Chapter Twenty-One

 

 

One week later

 

Julian waved them into the penthouse, a smile on his face. Leo looked at his boss. It wasn’t often he saw pure pleasure on the man’s face, but Julian was smiling brightly. It was far too soon for Danielle to have gone into labor, so something else must have happened. Leo got the feeling he was about to find out what Julian had been doing behind closed doors. All week long, Julian had closed himself in with Ben and Chase and Big Tag, plotting something that appeared to be coming to fruition.

“You three are just in time,” Julian said as he hustled them in. “Please join the watching party.”

“What are we watching?” Shelley asked, turning to look back at Julian. Leo watched as she winced the slightest bit. Her public punishment had taken place the night before. Leo happened to know his sweet brat’s bottom was still a lovely shade of red. He and his brother had taken turns torturing their sub until they’d finally broken and given her the orgasm of a lifetime before formally placing a collar around her neck. And a diamond ring on her finger.

“God, please let it be football,” Wolf said on a groan. He’d lost their last card game. He’d had to watch some show about grown women catfighting in an attempt to be models and a man looking for love on TV. Leo would never let his brother know it, but he’d totally cheated, and he intended to continue to do so until he was caught.

“Better than football,” Julian said, walking briskly through the space. “We’re watching one of my better plans come to fruition.”

Oh, god, what had he done now?

Julian escorted them into the media room where he’d set up for a large party. There was a drink station complete with a bartender handing out champagne. Several of The Club’s staff held trays full of elegant appetizers. Julian went all out when celebrating the successful completion of an evil plan. The room was full. Everyone had come in for the weekend’s play. And to watch Leo and Wolf collar their sub. Finn sat with Dani, his hand rubbing her big belly. Jack, Abby, and Sam cuddled together on a small sofa, Abby in Jack’s lap, her hands around her Dom’s neck. She was talking to her daughter. Lexi O’Malley put a hand on her barely curved belly, and Leo caught sight of Aidan and Lucas beaming at her. That was baby number two for the O’Malley family. It looked like Julian was going to have a whole playgroup for his new daughter.

Charlotte Taggart stepped up and gave Shelley a hug. “I’m so glad you said yes.”

“I can’t wait to start decorating,” his fiancée said. “I’m going to make Sanctum better than it was before.”

“That can’t be hard,” Chase said with a shake of his head. “It was a pit of despair before.”

“It was minimalist,” Tag shot back. He’d been around a lot this week, making sure no one could ever get into The Club again. He hadn’t counted on a team of trained ex-Special Forces invading, though he probably should have given what happened in his life. “And Shelley, I want to talk to you about a hamster wheel.”

“No hamster wheel,” Charlotte said, her eyes wide.

But Shelly was grinning. “I don’t know. I think I could make that work.”

Ian and Charlotte were bickering as they walked away. They would be making out in the corner soon enough.

Ben and Chase watched the screen, sitting apart from the rest. Ben had been quieter than usual for the last week, but he hadn’t neglected his duties. Kitten sat between them, a new charm around her neck. Shelley had been utterly unwilling to give the old one back, though Kitten hadn’t seen the problem. He really needed to work on her hard limits.

Kitten was without a leash this evening, and she looked shockingly normal in jeans and a sweater, her face free of the heavy makeup she usually wore. She seemed closer to her twenty-five years than normal. She looked young and happy. Kitten smiled up at him. “Hello, Mas…Hello, Leo.”

Ah, progress, sweet progress. “Hello, Kitten. You look lovely tonight.”

“Thank you. Kitten is…I am very happy. I’m ready to go back to work. I’ve even spent the week practicing answering the phone and taking messages. I’m going to be a good administrative assistant. And I found out happy news. I’m being rewarded for helping Shelley. Though I did it because it was the right thing to do. Master Julian is bringing in a new Dom for me to try out.”

Chase looked up. “According to Julian, the man’s a real sadist, but a controlled one. He intends to work with Kitten on her issues while meeting her needs. I believe he’s going to call to schedule a meeting with you when he returns from his travels. You’ll have to clear him for play.”

Ben ruffled Kitten’s hair affectionately. “Make sure he’s a good one. She deserves it.”

Leo was looking forward to meeting the man.

Julian stepped to the front of the room where the big screen was set up and held out his hands. “My friends, my dearest family, I want to thank you all for coming out to watch this news clip. My friends at the network sent it to me early in thanks for giving them the scoop. It’s going to air tonight, but I wanted you all to be the first to see it. Shelley, dear, this is for you.”

The tape rolled, and Leo felt his fists clench. Senator Mitchell Cross’s smiling face came on in a box next to a thin, blonde newswoman in a perfectly pressed suit. Cross. If there was one thing he’d become certain of, it was that Cross had something to do with Shelley’s kidnapping.

“This news station has received an exclusive tape of Senator Mitchell Cross making an under-the-table deal with the controversial security company White Acres. According to our sources, the deal sold out US security interests in the Middle East and Africa. The tape, received from an anonymous source, clearly shows the senator accepting cash for pushing through a multimillion-dollar contract on the taxpayer’s dime. This tape also indicates that previously rumored shady business dealings with White Acres are rooted in fact. The company contact, recently deceased Steve Holder, plainly states that White Acres is involved in smuggling blood diamonds out of Africa.”

The news anchor continued. Leo watched Shelley’s jaw drop, and Wolf’s arms wrapped around her. It was one of the things Leo had rapidly grown to love about the ménage he found himself in. Wolf was taking care of their fiancée so he could go and kick his boss’s ass.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Julian’s eyes never left the screen. “You’ve been busy. I wanted this to be my wedding gift to you. I hear you’re making it official sometime in the near future.”

Yeah, and that was already causing him some trouble. “Don’t even suggest The Club. I can’t do it here. Ma won’t get on a plane and driving through alien territory is dangerous this time of year.”

Julian’s lips tugged up. “Yes, I had heard you were having trouble.”

“So we’re going to elope. Shelley’s not happy about it, but I don’t know what else to do.” Shelley had cried a little, but she’d agreed.

Julian sighed, a long thoughtful noise that Leo recognized as the sound of his mind plotting away. “Well, you could make your mother happy. And Shelley’s brother.”

“You think I should have the wedding in Bliss? Julian, have you ever been to Bliss? It’s…it’s Bliss.”

“I think I can handle it. You know Stefan Talbot and I are quite friendly. He might have mentioned that Bliss is the perfect place for a wedding.”

Having the wedding in Colorado would make everyone happy. Trev could give his sister away. Ma would be able to throw a huge party. Yes, Leo knew an opportunity when he saw one. He smiled. “You’re going to take over this whole thing, aren’t you?”

Julian shrugged. “If it helps, I intend to foot the bill. Oh, look, the FBI had to drag him out of his office.” Julian put a hand to his heart. “I feel warm inside. No one ever lets me do this anymore. Do you understand how deeply I enjoy screwing people like Cross over? I need to recommit. Marriage has made me soft.”

Leo laughed. It bubbled up inside him. “I’ll make sure to put that on your list, boss. More stabbing the bad guys in the back.”

“I make no apologies for that,” Julian admitted. “Stabbing people in the front is far too dangerous. I am a family man, after all.”

The room erupted in cheers as the feds finally got the senator into a car, but Leo was stuck on two words.

Family man.

He’d run from his own, but they had blissfully refused to let him get too far. And now he’d found another. His wife, his brother. All of his brothers—Julian and Ben and Chase and Jack and Sam and Aidan and Lucas. Even Logan, who was working hard now, trying to find himself again.

Something odd was happening. His face felt puffy. His eyes watered. Oh, god, it was happening. Yep. He was going to cry. He fought it.

“Happens to the best of us,” Julian said with a grin.

Shelley turned, her beautiful face smiling at him.

He didn’t know about being the best, but he was damn glad it had happened to him.

 

* * * *

 

Ben, Chase, and Natalie will return in Siren Unleashed, coming spring 2019.