Family Affair by Elle M Thomas

Chapter 25

 

Declan

 

Standing in the doorway, I smile a truly contented smile. Anita is in the kitchen at my mother’s home, putting the final touches to a cake for Liv’s baby shower. The same baby shower neither she nor Mase wanted, but after our mother began to plan one anyway, they gave in gracefully.

“I am getting a strong sense of déjà vu, Cupcake.”

Anita spins and giggles at me. “Yeah, well, it might be wise for you to keep your hands, lips and everything else to yourself here, Stud.”

I laugh, remembering our first encounter in the kitchen at Dazzler. “You’re probably right. My mother does not need to walk in on that.”

“Agreed.” She turns back to the cake.

I close the distance and once I am close enough, slide an arm around her middle where she willingly allows me to pull her backwards to rest against my front. Leaning in, I inhale her glorious scent before lowering my lips to gently kiss her neck. She relaxes into my touch and kiss, and in this split second, I have never been happier. I love that her immediate, her reflex action is to soften into me and embrace everything I have to offer.

Life with Anita is as near to perfect as I have ever known. Since we put all our cards on the table a couple of months ago, life has just got better and better. Even her dad doesn’t seem to entirely hate me, well maybe a little, but I can live with that.

A loud cough pulls us both up short. Mase.

Turning, I smile while Anita blushes a little and if that doesn’t make her look even more adorable.

“I know we have had this conversation before, Dec, but please, don’t contaminate the cakes my wife is going to eat. Technically, my baby is going to eat those cakes too, so doubly don’t contaminate them.

Anita and I share a roll of our eyes and laugh. Mase doesn’t.

“Can I have a word? Business,” he says and although I see Anita raise a slightly disbelieving brow, my brother may well want to talk business.

He has money invested in the club and we have talked about adding more bars and clubs to form a chain. Also, Mase knows his shit when it comes to investments and often makes recommendations or shares information with me.

I lean down and land a single, almost chaste kiss to my lady’s cheek and prepare to leave with Mase, but not before dipping a finger into the frosting on the top of the cake.

“Declan!” Mase says through gritted teeth. “What have I just said? I don’t know where those fingers have been!”

Anita and I both laugh, knowing exactly where my fingers have been.

“I don’t want to know!” Mase calls but does throw in a token laugh as he leaves with me following behind.

 

Once we’re out of the kitchen, Mase heads towards the sunroom and takes a seat near the open door.

“Have you thought any more about the clubs?”

“Yeah. It’s a good idea to expand and I think it might be useful to have different places for different tastes rather than focusing all our efforts on one portion of the market.”

He smiles and quirks a brow.

“What?”

“You. You sound all grown-up when you talk so seriously about diversification and marketing plans.”

“Fuck you, Mase.” The words are harsh, but my smirk says it’s not serious because he is right. This is grown-up and I don’t really do that.

“Back at you, Dec.” He smiles again, but this one is a little more thoughtful.

“What?” I ask again.

“It suits you, being a grown-up. And Anita, she suits you, too.”

“Okay…” I draw the word out. “Stop that mushy shit now or before we know it, we’ll be all cuddly in a menbrace.”

“A menbrace?”

“Yeah, it’s like a hug for men.”

He laughs and it is definitely at me. “I got it, but fuck me, you’re making words up now for the mushy shit. It really must be true love.”

“Whatever.” I wave his fun poking off. “I remember when Liv first landed in your life, so you have zero room to piss take.”

He smiles warmly, clearly remembering Liv’s arrival and then he frowns. “She was a complete and utter pain in the arse. Did my head in on a daily basis and fuck me if she didn’t give me the greatest mind fucks ever.”

I watch him and say nothing.

“And it was amazing and perfect, just like my wife.”

I make a little gesture as if to be sick, but we both know I don’t mean it. I love Liv and even the mind fuck stuff and grief she caused Mase was never, ever intentional or through manipulation, it was just that she had never really met anyone like him or been loved and treated like fine art.

“Are my ears burning?”

Liv appears and after ruffling my hair makes her way to Mase and takes up her place in his lap.

“This furniture might not be up to the three of us sitting in one space,” she says, rubbing a loving and protective hand over her very swollen belly.

Mase pulls her closer, ignoring her words.

I smile at them, not just because I love them both and are happy for them, but because when I watch them together, I know this is what I want, and it is almost what I have with Anita.

“How long do we have until mini-me arrives now?”

“About five and a half weeks,” Liv tells me.

“You still working?” I kind of know she is, and I also know this is a bone of contention for Mase.

“Yeah.”

“Not for much longer,” Mase mutters, earning himself a sideways glance from his wife, although I notice she calms him by putting his hand onto her bump that he immediately begins to rub and physically calms.

“Would you come and look at a couple of places with me?” I shock myself with that question, unsure if I am moving too fast. “You know Mase and I have talked about expanding and I have found a couple of possible places, but I’d like your opinion and ideas on design.”

“Of course.” She grins and I can already see the cogs whirring in her mind.

“Great, I’ll call you later or tomorrow and arrange something.”

Mase looks wary, looking just like our dad. “Dec, do not part with money, or even shake on a deal without all of the appropriate surveys and legal work done.”

I laugh at his over cautious big brother routine. “Of course not, plus, Liv is going to keep my feet on the ground.”

She grins across at me as I get to my feet. Mase rolls his eyes. Clearly, he doesn’t trust either of us not to get carried away.

I look at my watch. “Dad should be arriving anytime now, so, I will leave Anita with the cake and find the old man.”

I walk away and can already hear Mase giving Liv orders on not encouraging anything rash from me, while she is already airing plans to find her sister and hopefully something to eat.

 

Anita

 

The afternoon has been amazing. I loved every second of being here with Dec and feeling part of his family. They are lovely people and so warm in their interactions with me. There are children and babies everywhere and it is truly amazing to see the way Charlotte and Tommy welcome and embrace them all into their home, especially when you consider that most of the people present are no blood relation to either.

When Jimmy arrived, I was unsure if it was going to become awkward as he was entering the home of his ex-wife and her husband, but all parties were relaxed and seemed genuinely happy to be there, sharing the time together and the celebration of another grandchild due to enter the family in a matter of weeks.

I feel the scowl form on my brow as I look down at the lemon frosted cake I am cutting for everyone to take home. Christian. He is the only blot on the landscape, but even that hasn’t detracted from the positive experience of the day, not that he even acknowledged me, which suits me just fine. Liv was here, helping me, which essentially means, I cut the cake and she consumes anything that drops off. She needed a wee though, possibly about her tenth of the afternoon, so has left me to it.

The sound of footsteps coming up behind me in the kitchen as I am wrapping the cake makes me smile. I assume it is Dec until I feel an unwelcome but slightly familiar scent wash over me. Maybe Christian has decided he’s going to acknowledge my presence after all.

“I must admit, I’m a little impressed that you are still around, but I doubt it will be for much longer. Dec has, how shall I put this, a short attention span.”

His voice carries nothing but contempt for me.

“And hopefully Mase will get bored of your sister around the same time and all the trash can be taken out together.”

I am in no way amused by him or his comments, but laugh as I spin to face him and wonder what I ever saw him in.

“In case you’d missed the point of today, it is to celebrate the fact that Liv and her husband, Mase, are having a baby in a matter of a few weeks, so, whether you like it or not, Liv is going nowhere.”

He looks like he has a bad taste in his mouth and the sneer curling his lips confirms his distaste. There is a small glimmer in his eyes that suggests he knows I am right and that gives me a huge sense of satisfaction.

The look is soon replaced by a cockier one that is accompanied by a shrug. “You win some you lose some, so I’ll just have to settle for Dec kicking you to the kerb.”

What the fuck is his problem here, besides me and my sister?

“Christian, what happened, happened. You went back to play the faithful husband and father while I moved on.” My voice sounds calm and steady, but inside I am quivering.

He takes a step closer so I can feel his breath on my face, making me nervous that he is going to try and kiss me. He doesn’t. Instead, he laughs.

“Maybe I should catch up with Dec, chew the fat as it were. He can tell me all about how the two of you got together.”

My jaw drops. I can’t believe he would do that, although we both know his idea of chewing the fat translates to being an intention to out me as someone he used to sleep with and then I remember. Dec knows.

I’m the one moving closer now, almost daring him to follow through on his very obvious threat.

“Dec knows about us, so, go ahead, catch up, but then he might decide it’s time to catch up with your wife.”

With a huge sense of satisfaction, I watch as Christian steps back from me with a very nervous expression spreading across his face.

“Dec knows?” he asks, seeming to regain his composure.

“Yes.”

And then he seizes upon the one thing Dec doesn’t know, something nobody knows except for me and Christian.

“He knows everything?”

My face is all the answer he needs.

“As I thought.”

He turns to walk away, and I know I should let him, but I don’t. I am absolutely livid with him, for his attitude towards me now, but for all he ever did that wronged me.

“And I assume your wife knows none of it, least of all the fact that you got me pregnant.”

He spins back and with his face the image of fury, he is striding towards me looking murderous.

“You little bitch!” he hisses as he reaches me. “According to you it was mine, but who knows with a whore like you.”

The bastard! How dare he suggest it could have been anyone else’s. I am not a whore and would never have gone near him had I known he was married. I was lonely and sad, and he showed me attention and affection. Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to fall for it. With my anger matching his, before I know what I am doing, my hand is raised and landing across his arrogant, smug face.

The slap echoes around us and in the blink of an eye, Christian’s hand is on my face, tightly gripping my chin and jaw.

“If you even hint at your bastard child being mine, I won’t hesitate in telling the whole family that I knew you, that a married associate of mine was the one fucking you and when he abandoned you, pregnant with goodness knows whose baby, I very kindly gave you some money to help you out and as you don’t have a child, I can only assume you used it for an abortion.”

Tears sting my eyes as his grip tightens, but it’s his words that sting.

“And trust me, I will be convincing.”

“Dec will believe me.” I truly believe that.

Christian laughs. “Maybe, but do you really think with his past that a woman who screws a married man, gets pregnant and then aborts the baby will last long?”

The first of my tears escapes my eyes and rolls down my cheek. He is right, we both know it.

“Thought so.”

“What the fuck?”

We both turn to find Liv standing in the doorway, staring at the scene of me and Christian before us not knowing how long she has been there or just how much she has heard.

“Just what we’re missing, the other sister.”

“Take your hands off her,” Liv demands, ignoring Christian’s reference to her.

“With pleasure.” He releases me and rubs his hands down his jeans, looking as though he is wiping something truly unpleasant from his skin.

Liv moves closer while Christian steps away, making for the door but does shout over his shoulder.

“Remember what I said.”

Liv stares at me, reaching forward to stroke the sore skin that has previously been squeezed by the man who despises us both.

“What the fuck? Are you okay? Obviously not,” she answers for herself. “I’ll fetch Dec, or Mase…maybe Jimmy would be better because Mase is desperate for an excuse to punch Christian and I think Dec will beat him to it if he knows he had his hands on you—”

I cut her off. “No, none of them, please.”

“Anita,” she begins in her best pleading voice.

“No,” I insist.

“Okay.” She’s not happy.

I move, preparing to take some cake through to everyone but Liv is not done yet.

“What did he mean about a woman who screws a married man, gets pregnant and aborts the baby?”

Fuck! Well, I suppose that answers how much she heard.