5. Gareth

“Tell me something good, Dante,” I said by way of answer after my phone had buzzed twice on the nightstand next to my bed.

It’d been a long ass day—a long ass two weeks, if I was being honest. I’d just finished a shower that had done little to ease the ache in my muscles. I’d doubled my daily workouts, trying and failing to work the tension out of my body. It was pointless. No amount of lifting weights or cardio could stop the need pulsing through my veins, begging me to bust down Serenity’s bedroom door and sink into her body like she’d originally begged me to do.

“I dont have anything solid yet,” Dante said, and my chest instantly deflated. “Were getting conflicting information from all our sources. OBrien is being tight-lipped about this whole thing.”

“Prick,” I said, shaking my head. “He hasnt made any demands? Any threats against the family?”

“Not yet,” Dante said. “A few of our guys spotted of some of O’Brien’s men lingering outside a couple of our establishments. They didnt cross any territorial lines, but they didnt exactly hide their presence either.”

“Shit,” I said. “Which ones?”

“Couple of the bars we own on Eighth, and two of the corner markets off of Park.”

I nodded, knowing exactly which ones he was talking about because those businesses were directly tied to the other side of my familys business. The side I stayed far away from, which included selling a whole different kind of product.

“Have you figured a way out of this peacefully yet, little brother?”

I hadnt figured out shit despite constantly working the problem. In between handling my major income stream, which was the pharmaceutical corporation I’d established several years ago and watching my passion project—my NFL team, the Cougars—make it into the playoffs, I had little room in my mind for problem-solving.

I was down to sleeping maybe three hours a night. Pair that with the willpower I had to exude to not give in to Serenitys increasing propositions, and I was stretched really fucking thin.

“Not yet,” I finally answered. “I’m working on it. The fact that Doyle hasnt made any demands or threats is concerning. I assumed he’d ask for money. Recompense for his stolen asset.”

“Maybe hes just warming up to the idea of having you as a son-in-law,” he said. “You guys have been playing in that billionaire’s game for what, two years now?”

“Three,” I answered. “And the last thing Doyle is excited about is having me as a son-in-law. We may be civil at the poker table, but he hates our family. Hed never see us as an ally.”

“You married his daughter. Doesnt that automatically make us allies?” Dante continued before I could respond. “Oh, wait. No. Thats only if you did it with his and the family’s blessing. Not exactly your style, is it?”

“Fuck you,” I said half-heartedly, knowing he was baiting me on purpose, trying to make light of a very serious situation like he always did. I loved him for it, but it could be annoying as hell.

“Speaking of that,” he continued, like I hadnt said anything. “Has anything changed in that department? Because you know if it did, then Im sure we could easily get the information back to OBrien, and hed likely write her off as damaged goods. Move on to something else.”

“No,” I grumbled. “Im not going to use her just so the O’Briens back off.”

“Since when have you ever been a white fucking knight?” he asked genuinely.

“Im the furthest thing from that.”

“I dont know, little brother,” he said. “Youve gone fully legit, made your billion the legal way, and have a stellar NFL team that rakes in cash without you lifting a finger. Now youve got a pretty little princess for a wife. Sounds knight-like to me.”

“Thats just on the surface,” I countered. “And besides, youre not taking into account my laundry list of crimes from my past.”

“You were never charged with anything,” he said. “Only investigated. Plus, I’m pretty sure you already atoned for those,” he said. “And Im also sure that your new wife wouldn’t be surprised or scared of sordid histories. Hell, with the way the O’Briens run things, Im sure shes seen way worse than you and I ever did growing up.”

I hated that he was likely right, but in the small conversations that Serenity and I had in the past two weeks, she had never once tiptoed toward her upbringing. Nothing more than I already knew, anyway.

In fact, she kept most of the attention on me. Sending little inquisitive texts after I’d set her up with a new phone, always asking questions about what I liked, whether it be music or food or hobbies. The thought of that had a smile shaping my lips and warmth spreading through my chest.

I’d never had unrestricted access to Serenity, so Id never been able to have casual get-to-know-each-other conversations with her. And sure, there was a hallway and a phone screen between us, but it was real. And I couldn’t deny how much I valued each small piece of herself that she revealed to me.

“Even if she wouldn’t be surprised,” I finally said. “I’m trying to keep her away from all that. After the way Doyle has treated her, she deserves a life without that darkness.”

“I hear you, Sir Maxfield.”

“Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean I won’t shoot you,” I grumbled.

Dante laughed. “You’d break your no-more-guns rule, just for me?” He sounded proud. “I feel so damn special.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Call me if anything changes.”

“Yeah, same,” Dante said, before hanging up the phone.

I tossed my phone to the side, letting it plop on the bed before I swung my legs over it. I’d been ready to sleep, but after that conversation, I was restless.

Throwing on a T-shirt and some sweats, I headed toward the kitchen, hoping a snack would help settle me enough to get more than three hours of sleep tonight.

It was just past ten, which was the earliest Id ever attempted to go to bed in the last few weeks, but I was dragging. It was starting to show in my response time on business calls, and while I knew I needed to handle my family business, that didnt mean I needed to sacrifice what Id built on my own.

Serenity sat atop one of the counters, leaning against the cabinet as she dug a spoon into a pint of ice cream, her pink lips wrapping around the bite in a way that made heat flow straight to my dick.

Her eyes met mine, and I relished the light that danced in them as she spotted me. “Do you have any idea how good mint chocolate chip is?”

My lips parted open, shock radiating through me every time she said something like that. Every time I peeled back another layer of her past and realized just how sheltered shed been.

“I asked Hans for some ice cream, and he gave it to me. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers on her free hand, then shoveled another scoop into her mouth.

I was still struggling to find my voice, struggling to remember how to fucking speak with the sight of her sitting on the counter wearing nothing but white silk PJs, her long legs bare and dangling over the counter.

She hadnt tried those on for me when wed gone shopping last week, but I was thanking the fucking stars that I could see them on her now. She was divine. It didnt matter what type of outfit she wore, she was the most attractive woman in the entire world. I hadnt been able to deny it since the moment I met her, and now that she lived with me? I was in so much fucking trouble. It was one thing to admire her from afar, to fantasize about her at night, but having her so close, carrying my last name…that was something else entirely.

“Have you tried it with chocolate syrup?” I asked, heading over to the fridge and grabbing the bottle before walking over to her.

“Do you know how many men I’ve been paraded for?” she asked, the change in direction jolting me. “Everything I was allowed to eat was to enhance my exterior worth,” she continued. “Everything I put in my body was designed to make me more appealing to all the prospects my father dangled me in front of. So,” she said, her eyes dropping to the ice cream as she swirled her spoon but didnt take a bite. “You have no idea the things I havent tried.”

I pressed my lips together, spanning the distance between us as I tried to find the right words to say. Im sorry for the way you were treated wouldnt quite cut it in this situation, and I knew she wasnt looking for pity.

I turned the chocolate bottle upside down, drizzling a little bit into the pint in her hands, the action bringing us closer in proximity than I usually allowed.

I set the bottle down and looked into her eyes. Even as she sat on the counter, I was still a couple of inches taller than her.

“You can try anything you want in this house,” I said.

Her eyebrows raised, and she quickly took the bite that I drizzled syrup on, moaning slightly as it touched her tongue.

I did my best not to groan at the sound, but couldnt stop my body from reacting to it.

Fuck, all I wanted in that moment was to hear that sound while my cock was buried inside her.

I swallowed hard, watching her intently as she finished the bite and sat the pint beside her. She fisted my shirt, yanking me close. She crushed her lips against mine before quickly pulling back, caution and curiosity shaping her features.

“What was that?” I asked.

“You said I could try anything I want,” she said.

“I meant something you’d never had.”

“I’ve never had a kiss,” she admitted. “Not one that I consented to, anyway. Shit.” She cringed. “I should’ve asked you. I’m so sorry.”

Adrenaline surged through me at the confession, and even without knowing the circumstances, I wanted to crush whoever had dared to put their mouth on hers without asking first.

“You don’t have to ask,” I said. “Not with me. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Fuck, she’d never had a real kiss? Didn’t know what it felt like to be desired, to be wanted on a carnal level?

Could I give her that without breaking my word?

Yes. I was a grown man. I could kiss my wife without escalating the situation to fucking her.

“Thanks,” she said. “Even with all the things you say no to, you never call me out for the things I mess up.”

“You’re not messing anything up,” I assured her, then sighed. “But that wasn’t good enough for your first real kiss. Do you want me to show you what it should feel like?”

She visibly swallowed. “Yes.”

“Even if it’s just a kiss?” I asked, wanting to be clear. I knew what she wanted me to do to her, take from her, and I would never lead her on. “You know my terms, Serenity.”

“Yes,” she said again, despite looking like she wanted to argue about those terms. “I want to know what it feels like, even if it’s just this once. Please, Gareth.”

It was the way she said my name that broke me.

I gently parted her thighs, stepping between them to bring our bodies flush, cradling her face in one hand to tip her head back. I took my time trailing my eyes over the delicate features of her face, then her lips, before lowering mine to hers.

I made sure to kiss her slowly, gently. This wasn’t the time for unrestrained need, no matter how much I felt it pumping through me.

She tasted like mint and chocolate, and I slipped my free hand around her lower back, drawing her closer.

Serenity parted her lips for me, letting me all the way in. It was the sexiest approval, and I slipped my tongue between her lips, loving the little gasp as I flicked it along the roof of her mouth. Her fingers twisted into my shirt, her thighs clenching around my hips as she kissed me back, an edge of desperation in the way she moved against me.

Fuck me, she was everything.

Perfection and beauty in the way she responded to my every move.

I tipped her head back even more, kissing her at deeper angle, claiming her mouth in more dominating strokes that had her whimpering like when she’d taken a bite of her ice cream.

“Gareth,” she sighed against my lips.

My cock was hard and aching with one taste of her.

I smoothed my free hand over one thigh, savoring the feel of her silken skin beneath my fingers. Fuck, it would be so easy to tear off these little pajama shorts and feel if she was wet for me. From the way she was squeezing me with her thighs, I would bet money she was drenched.

Drenched and achy.

Her hands abandoned my shirt, and she wrapped her arms around my neck, almost like she needed to be as close to me as I needed to be to her.

I grazed my tongue along the edges of her teeth before sucking her bottom lip into my mouth, and damn near growled when she scooted farther off the counter, instinct driving her body to touch more of me.

The move had her barely there silk shorts hitting my rock-hard cock beneath my sweats, and I went wholly still. If I moved, I’d turn into a teenager, dry-humping her to an orgasm before she knew what was happening.

She deserved better than that.

Gently, I pulled away, smirking proudly at the way her lips were slightly swollen from my kiss. The idea of intentionally marking her made a drop of pre-come bead on my aching cock, but I took the pain, siphoned it, used it to remind me how fucking delicate she was.

The way she was looking at me wasn’t delicate at all. It was primal, carnal, and sexy as fucking sin for an angel like her.

Because that’s what she was, dressed in silky white, good down to her core.

“More,” she breathed the word.

It nearly broke me.

“I can’t,” I answered.

“You mean you won’t,” she corrected me, shaking her head as she scooped up her ice cream again. She wrapped her lips around the spoon, her eyes trailing down to what was clearly hard beneath my sweats. “Thank God for sweatpants,” she said after her bite. “Without them, I’d think you weren’t attracted to me.”

I growled. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I said. “And as much as I would love to taste every inch of you, we both know that isn’t the answer to this.”

“But—”

“No buts, angel,” I cut her off. “I promised to keep you safe,” I said, backing out of the kitchen. “And that includes from me.”

I turned around, disappearing from her sight before I lost all resolve.