Mask - A Stepbrother Romance (17 page)

“You ungrateful little bastard. You’ll never work at my friend’s firm ever again, or at any other firm in this city.”

“Fine by me. Finance is boring as fuck, and I’ve got my own shit to do, anyway.”

“I’ll be freezing your trust fund, too. You won’t get another cent from me.”

“Also fine by me. I don’t want your money anymore. Oh, and speaking of money…that thirty grand you gave me to give to the guy who took Rayna? I got it back from the police. But you aren’t getting it back. I’ve given it to Elena to help pay for the move back to California, seeing as you made her uproot her entire life to move here for you.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Oh? Try and stop me. I grew up with you, and I know of quite a few other dodgy tax evasion schemes you’ve cooked up over the years; not just for yourself, but for your company’s clients too. I’d really hate to have to get Revenue to audit you…”

I let those words hang in the air for a moment. There was nothing more terrifying to a corporate finance guy than a threat to have him and his company audited by the government taxation department, and Dad sat in silence for a moment before abruptly standing up, knocking his chair over in the process.

“You’re all done,” he said. “I’ll make you all pay for this rubbish. Especially you, Jace, you little shit. I should’ve just let your mother take you in the divorce all those years ago.”

With that, he stormed out of the restaurant, and I watched him go with my lips pressed into a thin line. I knew he wouldn’t follow through on his threats; he was just saying them out of anger. When he calmed down, he would realize that it was in his best interests to do absolutely nothing, and maybe he’d realize exactly why we’d done this—to show him how awful he was, and to give him back a bit of the shit he’d dished out to other people over the years.

I’d lost my trust fund money, but that was fine. I had a small amount of savings from the job I’d had for the last month, plus the job I’d had up in Edinburgh, and it’d be enough to get me by until I figured things out.

I honestly didn’t care that I’d lost the trust fund anyway, even though it was millions of pounds. I had Rayna, and I now knew that love was far more important than any amount of money. I wish I’d known that sooner.

Milly stood up. “I better go.”

“Are you sure you won’t stay for lunch?” Elena asked. “It’s on me.”

She smiled. “No, I have to get to an appointment. But thank you for telling me the truth about Gerald and helping me confront him. I hope the bastard rots in hell.”

“You’re welcome, and thanks for coming today and helping with this,” Elena replied, standing up and giving Milly a hug.

I could still barely believe how gracious she was being. A lot of other women would’ve slapped their husband’s mistress and blamed her for everything, but Elena wasn’t like that. She understood that Milly hadn’t even known Dad was married, and she hadn’t held anything against her at all. She was a good, kind person, just like her daughter.

I looked over at Rayna, and she smiled and put her hand on mine as Elena walked Milly out of the restaurant. We stayed like that for what felt like forever, staring into each other’s eyes, and it was only when we heard the sound of someone clearing their throat that we looked up to see that Elena had returned.

Shit
. In all the hectic mess of the last few days, it had totally slipped our minds that no one knew about our relationship yet.

There was a very pregnant pause, and Rayna and I slowly moved our hands apart on the table. That fooled no one, and Elena finally spoke, her eyes wide.

“You two…you’re together?” she asked.

Rayna leapt to her feet. “Mom, I’m so sorry, this isn’t how we wanted you to find out. I—”

“How long?” Elena interrupted sharply. “How long has this been going on for?”

I stood up too. “Since we first met,” I said. “Listen, Elena, I know this might seem wrong, and it’s such a bad time to tell you, but I love Rayna. I love her more than anything.”

Elena was silent for a long time, staring us down. “You’re in love?” she finally said in a small voice.

I nodded. “Yes. But I understand if you don’t want me anywhere near you after what my father did to you. I can try to stay—”

She cut me off. “No…it’s fine. It’s actually more than fine.”

Rayna’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s fine? Just like that?”

Elena nodded, then sat down and sighed. “Honestly, honey, I can’t imagine a better guy for you after what Jace has helped us with over the last few days. And if you love each other…well, who the hell would I be to stand in the way of that? Just because I got screwed over by the wrong man doesn’t mean Jace isn’t the right man for you.”

“Elena…are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, looking back at me. “You’re nothing like your father, Jace. Nothing at all. I’m glad at least one good thing could come out of my marriage to your father. It’s just…” Her voice trailed off for a second, and tears filled her eyes.

“Mom?” Rayna said softly, gently stroking her back. “Just what?”

“I feel like I’ve lost a lot in these last few days, and I don’t want to lose my daughter too.”

“What do you mean?” Rayna asked. “You aren’t losing me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But I am. I’m going back to California. And if you and Jace are really in love, then I can’t make you come with me. You’re nineteen, Rayna. Still young, but old enough to make your own choices and live where you want.”

A hint of a smile flickered over Rayna’s perfect face, and she reached over and grabbed Elena’s hand before taking a deep breath. “Mom…we discussed this for a long time the other day, and we’ve decided that we’re coming with you. Both of us.”

Elena’s head jerked up again. “What?”

I grinned brightly. “I’m coming with you. If you’ll have me, of course,” I said, echoing Rayna’s words.

Tears of joy began to spill down Elena’s cheeks. “Oh my…this is just….of course it’s okay, Jace. Although I should warn you now—our old house isn’t exactly a mansion. Our lifestyle back in California isn’t at all what you’re used to here in England.”

“I don’t care, as long as I’m with Rayna,” I said. I meant every word.

Elena smiled. “Well, we’re leaving from Heathrow at eight o’clock next Tuesday night,” she said. “We’ll be staying at my friend’s B&B till then.”

“I’ll be there on Tuesday, and I’ll be on the same flight,” I replied. “There’s just one more thing I have to do first...”

***

The drive to Edinburgh the next day was seven hours long and nerve-wracking as hell, but I needed to do it. There was no way I could leave the country without sorting all of this out first; I couldn’t leave this stone unturned. As I pulled up outside the familiar house, my heart was pounding, but as much in excitement as it was nerves.

For the first time ever, I knocked on the door, rather than letting myself in with my key, and I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for it to be answered.

The door finally opened a crack, and a short blonde woman poked her head around. “Jace?” she gasped as she looked up at me.

I smiled weakly at her. “Hi, Mom.”

“Come on, come in.” She opened the door wide and pulled me in for a massive hug. Over the last few months, I’d almost convinced myself that she didn’t want me around anymore, but somewhere deep down, I’d always known she could never stop loving me. She was a real parent, unlike Dad.

After breaking away from the hug, I stepped inside and followed my mother through the house, breathing in the familiar scents of the sitting room as we entered it. Mom loved scented candles, and the vanilla variety were her favorite, so the house always smelled like that.

She took a seat on the black leather lounge across from me. “So are you back to stay?” she asked.

“No. I’m actually just here to apologize to you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I know I put you through hell when I lived up here, and you didn’t deserve that.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. Thank you, Jace. I honestly wasn’t expecting that. But I appreciate it.”

“I know you wouldn’t have been expecting it. I’ve been a selfish asshole these last few years. But I’m trying to change. I haven’t touched any drugs in months now, and I don’t intend to ever again. I’m done with that shit.”

She nodded, and her face relaxed. “I’m glad. I always knew you had it in you. You just needed the right push.”

“Yeah. I got that push from you after the accident…just seeing how much I upset you. I didn’t want to do that ever again. And then I got another push from Rayna.”

“Rayna?”

“Elena’s daughter.”

“Oh, of course. So you two are already good friends, then?”

I shook my head and took a deep breath. “No, Mom, we’re together.”

Mom’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t understand…she’s your stepsister.”

“Not for much longer. Dad cheated on Elena.”

She scoffed. “Oh, heavens, of course he did. That man just isn’t capable of keeping it in his pants, is he?”

“Apparently not. I caught him doing it and told her, so she’s left him now, and he’s cut me off.”

Mom narrowed her eyes, and her whole body tensed up.  “He did what? I’ll call him and—”

I held up a hand to interrupt what was about to be a tirade. “No, don’t call him, Mom. I don’t want his money, and I don’t even want to associate myself with him until he can learn to be a decent person. I want to do things entirely on my own for once.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little. “Oh. I see.”

“Which brings me to my news. This might be hard for you to hear, but I’m moving to America to be with Rayna.”

She was silent for a long time, just letting the news sink in, and I waited patiently, knowing it was a lot to take in.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she finally said. “I’m sure she’s lovely, but you’ve barely known this girl more than two months.”

“I know. But I
am
sure. I’ve never been more certain of anything.”

Mom smiled. “Well, in that case, I’m glad to hear it. But you have to come back and visit me as often as you can, and I expect you to call me once a week to chat.”

I grinned back at her. “I will.”

“And if anything goes wrong, you know you’re always welcome back here.”

“I know. Thanks.”

“I’d also like to at least meet this girl before you go.”

“You will,” I said. “In fact, she’s waiting right outside in the car.”

“You left the poor girl just sitting out there?” Mom said. “It’s freezing!”

“Only for a minute while I broke the news to you, and the car is toasty warm. No need to be clutching your pearls and reaching for the smelling salts just yet.”

Mom smiled and playfully slapped me on the arm. “Very funny, son. Now go get her!”

I got up and headed outside before tapping on the passenger side window of my car. Rayna had been playing a game on her phone while she waited, and she looked up and smiled at me before getting out.

“So did she have a heart attack when you told her about America?” she asked, rubbing her hands together as the frosty air hit her.

“No, she’s okay,” I said with a grin. “She wants to meet you.”

“I want to meet her too,” she replied.

“You can in a minute. There’s just something I need to do first.”

With that, I leaned down and brought my mouth down on hers, wrapping my arms around her back. It was like one of those kisses from the movies; her back curving as I leaned over her, her hands gripping my shirt, her warm lips closing over mine…For a magical moment we were off in our own private world. I was hers, she was mine, and nothing could get in the way of that ever again.

We finally broke apart and looked over at the house, and Rayna grabbed my hand. “Ready?”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

I was more than ready to take her inside to meet my Mom. For the first time in a long time, I was ready to move forward in every single aspect of my life.

I smiled down at Rayna as we headed up the garden-lined path toward the front door, and I knew I’d made the right choice in being with her. Moving to the States was going to change a lot of things in my life, and it would challenge me and give me responsibilities I’d never even dreamed of before. But with Rayna at my side, I was ready to deal with anything.

I was with her for good, and I was never going to look back.

Chapter 22

Jace

Three years later

I never ended up going through with any of my auditing threats against my father. After I’d left for California three years ago, he’d stayed quiet and stayed out of our lives; a far cry from the hellfire he’d promised when he left the restaurant that day, threatening revenge on all of us. I still could’ve told Revenue to audit him and his company, just to be a dick, but I hadn’t. It seemed too harsh, even for him. Besides, from what I’d heard from my friends back in the UK, his life had gone to shit since we all left anyway.

Apparently Milly hadn’t been the only woman he’d been having an affair with during his brief marriage to Elena—surprise, surprise—and not long after Elena left him, this other woman published a tell-all piece in the newspaper gossip columns detailing her sordid affair with him, right down to the fact that Dad had apparently sneaked out of his hotel suite on the night of his and Elena’s wedding night to have anal sex with her in the room right next door.

So classy.

According to my friend Tom, whose parents were part of the so-called social elite in London, Dad’s reputation was shot now, and he was very rarely welcome at any of the usual high-class events. Everyone in that posh world had always known about his womanizing ways in the past, but the way the upper class worked was this: it’s okay to have affairs and generally act like a man-whore, but only in private. If it goes public, then you’re finished.

In a way, Dad had dug his own social grave without me having to lift a finger. Maybe one day he’d finally come crawling back to me with his tail between his legs, telling me he’d messed up and been a shitty father, a shitty husband to all his wives over the years, and a shitty person in general. If that ever happened, then I’d welcome him with open arms and try to make amends—I didn’t hate him, I just hated who he’d become over the years, and until he accepted that, I wouldn’t accept him in my life any longer.

Another person who wouldn’t accept him in her life any longer was Elena, and I was happy to say that she’d finally met a decent man about six months after her return to California. He was a doctor named Brian Kenneth, and he’d just moved into the house Rayna and I had been sharing with Elena in San Diego. As much as we liked him, and as much as we liked living with Elena, Rayna and I knew it was finally time to move on and get our own place, so we were currently packing all our things. We’d found an apartment closer to the city center, and we were hoping to have all our stuff moved in within the next week.

Rayna was still in college and making me proud with her awesome grades after having transferred her course back to the States, and just like I’d suggested to her a long time ago, she was minoring in archaeology and heritage studies in the hopes of getting into the area of heritage law one day. She’d been a little miffed that she never ended up having the chance to see what it was like to study at an English university and work on ancient English heritage sites, but in the end she’d been more than happy to study all the interesting Native American heritage sites and get back to her old campus where she could see all of her old friends—and not just them, some new ones from the UK too. Liana had decided to take a year off from her English job and work in L.A. recently, so we often made the drive up there to visit her and her boyfriend, Rick, whom she’d apparently hooked up with at the fateful masquerade party Rayna and I had first met at.

As for myself, I was doing well. It’d been a rough transition settling into San Diego at first, seeing as I hadn’t exactly had much money to live on, but Rayna had helped me find a job and also a position in a decent writer’s group, and I’d started working on a few projects. I hadn’t screwed around like a lot of the wannabe writers in the group did; I’d put my nose to the grindstone and worked my ass off, writing, editing, picking up new skills and storytelling methods. After a year, the leader of the group had noticed my efforts and come up with a proposition for me. He wanted to start an online e-book publishing agency, but he simply didn’t have the time to run it, so while he was happy to invest the capital that it would need to get off the ground, he needed someone doing most of the day-to-day work that came with it.

I’d knocked my usual work hours down to part-time to give me time to work on the publishing site, and within six months, it had been well and truly up and running, with lots of promising authors featured. It’d done so well so far that I’d even been able to quit my other job, and at night, I was working on my own novel that could hopefully be published one day too. It was a mystery thriller story with elements based on my own experiences. For example, there was a storyline based on my old friend Roy—who was currently still in prison but being rehabilitated from what I’d heard—and also a highly dramatized scene similar to what had happened with Rayna’s ‘ghost’ back at Dad’s manor in the UK. Elena and I still teased her about that ghost sometimes, and being the good-natured girl she was, she always took it in her stride and found things to tease us about too.

I loved that about Rayna. She was so witty yet laidback at the same time, and waking up next to her every day made me feel like I was falling in love with her all over again.

Right now, I was cleaning out a closet and organizing our things into boxes to take to the new apartment, and I heard Rayna snort with laughter from the other side of the room. “What’s so funny?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

She held up a rectangular cardboard box. “Remember this?” she said, one eyebrow arched.

I grinned. It was the old Hasbro Ouija game. I hadn’t brought all that much stuff over from the UK, but somehow the game had ended up in my things and made it all the way over to San Diego.

“Yeah, I remember it,” I replied.

Rayna dropped it on the bed and stepped towards me before putting her hands on her hips. God, she looked so fucking sexy, even though she was dripping with sweat from all her packing efforts. I thought about throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her back to the bed before bending her over it, but it seemed like she had something to say, so I cocked an eyebrow and waited.

“It’s been a long time since you pranked me with that, but I’m still mad about it,” she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she drew ever-closer.

I rose to my full height and put my hands on the sides of her waist before leaning down and nuzzling her neck. “Really? Are you just saying that because you want me to apologize again, so we can have wild makeup sex?”

“Maybe…”

I couldn’t take it anymore; couldn’t wait any longer. Rayna was mine, she’d always been mine, and I had to have her again and again. Our packing could wait.

I picked her up and threw her down on the bed, and she lay back and stared up at me with her sparkling hazel eyes as she bit her lower lip. I felt my groin seize with lust, and my cock stiffened in my pants.

“God, you’re so fucking hot,” I murmured.

She blushed, and for a second I saw the same girl I’d first seen three years ago; the seemingly shy girl I’d met at the masquerade party who’d secretly been hiding a firecracker of a personality under her black lace mask. She could blush all she wanted, but we both knew she was a dirty girl in the bedroom—not to mention any other room we were in—and that would never change.

She was
my
dirty girl, and mine only.

I kept my eyes trained on her body as she stripped her shirt, shorts and underwear off, and then I cupped her perky breasts in my hands. Her own hands ran down her body and slipped between her legs, and she groaned softly and opened her thighs wide, allowing me to see her touching herself. Fuck, it was one of the hottest things I’d ever seen her do, and I felt like my cock was about to burst out of my pants as I watched her play. With a fierce growl, I pounced on her, pinning her right back on the bed, my lips pressed hard against hers until she moaned into my mouth. She was so sweet, so delicious, and I could smell the arousal wafting off her in huge waves.

Closing my eyes, I tangled my hands in her dark wavy hair and pressed my lips to hers over and over. Her soft hands slipped up my shirt, giving me goose bumps, and as she finally tugged the shirt over my head, she flushed again. I had the urge to yank her head back and suck on her neck until she was begging me to fuck her, but instead I moved my head down and took one of her stiff nipples in my mouth. Her skin tasted sweet, just like her mouth, and I wanted to run my tongue over her whole body until we were both spent and panting for breath.

As I stroked and caressed her tits, she writhed on the bed and tangled her hands in my hair. I shivered as she tugged gently at it; it felt so good that my dick ached to be inside her. But that’d have to wait. I wanted to pleasure her first. She smelled so good, and I wanted to lick her pussy for hours, until her juices were running down my face. She’d always loved it when I went down on her; she’d practically lose all control of her body as she twisted and writhed all over the place.

Crawling close between her legs, I buried my face in her perfect pussy. Her clit bumped up against my nose and lips and I inhaled her heavenly scent, and she gasped and ground her hips against my face. As I began to suck her clit, she let out a moan and dug her hands into my shoulders, and her nails sent shivers of pain and pleasure through my body. I slid a finger downwards and wriggled it into her pussy, and as I licked at her swollen clit, I curled my finger against her inner walls until she was shrieking with desire. I always knew Rayna’s body, always knew what she wanted.

I always would.

I drew back for a second and inhaled her musk before plunging my tongue inside her pussy and licking her with reckless abandon. She went wild. She thrashed and moaned and called out my name as I sucked on her clit, and just when I thought she couldn’t go any crazier, I slipped a second finger inside her. Her tight wet muscles clamped down on the fingers, and I felt a gush of her moisture against my hand. Her juices were soaking into my face, dripping down my chin and neck, and she cried out.

“Oh, god…Jace, I’m gonna come…just keep going…”

I grinned wickedly into her crotch and kept licking and sucking, and in only a matter of seconds, I felt her muscles clamp down again and then release, over and over, in a series of spasms accompanied by squeals and cries of pleasure. I looked up to see her pink face, shiny with sweat, straining as her whole body bucked and convulsed, and before I could move, I felt her hands on me. I was almost a foot taller than her and about ten times stronger, but in moments like this, she always showed surprising strength, and the bossy side of her really turned me on.

She tugged me up and threw me onto my back, and I grinned and let her. Then she pinned me down and got on top of me, straddling me. I could feel the wet heat from her core warming my cock through my shorts, and I groaned, arching up and grinding my hips against her. Rayna moaned softly and reached down, pulling my cock out of its confines, and then with one quick movement, she was impaling herself on me, hazel eyes flashing with wanton need as she moved up and down. Lust coursed through my body like a wildfire as she did so, and I moved my hips back and forth, getting into a heady rhythm with her body.

Reaching up a moment later, I grabbed her and gently moved her off me, and she shuddered as I flipped her over onto her belly. The rounded curves of her ass quivered as I slipped a hand around and stroked at her clit, and she moaned. Her cries were mostly muffled by the sheets, but I could feel her whole body shaking as I gently teased her, and then she arched her spine. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I rubbed my cock up against her entrance and then slammed inside her in one hard thrust, and she cried out, her whole body tensing as I filled her tight pussy with every inch of me.

“Oh, fuck, Jace…that feels so good…”

Every time I pulled back and then entered her again, spasms of pleasure shook my legs, and even though I couldn’t see Rayna’s face, I could tell she felt the same bliss I did. I could feel her bucking against me, and I could see her hand rubbing between her legs, taking over from where my fingers had just been. Her cries were loud, and if anyone else was home right now, they’d probably think she was being hurt by something. But I knew better; knew she craved me with every inch of her body. No matter what happened between us, she’d always be mine. My Rayna.

“Fuck...I’m gonna come,” I groaned, my legs tensing. “But not before you. Come on my cock, baby.”

That was enough to send her gasping and careening over the edge of another climax, and her pussy felt so amazingly good contracting around my cock that I could barely move anymore. Watching her writhe and moan with the force of her orgasm sent my level of arousal to a new height, and before I knew it, I was gasping and coming as well. My cock pumped hot ropes of cum inside her, and every muscle in my body clenched and released as waves of pleasure swept over me.

Finally we collapsed on the bed together, drenched in sweat.

“God,” she murmured, rolling onto her back a moment later. “That was a nice little afternoon surprise.”

“Hardly a surprise when you instigated it, you tease,” I said, and she grinned and planted her lips on mine.

Rayna might think an impromptu sex session was a nice surprise for the both of us, but she had no idea what a real surprise was. Not yet. I had something big planned for a few months from now, and she didn’t suspect it at all.