Chapter 13
Colt
“You forgot it.”
“I didn’t forget it,” Denver insists, continuing her search through her purse. “It’s just not here.” I arch a brow at her, and she scowls. “Fine, I forgot it. Taf, can we turn around?”
Twenty minutes into our journey to meet Samuel to finalize the land for the casino deal, and Denver realizes she doesn’t have her gun. Lewis insists she takes it everywhere with her, but this is the second time she’s forgotten it.
“Don’t you judge me, Colt Harland,” she says, pointing at me.
“You could wear a holster,” Taf says from the driver’s seat. “Make it a statement.”
Denver contemplates that. “Do you think Gucci does gun holsters?”
I chuckle and pull out my phone when it vibrates. My smile fades as I read Alistair’s email outlining the list of Ranger’s meetings this week. Almost every family head is meeting with him, bar Dante Capelli and Alexei Volkov.
It doesn’t mean the others will side with him, but it doesn’t look good, either. My schedule is looking similar—either arranged meetings or opportunities to bump into powerful men and make our stance clear—that the McEwans are still strong, and Ranger won’t change that.
“Bad news?” Denver asks, her gaze flicking between the phone and my face.
I shake my head. “Nothing unexpected.”
While I’m not keeping things from Denver, I’ve been projecting more control than I actually have, especially when I could see her ready to take a bullet for us a few weeks ago. She would go back to Ranger to end this war, but I won’t let that happen.
Besides, she has her own list of worries without me adding mine, too. Ranger has torn apart most of her businesses in San Francisco and still hasn’t signed the divorce papers. He might know he’s lost her, but he’s clinging to her legally.
We pull up outside the house and Denver opens the door. “Two minutes and I’ll be armed!”
Taf cackles and I grin, watching her go.
“I’ll miss her,” he says.
I tut. “You won’t miss me?”
“I’ve had almost two decades of you. It’d be a nice break.” He winks at me in the rearview.
Denver’s scream pierces the moment. My heart leaps out of the car before I can, and I race up the steps up to the brownstone, throwing the door open. Denver is in the hallway, her hands over her face.
My gun is out. “Where? What?”
She keeps one hand over her face and points into the living room. “I just saw Axel’s penis!”
What?
“What?” I lower my weapon, and Taf collides with my back, almost knocking me over.
“Axel is having sex in the living room!” she hisses, likely more for him to hear than me. I can hear his rushed apologies.
I grin. I can’t blame the guy. He told me that his fiancée called and said she wants nothing to do with him, and they haven’t spoken since. He’s a young, single guy, and he has the freedom to do whatever and whoever he wishes.
“Denver, don’t be so judgmental,” I say, putting my gun away as I approach the living room. And then I see who he’s with. “Alison?”
“Sorry, sorry—” She’s wearing Axel’s shirt and hides behind him.
Taf leans into the room and whoops. “Nice, Alison.”
“Not nice!” I half yell.
“Still want me to be less judgmental?” Denver snaps at me.
Fair point, but this is Ronan’s little sister. He’ll be expecting me to look after her, and sleeping with Ranger Luxe’s son is not that.
I wave my hand at them. “What the actual fuck, Alison? I thought you were sleeping with your bodyguard!”
She leans out from behind Axel. “That was forever ago. What, I’m supposed to pine after a few fucks?”
My insides recoil and I put my hands on my knees while taking deep breaths. Alison is like a sister, and hearing her say that is beyond disturbing.
“Oh God!” Denver screeches. “Aren’t you related?”
“No,” Axel says, pointing at her as if he’s already figured it all out. “Alison isn’t Rory’s daughter.”
“Still!” Denver says, exasperated. “It’s fucking weird! Alison’s half-siblings are your dad’s half-siblings …” She pauses. “This is math I cannot do. Colt, help me.”
I shake my head weakly, signaling to her that I need a minute.
Taf says, “They’re not even slightly related. Not by blood or marriage. I’ll draw you a family tree.”
Denver mumbles a thank you and says something about getting her gun. Taf goes to wait in the car, and I narrow my eyes at Axel.
“How long has this been going on?”
“A few weeks,” Alison says innocently, and she smiles sheepishly up at Axel. He turns pink.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You hurt her, and it won’t just be me you’ll be running from.”
He grins, and it’s strange seeing someone who looks so much like Ranger exhibit genuine happiness. “I don’t plan on it.”
Alison wraps her arms around his waist, still leaning out from behind him.
“You’re still going back to college,” I say to her. “You’re not skipping out for a boy.”
She nods. “I promise.”
“You’ll finish your law degree.”
“Yep.”
“And you.” I point at Axel. “You will not distract her.”
He shakes his head. “Nope. We’ve already discussed it.”
I frown. “You have?”
“I’m twenty-two; I know what I’m doing.”
Spoken like a true twenty-two-year-old.
While Taf explains the detailed family tree to Denver on the drive to the hotel, I hold her hand and stare out the window.
I like Axel. I do. He seems like a good kid, nothing like his dad, and he chose Denver over Ranger.
But he’s still Ranger Luxe’s son. There will always be someone out for him in some way.
He’s walking, talking leverage against a powerful man, and Alison getting involved with him puts her in danger, too.
It isn’t like I can tell her what to do. If I try to intervene, it’ll likely push them closer, and at the end of the day, she may not be a blood McEwan, but she’s close. She’s always been in some kind of danger.
Maybe I’m overthinking it.
Samuel is waiting in the hotel restaurant when we arrive. Denver rushes out apologies, but he tells her not to worry.
The meeting goes as expected. The land is owned by me now that I’m in charge, and I was never going to find issue in selling it to them for the casino, but formalities are needed when this much money is involved.
This is my first real meeting with Samuel Lok Shun Lau.
Denver has told me a lot about him, and it boils down to a simple fact: he wasn’t supposed to be a made man, but he’s good at it.
After close to an hour of work conversation, I agree with her.
He’s willing to listen to negotiations and isn’t afraid to counter them.
Once work conversation has finished, Samuel orders an expensive bottle of whiskey, and Denver excuses herself to go to the bathroom.
“Do you visit New York often?” I ask as our drinks are poured.
Samuel shakes his head. “Once I moved to Maryland, I didn’t go anywhere else. That was where I wanted to be until I came home.”
“Small town more your thing?”
He quirks a brief smile. “I like the quiet. Cities aren’t quiet. People rushing everywhere …” He picks up his glass and admires the amber liquid. “I think even they’ve forgotten what they’re in such a hurry for.” He takes a small sip as I consider his words. “Will you miss it when you leave?”
“Nope.” It’s an easy answer.
“You’re sure? You’ve created an empire. You’re leaving it behind.”
I watch as Denver approaches the table. She gives me a wicked grin, her hips swaying as she closes the space between us with equal amounts grace and sass. I smile. “She’s my empire.”
When I realize Denver isn’t alone, I stand—Danielle McEwan is with her.
Ronan’s sister is a regular visitor at the house, always by Ronan’s bedside when she isn’t working, and she hasn’t shed a tear.
Not because she doesn’t feel anything, but because she’s a McEwan—she’s tough as fucking nails and told me crying feels pointless when it won’t bring anyone back or wake up her brother.
Her dark hair is peppered with snow, and she’s bundled up in a heavy coat.
“Look who I spotted in the lobby,” Denver says.
I hug Danielle and kiss her cold cheek. “What are you doing here?”
“I just dropped off a client’s dog,” she says. Danielle is a dog groomer, but I didn’t know she did drop-offs.
“Samuel, this is Danielle McEwan. Ronan McEwan’s sister,” I say. Samuel stands, adjusting his cuff, and then his gaze meets Danielle’s.
Thunderous rage crosses his expression.
“You,” he hisses.
Danielle looks equally enraged, her eyes widening. “You!” She snatches a glass off the table and tosses the drink in his face. A close-to-thousand-dollar glass of whiskey drips down the leader of the Triads’ face, and Danielle slams the glass back down. “That was worth the wait, you asshole!”
“Me?” Samuel advances on her. Denver and I watch on in total awe. “You fucking mugged me!”
“Mugged you?” I ask. “She’s a foot shorter than you.”
“She’s scrappy,” he snaps at me, then returns his attention to Danielle. “You owe me a pastry.”
Denver slaps a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. “Danielle, you stole a pastry from him?”
“The details are irrelevant!” Danielle says, throwing her arms into the air. “You’re lucky I didn’t tase you, you fucker. He chased me! Two blocks! For a pastry!”
“It was my pastry!”
Danielle narrows her eyes and pushes herself onto her tiptoes, but she’s still not even slightly eye level with him. “And it was delicious.”
Denver gets Danielle out of the hotel and sends her home, but not before the McEwan gives Samuel the finger and he returns the sentiment.
Tough as nails, like I said.
Samuel mumbles something about the meeting being over and waves us off before storming to his room, and Denver slumps back into her seat beside me.
“This is exhausting,” she says. “How did Finn keep everyone in line for so long?” I shrug and take her hand, tugging her back to her feet. She whimpers. “Can we sit for a little longer?”
“I got us a room,” I say. “Do you want to—”
“Yes.” She half drags me across the lobby.
Four minutes later, Denver’s cheek is pressed against the wall of our hotel room, my cock buried deep inside her.
We’re both breathless and still clothed, her dress almost ripped from my attempt to get to her.
I wrap an arm around her waist, and the other covers her hand that’s flattened against the wall to keep herself steady.
“You can be as loud as you like here,” I whisper in her ear, her tightness squeezing my cock. “You can scream while I fuck you, Del.” She cries out softly, squeezing her eyes closed as I keep my movements slow, easing in and out of her. “Will you take everything I give you?”
“Yes,” she breathes.
“You’ll be my perfect girl and milk my cock?”
She nods. “I’ll be so good.”
“Fuck.” I bite her neck, wishing I’d undressed her so I can feel every inch of her skin against mine.
I kiss and lick the mark I leave behind and notice the floor-to-ceiling mirror on the far side of the room.
“Look at you.” Denver opens her eyes, gazing at her reflection as I move in and out of her.
Her cheeks are flushed, eyes glazed and hooded with desire. “Look how good you’re doing for me.”
“I need m-more …” she whispers. “More, Colt.”
“More?” I nudge her ear with my nose. “You want me to fuck you harder?”
“Please.” She lets out a soft moan as I move my hand from around her waist and under her dress. My fingers dip into her underwear, circling her clit, and she almost jolts in place. “Colt—”
“Watch,” I say. “Watch while I fuck you.”
She does. Her cries become louder and more erratic as I pick up my pace, both hands now gripping her hips as I fuck her hard and fast. My groans meet her moans as I slam into her relentlessly, eager to feel her come around my cock.
Denver watches everything, her eyes wide as I take her with brutal, passionate thrusts. Her orgasm hits me hard, but I hold onto my own as she lets out a symphony of soft cries.
I lift her into my arms as her knees buckle. Taking her into the bedroom, I lay her down and strip off my clothes and hers. She smiles lazily as I undress her and bites her lip as I kneel between her legs, slowly stroking my cock as I admire her.
“Your pussy is such a mess for me.” I run my fingers across her wetness, and she squirms under my touch but stills once I bury myself knuckle deep.
I curl my fingers and she arches her back, her eyes rolling back.
“That’s my good girl. My perfect girl. You’re going to come as many times as I tell you to. ”
And that’s what she does. She comes on my fingers and my tongue, grinding helplessly against my mouth until her legs are trembling. When I slide my cock into her again, she begs for more, and I give it to her. I fuck her until my orgasm builds, and I can’t hold back.
“Fill me up,” she begs. “Please, Colt, please—”
Her words send me over the edge. Her pleas send me careening into an orgasm that has lights flashing behind my eyes, and I grip her hips so tight I leave marks.
The waves of pleasure seep away, and as we catch our breath, I lie down and gather her into my arms, kissing away the droplets of sweat on her forehead.
She nuzzles into my neck, sighing softly. “Remember the first night we spent together?”
I nod, running my fingertips down her arm. “Yep. I remember being so still while you cried because I didn’t want you to remember who I was and ask me to leave.”
“Even then?” she asks, angling her head to look up at me.
Even then. When she gave me a glimpse of the woman behind Deluxe.
“Maybe even before then,” I say. “Even seeing you at the hotel during the award ceremony, you made an impression, chugging down M&Ms like a frat boy with his first keg.”
She laughs loudly. “Asshole. I did not chug them down.”
“Yes, you did, and it was fucking adorable.” I kiss her. “I think I’ve loved you since you threatened to go to war with me, Del.”
“And now we’re on the same side.” She brushes my hair back, her expression soft. It’s only been months. A short time, really, but I’m so glad I get this forever. “Wanna watch Casablanca and order room service?”
More than fucking anything.