Me: Talk of what?
Serena: That’s why I love you.
Me: Goodnight, honey.
Serena: Night. Talk tomorrow.
Serena always brought a smile to my face; every woman should have a best friend like her. We’d spent some time together last month in Coffs when I visited her and Blake but I wasn’t sure when we’d see each other again. Maybe one day I’d convince her to move to Brisbane.
I switched off the lights and made my way back to the bedroom where J was fast asleep. Lingering in the doorway for a moment, I thought about our earlier conversation. J seemed concerned about my father and how he might come between us. I decided in that moment to do everything in my power to make sure that didn’t happen. My relationship with my dad had often been a hard one over the years, and now that the truth had come out about his secret family and the way he treated Mum, I truly wanted very little to do with him. J really was the most important person in my life and I resolved to show him that.
Chapter 1
2 months later - November
Jason
I checked the time.
Again.
Fuck.
I wanted to go home, wanted to be with Madison more than any-fucking-thing in the world, but I couldn’t make myself do it. Everything had changed; I had changed. And I didn’t know if she could accept these changes. And the not fucking knowing was driving me insane. It was driving me to do things I never did. Like not chasing her pussy like I fucking wanted to.
Shit.
I craved her pussy like a man fucking possessed. Craved those eyes of her on me. Craved those lips of her; wrapped around my dick and every-fucking-where else on me. And yet, here I was, at a fucking strip club, at eight o’clock at night when I should have been at home with her.
I reached for my drink and swung my eyes to Scott as he came towards me. I nodded at him and then drained my glass.
His face creased with concern as he pulled up a seat next to me. “You alright, brother?”
There were no secrets between us, not even where his sister was concerned. I shook my head. “No.”
“What the fuck’s wrong?”
“Marcus. That’s what the fuck is wrong.”
“Christ. What did he do now?”
I stood up. “Need another drink to do this. You want one?”
He nodded yes and I headed to the bar to get them. When I came back with the drinks, he took his beer from me and threw half of it back fast.
“Figured this is going to hurt,” he muttered.
“Yeah, brother. You could say that,” I agreed and followed suit. The bourbon burned on the way down, just the way I liked it. I slowly placed the glass on the table between us and then started talking. “Marcus is a cunt. Sent me into some situations when I was away that caused me to do things I never fucking thought I’d do.”
“And?”
“And now I don’t know how to live with some of that. And I sure as hell don’t know how to live with him in my life. And to top that the fuck off, I want to marry his daughter.” I stopped and reached for my drink again, draining it faster than the last one. Eyeing him, my words sliced through the air, “You tell me how the fuck I do that. How do I love a woman whose father I want to take a fucking knife to and gut like the fucking animal he is?”
Scott quickly reached for his beer and downed it. “Christ, J. What the fuck did he make you do?”
This was about to hurt but it couldn’t be avoided. “Your father is a master manipulator; more devious than I ever gave him credit for. I’m sure he has an agenda that neither of us are going to like.” I paused and took a deep breath. “Marcus sent me to the Adelaide chapter, wanted me to deal with a suspected paedophile in the club. I found the fucker alright and confirmed the dirty shit he was up to. What Marcus failed to mention was that there was a ring of them in the town and that he already knew they existed. He also failed to mention that the asshole was the fucking VP of the club and that he was standing in the way of a club deal to move some coke.”
“How long had he known they existed?”