Cocked: A Stepbrother Romance (49 page)

“Speak to her again and I’ll shoot you.”

He sneered at me but kept silent. I looked back at her.

“Please, this isn’t something you need to see.”

She shook her head, stepping into the room.

“No, I need to be here for this.”

I sighed. “Bren. Really. There’s no shame in you leaving.”

She shook her head, coming closer. “You don’t get it. This psycho had me living in fear for a long time. And now I want revenge.”

She walked right up to him and stared into his eyes. He smiled back at her, but didn’t speak.

“You are nothing anymore, Vince. You are a disgusting pig. I would die before I went back to you. I hope your people kill you, but if they don’t, at least they all know how pathetic you are.”

“Fuck you, little Brenna. You’re mine and always—“

He was cut off by the bullet I put in his thigh. He screamed in pain. Bren jumped away from him, her hands covering her ears.

“I fucking told you I was going to do that,” I said.

Bren opened her mouth, clearly surprised.

“Are you okay?” I said to her.

She nodded. “He deserved that.”

“Yeah, he did.”

“What do we do now?”

I shrugged. “Go get some rope. There should be some downstairs. If not, tear up some sheets. We’ll take him back to your dad.”

She nodded. “Okay. Okay. Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Fine. Actually, grab me a strip of sheets first.”

She noticed the wound for the first time.

“Oh fuck, Colin, you’re shot.”

“I’m fine. Seriously. It’s just my shoulder. We’ll bandage it up and head back into the city.”

“You need a doctor.”

“There’s a doctor in the city.”

“But—“

“The longer you argue, the more I stand here bleeding.”

She nodded and headed off. I looked back at Fabrizio, who had fallen out of the chair and was rolling side to side, holding his wounded leg. I walked over and stood looking down at him.

“You’re lucky she’s here. I planned on cutting one of your ears off, regardless of what you said.” He groaned in response. I crouched down next to him. “If I ever so much as smell you in my city again, if you ever even think of Bren again, I will end your life. You know I’m more than capable of it. Nod if you understand.”

He nodded, his face contorted in pain.

“Good. We’ll take you back now. Don’t struggle. The longer it takes to get into the city, the more likely you are to lose that leg.”

He let out a long moan as I stood up, grinning.
Serves that fuck right
, I thought.

Bren returned with some rope and a sheet. She helped me clean and dress my wound. I was lucky that the bullet went clean through, which meant I probably wouldn’t need surgery. We tied Fabrizio up, and Bren tied a rag around his wound to keep him from bleeding to death in my car. He wasn’t as lucky as me, since the bullet was still in his leg, and he was probably in for some more pain in the near future.

I didn’t feel bad for him.

I half carried, half dragged him out to the car, and pushed him into the back seat. I followed him in, gun trained on him the whole time. Bren got up front, and we were off.

We were silent on the ride back to the city. I had Fabrizio, which meant that the nightmare for Bren was over. Relief flooded through my body for that, at least.

But the fight wasn’t done. Not yet, at least.

Davin had still betrayed us and put the boss’s daughter in danger. No, he had betrayed me, and put the woman I had fallen in love with in danger. He was going to pay for that. Fabrizio got off easy compared to what I had in store for that traitorous fuck Davin.

T
he roof deck felt empty and strange after everything that had happened at my dad’s farmhouse. I looked out across the city that I had so desperately wanted to remain in and felt only confusion.

How had Davin betrayed us? And what was Colin up to? As we climbed out of the car outside of my dad’s pub, Colin had made me promise not to mention anything about Davin to anyone, not even to my dad. I didn’t know why we needed to keep it from him, but I nodded and promised him that I wouldn’t say anything.

Because I owed him that much. After all, he had saved my life over and over again. Not to mention, he gave me the best orgasms of my life, but it probably wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Still, I couldn’t help myself. Despite the stepbrother issue still hanging over our heads, Colin was the only thing on my mind. From the first moment I saw him walk out from the shower all those weeks ago, to the moment I rode him in his car, I knew I was slowly falling in love all over again.

It wasn’t the same way I felt with Vince. Back then, Vince was so exciting and fun. He took me to all the best restaurants and showed me a side of New York that I would never have seen without him. But I realized that I was never in love with Vince. I was just in love with the kind of lifestyle I thought he could provide me. I was stupid and young and naïve.

But I was learning.

I looked up as the door opened and Colin stepped out onto the deck, his arm in a white sling. I stood up.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He grinned. “Been better. Doctor said I’ll be fine.”

I ran over to him and threw my arms around his neck. I could feel him flinch, but he didn’t pull away from me. Instead, he wrapped his one good arm around my back and pulled me tighter.

“It’s over now, Bren. It’s all over.”

I kissed his neck and his cheek and his lips, drinking him in. He pulled away after a second.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. How could I explain?

“What are they going to do with Vince?” I asked.

“Your dad has him right now. Probably running him through the wringer. We’ll hand him over to the Italians tomorrow, and that’ll be that.”

“What about that other issue?”

He frowned and led me back over to the chairs, sitting down with a sigh.

“You haven’t mentioned it to anyone, right?”

I nodded.

“Good. Davin has little spies all over the fucking place.”

“Does Dad know?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I told him as soon as I could.”

I was silent for a second. I couldn’t imagine how my dad was feeling at that moment. Davin had been around our family for so long that he felt almost like a distant uncle or something. He had been around when my mom died and had helped to take care of me. And yet, he had purposefully put me in danger for whatever insane reason. I couldn’t even imagine what he was thinking.

“How did he take it?” I asked.

“Not good. He didn’t believe me at first.”

“I can talk to him.”

“No need. I convinced him.”

I nodded. “Why would Davin do this?”

Colin sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“He was never happy when I got picked to be second in command over him, you know. Pretty fucking pissed actually. He did anything he could to get back to me.”

I nodded. “But why would he do this to me?”

“My guess is, he probably wanted to make me look bad. He probably wanted to keep Fabrizio floating around, make your dad doubt me, and eventually get himself put in charge of you. Then, as soon as Davin was in charge of your safety, I bet Fabrizio would have been caught.”

“That’s insane.”

“Yeah, maybe it is.”

“So then why would he send Vince into the house? That doesn’t make sense.”

He shook his head. “I’m guessing Davin told him not to do anything too direct, and he didn’t listen. Probably got cocky from evading us for so long.”

“So, that’s it? His plan failed because Vince didn’t listen?”

“His plan failed because he’s a snake motherfucker, and I’m the better man. His plan failed because he didn’t think I’d be able to take on Fabrizio.”

I laughed, unable to help myself. Even in a sling, Colin looked like he could dominate a room with only a cocky smile and his pinky finger.

“What now?”

“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about.”

I could tell by his tone that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

“Okay, let’s get it over with then.”

He took a deep breath. “Davin has to be punished.”

I stared at him for a second, taking that in. “What does that mean?”

“Bren, he tried to hurt you. He helped that psycho ex of yours terrorize you.”

“But how will you punish him?”

“We’re not sure yet. I was hoping you’d tell me.”

I blinked at him. “You want me to decide?”

“It’s actually your dad’s idea.”

“Why?”

He leaned back and shrugged. “I don’t know. If I had my way, I’d put a bullet in his head and move on.”

“Is that ... is that an option?”

He nodded. “It’s always an option.”

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “This is too much. Why does he want me to decide?”

“I think he just wants to avoid upsetting you. It’s his weird way of apologizing for everything, too.”

“I don’t know what to say. This is actually a little upsetting. You want me to choose whether a guy lives or dies?”

He nodded. “Okay. I get it. Leave it to me, then.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Don’t think about it, Bren. I’m going to do what has to be done.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep if Davin gets killed because of me.”

He stood up, walked over to me, and kneeled down in front of me. His gaze was serious and intense, as if he were trying to look directly into my soul.

“Whatever happens won’t be your fault.”

“But I’m the one who’s supposed to choose.”

He shook his head. “Listen to me. That was just a dumb idea your dad had. Whatever happens is on me. And I can handle it.”

“You’ve done so much already.”

“And I’ll keep doing more.”

“Why?” I asked, suddenly unsure of myself. “Why are you doing all of this?”

He stared at me. “You know why.”

“Say it,” I whispered.

“You’re fucking mine. That’s why.”

I nodded. “I love you,” I said softly.

He grinned. “I know. And I’m yours, too.”

I looked away, blushing, afraid of the intense and cocky look he was giving me. He reached out, pulled my face toward him, and crushed his mouth against mine, kissing me hard. It was the first time I had told a man I loved him first, and it was the first time I really meant it. I kissed him back with everything inside of me, fear and guilt and uncertainty all melting away.

Finally, he pulled back from the kiss.

“That’s why I’ll keep doing this for you. So, don’t worry about Davin. I’ll take care of it.”

I nodded, breathless. “Okay.”

He stood. “Now I’ve got some shit to take care of. I’ll be back later.” He turned to go.

“Wait,” I said, standing. “There’s one more thing.”

He looked back at me. “I was waiting for this.”

“The adoption.”

He nodded. “What about it?”

“Are you going to sign?”

“I’m surprised you care so much.”

My jaw nearly fell open. “Are you kidding? After what I just said?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s no big deal, people do it all the time. It’s not like we’re blood related or anything.”

“Gross. Colin, that’s gross.”

“Come on, you know you like it.”

“No, you asshole. God, you can really piss me off.” I felt the anger from the past few weeks suddenly return and begin to boil over. “You idiot. You’ve been messing with me all this time. I’m so sick of opening myself up to guys like you just to have you crush me again because you’re too busy furthering your own personal career or whatever you call being a criminal.”

“Bren—” he said, trying to interrupt.

“No, you listen to me. Don’t interrupt. If we’re doing this, you’re not going to be my stepbrother. That’s the end of it. I’m tired of getting walked all over. No more uncertainty.”

“Are you done?” he said.

I clenched my jaw. “Yes, I’m done. Asshole.”

His face broke out into a huge grin.

“I think this is our first fight,” he said, laughing.

“This isn’t funny, you dick. Why are you laughing?”

“I didn’t sign the papers.”

I looked at him for a second. “Oh.”

“Wait here.”

Before I could say anything, he turned and walked inside quickly. I stood there feeling like a total jerk for a minute until he came back carrying a packet of papers.

He held them out for me. “Here.”

I took them and skimmed through the text. They looked like adoption papers, with a whole bunch of legalistic clauses and language that I couldn’t begin to understand at first glance. Finally, I got to the last page, and noticed that my dad had signed, but Colin had not.

I looked back up at him. “This doesn’t mean you won’t, though.”

He held out his hand. “Give them to me.”

I handed them back. He put one corner in his mouth and tore them right down the middle. He walked over to the edge of the roof and tossed the papers up into the wind. They fluttered softly for a second, caught in the breeze, and were scattered out over the city.

“There. That’s done. You can stop worrying about it.”

I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or to cry. “All this time....” I said, shaking my head.

He shrugged. “I didn’t know what was happening here. Now it’s in the open.”

“You didn’t think to say anything?”

“Not a chance, Princess.”

I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”

“Is it? I don’t know. I would call all those earth-shattering orgasms I’ve given you ‘unbelievable,’ but not that.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Even with one arm, you’re still a cocky bastard.”

“It’s easy to be cocky when you can back it up.”

He stepped close to me and pulled me against him. I could feel his dick hard underneath his pants. I shook my head.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I asked.

“Yeah, I do. But you look too fucking hot in those yoga pants.”

“I wear these all the time.”

“And I fuck you all the time.”

He crushed my lips in another kiss, opening his mouth and letting his tongue roam across mine. I realized that it was our first kiss without anything hanging over our heads. We both knew where the other stood, and we weren’t ever going to be brother and sister.