Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) (9 page)

“They’re
connected.”

“What?”

“I heard you and mum.
I know the jewels and the man are connected. I need answers as much
as Bray does. She has to tell us.” What? Steven knew? Things are
getting crazier by the minute.

“You should’ve come
to me or your mother when you finished your eavesdropping. Things are
not always as they are seen—or heard.”

“Stop protecting me.
I can protect myself.”

“There are some
things you don’t need to know. Now apologize to Darcy and maybe her
friend will allow you to live another day.”

She doesn’t want to,
but she also isn’t ready to die, so she does what he asks. “I’m
sorry, Darcy. I’ll try to restrain myself from killing you.”

“I suggest you do
more than try,” Faith says as she lets her up.

“Do you need help,
Darcy?” Noah asks her, surprising me.

“No. You should help
Jenysis. I mean, she’s like a sister to you, right?”

“Yes, I am. What are
you, jealous? You should be—Noah’s awesome.”

“Shut. Up. Now, Jen,”
my uncle tells her, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so
angry.

“It’s just a little
cut. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m going with
you,” I tell her.

“Actually, I think
Darcy and the rest of us from the Society need to have a little talk.
You can see her later.”

I don’t want to let
her go, but I’m guessing that none of them knew about the jewels. I
know she’ll need to tell them whatever she can. Maybe they can
convince her to tell me everything.

“I’ll give you an
hour,” I tell her, helping her to her feet and the kissing her
softly.

“You’ll give her as
long as we need,” Faith says. “Or we all leave.”

“Don’t Faith. It’s
really okay.”

“Since you’re
injured, I’ll let you win at the video games tonight,” I say,
trying to break the tension in the room.

It works, as she laughs
and then kisses me again. “I always win, Crown. You should remember
that.”

“At those games
maybe, but you know I can’t let you win at the rest, Cat.”

“I have a feeling
neither of us will win. I’ll see you later.”

We kiss one more time,
and then she’s gone. I’m pretty sure she’s right, though. We’re
both going to lose, and it’s going to cost us more than just some
family jewels.

Darcy

“You’re fucking
him?” Nate asks from the video screen on the wall in my game room.
“Really?”

“That’s not what
we’re here to talk about,” Reina reminds him.

“It’s what I want
to talk about. She should be staying away from that little prick.”

“Um, hello. Weren’t
you the one who told me he seemed like a good guy before I started
the mission?”

“That was before he
threatened you, and his cousin tried to kill you.”

“He’s not a bad
guy. He just thinks I have some information he needs.”

“About some stolen
jewels. Did you steal them?” Faith asks.

“I can’t talk about
it.”

“So, you did. You
should’ve told us about this, Darce. How can I protect you if I
don’t have all of the details?” Reina asks.

“Like I said, Rei, I
can’t talk about it.”

“I’m your boss, and
I’m telling you that I need to know.”

“I’ll quit.”

“It’s that
important for you to keep your secrets?”

“Aren’t yours
important to you?”

I can hear her sigh
through the screen. “Yes. I get it, but I think it’s time to send
in the reinforcements. The ones that Brayden and his family know
nothing about.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.
Keep her safe, ladies. I’ll do what I can from here.”

“Is there anything
more you can tell us,” Audrey asks as Ellie finishes bandaging my
thigh.

“No. I’m sorry, but
I can’t.”

“Are you going to be
able to tell him what he needs to know?”

“There’s a small
chance, but I doubt it.”

“We’ll protect
you,” Ellie says.

“That’s not even a
question. A threat to one of us, is a threat to us all,” Faith
says.

“Thank you. I know I
don’t deserve your blind trust, and I haven’t been the
friendliest person over the years, but you all mean so much to me.
More than I could ever tell you.”

“You don’t need to
tell us, mija. We know.”

There’s a knock at
the door, and Ainsley laughs. “Our hour is apparently up.”

“We could make him
wait.”

“No, Faith. I don’t
know how much time I have with him, and I don’t want to waste any
of it.”

“You love him,”
Ellie says.

“I’m trying not
to.”

“Take it from someone
who knows all about it—you won’t be able to stop loving him, no
matter how hard he makes it.”

“That’s what I’m
afraid of.”

I hug them all,
grateful for the women that I’m surrounded with. Ainsley stops to
whisper in my ear. “I know it’s hard to be friends with girls
after always hanging out with the guys, but it’s pretty awesome,
too.”

“Yeah, it is.”

I nod to Audrey, and
she opens the door for Brayden. “You can come in now.”

“I would promise to
behave, but I’d be lying.”

“I don’t think she
wants you to behave. At least not while the two of you are alone.”

“I don’t,” I call
out. “Bye, girls.”

Brayden’s smile drops
as he turns to me after locking the door. “Are you really okay?”

“Yes. I’ve been in
fights before, you know. Injuries are pretty common in my
profession.”

“I don’t want to
even think about you being hurt,” he says as he walks over to me
and cups my face in his hands. I seriously love it when he does that.
“Is there anything I can do?”

I bite my lip, knowing
there’s something I want him to help me with, but feeling shy again
about asking. “Yeah. I mean, if you want.”

“I want. Tell me.”

“Well, I’m all
sweaty from fighting, and I can’t get my bandages wet, so…”

“I can totally give
you a sponge bath.”

“Are you sure? I
mean, I’ll wash my hair over the sink, and I can do most of my body
myself.”

He places his fingers
over my mouth. “I’m washing your hair,
and
the rest of you. It’s going to be my pleasure, I assure you.”

“I have a feeling I’m
going to enjoy it, too.”

“Oh you will. Even if
I have to do it over and over again until you’re screaming my
name.”

“You think I’m
going to scream from you washing me up?” I ask with a laugh.

“Yes. Since I plan to
wash you like a cat, before and after I wash you like a human.”

I pretend not to know
what he’s talking about, but oh dear God, I think I do. “A cat?”

“You know—I’m
going to lick you clean. Everywhere.”

“That’s an
excellent idea.”

“I know. Wait here
for a minute while I get everything set up.”

I curl up on the couch,
being careful not to put too much pressure on my injury. Audrey
offered me some of her specialized pain meds, but I declined because
I knew Brayden was coming to see me. I want to be alert while we’re
doing sexy stuff. And I
need
to be alert while we’re having any kind of conversation.

About ten minutes
later, he comes back into the room, leaning over to scoop me up into
his arms. “I can walk, you know?”

“But why would you do
that when I can just carry you?”

“When you put it that
way, I really don’t know.”

Once we’re in my
bathroom, I see that he’s rigged the hand held sprayer from the
shower onto the sink. There’s a chair piled with pillows in front,
just high enough so I can lean into the sink without it being too
uncomfortable. He sets me down and gathers my hair into the bowl.

“Wow. I’m
impressed. I didn’t know you were a plumber.”

“I’m not, but I
learned a few tricks from water fights with Jen when we were kids.”

“You two are really
close, aren’t you?”

“Yes. We did
everything together growing up. Well, until she had to move when I
was 15. Then I did everything with Noah. He’s a few years younger
than me, but I had always wanted a brother, so it worked out. I mean,
I guess it didn’t really ‘work out’ since his dad died, but I
was happy to have him here with me.”

“I’m glad for both
of you,” I tell him, meaning every word. I can see the strong bond
they have, and how they’ve helped each other out over the years.

We don’t talk as he
washes my hair. It feels amazing, though. He massages my scalp as he
works in the shampoo, and then the conditioner. Once he’s done, he
wraps my hair up in a towel. I lean up to kiss him, letting him know
I appreciate what he’s doing for me.

“Time to take off all
of these unnecessary clothes of yours and get the rest of you clean.”

“I need to dry my
hair, or it’s going to be a crazy mess.”

“Leave it. If it’s
not a crazy mess when I’m done with you, I’m not doing things
right.”

“Oh, I have no doubt
that what you’re about to do to me is going to be
very
right.”

I take off my clothes,
and can’t resist towel drying my hair just a little bit while he
heads into my bedroom. I walk in, and stop short. There are candles
everywhere, and the bed is covered in plush towels. A basin with
soapy water is on the side table where my lamp usually resides. I
realize now that Brayden angled me in the other direction as we
walked through so I wouldn’t see anything.

“Welcome to your
private bath. My name is Crown and I’ll be servicing you this
evening.”

“Crown? That’s an
unusual name.”

“An outstanding woman
gave it to me.”

“You can call me
Cat,” I tell him with a smile.

I walk into the room
and he guides me to the bed and onto my stomach. “Is your thigh
okay like this?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“How bad is it
hurting?”

“I just said I was
good.”

“How bad?” he asks
again.

“Not as bad as it did
an hour ago.”

“That’s the best
I’m going to get out of you, isn’t it?”

“Pretty much.”

“Just please, please
let me know if it hurts any worse, or if you want me to stop at any
time.”

“I will…thank you.”

“You can thank me by
letting me win at Call of Duty,” he says to me as he licks a path
up my spine.

“I’ve tried that
already,” I tell him honestly.

“Bloody hell. I
really do suck.”

“Sucking can be
good.”

“Like this?” he
asks as he sucks lightly on my neck.

“Mm.”

He chuckles against my
shoulder before continuing his journey over the back half of me. Once
he’s covered me in kisses and licks, he grabs a soapy washcloth and
starts cleaning me thoroughly. By the time he’s finished, I’m
squirming with want, and he hasn’t even touched the front of me
yet.

“I need to go grab
another washcloth with just water so I can get this soap off.”

“Hurry,” I tell
him, shamelessly rubbing myself against the towels beneath me.

“Don’t you dare try
and get off without me.”

“I can’t promise
you anything.”

“Fuck, Darcy. I’ll
be
right
back.”

“Fine, I’ll wait.
Just get back here.”

He’s back in less
than a minute, wiping all the soap off much faster than he put it on.
He grabs a towel and dries me off before flipping me over and
spreading my legs. He drops down and starts feasting on me. He’s
eating me like I’m his last meal, and yes, I’m screaming.

Once he’s brought me
to orgasm twice with his mouth, he kisses his way up and down my
legs, being mindful of my bandage. Then it’s my hips, stomach, and
ribs. He stops his progress to worship my tits for a good half hour,
making me come again just from what he’s doing up there, before
giving my collarbone and neck the love he thinks they deserve. I’m
sated and boneless by the time he reaches my mouth.

“How am I doing so
far?” he asks in between kisses.

“So far? I thought we
were almost done.”

“We’ve barely
gotten started.”

* * *

Brayden

I meant what I just
said to Darcy. I’m planning on making love to her all night.
Because it’s more than likely going to be our last. I spent the
hour we were apart with Noah and Jen. They’ve both convinced me
that I have to step things up. I know they’re right—after all, I
only have less than a month to get those jewels. I can’t let my
feelings for Darcy get in the way of my promise to my father. I drew
the line at physically harming her—and told Jen to leave her
alone—but I can’t pretend that there’s not this huge thing
between us.

I kiss her with
everything that I have in me. All the feelings, and yes, the love,
too. She’s kissing me back the same way, and my heart is starting
to crack, so I pull back. “Cat.”

“I know, Crown. Don’t
say it, please. Let’s just have tonight.”

I want to tell her that
I love her, and that I wish we could have forever, not just tonight,
but that wouldn’t be fair to either of us. So I just do as she
asks, and proceed to give her the night. We make love to each other
over and over again until we fall asleep, only to wake up and do it
all over again until the sun begins to rise. It’s the best night of
my life, but also the worst.

I wake up around noon
to find myself alone in Darcy’s bed. I hear water running in the
bathroom, so I get up to see what she’s doing. I find her with one
foot in the walk in shower, and one out, trying to wash up without
getting her bandage wet.

“Hey, I thought that
was my job.”

“You got distracted,
and well, it’s morning.”

“I’ll always be
distracted when you’re naked. That doesn’t mean I’ll shirk my
duties. Why does the morning matter?”

“Last night was the
end, wasn’t it? We’re going to go back to ‘fake’ and forget
that what’s between us was almost real.”