AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I feel a blush creep across my cheeks. “I was caught in the moment.”
“And now you want Hulk to finish what I started?” he quips, smirking.
“No,” I say defensively.
“Then we’re agreed. Your first job is tonight. I need you to attend a charity function with me. I’ll have a dress sent over.” I open my mouth to protest, but Anton leans forward and plants another one of his toe-curling kisses on me. It’s so unexpected that I feel myself relax against him, completely wrapped up in the moment. When he pulls back and winks, I see mischief behind the smile. When he stands, I see Hulk waiting in the doorway for church. He’s staring directly at me with a pissed expression, and my heart immediately aches. “We’ll finish what we started tonight,” Anton throws back over his shoulder as he passes Hulk.
ANTON
I straighten the black bow tie sitting neatly at my throat. “I don’t fucking buy it,” Tag snaps angrily. “Why Piper? Hulk’s my brother-in-law, and he and Piper just have a weird relationship. Leave them to it.”
“He treats her like crap,” I remind him.
“Since when do you give a shit about women?” he asks. “Lucy isn’t happy about any of this and she’s on my back about it.”
“Is Lucy ever happy, Tag?” I ask on a sigh. “Stop worrying. I like her, okay?”
He frowns. “There’re women lining up to date you, choose one of them. Piper doesn’t deserve to get hurt by you.”
“You sound like a whiny bitch. You’re spending too much time with Lucy.”
“Don’t push me, man,” he mutters.
I turn to face him. I give him my most sincere look and hope it’s enough to convince him. “I like her. She’s a little crazy. She outright questions everything I do or say, and you don’t get that kind of defiance in a woman these days. I like it. It started as a little fun. Maybe the blackmail side of it was what lured me to her, but now, well . . .” I shrug my shoulders and leave the sentence open.
“That’s exactly what scares me, Anton. She’s defiant. She’s a liability at the best of times. What if she sees something she shouldn’t? What if you put her at risk? I feel like something bad is just waiting to happen.”
I’m annoyed by his judgmental tone. All the fears that I keep to myself about dating have just been laid out there by my best friend and it pisses me off. “So, what, am I not supposed to ever be happy? Most of the men in this family are married, but me. Without marriage, the men will never truly relax under me. They’ll question whether I can lead without producing an heir. Is that what you want?” I pull on my dinner jacket and run my fingers through my hair. “Maybe it is. Maybe you want to stand here instead of me.” I regret the words the instant they leave my mouth, and I see the hurt on Tag’s face, which only makes me feel worse.
“Fuck you, Anton. Fuck you.” He heads for the door, and I groan aloud. He’s always supported me. To throw that accusation in his face was a low blow, even for me.
“Watch yourself,” I yell after him. He might be my closest friend, but I’m his boss at the end of the day, and he can’t be overheard speaking to me like that.
By the time I make my way downstairs, Ella is waiting with my glass of bourbon and the necklace I asked her to collect on my behalf. She gives me a crooked smile. “You scrub up okay for an arse.”
I take the jewellery box from her and open it. The crystals blink at me in the harsh lighting of the kitchen. Piper will hate it, but it’ll go lovely with her dress. “Are you sure you won’t come?” I ask again, and Ella shakes her head. Since everything came out about our father and the abuse she suffered, she’s taken a back seat in everything social. It saddens me because she used to be a social butterfly.
“Someone has to sit with Mum,” she says brightly, and I know it’s a little dig at the fact I haven’t been in to see her today.
“El, I’ll see her tomorrow. And you don’t need to sit with her. I pay the staff to do that.”
“Tag sat with her today,” she says. I sigh and give her a look that warns her to stop talking. She holds her hands up. “Fine. I’ll tell her you’ll be in tomorrow.”
Michael is the driver tonight, mainly because I trust him over everyone, and with Tag’s dad still running around like a lunatic, I don’t want to take unnecessary risks by having someone with me who can’t shoot straight. He stops the Bentley outside the clubhouse, where Piper is waiting by the roadside. I frown. She’s a target out here like this. Someone should be with her. As she settles in the back seat beside me, I ask, “Why are you waiting out here?”
“Hulk was giving me a hard time. I had to get out of there.”
“You shouldn’t be out alone, Piper. Next time, call me. I’ll come quicker.” She nods, but the sad expression on her face remains. “I got you a present.” I hold out the black box, and she takes it.
“Why?”
I shrug. “Because that’s what people do when they’re in a relationship.”
“How would you know?” she asks with a smirk.
“Tag told me.” Her smile fades again. “Aw, don’t tell me. You’ve had a lecture from Lucy?” She nods in response. “She’ll get over it. We just need to ride the storm.”
Piper opens the box and gasps. That sound stirs all kinds of heat inside me, and I clench my fists to get control of myself again. “Anton, this is way too much. I can’t accept it.”
