Chapter 5
KNIGHT
If there’s one thing a dinner party with my brother and his bitch of a wife can guarantee, that’s a shitty meal and one hell of a good show. And just as I expected, tonight was no different.
I stare after Harper as she bails, itching to go after her, but it wouldn’t be appropriate.
I shouldn’t be running after my sister-in-law’s daughter.
She’s my step-niece for fuck’s sake. Not to mention, she’s only in her late twenties.
Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight? I don’t fucking know, but what I do know is that she’s way too young for me.
No matter how desperately I want to bend her over my kitchen counter and fuck her raw.
Elias would murder me. I can’t go there.
I’ve had more than my fair share of inappropriate relationships to last me a lifetime, nor do I care what Elias thinks, but to taste Harper-Rayn? That hits a little too close to home. With her, there’d be no going back. I’d destroy her.
I’ve always found her intriguing. When her mom started dating Elias, Harper was barely twenty years old, and eight years later, that desire to have her has only intensified. So I do what I can to stay away.
She’s the forbidden fruit, dangling before me, daring me to take a bite, and I’m the fucking viper in the garden, ready to burn it all to hell.
Call me a fucking egotistical, cocky bastard, but I know she’s just as intrigued as I am.
I see it in her eyes every time she looks at me, the way her bright green stare eats me up.
I see it in the way her cheeks blaze when I call her Morticia, and the way her skin prickles with goosebumps at my touch.
Fuck, that sweet little vixen wants me.
I wonder if she thinks about me? If she thinks about the way I’d feel inside her.
How full she’d be. How I’d taste hitting the back of her throat.
Because fuck, I think about it all the goddamn time.
I’ve imagined it night after night. There’s no denying it, if she weren’t my brother’s stepdaughter, I would have already had her.
“Everything is okay,” Elias says, getting to his feet and speaking to all of his guests, trying to get back on track. “Nothing to be concerned about. Just a little family squabble.”
The guests murmur and nod, and despite appeasing them, my brother can’t help himself as he goes on. “Women, right?” he chuckles, being the sexist pig he’s always been. “Now, please, get back to your meal and enjoy the company. Fill your glasses and your stomachs.”
Elias takes his seat, placing a hand on Mae’s back. “It’ll be alright, my love. She’s weak, so she acts out. She’s jealous of the life you have built with me and too stubborn to admit when she’s wrong. She’ll come around one day. She just needs time.”
Mae shakes her head, really putting on the waterworks now. “I just don’t understand what I ever did to deserve a daughter like that. She’s so ungrateful for everything I’ve done for her. Can’t she see I’ve only ever wanted what was best for her?”
What a load of steaming bullshit.
There was a time long before Mae when I thought my brother was the smartest man I knew.
He built an empire from the ground up, made his first billion within ten years, but then in walked Mae, and that pedestal I had him on quickly chipped away.
Now, he plays the role of the perfect doormat for a woman who would bleed him dry given the chance.
If only Mae knew what kind of man she was actually married to.
Though one thing is for sure, Harper must have been onto something. Her mother must suck cock as though she’s digging for gold.
The longer I watch Mae put on her pity party, the harder it becomes to sit here, and as the irritation becomes too much, I go to get up, but Jonah beats me to it.
He pushes back from the table and gets to his feet.
“I uhh . . . I should go check on Harper. Make sure she’s not trying to drive her ass home. ”
I all but fly to my feet. “No, no,” I say, desperate to get out of this room. “Stay. Eat. I’ll go.”
Jonah’s face scrunches, looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind, and maybe I have, but anything is better than staying here and listening to Mae’s pathetic sob-fest. “Huh? Why?”
Good fucking question.
My gaze flicks toward his mother and not a moment later, understanding flashes in his eyes.
“Right. Gotcha,” he says. “But fair warning, if Harper’s going down, she’s going down swinging.
She’ll have something to say, and if you don’t give her your full, undivided attention and let her rant, you better watch your back. ”
A smirk pulls at my lips. A fiery Harper-Rayn? Yes please. I’m getting hard just thinking about it. “Noted,” I say, before nodding to Elias and attempting a smile for Mae to be polite, but honestly, it comes out as more of a grimace.
I don’t wait around, spinning on my heel and hightailing it out of this ridiculous mansion. I reach the grand front door in seconds, and the moment I pull it open, I hear someone manically pacing at the end of the long driveway, muttering to herself under her breath.
Pulling the door closed behind me, I make the trek down the driveway, watching Harper-Rayn attempt to wear a hole in the pavement. I go out of my way to walk with heavy steps so she knows I’m here, but she’s so lost in thought that she doesn’t notice me until I’m barely a foot away.
“Shit,” she gasps, momentarily pausing before getting straight back to pacing. She shakes her head, clearly still haunted by her own thoughts, and I simply wait, knowing the onslaught is coming. “She just . . . She makes me so angry.”
“So she should. The woman is a narcissistic bitch.”
Harper pauses, and I can’t help but notice the way her long hair falls over her creamy shoulder. She usually has it up in a messy bun, but like this, I can’t stop picturing how easy it’d be to wrap it around my wrist and pull her head back until she arched that sweet back of hers.
“Wait,” she says, her brows pinched together. “You agree with me?”
I nod. “Vehemently.”
Her brows fly up in surprise, and she nods right back at me, her lips pursed. “Good to know,” she says before taking a breath and meeting my stare again. “Did I take it too far? I bet she’s in there putting on a show about how horrible her ungrateful daughter is.”
“Oh, she’s definitely eating up every bit of attention she can get,” I tell her, not bothering to sugarcoat it. “The waterworks are a bit overkill though.”
“Shit. She’s crying?”
“Oh yeah.”
“I’m going to have hell to pay.”
I shrug. “Probably, but she deserved it. Dismissing everything you’ve achieved in front of a room full of people was uncalled for.
Personally, I would have gone in harder, but the broke bitch from Queens and the three years on her knees sucking dick for a ring really were a crowd pleaser. You should be proud of yourself.”
A grin cuts across her lips, and the way her eyes sparkle lets me know she’s going to be just fine. “I am. I’ve been waiting years for that moment.”
“Good. Now, why the hell are you hovering out here? Where’s your car, Morticia?”
Her cheeks flush at the stupid name, and I fucking love it. “I’m not driving,” she tells me. “I’m waiting for an Uber, which is really screwing with my whole storming off thing. I could have timed that better.”
An Uber? Not on my fucking watch.
I shake my head and indicate for her to follow me. “Come on. I’ll drive you.”
I start walking toward my truck when her voice flutters behind me. “That’s okay. You don’t need to do that.”
“I’m not telling you again, Morticia,” I say, not bothering to halt my step or even look back at her. “Get in my fucking truck.”
“I—shit.”
The sound of her heels against the pavement cuts through the night, and I do what I can to keep the smirk off my face as she hurries after me.
I unlock my truck and climb in, and within seconds, the passenger side door is flying open.
Harper climbs in with a huff before fixing me with a hard stare, and I make a point not to look at her as I start the engine and let the truck roar to life.
“You know, you really don’t need to do this. I would have been fine in my Uber.”
“You’ve been drinking, you’re upset, and after your little outburst in there, you can’t exactly be trusted to make good decisions. So I’m driving your ass home whether you like it or not.”
Her stare on the side of my face is laser sharp, and I let out a sigh. “Something you need?” I question, bracing my hand against the headrest of her seat as I reverse out of my spot.
“I never realized how bossy you are.”
I glance toward her, meeting her curious stare, and as those bright green eyes lock onto mine, I can’t help but notice the way her thighs press together. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Morticia. Keep huffing and puffing like that, and you’ll find out just how bossy I can be.”
She zips her lips, and I watch her swallow hard before finally turning my attention back to the road. I hit the gas and waste no time sailing out of this fucked-up gated community and back on the highway.
“So,” she starts. “Still responsible for the over-supply of bodies that wind up in my morgue?”
A grin cuts across my face, and I scoff.
She knows damn well that my SWAT team doesn’t put bodies in the morgue.
We’re the best team in the state. The best this country has to offer.
We get in, get the job done, and get the fuck out of there without casualties.
But that doesn’t mean I won’t play along.
“Of course,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t want to put you out of business.”
Harper laughs and fiddles with my music when I glance over at her. “Tell me what really happened with that bruise on your shoulder,” I tell her. “And this time, cut the shit.”