AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As my thoughts turn to Noah, I’m unsure how I feel now it’s almost certain he is—was Theo’s inside man. The question of whether he still is or if he’s gone rogue remains unanswered. Until we can confirm his part in all of this, I’m unable to process my feelings.
A thought suddenly occurs to me about how Maddox and Zak found out Theo was Star’s father. I plan to ask them when they are up.
The sun is only just rising, but I’ve been up for the last hour sitting in the orangery cradling a cup of tea, which went cold thirty minutes ago now.
I hear a noise behind me and turn as Maddox steps out.
“Hey,” I greet as he joins me on the bench.
“I heard you get up but thought you could use some time alone. Was I wrong?”
“No, Maddox, you weren’t wrong.” I flick a small bug that’s landed on my knee away and think how I wish it was as easy as that to get rid of Rogers and James. “Did you and Zak read Theo’s letter yet?” I see him shake his head from the corner of my eye. “It’s okay to be scared to find out the truth, Mad. Doesn’t make you less of a man, you know.”
“It’s not the truth I’m afraid of, Roxanne.”
I turn in my seat to face him. “So, what is it then?” I ask, watching him.
He looks out over the back garden for a moment before finally turning to face me. “I’m afraid I made the wrong choice. Zak and I never had a good life, even after we were adopted. The Lawlers never cared about us. They just enjoyed the extra cash that having us around gave them. It’s not that I think our lives would have turned out any other way, I mean we were always going to be bad men on the wrong side of the law. It’s actually comical that our surname is Lawler, don’t you think?” He gives a humourless laugh.
“Okay, so how could you have made the wrong choice then? Because the way I see it, we would have crossed paths at some point, Maddox. Theo being Star’s father made sure of that.”
“Maybe.” He shrugs. “But we wouldn’t have dragged you into our world.”
“Bullshit!” I crawl over and climb into his lap, straddling him, which probably isn’t the best idea, and I slide my arms around his neck. He looks up at me from beneath hooded eyes, as I said, bad idea but necessary. Gripping the hair at the back of his head, I tug until he’s looking up at me fully, until I have his full attention. “Listen the fuck up, Maddox. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was 12 or 27 when I met you, I was always, always going to love you and Zak. My life was just as screwed up as yours or did you forget that, huh? What you did and the decisions you made were the right ones in that moment.” Keeping a tight grip on his hair, I grasp his face with my other hand, the bristles on his chin scratch at my palm and fingers. “I hated you both for leaving me. Hated you so much. But in all that hate I never stopped loving you. I just never realised it at the time.” I kiss him, its slow and gentle, nothing like the man who’s lap I’m sitting in. His hands grip my hips, fingers flexing with every breath. Resting my forehead against his, our breaths entwining, I say, “There is no scenario where I wouldn’t be right here, Mad. It hurt like fucking hell to get here, and I know there’s more to come, I feel it. But I’d live those ten years all over again, suffer everything and more again if it meant I’d end up here with you and Zak.” His eyes darken with heat, swirling with love and desire.
“Fuck, you’re amazing!” His hand wraps around my throat, and it’s like a direct line to my clit. The hum that rumbles up my throat vibrates against his hand, and he squeezes a little tighter in response. I can’t help the roll of my hips, and he drops both hands to my hips, tightening his hold and forcing another until I’m grinding against him freely, chasing the pleasure. His lips meet mine and gone is the gentle kiss I laid on him earlier. This is full of fire and I’m happy to burn in it.
That is until an amused cough comes from behind us.
“Ah-hem. Morning. Do you mind if I join you?” Kavanagh says, as he steps into view with a smirk on his face.
Maddox rolls his eyes while making sure that the only thing I’m wearing, which is his t-shirt, is covering me. “You’re welcome to sit outhere, Kavanagh,” Maddox growls, making sure he knows he got the innuendo and doesn’t appreciate it. Although, I’m certain it was nothing more than Kavanagh poking the bear, which is proved a moment later by his laughter.
“Of course, Maddox.” He sits and takes a sip of his coffee. The aroma is rich, and I can smell it from here. “There are some things we need to discuss.”
“I know what this is about. You want to know what my plans are for the territories once Rogers and Bonner are done. Well, I’ll make this really fucking simple, Kavanagh, you can have Rogers’ territory. Do what you want with it. This fight was never about Theo’s territory. If that had been true, Zak and I would never have walked away, and instead of Rogers taking Theo out, we could have done it ourselves.”
His answer surprises me, and it must show on my face because he continues, not just talking to Kavanagh but me too.
“I have no desire to be the fucking Don of London. Theo always planned for me to take over and have Zak as my second when he stepped down, and for a long while it’s what I wanted to. But now, I’m happy with my slice of the city. And I’ll be even happier once it’s been cleaned of sick fuckers like Rogers and the like.”
“I hate to burst your bubble, Maddox, but you might not have a choice.”
Maddox’s eyes narrow and then he sighs. I turn to look at Kavanagh, climbing from Maddox’s lap to sit beside him.
“What do you mean?” I ask, looking between the two men while they glare at one another. “Somebody going to fucking explain to me or what?” I demand when neither of them answers me.
Kavanagh finally breaks his staring contest with Maddox to answer. “If Maddox takes down Rogers, he’ll automatically take the territory. Territory that should have been his anyway. And if he also takes out Bonner, then his territory will become Maddox’s too, making him theDonof London.”
“This is bullshit! In case you didn’t notice we aren’t doing this alone. So, you and Laskin can have the fucking territory and fight it out amongst yourselves.”
“That’s not how it works, Maddox, and you damn well know it. Don’t disrespect Theo’s memory by throwing away everything he earned and planned to give to you when he died.”
I wince slightly at that because it reminds me of what I heard Theo and Noah talking about on the audio file yesterday. It’s why I told Zak they needed to read his letter and listen to the recordings. I had hoped no one saw, but, of course, that would be too damn easy.
“Fuck you talking about respect, Kavanagh. And what was that, Roxanne?” I feel Maddox’s eyes burning up the side of my face, and it’s not pleasant. I much prefer the burn from his kiss moments ago.
“Read the letter, then listen to the audio files, Maddox,” I tell him, keeping my eyes on his and holding his hard stare.
