Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(14)

And glued it all together so neatly that, while I can see every crack and missing chip, it’s all in one piece. I can’t tell you how he knew that it’s so important to me, but he did, and he’d chosen to get his blue-blooded mitts dirty and dig around in garbage for me.

Crapsickles, that stuff makes me putty in his hands, and from the knowing glint in the asshole’s eye, I think he knows it.

“Shower and dress. We have things to do. Oh, and I put your clothes out. Wear them.”

***

Luc

She stomps into the kitchen twenty minutes later wearing the light pink sundress and low-heeled sandals I’d chosen, her cute little mouth so tight I swear she could crack nuts on it.

Mine, to be specific.

Like I care. All Ashley needs to know right now is that she belongs to me and that I am her…I don’t want to use the word ‘master’ because I am not into that stuff, but I am most definitely in charge, especially after this morning, when she’d let me into her body.

If I feel this way after getting her off with my hand I shudder to think what the poor woman will have in store for her when I finally manage to take her innocence.

“I don’t like dresses,” she grumbles after planting a quick, stealthy kiss on her brother’s head and taking a seat beside me.

When the little scamp jumps down and launches himself at her for a hug and a kiss—I’ll have to nix him going for her mouth, because brother or not, that belongs to me—and she smiles so brightly it hurts my eyes, I decide the kid’s just earned himself a Gameboy.

Funny, but seeing Ashley so happy makes something deep inside me clench and release, something that feels suspiciously like my stone cold heart.

“Uh, hi, honey. You seem…good this morning.”

I tune out as he starts babbling about the pool and the yard. Seriously, what do I care about that stuff, as long as they’re both happy to be here? An hour later every happy thought I’d been resentfully carrying around comes crashing down around my ears.

“What the fuck are you saying?”

Brody winces at the leashed rage in my tone and sighs heavily before meeting my eyes once again.

“They had some sort of trust fund thing that their late grandmother left to them. Since she hadn’t reached her majority yet, the handling of it was left to her old man.”

Which means that scheming bastard Wesley Munro had not only abandoned my girl and his son, but the son of a bitch had added insult to injury by stealing their inheritance.

Swear to God, when I get my hands on that animal I can’t be held responsible for my actions. How does a man go from being a decent father to stealing the food out of his children’s mouths and then skipping off to start a new family?

I want to throttle him every time I think about my girl working herself into an early grave just to keep them fed.

“Calm down, Luc. This is just another example of the human filth we’ve dealt with before. I’ll get Garret on this so we know how much of their money the idiot has already spent, and then we can go from there. There’s a woman and kid involved here, so ruining him isn’t necessarily the best route to take.”

No, he’s right, but that doesn’t do anything to lessen the anger I feel right now. If not for that…person, my girl would have been doing just fine. She sure as balls wouldn’t have had to spend the last years dealing with shit and an angry baby boy who can’t understand why his father didn’t love him enough to stay.

“Get me everything you have on him. I’ll look it through and make my decision from there.”

“You got it, boss.”

When he leaves I sit back, not bothered with the reports heaped on my desk, and look out of the window, laying out my plans in such a way that by the time Ashley learns of this, I’ll own her completely enough that she won’t be harmed by the truth.





Chapter Eight




This day has been one of the best and worst of my life. Best because not only do I have this morning’s episode to keep me alert and on tenterhooks—God, just the memory gets me worked up—but Ben’s been a dream, the private all boys academy Lucian has gotten him into is absolutely fantastic, and the teachers are wonderful.

Now I just have to focus on doing everything the shrink talked to us about.

I say worst too because, while I’m all better after a dose of some vile concoction Lucian forced down my throat, I feel…out of place.

I’m not one of those woman who thinks that a poor girl can’t be with a rich guy, like she’s worth less or some shit, but I can say I am totally out of my element.

I have no job, and for a girl like me, who’s used to being run ragged, it’s hard to sit around all day without going crazy. Plus I’m scared blind that I’ll break something in this mausoleum, and from the looks of things it could cost more than all of my organs would bring on the black market.