15
My phone buzzed in my pocket, drawing my attention away from the irritated telling-off that I was giving to Cooper. I was angry with him too, but nowhere near as angry as I was with Lorenzo. Cooper had known all about that arsehole, and he hadn’t told me anything either. He had been working behind the scenes to ensure the jobs ran smoothly, as usual, and in turn, he had been allowing me to be made a fool out of. Not that I could really be too angry, he wouldn’t have had much choice in his role, and he had apologised, profusely, which was a hell of a lot more than Lorenzo had done.But he could have told me.“It’s not like I’d have dropped you in it for telling me. I can play dumb if I have to. I’m quite the actress when it’s necessary.” I finished saying and looked at the screen of my phone. A message from our boss lit it up, and I let out a low growl at the demand he had sent my way. Did he really think that he could just snap his fingers and I’d come running? Especially after the way he had dismissed me tonight. The fact that he clearly didn’t think I could handle being in the know had royally pissed me off. He had said that it was a compliment that this new guy was put on my jobs, but it didn’t feel like one. All I felt was betrayal, and that shit hurt.I tapped out a single word and pocketed my phone.
MalloryNo.
I leaned over the bar to grab Jen’s attention, and she quickly placed the pint that she had just pulled for Michael on the bar and headed my way.“My favourite lady, how are you doing? I heard you caused quite the stir in here a couple of nights ago and had the boss kicking everyone out.” She raised her brows at me and grinned like a maniac. “Brave girl.”I let out a small laugh, “And I lived to tell the tale, shockingly. Can I get some shots please Jen, four? I’ll let you decide what we have, just not tequila.” I scrunched my face up. Unless it was a lingering taste sitting on Lorenzo’s lips I couldn’t stand the stuff, and I didn’t want to be thinking about Lorenzo’s lips right now. Or the fact that I was leaning on the exact spot where he had bent me over and fucked me. I needed something to distract my thoughts.“Sure thing.” She turned to grab a bottle from the shelf and messily poured out four shots of vodka.That would do it.I placed a couple of notes on the bar, and she waved them away. “Boss has covered you guys tonight girl, so you can just enjoy yourself.” She sashayed away to deal with another Brother.I slid two of the glasses in front of Cooper and lifted one of the remaining two to my lips.“To Adonis.” I said his name like it was painful to even form the letters, and threw back the burning liquid.Cooper just looked at me and sighed. “I am sorry, Sunshine,” he said with a sad look on his face.“Drink,” I demanded, and grabbed another glass as I felt my pocket begin to vibrate. I didn’t bother to check my phone; I knew who it was. No-one said no to Lorenzo D’Angelo. Until now. There wasn’t a chance in hell of me answering that call.The consequences of my words and actions could be future Mal’s problem.I emptied the small glass and frowned at Cooper as he ignored my demand.“I’m gonna pass, someone will have to get you home.” He smiled and slid his drinks back over to me. I shrugged and chased them one after the other.“Thanks, Coop, and I know you’re sorry, and I know you’ll make it up to me.” I gave him a mock stern look and he wrapped his arm over my shoulder.“You want to head home now? Or do you fancy sticking around for a while?” he asked.I scanned the bar, noticing that the arsehole—sorry, Adionis—was watching me. He didn’t flinch, he didn’t even blink when I met his gaze. He just stared with a cold glint in his dark eyes.My phone buzzed again, and I huffed out a long breath. “Take me home, Coop. I want tonight to be over.”He nodded and guided me towards the door, wrapping an arm around me.“Leaving so soon, princess?” A deep voice called loudly across the room. I didn’t need to turn around to know who had spoken. No one else would dare to call me that. Princess. They all knew why I hated it. They all knew that the last man who had called me that had ended up dead, and that night had been the start of my initiation into The Brotherhood.Cooper’s grip around me tightened, he knew me, knew I wouldn’t react well to the comment. Hell, he probably already knew that I had fired a warning shot at the arsehole for calling me princess once already. He continued to guide me away from the bar, and I lifted my hand up, raising my middle finger. Fuck you, arsehole.As we walked through the door, I heard Adonis’ laughter follow me out, accompanied by someone else’s sly chuckle, I had no doubt in my mind that it had come from Grey.“My car is just down the road,” Cooper said as he released me from his hold, and we walked silently side by side.Once we were comfortably inside his car, I closed my eyes and rested my head back.“Wake me up when we get there,” I murmured, exhausted from everything that had happened this evening. As I drifted in and out of light sleep, I thought of Toby and our date and let the happy feeling those thoughts inspired surround me. Warm and cosy.
“Mallory, wake up.” Cooper prodded my arm repeatedly until I cracked open an eye to squint at him.“Carry me up?” I requested sleepily as I let my eye close again.He poked me, again, harder this time and I wriggled away from him and forced myself to open my eyes properly. I immediately noticed that it was dark outside, and I wondered why he hadn’t driven down into the garage. Was he going to make me walk the long way to my apartment in the cold?I peered out of the window and pursed my lips as the view, followed by an ice-cold realisation, hit me.This was not my home. We weren’t even close. My so-called friend had brought me to our boss’s house.“Coop, what the fuck!” I exploded.“He texted me. I’m sorry. He said it was important, and I can’t be dealing with life on his bad side right now. I’ll make it up to you. Promise.” He gave me an angelic look. Batting his damn eyelashes and everything.“I’m going to kill you,” I ground out through clenched teeth.“Nah, you’re going to go have a big fight with the boss, and then have some mind-blowing sex. If anything, you’ll be thanking me.” He winked.The accuracy of his comment took me off guard, and my mouth fell open.He chuckled and lifted my jaw with his finger, closing my mouth for me.“How the—”“Oh come on, Sunshine, you’re not always very quiet, and I work in that house a lot. I’m just very, very good at keeping secrets.” He winked again, grinning this time.I chewed on my lower lip and felt my skin heat slightly.“Shit, thank you, Coop,” I murmured. I had genuinely believed that we had kept our thing pretty damn quiet. I had a feeling that Grey knew, Grey seemed to know everything, but not Cooper.Fuck I hope no one else knows.I stretched my back out and grabbed the door handle, taking a couple of moments to prepare myself for what would be waiting for me. It was starting to feel as though I had to prepare my head every time I entered Lorenzo’s house.“Wish me luck.” I gave my friend a weak smile and stepped out of his car. He laughed and blew me a kiss. One day I would actually manage to stay mad at him. Today, sadly for me, wasn’t that day.I walked to the front door and knocked hard. Clive would be waiting, the gate guard would’ve informed the staff that we were coming up.“Good evening, Mallory,” Clive said as he ushered me inside. “In the lounge tonight.”“Hey Clive, thanks. Can I ask, how is his mood right now?” I leaned in close as if we were teenagers sharing secrets and he lowered his voice.“Calm, now. He lost it when you ignored his calls, but he’s been down in the gym since.”“Thanks.” I headed across the foyer and through the lounge doors, I was starting to get to know the layout of the mansion quite well, but there were still parts that were a complete mystery to me, hallways and rooms that I had never ventured into.“You’re here,” he breathed as he spun around to look at me, relief written all over his face.“Yep,” I said bluntly, “You can thank Cooper later.’
I went to sit down in a wing-backed armchair and kicked my heels off. It was clear I wouldn’t be leaving this place tonight, so I might as well make myself comfortable. “I really don’t appreciate you going behind my back to get me here, you put my friend in a shit position.”“Your friend? Your friend is one of my men. And how else was I supposed to get you here, you were ignoring my calls,” he snapped. It looked as though his work-out had only taken the edge off, his bad mood was still festering underneath.“I was ignoring you for a reason,” I spat back. My lady balls were in serious danger of exploding from how big they had become recently. Apparently, the longer our little situation went on, the braver I became in his presence.“Watch your tone, Mal,” he said sharply, starting to sound like a stuck record with how often he repeated that little phrase.“Oh, it’s Mal right now, is it? So you’ve summoned me for business purposes?” I narrowed my eyes at him as he stepped closer and towered over me – apparently slightly drunk Mallory didn’t give a fuck about who he was, or what he was capable of doing.Slightly drunk Mallory was an idiot.“No, you’re not here as a Brother.” His voice was a low whisper.“Then don’t speak to me like one.” I crossed my arms under my breasts. “You’re in my bad books, Lorenzo.”The look on his face was pure shock. I had even managed to shock myself with my bold declaration. Although, he quickly pulled himself together, and placed his hands on the arm rests of my chair, caging me in, placing his mouth so close to mine that I could almost taste him.“And you’re in mine.”“For not coming running? I don’t have to, Lorenzo.” I brushed my lips against his, then pulled back, licking my lips, the taste of him—coffee mixed with sweat—coating them. “I’m not your little bitch.”“No, amore mio,” he breathed, “you are so much more.”I pulled further away and held his dark gaze. A whirlpool of emotions were swirling in his eyes, the darkness of them glittering. I had no idea what the man before me was feeling, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that I’d be asking. I couldn’t handle anything other than rage and lust right now. If he had something else to say to me, it could wait.I shook off the weird feeling that had suddenly come over me. “Why am I here then? Are you going to fight me, or fuck me?”Perfect, boundaries.He hesitated, seeming to need to think my question over. I wasn’t aware that it would really take much thought to answer. I lifted a hand up to run my fingers down his still damp, bare chest, hinting at the direction that I would prefer the moment to take. I was mad, but fighting would result in me needing to get home somehow, and I didn’t think it was very fair to call Cooper back here. So fucking was my preference. He sucked in a sharp breath as my fingers met the waistband of his gym shorts and teased the smooth, toned flesh that sat just below the fabric.“Well?” I purred, and let my fingertips run back and forth slowly, dipping into the each side of the defined ‘v’ that pointed to his cock.His lips found mine in a vicious kiss that answered my question as clearly as any words could have. We were going to do both.That was something I could work with.My hand slid lower into his shorts and easily found his hard cock. Since we had started sleeping together I had found out some interesting things about Lorenzo, one thing being the fact that he never wore underwear to work out, and I loved that.He broke away from the kiss, groaning as I slid my hand up and down his shaft and pushed his shorts down with the other.“Stand,” he grunted.I followed his command, letting curiosity take over. I kept pumping my hand up and down as I stared up at him and drank in the look of pleasure on his face. His chest was rising and falling in a slow, deep rhythm, and I couldn’t stop a smirk forming on my lips at the power I was currently holding.He didn’t let it last long though, abruptly grabbing my wrist and stilling my motion.Had I just managed to get him close with my hand alone?He freed himself from my grip and lifted my hand, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it in a sweet gesture that confused me. Before I could linger on it, he swiftly grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder. Less confusing. A girlie shriek left my lips, and he swatted my ass playfully--Fucker knew exactly what he was doing. A giggle escaped me, and I cringed at the noise. But Lorenzo’s hand came crashing down on my ass again, and I snarled.“What are you—” I began, wriggling on his shoulder. A yelp cut through my words as his hand connected with my ass a third time and he carried me out of the lounge without uttering a single word.He made his way up the stairs as I thrashed around in frustration, and he let out a low laugh in response. “Give up, amore mio.”“Put me down,” I demanded, but the words lost all bite as I realised that he was completely naked, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at how ridiculous we must have looked.He shoved through a door, and the next thing I knew I was being thrown onto my back in a cloud of soft, white sheets. We were in his room, the room that I had now slept in a couple of times, but we had never done anything else in his private space.I tried not to think about what it meant, if it even meant anything at all. I pulled my focus back to Lorenzo.“Don’t do that ever again.” I scowled, and he stood over me, blocking the dim light of the wall lamps, his mouth pulled into a cocky smile.“You enjoyed it.”“No. I hated it,” I protested.“Sure you did.” The smug look on his face was equal parts gorgeous and infuriating.I huffed in annoyance and moved to sit up. “Fight me, or fuck me, Lorenzo. Stop playing games.”“So demanding,” he teased. “And a little overdressed.” He looked me up and down. “Are you going to strip willingly, or do I need to use force?” he questioned in a low growl.“Force,” I breathed. Excitement igniting between my thighs at the idea.“Good,” he replied happily.
Grasping the middle of my new satin top, he effortlessly ripped the fabric. A gasp fell from my lips, followed by a lusty moan as he pinched my exposed nipples harshly. The man dragging pain filled pleasure from my body was slowly becoming an addiction. One that I had no desire to quit.
“Are you awake?” I rolled over to face Lorenzo and smiled at the warmth radiating on my back from the morning sun. He was sitting with his back against the plush white headboard, a deep frown sitting on his face. I couldn’t have managed to do anything to annoy him yet, could I? I had only been awake for a few moments.I bet I was snoring or something.“What’s wrong?” I asked gently, wondering if he might kick me out already.“You looked beautiful last night,” he said, gaze locked on the window. He paused, then looked down at me. “Why?”I spluttered a short laugh. “Why did I look beautiful?” I threw the question back at him, unsure what response to give.“Sorry, that came out wrong,” he sighed. “You always look beautiful, but last night you’d put in extra effort. Was that for me? Or had you been somewhere else before coming to The Crown?”It was not a question that I had ever expected from him. He’d never taken any interest in what I did in my spare time before, unless it involved him making me orgasm over and over again.
I thought about it for a minute. I looked nice because I had been on a date. I was dating, kinda. Would he be mad about that? Was there any point in lying though? This was Lorenzo D’Angelo; he could find out exactly where I had been, and with who, without asking me if he wanted to. I supposed I should be pleased that he was asking me, like a normal person.“Um, I had a date,” I admitted, trying to put on a casual front about it. But the flush I felt in my cheeks clearly gave away how much I’d enjoyed my time with Toby. Lorenzo noticed and swallowed hard.“Right,” he said bluntly, returning his gaze to look out of the window.I propped myself up on my elbow and reached out to rest my hand on his toned stomach. “Is that an issue?” I asked.“We’re not together, Mal, why should it be?” His words felt like a lie, and for some unknown reason, I didn’t like them. I exhaled slowly through my nose and removed my hand.“Exactly,” I said quietly, not sure that he could even hear me. He didn’t move, and I wasn’t going to push a man who clearly had no idea what he wanted from me. Best to just ignore it.I rolled onto my back and stretched, readying myself to get up and make an exit before things got more uncomfortable.As I let out a soft groan at the ache that spread through my entire body from the previous night, the door came flying open. I gasped and grabbed at the sheet that had pooled around our ankles, lifting it to cover both myself and Lorenzo. I looked up at him, my back to the door, and he rolled his eyes at the intruder.“You don’t know how to knock?” His tone lacked the aggression that I would have expected, tempting me turn to see who was there.Adonis stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame with my stilettos dangling from a finger. Anger rose inside me instantly, and I shot him a deathly glare.“Doesn’t your puttana know how to tidy up after herself?” he shot back, dropping my heels to the floor, and giving me a disgusted look.“Don,” Lorenzo warned and his hand grasped mine under the sheets. Weird.“Sorry,” Adonis said sarcastically, and crouched down to straighten up my heels where he had dropped them.“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Lorenzo snapped.“I know.” The arsehole smirked and casually leaned back against the doorframe again. The fabric of his black shirt tightening as he folded thick, tattooed arms. “So, what’s this job then?”“You couldn’t have waited?”“No. I wanted to make a good impression. First proper day on the job and all that.” His eyes sparkled with mischief, but this man was far from fun and playful.“Try harder next time. Throwing around stupid insults is not a good way to start.” Lorenzo squeezed my hand.Adonis shrugged and looked me up and down. I glanced at him with disinterest, attempting to hide how uncomfortable I was with being caught in bed with my boss. Our boss. Fuck.“You and Mal will be working together tonight. Grey is sending over all of the information I need now. I will have details for you both within the hour.”I instantly stiffened. My grip on Lorenzo’s hand tightening. Were we not done with that shit? Forcing me and his arsehole stepson out into the wild together. It was insulting.“Absolutely not.” Both Adonis and I spoke at the same time. Our eyes meeting, hatred electrifying the air between us. “I wasn’t asking,” Lorenzo barked and removed himself from my grip to get out of bed. He was partly dressed, wearing tight sweats. He looked mouth-wateringly hot. He rounded the bed and placed himself in the space between the door and the bed, separating us.“You will work together.” He spoke with a level of authority that wasn’t to be argued with, and he pointed his finger between us. “You will not fail me.” He stepped towards his stepson. “And you will not fucking complain.”Adonis broke our eye contact and looked at our boss, they stood at the same height, but it was clear who the smaller man was. He nodded sharply and Lorenzo slapped a hand on his stepson’s shoulder.“Fine. Maybe Mallory will learn something.” Adonis spun on his heel and walked off down the hallway.Lorenzo turned to me and raised his brows, waiting for me to speak.“Do I have to be nice to him?” I asked.“It would be easier for everyone if you are, but no, amore mio, you can be as mean as you desire.”A small smile played on the edges of my lips. “I guess it might be fun then.” I slipped the sheets down, exposing the pale skin of my chest. “Can I have some fun with you first though?” I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t taken a stupid risk by trying to initiate something.“Always,” he growled, climbing on top of me and pinning me to the bed. I had no idea what was going on in this man’s head and I probably should have walked away from him before it could get too messy. But for some fucked up reason, I couldn’t. I really was addicted to him.He played my body like it was his prized instrument, and he was a world-class musician. Moans and gasps rang out around us, and as his throbbing shaft slammed into my soaking core, a scream tore through my throat. I threw my head back as more screams escaped me. I came hard and fast, Lorenzo following a split second later, collapsing beside me and panting heavily.The loud bang of a distant door being slammed pulled me from my post-fuck daze and I glanced over to see that the bedroom door was still wide open.Lorenzo laughed darkly. “I don’t think Adonis enjoyed the show.”