Chapter 4 #2
A stupid smile pulls at the corner of my lips as I glance over to find the one and only Jonah Madden. “Speak for yourself,” I tell my brother. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your head shoved up Mom’s ass.”
“Wow. Going in hard, huh? Not even a smile or a hug for your big brother.”
Despite knowing he’s just trying to be a smart ass, it still puts me on edge. “I don’t see you offering the same,” I say, immediately feeling as though I need to be on defense.
Jonah smiles and shakes his head before throwing his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into his side. “We grew up together. You’d think we’d know how to act like normal fucking people around each other.”
“Never gonna happen.”
Jonah laughs and releases me before stepping up to the table and yanking out a chair, putting a single flaw in Mom’s perfectly set table, which is oddly satisfying.
“Come on,” he says. “There’s a lot to catch up on.
Sit down and fill me in on everything that’s happened in the world of Harper-Rayn Madden over the past two years. ”
“Two years?” I laugh, taking my seat. “Where the fuck have you been? I haven’t seen you in three years.”
“Three?” he questions, as he becomes deep in thought. “No, that’s not possible. It’s only two. I saw you at that disastrous New Year’s Eve party at their old place.”
I nod, a smirk pulling at my lips. “Yeah,” I agree. “Three years ago.”
Confusion flashes in his eyes before understanding begins to dawn, and then he simply looks horrified. “Three fucking years, huh? Aren’t I a piece a shit?”
I scoff. “Couldn’t agree more, but if you’re a piece of shit, then I’m right there with you.”
Jonah laughs, but the sound is cut off by my mother’s shrill tone coming from the other room, sending a chill down my spine. Judging by the cringe on Jonah’s face, he’s feeling it too. “If I’m going to make it through this dinner, I’m going to need a stiff drink.”
“Make it two,” I tell him, both of us getting straight back to our feet. “And don’t even think about giving me some bullshit chick drink. I want the good stuff.”
“Just as well, I found Elias’ private stash earlier.”
“Now you’re talking.”
An hour later, Jonah and I are sitting at the grand dining table, surrounded by Mom’s closest friends. We cackle like a couple of high school cheerleaders, to my mother’s dismay, which only makes it better. I’ve really needed this time with my brother.
I ask him all about the twins and how they’re settling into preschool, and after covering the basics of his wife’s new job, he dives into the ins and outs of my life.
Elegantly dressed servers have descended upon the table with trays of dinner plates just as Elias stands at the head of the table.
He opens his arms wide, and just when I think he’s about to give some long, drawn-out speech about how wonderful it is to be married to my mother, he turns his attention to the entrance of the dining room.
“Better late than never,” he booms as a smirk cuts across his face.
All eyes turn toward the newcomer, and my breath catches in my throat when I find Elias’ younger brother, Knight Slater.
Fuck me! Am I drooling? If he weren’t my step-uncle, I’d climb him like a goddamn tree.
He’s fucking gorgeous. At least six-foot-four with a body that could send any woman to an early grave.
It’s clear he takes care of himself, and even through his black shirt, I can see the defined ridges of his abs and pecs.
But all of that has got nothing on his face.
His eyes are dark gray, and there’s something about them that draws me in.
He holds my attention in a way no other man ever has. It’s dangerous.
Now, Laith is good in bed. Great actually.
He knows how to get the job done, and apart from last night, he’s never let me down.
But a man like Knight Slater? He doesn’t just get a pass mark.
He carries himself with an air of dominance that makes me think he would tear a woman to shreds and not stop until she’s gasping for air on the ground.
He seems like the type of man to throw a woman around, slam her up against the shower wall, and rail her until she comes apart.
The question is, how the hell is he still single?
A shit-eating grin pulls across his lips, lighting up his whole face, and while he’s the most attractive man I have ever laid eyes on, I can’t give myself even a moment to appreciate his smile.
I’m too distracted by the way his tight black shirt fits around his strong body, the fabric straining over his bulging tattooed biceps.
Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to sink my teeth into those.
I’m drooling in seconds. Perhaps taking shots with Jonah wasn’t a good idea after all.
There’s no doubt about it; I’m going to make an ass of myself tonight.
It’s one thing to laugh with Jonah about Mom’s flood of scathing stares, but to try and keep my cool around a man like Knight. I’m well and truly fucked.
Knight is a SWAT officer, and judging by the black tactical pants, boots, and lack of tie, I’d dare say he just got off work. I can only imagine the scowl on Mom’s face at his attire, but I can’t seem to tear my eyes off him to check.
“Brother,” he says, striding straight up to Elias and clapping him on the back before looking down the table and noticing how the food is just being served. “Looks like I arrived just in the nick of time.”
“Doesn’t sound like a coincidence at all,” Elias teases before nodding toward me. “There’s a space down beside Harper. Make yourself comfortable.”
My eyes widen in horror before my whole damn head swivels like a bobblehead doll to stare at the space beside me, and what would you know, the only available seat at the table is right here next to me.
Fuck. There’s no avoiding him now.
Knight makes his way along the table, stopping to greet my mother, and judging by the hostility in both of their eyes, there’s still no love there. Knight continues down the table, pausing by my brother. “How ya been, Jonah? Long time.”
“Yeah, good,” Jonah responds, twisting in his seat to shake Knight’s hand. The rest of the guests have turned their attention back to the servers, and every last person is completely oblivious to the way my palms have started to sweat.
Knight doesn’t skip a stride, moving further along before stopping right behind my chair. His hands fall onto the backrest of my seat, and next thing I know, he’s leaning down, his warm lips pressing against my cheek.
“Morticia,” he rumbles, using the nickname he gave me the day he realized I spend most of my nights working in a morgue, and honestly, I love it.
Morticia Addams fits me perfectly. Well, kind of.
I have long jet black hair and might enjoy playing with dead people.
Not to mention the majority of my wardrobe is pitch-black.
But it’s not as though I own a gothic castle and drive a hearse.
I get it though, and there’s no denying it, when that name comes out of Knight’s mouth, something always clenches deep inside of me.
Personally, I think I’m more of a Wednesday, but once the name was given, it stuck.
Knight’s lips linger on my skin just a moment longer than necessary, and I’m sure he has absolutely no fucking idea how my skin blazes under his touch. If he does, he doesn’t let it show.
Shivers shoot down my spine, spreading across my skin, and I suck in a breath, trying to act as though his very presence doesn’t send me spiraling. Only in doing that, I inhale the scent of his delicious cologne, rendering me momentarily speechless.
Knight folds his large frame into the seat beside me, and it doesn’t go unnoticed how his hand remains on the back of my seat. I do what I can not to look, because the second my eyes land on that warm, tattooed, olive skin and take in his sharp stubble-covered jaw, I’ll melt right here in my seat.
We don’t see each other often. As far as I’m aware, he works a lot. He takes his job very seriously, while also doing everything in his power to avoid these events just as I do. Apart from the fact that he’s a SWAT officer, I really don’t know that much about him, nor do I want to.
Well, okay. That’s a lie, but if I allow myself to get closer to him, I know without a single doubt that I’m going to dig myself a hole that I’ll never be able to get out of.
He’s my step-uncle for fuck’s sake. Nothing can ever happen here, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fantasize about it. He might be my step-uncle now, but will he be when I’m all alone in my bed tonight, thinking about the way those strong arms could throw me around? Fuck no.
“Knight,” I respond, holding his gaze as he makes himself comfortable.
He grins back at me, his gaze eating me up as I take a sip of water, trying to control the heat rising in my cheeks. “Well, don’t you look like a snack.”
I blanch, water sputtering from my mouth and across the table setting in front of me. I do what I can to feign a cough, but it’s too late, I already have my mother’s undivided attention, and the scowl across her face is one of her best.
“Excuse me,” I say, picking up my napkin and dabbing at my lips while Knight chuckles under his breath beside me. “Wrong hole.”
Mom narrows her stare, and I swear, the woman looks as though she’s about to swallow me whole. I look away, not allowing her to continue her silent scathing. Instead, I turn my attention back to the beast beside me.
“I wasn’t expecting you to show your face tonight,” I comment. “You’re usually the first one to pull out some ridiculous excuse about why you can’t come. What happened? No damsels currently in distress?”
Knight laughs and I can practically see the jokes about pulling out and not coming on the tip of his tongue. “I tried, but Elias was there when I received the notification of my shift change. Couldn’t get out of it even if I tried.”
“I know the feeling all too well.”
“Tell me about it,” he says, just as a server sets a plate of food in front of him, and honestly, I don’t have a clue what it is.
I want to call it chicken, but my god, it doesn’t smell like chicken.
“This right here is why I avoid these things. No offense, but your mother wouldn’t know what a good meal is if it smacked her in the face. ”
“Oh, I know,” I laugh. “She tried to serve us bull’s balls last Christmas. I had to stop for a burger on the way home.”
Knight takes his fork and starts moving food around his plate while I reach to take another sip of water, only I’m distracted by the soft buzz of my phone in my lap. I scoop it up and find a new text from Laith.
My lips press into a hard line as I swipe my finger across the screen, opening his message. I’m still pissed about last night, but sitting next to Knight right now with his arm resting on the back of my seat, I can’t seem to care about being stood up.
I roll my eyes, and for a moment, I consider not responding at all, but truth be told, if roles were reversed, he wouldn’t get moody with me. He’d simply demand that next time, I make it up to him tenfold.
A soft touch on my shoulder has me glancing up, and I find Knight’s dark gaze locked on my skin. “Something happen?” he asks with deep concern in his tone. “This looks sore.”
My gaze drops to my shoulder, and I find the bruise I’d gotten after bolting out of the morgue last night. “Oh yeah,” I say. “It’s fine. I had a slight run-in with a door at work. I can confirm, the door won.”
“Yeah, no shit,” he says. “You need to ice that.”
“I’ll get right on it,” I laugh, though he and I both know that’s not going to happen. I’ve not always been the best when it comes to taking direction, especially when it comes to caring for myself.
“So, Harper,” comes Elias’ voice a moment later, dragging my attention away from his dazzling brother. “How’s work going? Still working down in that morgue?”
He says the word morgue like it’s dirty, and as his voice sails through the room, I notice the other guests quiet down and look at me, patiently waiting for a response as though it’s any of their business.
“Uhhh . . . yeah,” I say, feeling awkward.
“I’m still working on my residency in forensic pathology. ”
My mother’s sigh is almost comical, and sure, I’d have probably laughed if it weren’t for the other sixty or so guests listening in to her disapproval.
“Oh, honey. I’m just not sure this is the right job for you.
You’re dealing with dead people all day.
Putting your hands—ugh. No. I really must insist, it’s not too late to take another path.
You could still be a surgeon. A . . . A heart doctor perhaps. ”
“A cardiothoracic surgeon?” I ask.
“Yes, darling. Exactly that. I want better for you. Something you can really excel at. Something where you can be recognized for your work.”
I shove my chair back as I abruptly stand, balling my hands into fists, trying to convince myself not to launch across the table and show her just how good I am at my job.
“No, Mom. You don’t want better for me. You never have.
You just want me to have a job that you can boast about to all your fancy little friends.
You’re embarrassed by my career, and that’s on you, not me.
But guess what? You’re not the only one embarrassed here.
The way you carry on with these ridiculous dinner parties and act like you belong in this world is humiliating. You’re a broke bitch from Queens.”
I resist the urge to shrink as her guests gasp and whisper, and my mother places a hand on her chest as though she’s offended. “How could you?” she questions, pulling out the waterworks and dabbing her eyes. “After everything I’ve sacrificed for you.”
“The only thing you’ve ever sacrificed is your knees when you spent three years sucking dick for a ring.
Well, congratulations. I guess all your hard work paid off.
” I reach for the table and scoop up my glass of champagne before holding it up toward the happy couple.
“Here’s to you and your ability to deep throat.
And to you, Elias, I hope she doesn’t blow all your money in one go.
I’d keep a sharp eye on that one if I were you. ”
Lifting the rim of the glass to my lips, I throw back every last drop before slamming the glass right back down. “As always, Mother, it’s been a pleasure.” And with that, I drop a kiss to Jonah’s cheek before walking my ass right out of the hellhole otherwise known as my mother’s home.