fuck dress topped with a white fuzzy waist-length coat get my blood moving.
For different reasons.
Kai’s boasting about her two weeks ago in my office comes to mind. Seeing her in the clothes she keeps coming home with reminds me other men will look at her in a sexual way. Ava’s legs drive wild lust through me remembering them wrapped around my waist.
It’s taken a few weeks for me to see past that wounded mess of a woman from a cage. Slowly, a different Ava is coming out of her shell, but I still feel deep inside that Hadleigh is waiting in the wings.
And damn, that’s who I want. But I can’t have Hadleigh. That’s not who her brothers will allow her to be.
Will I?
“Sorry.” I block her from getting inside the SUV. “This is the car going to a cocktail engagement party at your aunt’s house. Pants are required, please go back inside and—”
“Lola suggested I wear this on a video call,” she says, looking all innocent, knocking her bare legs together.
“Lola?” All I hear is Barry Manilow’s voice in my head.
“My cousin. She and Lucia are home from school.”
“What school?” Why wasn’t I given a dossier on these people?
“They go to culinary school in Paris.”
“You’re kidding?”
“I don’t kid about crepes.” Ava wears me down, and I let her in the car.
“How old are they?” I ask.
“Nineteen.” Ava settles in next to me, our legs brushing together.
When I stop talking because I’m staring at how she’s so easily touching me, she glances down, too. Suddenly that short dress tempts me to do something I shouldn’t. I’ve kept busy these past two weeks to avoid being this close to her.
To Ava, it’s as if the weeks held no meaning. It could have been a year later, and she’d act the same way.
Siren .
“Get moving, up there.” I snap my fingers for Gus to drive.
I’m finding out that getting anywhere in this city by car is a nightmare. Gus immediately cuts to the East Side to take the FDR North, even if we’re only going a few blocks.
Aunt Helena’s luxury apartment is in a pre-war building on the Upper East Side. This degree of lavishness will have my family twitching. We have plenty of money. The manor house in Astoria is massive, well-furnished, and impeccably clean.
Through the eyes of some, that house must seem dated, but it speaks to who we are. We’re simple Irish brats.
With my new wealth, however, I’ll never begin to spend the amount of money I’m getting from Troi’s estate.
We stop, and Zeke, who sits in the front with Gus, opens the door for me. Ace sits in the third row, watching the cars behind us for trouble.
I hop out and help Ava, holding her hand.
“You look nice, by the way.” She stops and fixes my tie. “I like you in suits.”
“I feel like we’re playing dress up because this suit and that dress isn’t either of us.”
She glances up at me quickly. “I know. Oh God, I can’t believe you said that out loud. Did you not want to take Troi’s house?”
The question hits me in the chest. “It may seem like I had a choice, but I really didn’t. Your brother talks about history and tradition like we don’t have any. But we do. My mother’s roots are just as important.”
“But you didn’t want a wife.”
“Eventually.” I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Ouch.” Ava spins on her heels and goes inside the building.
Wait... Does she...not want the divorce?
Here I am, acting like an asshole, giving her the answers I think she wants. Has something changed?
I try to hold her hand as we walk into the building’s lobby, but she keeps doing something else with them. We have to look like we’re in love. We have to make people think it’s real and it will last forever. Like we were set up on a blind date, hit it off, and can’t keep our hands off each other.
Instead, we’re sleeping in the same bed with empty sheets between us occupied by a hideous clown. God, I have to get rid of that thing.
Ares opens the door to Aunt Helena’s apartment wearing a pair of charcoal trousers and a blue dress shirt, but no tie. He looks rather casual for an engagement party, but it’s not a race to the bottom. Plus, Ava likes me in a three-piece suit.
“Griffin.” Ares shakes my hand.
Before I can respond , girly shrieks ring out, and I want to kill myself. Ava spins around and is tackled by two young women who came from the living room.
They whisper while I unbutton my suit jacket, taking in the lay of this apartment.
“No. I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lucia,” Ava says, her voice finding my ear.
One of the twins marches up to me. “We want to take Ava out tonight after the party. She’s getting married. There’s no shower, no cake tasting, no bachelorette party. She deserves one night out, you meanie.”
Ares cackles from a few feet away. “Lucia, you just called the head of the Irish Mob, a meanie.”
I see red. It’s not safe for these silly girls to have that kind of information. But they drag Ava away and huddle in the corner like they’re plotting my death.
Swirling his drink in a rocks glass, Ares passes me and whispers into my ear, “Touch a hair on their head, and I will murder you, Emperor Quinlan.”
“Nice,” I murmur.
The door behind me opens again and my throat tightens seeing my mother on Shane’s arm. Da wasn’t feeling up to this party, but Ma promised he’d make it to the wedding.
Ma looks radiant in a jeweled dark green dress. Her hair is swept up in an elegant twist with a black rhinestone-encrusted comb. The last time she wore that much makeup was...
Behind them are Sabine and her husband Grayson Hart.
Their wedding.
“Oh my God!” Lola or Lucia screeches. I can’t tell these twins apart. “It’s Grayson Hart! ”
“Ugh, here we go.” I step aside and let them crash into the actor.
They’re not related to me, and he’s six-five. He can handle it.
“Whoa, hey. Hi,” Grayson says, holding out his hands. “One at a time.”
Sabine relinquishes her husband to his fans and saunters toward me, smirking. At six feet tall herself, her pregnancy barely registers even though she’s late in her term.
“ This was a surprise.” She gives me her cheek to kiss. “Did Shane tell you I put him in a headlock because I thought he was playing a prank on me?”
I can see it, Shane is taller and fierce, but Sabine knows his pressure points. And he’d never get rough with her in her condition.
“No, he didn’t. This marriage is part of the deal for me to accept my place as the head of...” I struggle to finish that sentence. “You know.”
“I sure do,” she says, knowing the O’Rourkes are mob bosses and that we worked for them. “Now I have to worry about you.”
“Hey, lass.” I grip her elbow. “You don’t ever worry about me. I’ve got it under control.”
“And now I need to rescue my husband from those little piranhas.” Sabine winks and stalks off.
We’ve kept tabs on Grayson in the five years they’ve been together, especially when he’s been away on location doing acting jobs. The guy has been utterly faithful to our sister and is madly in love with her.
Connor comes in next with Ewan and Darcy in tow.
I wasn’t even going to invite my whole clan, but I had to take my own advice to make sure this engagement looks solid. Not inviting my family to this party violated that.
“Where are the girls?” I greet Darcy with a kiss on the cheek.
“With my ma,” she says, speaking like us. Because she is one of us. She was a Quinlan before Ewan married her.
Ewan greets me casually and quickly tends to Darcy and our ma, not looking the least bit jealous that it’s me who is the don and not him. Even though he pointed out that the head of a clan can technically name anyone as a successor. But a peace deal was needed. I was just the next bachelor in line.
With everyone here, Aunt Helena’s servers announce dinner is ready.
Unlike the Italians, the Greeks don’t believe in heavy, obscene meals. Small trays and even smaller plates sit on a sideboard in the dining room. I make myself a plate and stare out to watch these two families interact, my mother specifically. A pit forms in my stomach as it hits me, seeing this sham of a marriage through her eyes. Embarrassment warms my cheeks, but I calm my nerves with a glass of whiskey.
“Then it’s settled,” Aunt Helena says, sitting with my mother and sister at the end of a long dining room table after an hour of eating and chatting.
“What’s settled?” I ask, the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
“Your sister graciously offered the ballroom in her hotel for the wedding,” Aunt Helena chirps.
“I don’t know why you didn’t suggest it, Griff?” Ma says, making me feel guilty.
“Yeah, Griff,” Sabine piles on to be a brat. “Should I email the events manager to reserve it?” she asks, her fingers gripped around a phone.
Shrugging, I say, “Don’t look at me. I’m not the bride.”
All eyes glance into the living room where the she-wolves sit in their witch’s circle making a voodoo doll of me to stab with pins.
Aunt Helena waves her hand. “She’s even less interested.”
“That’s not true,” I defend Ava vigorously, annoyed that what happened to her is being ignored. “She’s still getting over being abducted for months. Give her a break.”
Snapping at three more women is going to get me killed.
“Problem?” Altas steps into my path, his brothers Ambrose and Ares watching me fall on my face.
“No problem.” I poke my finger at him. “Let’s see how you act when Ares forces you to marry someone.”
He barks a laugh. “Not a chance.”
I watch him stroll away. To get my mind off the anxiety of these clashing worlds in one apartment, I eat some sliced steak and a salad.
When I notice Ava still hasn’t eaten, I make her a plate and bring it over to her. Watching Ava compared to her cousins, who are young and goofy, Ava’s sophistication shines through. She’s poised and elegant, even if she’s doing it in a dress I don’t approve of.
Ares stands over Ava and her cousins like he’s mediating some crisis. “You cannot go out unless your guards go with you,” he says, waving a finger.
“We know, Ares.” Lola sticks her tongue at his back.
I like her . I take note of what she’s wearing so I can remember who she is compared to her sister, Lucia, who called me a meanie.
“Where are we going?” I ask and hand the plate to Ava.
“Thank you.” She takes it, blushing. “To Ares’ club.”
“Where else?” Lola rolls her eyes. “Mommy doesn’t let us go anywhere except Club Wicked.”
I hadn’t been to Ares’ club yet.
“You’re not of drinking age,” Ares argues. “I jump through enough hoops to keep my liquor license.”
“We just like to dance.” Lola stands up and twirls. “We’ll have Ava home before sometime tomorrow, Griffin.”
“Tomorrow?” I bark.
Ava shakes her head, gnawing on a lamb chop. “I’ll be home tonight.”
“ You’ll be?” I fold my arms. “I’m not invited?”
Lucia’s jaw tips open, appalled at my suggestion. “It’s girls’ night.”
“Ava isn’t a girl . She’s a woman.” I finger the chain around her neck with my ring. “An engaged woman.”
A tender gasp sounds out from across the room. My mother notices Ava is wearing Norah’s chain.
Seeing I’m about to combust, Ava stands up and pulls me aside. “You don’t mind, do you? The whole Greek king’s guard will be there.”
I spot several men in jet-black suits near the door sporting the same buzz cuts and blank looks on their faces. Ares’ guards, who he code-names with the Seven Deadly Sins, are not human beings to him. Maybe that makes it easier to kill them.
“Whatever.” I hide the hurt that Ava wants to have this good time without me.
It’s the same gnawing ache I feel every night when I get into bed seeing her hug that damn clown.
I join Shane and Connor for the rest of the gathering. Watching Ava tug at her short skirt and push around all that hair done up in thick waves suggests she’s not comfortable.
Why doesn’t anyone see it?
One by one, the Quinlans get the hell out of here, all while saying they had a good time and thanking Aunt Helena for the invite.
Ma remarks that she’s a lovely woman when I kiss her goodnight. I’m glad they at least get along.
I glance at my future wife, who’s trying to ditch me. Giving in, I let her go.
On the street, the cousins dive into Ares’ limo. An ache slices my heart when I see him get in and sit on the back bench looking like a king. This all comes so fucking naturally to him.
“I won’t be late,” Ava says, tightening her jacket. “A couple of hours, tops.”
“Sure.” I shove my hands into my pockets, seeing six men pile into a black SUV behind the limo, her guard being one of them.
“Thank you.” She reaches up and hugs me.
Her body against mine changes the air around me. “For what?”
“Letting me go.”
I grip her chin. “ I never had any intention of making you a prisoner. Or dulling your shine.” My fingers run across her lips. “Except for this lip gloss. That’s not you.”
She wipes the rest away. “I never had this, you know. Clubbing. Alexander dropped me off at a naval base the day after my eighteenth birthday.”
Fuck. I hadn’t done the math. “I’m sorry.”
“Lola and Lucia were still in primary school. I had a party. I had a cake. One sip of champagne. Then the next day my life changed.”
“You’ve had nights out since.” I hover over her. “I remember one pretty vividly.”
She licks her lips. “I remember it, too.”
A charged silence wraps around us, and I’m not sure what I’m doing.
“Ava, either get your ass into this limo or we leave without you,” Ares says from a rolled-down window.
Music pumps from the stretch, and I’m glad I don’t have to listen to that.
“I’ll see you in a few hours.” Ava reaches up and kisses my cheek, but I pull a fast one and capture her mouth with a harsh kiss.
I seal my lips over hers and moan into her mouth when her long fingers snake into my hair. I deepen the kiss, frustrated that she’s leaving me. The past few weeks of tension rush to the surface, and I can’t keep the visceral possessiveness I feel for her inside one second longer.
“Fuck, you taste good.” Gravity hits me with the heat of her mouth and the friction of our tongues tangled up.
She steps back. “And those aren’t the lips you really like if I remember correctly.”
Stunned, I watch her get into the limo as I’m standing on the street all alone.
Hard as fuck.
***
S TARING OUT THE WINDOW in the sitting room of my bedroom, I take in the view of the city. The clown taunts me and I consider again what would happen if I got rid of it. It will clear the way for me to roll into Ava in the middle of the night and give her permission to fuck me.
Knowing her, she’ll buy a giant giraffe instead. Just to defy me. Just to be a brat.
I smile when the phone rings with a call from Bourne, Ava’s guard. A call I knew I’d get.
“Bourne. Talk to me.”
“She’s drunk, boss. I think you should come get her. I tried taking her home. She said she didn’t want...” He stops.
“She didn’t want, what .”
“She said she only wanted you.”
“On my way.” I hang up and jog down the stairs. “Gus, get the car. Zeke, come with me. Ace, stay here.”
A few minutes later, I get into my Escalade that Gus now keeps in a private garage around the corner. It just meant more guards. So far, everyone Trace and Rhys brought in has been excellent.
Gus drives me to the club, and when we pass a velvet roped-off line, the bouncer stops me, his hand on my chest.
I slap it. “I am marrying Ava Zervas. Your boss’ sister. If you don’t want to lose that hand—”
He steps aside and apologizes.
This club isn’t what I expected. I thought it would be loud and obnoxious with a giant mosh pit of a dance floor. There are a few platforms for people to dance. But the music is soft and sensuous.
This place is to get people in the mood. Zeke finds Bourne and we’re brought to a VIP area where Ava sits on a sofa with her head in her hands.
Ares comes up behind me smelling of perfume. “I was in my office. What happened?”
“My fiancée’s guard called me. She’s my responsibility. Go back to your...” I’m tempted to say whore, but I won’t embarrass him in front of Ava. “I got this.”
Zeke steers Lola, who sat with Ava, away into another VIP area.
I sit next to my fiancée and lay my hand on her back. Her bare back is warm and drenched with sweat.
She lifts her head and throws her arms around me. “You came!”
“I’m here.” I brush the hair out of her face. “I’m proud of you for making your guard call me. That shows me you’re responsible.”
She’s a fucking Navy lieutenant. What the hell am I saying?
The last six months have shattered the woman I knew for only a few hours. The woman she wants to be. I hate the princess version of Hadleigh. Even if right now, I find her sexy as fuck.
“Ava, I’m here. Let’s go home.”
“No.” Her big brown eyes kill me.
“What do you want, siren?”
“I want...” She licks her lips. “I want you to kiss me again, like you did earlier. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
With both hands, I take her face and press our mouths together. I sip from her lips and taste her before I deepen the kiss. She gives a little squeak of pleasure and my cock, aching to come, twitches behind my zipper.
In a flash, she’s on my lap grinding against me.
“Feel that?” I say, huskily.
“I do. Do you want to come?” Her warmth sends heat to my groin.
“Of course I want to come.” I lean in. “The question is... Do you?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m taking a night off from pretending I don’t want to fuck you until you scream my name.” I lift her up and hold her hand as we walk to the VIP bouncer. “I’m taking Miss Zervas down that corridor. No one goes near us except my guards.”
“Yes, Mr. Quinlan.” The bouncer puts up a rope so no one can follow us.
When the shadows surround us, I push Ava against the wall and give her more of my mouth. Her lips are sweet, soft, and wet. Christ, I want my cock sliding past them.
Watching her eyes, I shove a hand under her skirt, searching for the heat between her legs. Finding warm satin, I rub her pussy over the fabric.
Ava mewls and those little moans kill me, triggering a memory of how she felt the last time I touched every inch of her. It never really got buried. It’s been simmering under the surface.
I pull her panty aside and slide my fingers through soaked folds. “Fuck, baby.”
“Griffin,” she pants, lifting a leg across my hip.
“That’s dangerous,” I whisper against her neck.
“I’m a RAVEN. I love danger.”
“Open wider, baby, let your fiancé feel that heat.” My fingers slide into her pussy while I kiss her.
She shudders, squeezing my shoulders tighter, her hips grinding against my hand.
“Do you like me doing this to you?” I groan.
“Don’t stop.”
I pull out of her drenched cunt and slide my fingers back and forth over her clit, letting my silky wet fingers capture the throbbing nub. A gasp chokes from deep inside her throat.
“I want to lift you and make us both come while you hump my cock. Drench my pants with that desperate, greedy cunt of yours. Do you want that, siren?”
“God, yes. Please.”
“When I finally shove my cock inside you, because I will fuck you soon, Ava, you’re going to lose it under me. Fall apart and beg me to put you back together. My cock will destroy you and bring you back to life. I want to hear you scream my name as you die from the pleasure and then sing like a soprano when you’re reborn as my angel.”
“This isn’t real,” she gasps.
“It’s very real.” I push her hand harder down on my cock.
“God, did you get bigger?”
“That’s seven years of wanting to fuck you again, baby.” I drag down her underwear and lift her up, the panty dangling on one ankle. “Now ride my hard-on. Show me that greedy little fighter again. I know you’re still in there. Let her out. I want her . Because I know this isn’t the real you.”
Ava wraps her legs around my waist and her cunt latches right onto my length. Fuck, it feels so good. With her hands around my neck, Ava drops her head back and whimpers a slow, pitched gasp.
“God, I love who you turn into in the dark,” I growl against her throat. “How about for one night you let me do whatever the hell I want to you? Let me fuck you until you’re drenched from our cum?”
“ I’m gonna come,” she whines.
“Yeah, siren. Ruin these pants with your juices. More. I want to be soaked and dripping.” Her clit throbs so violently, I feel it. “See how good I am to you when you submit to me? I can make you come over and over. Are you ready for what I can give you?”
She whimpers against my shoulder, still coming. She’s on fire and feels electric.
Lust floods my veins and I want to come, too, but this feels just as good. Staying hard and making her come for me.
“God, look at you. You’re perfect for me, rubbing that throbbing pussy like a cat in heat.” My cat. My pussy. “Kiss me. Kiss your fiancé.”
She slams her lips against mine and our teeth gnash in a feral kiss. She slacks in my arms, and I let her slide down my body. Her legs shake, but I catch her.
I drop to my knees. “I need to taste you. Lick you to another climax. Give it to me. Let go, Ava.”
The sweet taste of her cunt stops my heart. I’m latched onto her clit, fingering her, fucking her with my hand. In a matter of seconds, she comes again, squirting hot juices at me.
She pulls my hair without saying another word, but her legs are shaking.
I lap up her drenched pussy and rub her swollen clit. My face smeared with her climax, I kiss her again. “Taste yourself. Taste what I couldn’t get out of my head for years.”
My cock throbs with such a need to take her, I’m not thinking straight. Pulling that panty back up her leg, I whisper, “Let’s go home and finish this.”
When her throat bobs in approval I whisk her away.
On the street, I signal Zeke to get my car, keeping Ava pinned next to me. When it arrives, I put Ava in the backseat.
I’m raw and on the edge. I’m about to bust my nut. But a huge problem stares me in the face. I need her now.
“Find a place to park and then you two, go for a smoke,” I bite out to my men. Then I get in and sit next to Ava. Kissing her neck, I growl, “I need to fuck you right now.”
“Can’t wait until we get home?”
“No.” I lean back and open my pants enough for my cock to spring free.
Ava’s jaw tips open and for a second, I consider if I should just make her blow me. No, I can’t get the wicked idea of her tight cunt out of my head.
“Here you go, boss,” Zeke says from the front seat.
I glance around at a wide, well-lit but fairly empty street. “Get out and make sure no one comes near this car.”
“Absolutely, boss.” He struts away, lighting a cigarette, Gus following.
“On your hands and knees, siren.”