SEALed Bride: A Bad Boy Romance (Includes bonus novel Jerked!) (32 page)

In the meantime, though, we’d live as a married couple. As man and wife. Until the truth about him had slowly become obvious to me. I should have seen it from the start, I should have realized he would end up being an abusive psycho cheater, but I didn’t.

And Colin didn’t know. Neither did my dad, but for some reason I felt less bad about that. As much as I hated to admit it, I
did
need Colin to protect me. It was the reason I had come home to begin with. I couldn’t expect him to keep me safe if he didn’t even know the whole story, right?

I sighed, adjusting myself, and decided I’d tell him everything. As soon as I saw him, I’d tell him the whole story. It was the right thing to do.

Almost as if on cue, the doors pushed open and Colin walked out onto the deck. I looked up startled.

“Hey, you scared me.”

He shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

I blinked and took him in. He was a little sweaty, but he looked incredible; muscles bulging through his tight white dress shirt, his slacks perfectly conformed to his muscular thighs. But his usual carefree grin was gone, replaced with a serious mask. I hadn’t seen Colin give me that look in a long time.

“What’s up? You seem a little off,” I said jokingly.

For half a second I wondered if he could smell the cum on my fingers. Maybe he knew I had gotten myself off to the thought of him. But no, of course not, that was totally paranoid. He couldn’t read minds—at least I hoped not.

“Had a rough day.” He sat down in a chair across from me.

“Some thugs give you trouble? Their knees wouldn’t break, I bet.”

He didn’t even crack a smile. “Something like that.”

I frowned, not sure what else to say. He wasn’t normally so angry.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Is Fabrizio in town?” he asked suddenly.

I stared at him, surprised. “Yeah, he is.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

I looked away, biting my lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“Don’t be stupid, Bren. It’s the reason I’m here.”

I looked back at him. “Yeah, that’s the only reason?”

He nodded. “Because your father asked me to.”

“Speaking of him, where is my dad? He’s hardly been home.”

Colin waved his hand. “He sleeps out a lot since he got his promotion. Don’t try to change the subject.”

“Fine. I’m sorry, I should have told you.”

“How did he contact you?”

“He sent me a text.”

Colin held out his hand. “Let me see.”

I made a face. “No way.”

“You don’t have to give me the phone, just let me see the message.”

I sighed, pulled it up, and tossed the phone over to him. He snatched it out of the air despite it being an awful throw and gave me a look. After a few seconds of staring at the screen, he stood and walked it over, handing the phone back.

“That’s it, there’s nothing else.”

He sat back down, leaving one chair between us. “Tell me next time.”

“Okay, I will.”

“Do you want a new phone?”

“Why?”

“So he can’t message you. I can take care of that.”

“It’s fine, I blocked his number.”

“He’ll get other numbers. Last chance.”

I had no clue why he was being so short with me, but it was starting to piss me off. I may have withheld some information, but it wasn’t like I did something horrible.

“It’s fine, whatever.”

He looked away and was silent for a second.

“Look, Colin—“

He interrupted me, not looking over. “I know about the marriage.”

I stared open mouthed at him, completely surprised. “I was just about to tell you.”

“It’s fine, just another thing you decided to withhold.”

“It didn’t seem important.”

He looked back, his expression angry. “Are you joking? It’s
the
most important thing. That psycho thinks he has a real claim on you, all because of some Old World bullshit.”

“He’s insane, Colin. It was a mistake.”

“How could you marry someone like him?”

I clenched my jaw. “I told you, it was a mistake.”

He looked away again. “Don’t leave the house without me anymore.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No. The Italians don’t know where Fabrizio is, and I can’t protect you if you’re out on your own. From now on, you don’t leave my sight.”

“Is this some weird punishment for marrying him?”

“No, this is for your own good.”

“What do you know about me, Colin? I don’t owe you anything.”

He stood up, clearly angry. I stared after him, shocked at the way the conversation had gone, reeling from the way he was acting toward me.

“I know you don’t. But whether you like it or not, I have to watch over you. Don’t leave the house without me.”

“Whatever. I guess I’ll be a prisoner here, too.”

He looked at me, barely concealing his rage. “It’s fine if you think that. But I still have to make sure you’re safe.”

“Yeah, fine.”

He stared at me for a second, his eyes serious and intense. I couldn’t read his expression. Before I could say anything, he turned away and stalked back into the house.

I sat there alone on the deck feeling like someone had dropped a bomb directly into my lap. It made no sense, the way he reacted. I knew he cared about me, but why did he care so much that I had married Vince? And what made him think that he could order me around?

Nothing made sense. I wished I could go back in time and tell him up front.

The memory of his body pressed against mine lingered even as his presence disappeared inside.

M
y hands moved fast, as fast as I could make them go. They were like a blur as I pounded again and again into the heavy bag, bashing my knuckles against the sand-filled fabric. I imagined it was Fabrizio and I was breaking his skull for hurting Bren. Sweat dripped down my body, drenching my tight black T-shirt and short red shorts as I moved my feet and started another barrage.

I didn’t understand why I was so angry with her, why I would take her marrying that loser so personally. People made mistakes, and I’d been with plenty of girls since she left—but for some reason, I never imagined that she would really choose someone else, or at the very least, that she would never go so far as to marry them. But she did, and there I was smashing the heavy bag with my linen-wrapped knuckles, savoring the tiredness in my muscles and the pain in my fists.

One punch and it’s Fabrizio. Another, and it’s my own face. I want to beat myself senseless for being such an ass. And I want to beat Fabrizio senseless for hurting Bren.

I smash the bag a few more times, exhaustion from my workout beginning to overtake me, and I take a few steps back, breathing hard.

“Good form,” I heard from over by the steps. I looked over and saw O’Brian standing there, grinning at me.

“Hey Boss. I was just working out.”

He shrugged, walking down into his own little private gym. He had it installed in the basement of his huge home, though he never used it himself. Sometimes I came over and gave the equipment a quick cleaning, and sometimes I even did a little circuit through the weight machines. I had no clue whether or not he was okay with it, but he never bothered me when I was down there.

“No kidding. I thought you were trying to fuck that bag.”

I grinned, though I wasn’t in the mood. “Been with uglier.”

He laughed. “I bet you have, kid. How’s my daughter?”

I clenched my jaw and began to unwrap my fists. “She’s fine, sir. Stubborn.”

“Yeah, stubborn. That’s why you’re dealing with her and I’m not.”

“Makes sense.”

“Look, I’m not going to be home much for the next few days. I’ll be around, but there’s a big deal with the Russians coming through that I need to work on. So you’ll have the place to yourselves.”

I nod. “Okay. Don’t worry about it. She’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, she will. Because if she’s not, you’ll pay for it.”

“I wouldn’t let that asshole touch her, no matter what.”

He nodded and stared at me for a second. “Speaking of him. I heard you spoke with the Italians.”

I flinched, almost as if he had hit me. It wasn’t exactly against the rules that I had gone and talked with Jimmy, but it was definitely something I should have cleared with O’Brian first.

“I’m sorry, sir. I should have told you.”

“Yeah, you should have.”

“It won’t happen again.”

He laughed. “Yeah, it will. More importantly, what did you find out?”

“Fabrizio is in the city. He contacted Brenna, actually, sent her some text. Trying to intimidate her. From what I can tell, he doesn’t know where she is, but it’s only a matter of time before he shakes it loose.”

O’Brian nodded thoughtfully. “It’s not exactly a secret that I live here.”

“Right, and plenty of the guys with the Italians know about this place.”

“What else did they say?”

“Well, they lost him. Fabrizio, I mean. They don’t know where he is.”

“Fucking Italians.”

I nodded. “But they’re looking. They want to avoid a war as much as we do.”

“Damn right they do. If this were one of the Don’s daughters with one of my boys, can you even imagine?”

I shook my head. “They’d tear up the city.”

“Idiots. They would. Fucking animals.”

“But they wouldn’t come after you.”

“No,” he said thoughtfully. “They wouldn’t.”

I hesitated, knowing it was time to tell him the last bit of information, but I was afraid of how he’d react. His little girl, married to a psycho from the Italian Mob. I could only imagine what it would be like for a parent to hear that sort of thing. Then again, maybe things couldn’t get any worse for him.

“There’s one more thing.”

“What is it? You look like you’re about to shit a pineapple.”

“She married him, sir.”

He was silent for a second, but his face didn’t change. I was afraid he was about to start screaming at me, or worse. I’d have to take a beating from him if that was what he wanted, though I’d never seen O’Brian get physical before.

Finally, he broke the silence. “That makes sense.”

I stared at him, surprised. “That wasn’t the reaction I expected.”

He laughed. “What can I say? I’m getting more jaded in my old age. But it makes sense. It would explain why Fabrizio is so intent on coming after her. He thinks he has a real claim.”

“But we both know he doesn’t. I mean, Bren doesn’t want anything to do with him. And it seems like the Italians are fine with that.”

O’Brian nodded thoughtfully. “You need to be extra careful now, Colin. Keep her around at all times. No more leaving her alone here. I’ll have some people cover your duties and shit, and if you’re needed somewhere important, I’ll send muscle over to watch her.”

I nodded. “That was my thought exactly.”

O’Brian clapped me on the shoulder, smiling. “Thanks, kid. Thanks for helping my family out with this.”

“Don’t thank me, sir. You know I’d do anything.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

He turned and began to walk back to the steps and I leaned back on my heels, contemplating the conversation. Before he got too far, though, he turned back and looked at me.

“Oh, by the way, speaking of family. The lawyers drew up those adoption papers. They’re in your room to sign.”

I blinked. I had totally forgotten about that. “They’re up there already?”

“Sure. Sign whenever you want and drop them off at my place.”

“Right, okay.”

He gave me another lingering look. “I’ll be in contact soon.”

I nodded, and then he was gone, back up the steps. I stood there in the quiet, mind buzzing with the implications. The papers were upstairs, which meant I was one step away from becoming the heir to the entire Mob. It would be a lot harder to take control than just that, but it would make it a lot easier when the time came.
But that would mean I would become Bren’s brother, at least legally,
I thought. I couldn’t help but hate that idea. Worse, I couldn’t help but think how she’d react to it.

As I slipped off my workout stuff and changed into dry clothes, a thought came to me completely out of nowhere.
What I’m doing is no better than what she did
. I was lying to her about the adoption issue, or at least I was keeping it from her. Bren had kept the marriage from me, but I was sure she'd had her own reasons. I didn’t even understand exactly why I was so angry with her, anyway.

I needed to tell her. And I needed to make things right between us, especially if I was going to keep protecting her.

Resolved, I headed upstairs.

I
scrolled through picture after picture of smiling couples in happy places, not really sure what they had to do with me. Sure, we were friends on Facebook, but other than that? They were all practically strangers, though strangers with lives that looked perfect. Then again, my life probably looked amazing on social media.

Leaning back against the headboard of my bed, I tossed my phone away and sighed. There wasn’t much to do in the house aside from screw around on the Internet and maybe watch movies. And Colin wasn’t making things any easier by being around, especially since I wanted to avoid him.

And suddenly I was a prisoner? I didn’t escape New York just to get stuck in my dad’s townhouse.

For a second, I wondered if anyone would even notice that I was trapped. Nick might, since we had been texting back and forth since we went to lunch, but even he would get used to me ducking out on plans with him.

Before I could decide what I wanted to do, there was a soft knock at my door.

“What?” I called out.

“It’s me.”

“I’m not interested, Colin.”

“Can we just talk for a second?”

I sighed again. Maybe we had left things in a bad place. I did have to deal with him whether I wanted to or not. I got up off the bed and walked across the room and pulled the door open.

Colin stood there in a tight, white v-neck T-shirt and short black gym shorts. Although they looked clean, he was still covered in sweat and had this intense look on his face. I stared at him for half a second, afraid my jaw was going to fall through the floor. He looked amazing, his muscles bulging and his hair all messed up.