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I smile. “Thank you, Edward. Can you grab the bags, and I will take Baron?”
“Of course.” He nods before moving to collect our luggage. I stare after him with a grin. My parents made sure to hire an older guard to look after me this time. Shortly after Thalia was taken, I ended up telling my parents everything. They are aware of who Baron’s father is—I didn’t want to hide it from them. They deserved better than my lies. My father wasn’t happy that I had been sleeping with my security detail. He said it put me at risk. How could Bishopprotect me and be conscious of our surroundings if he was too busy mooning over me, he had said. It wasn’t ideal, but I know with everything in me that despite what happened at the end of our relationship, Bishop would have never allowed any harm to come to me. It’s stupid, really, considering I never really knew him. But I believe it to be true.
Baron stirs in his car seat next to me, his eyes blinking open in the next second. Dropping my head to his, I nuzzle his cheek with a smile. “Ready to go home, my little prince?” He blinks, not understanding a word that I am saying. Shaking my head, I push out of the leather chair and grab Baron’s diaper bag, which also holds his bottle of milk that I know he will be screaming for any minute now.
Rushing down the aisle, I make my way down the stairs and to the waiting SUV where our driver, Arnold, holds the back passenger door open as I move toward him. “Miss Maxwell, welcome home.”
“Thank you, Arnold. It’s good to be back,” I say with a smile as I get my son’s car seat situated first before sliding in beside him. The door closes, and I pull out a bottle just as Baron starts to cry. “Here you go, bambino.” I press the teat to his mouth. He is ready for it, sucking it into his mouth, stopping his crying almost immediately. I grin when he holds the bottle himself with his chubby hands. At ten months old, he is already trying to be independent.
Grabbing my seatbelt, I buckle up as Edward and Arnold load into the vehicle. “Ready?” Edward asks as he turns in his seat to look at me.
Blowing out a harsh breath, I say, “Ready as I will ever be.”
ChapterTwo
BISHOP
Grabbing her gently by the throat, I push her up against the wall of her bedroom. Fortunately, her parents are away, so it’s just us.
“Keep pushing me, princess, and I will shove my cock so far down your throat, you will be eating me for lunch.”
Her eyes flash, a grin curving her full, pouty lips. “Good job I’m hungry then, isn’t it?” she teases, breaking all my self-control.
I know it’s wrong, know I should stay away from her, but she has been pushing me for months now, and the truth is, I want her. I am being paid to protect this woman, but I want to shove my dick so far inside her tight pussy and show her exactly who she is dealing with. She wants it. I want it. So, what is the problem?
The problem is, I will lose my job if her father finds out, and I need this job. I can’t go back to Vegas, to my sperm donor—not that he wants me—and although I could go back to Connecticut where my mom is now living, I don’t want to do that. I love my mom, but I am a twenty-eight-year-old man. I need to make it on my own. My mom has her own life now with a new husband, one that cherishes her. And I don’t want to lead my sperm donor to her. Knowing who Calvin Hastings is, I would bet my life that he has eyes on me. After all the years of abuse she endured at the hands of him, she is happy. She deserves to be happy. I won’t jeopardize that.
Aria licks her lips, her big gray-blue eyes staring up at me with lust. Jesus. How am I ever going to resist this little temptress? “Are you going to put us out of our misery and give us both what we want?”
I glare down at her. At the girl who has made it her mission to seduce me. Something snaps inside me, and my self-control shatters as my lips crash to hers in a passionate kiss. Guess my mind is made up. Fuck my job.
I want Aria Maxwell.
And she wants me.
And now, I am going to show her exactly what it means to be with a man like me.
“Xander?” my father’s voice sounds from his office as I walk past, snapping me from my memories. I grit my teeth at the use of that name. He knows I hate it, which is exactly why he is using it.
Stopping in my tracks, I spin and step inside to find him behind his desk, eyes on his computer. “I go by Bishop now,” I grind out.
His head snaps up, eyes landing on mine. “We have business to discuss.” He waves me off. No matter how many times I tell him otherwise, he will not call me Bishop. Xander is my birth name, and Bishop my middle name. I legally changed it to Bishop years ago. Calvin knows this. He is just being an asshole.
He points to the chair in front of him, a silent way of telling me to take a seat. Blowing out a breath, I do as he says. I know by now there is no point in disobeying him. When Calvin Hastings speaks, everyone listens.
Leaning back in his chair, he eyes me before speaking. “As you already know, there was an…arrangement in place with Spencer Parkes. Your brother was to marry his daughter and bring our families together to strengthen our organization.”
I squeeze my eyes closed. I know where he is going with this. My half-brother, Emmett, and another family within the brotherhood were killed in a shootout between a rival family. It is the only reason I was brought back into the fold. He needed an heir. My father orchestrated what he thought was the kidnapping of Aria. Instead, they ended up taking her sister, Thalia. I should have known better than to think I could just walk away from this family. Bastard or not, I knew my father would have eyes on me. It just took my brother dying for Calvin to bring me back. I have no doubt he knew of my feelings for Aria, and he used it against me. He knew I would do anything to protect her, and I played into his hands. I came back. And now, I am going to be forced into a marriage I don’t want.
“I don’t want to marry anyone. I came back here, as per your wishes, but I am not going to be forced into some marriage to strengthenyoursociety,” I snap.
He sighs as if he expected my outburst, and his eye twitches in annoyance. “It’soursociety. You are the rightful heir to the brotherhood. You will marry the girl. We need the resources the Parkes can offer. After your brother and the whole Fancott family were killed, it has left us exposed. You know our organization has always run with The Five Families; we currently have four. Weneedfive heads. Bringing in Spencer Parkes will do thatandstrengthen our brotherhood.”
I am shaking my head and pushing out of my chair before he has finished. “Find someone else. I won’t do it.” Spinning, I start for the door when his voice stops me.
“You will do it. You don’t have a choice,” he says calmly.
Glancing over my shoulder at him, I shoot him a glare. “I do have a choice,father.I may not have had a choice in coming back here, but I do with this. I. WON’T. DO. IT.” I enunciate the words in case he is hard of hearing.
