14
It hurt to look into her eyes and see how badly the news had hurt her. How badly I was hurting her. I knew I’d have to do it though. Grey’s little outburst the other day hadn’t stopped replaying over and over in my head. Adonis had completed his initiation tasks, and I couldn’t put off his welcome any longer.But in her eyes, I had used her. I had allowed this guy, my stepson, to make a fool of her for his own gain, to prove that he deserved to be here.“Why?” she asked quietly.“I’m presuming you’re asking me why I set those tasks for him?” I answered her question with my own, keeping my tone even, tucking away the desire to apologise to her. We were in my bar, surrounded by Brothers, with our newest member sat opposite me taking in our exchange with a disgusted look plastered on his face.I needed to keep face.She nodded.“It’s a compliment, Mal. If he can beat you to a kill, he’s worth keeping around.” I had told him the exact same thing when I had set his tasks. Neither of them would get the honest truth from me about it. So I had come up with a highly plausible excuse in preparation. One that would play to both of their egos.She seemed to think my answer over, then irritation flashed across her face. “Why didn’t you just tell me that before?”“I have my reasons. Don’t push this,” I replied in a low growl. Maybe it was unnecessary to be so harsh towards her, but she couldn’t question my motives here. Not when the entire Brotherhood was around.She stepped back, pulling herself together, and turned her attention to Adonis. “Your work is messy, Adonis. You need to improve on a lot of things if you want to be taken seriously,” she said flatly, then spun away from the table, heading towards the bar with a dramatic flick of her fiery hair.Adonis watched her go, his lip curled like she was a bad smell. Then he turned to me and opened his mouth to speak.“You better not push me either, Son,” I warned. “I’m your boss now.”“You’re fucking her,” he said, ignoring my warning. He was clearly angry, the accent he had acquired from a lifetime in Italy came through so much stronger when he was angry. He seemed to want to hide it, to blend in. He needed to work on it. It could make him weak, showing his emotions like that.“Adonis, if you want to discuss this, you will wait until we get home.” I kept my voice quiet so only he could hear me and plastered a bored look onto my face for anyone who was watching our exchange.“I’ve already told you, I’m not moving into your house, Lorenzo.” He matched my tone, but the accent remained strong as he sat back comfortably in his chair.“Boss. When we are here you will call me boss. I shouldn’t have to remind you,” I corrected him, frustrated by his inability to follow basic fucking rules. “And you will move in. A room has been made up for you, your mother would want you with family, and that is where you will be, Adonis. This isn’t up for debate.” I rose from my seat and straightened my suit jacket. Adonis ran his gaze over my attire approvingly.“We’ll talk about it at home then, boss,” he said, sarcasm oozing into every word. “The suit looks good on you, molto bene,” he added after.I smiled down at him and he returned it, quickly putting our disagreement on the back burner. It wouldn’t be up for discussion later, but I wouldn’t be repeating myself in front of the Brothers and making myself look as though I was unable to control my men.“You were right, Son. That tailor is very skilled.” Adonis and I had gone on a little father-son bonding trip to get new suits. One of the few things we had in common was our eye for good quality clothes. Not that you could always tell with him. He didn’t have a very varied taste, mostly alternating between suits and fitted t-shirts, all black, but he always looked good.He stood up and exited the booth with me. “I suppose I should mingle.” He rolled his eyes.“Try not to piss anyone off tonight,” I joked, placing my hand on his shoulder in the closest thing to an affectionate gesture I could muster.
I was quite fond of him; it had taken up until now for me to realise that though. His disinterest in joining my family when his mother had moved here to be with me had put a wedge between us. I had believed that her death would see the end of our connection, especially when he hadn’t shown for her funeral. I hadn’t been sad about it; I had felt nothing. But when he had turned up some time later with that bloodlust in his eyes, I knew that he belonged with me.I made my way to the door. I didn’t need to announce my exit, they would realise soon enough. The Brothers would enjoy their evening and I didn’t plan on supervising it. Before I reached the door, I caught Grey’s eye and lifted my head, indicating for him to come to me. He followed the order and was at my side without a second’s hesitation, leaving the barmaid, Jen, holding a pint up in the air and cursing after him, clearly annoyed that he had walked off before she had finished pouring it. I loved my staff here; they had no issue with calling out my men for their shitty behaviour.“Keep an eye on everyone tonight, Grey. I’d quite like to have a quiet moning tomorrow.”He nodded, understanding my command. “Will do boss, have a good night.”He rushed back to the bar just as Jen’s voice reached us, shouting an explicit threat to cut a certain appendage off if he was ever rude to her again. I smiled, not doubting her ability to follow thought with it one bit. She may not quite be Brotherhood material, not skilled enough like Mal, but the girl had balls.I took in the room, briefly enjoying the moment as my Brothers were all gathered together. The beautifully dysfunctional family that I had created. My eyes fell to Mal, leaning against the bar, deep in conversation with Cooper. Filthy images flashed through my mind, a graphic reminder of how I had taken her on that bar top only a couple of nights ago. I felt my cock strain under the fabric of my trousers. She had pushed herself so far under my skin. I was finding myself willing to do anything in my power to protect her. The look she had given me tonight was almost enough to make me drop the act that we put on for everyone else and hold her tight until she forgave me.
Almost.I pulled my phone from my pocket, as I turned to the door and stepped out into the cool evening air.
LorenzoCome to mine. Now.
A simple command. One that I knew that she would follow, no matter how angry she was with me. I needed her tonight, even if she pushed me, tested me and crossed every damn line. I would take every second of it, and make my way back into her good graces.