Page 32 of Beauty and the Daddy

"Thinking about your new toy?"

I turn to find my brother Declan leaning against the doorframe, smirking.

"Don't you fucking knock?"

Declan raises his hands in mock surrender and strolls in without permission, looking like the devil's lawyer himself.

Sometimes I wonder if killing him would be worth the headache of explaining it to our mother.

"Touchy today," he says, helping himself to my whiskey. "Must be the virgin bride getting under your skin."

I narrow my eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"Please. This house has more ears than the CIA. Everyone knows you popped her cherry."

I'm across the room in seconds, my eyes locked threateningly with his. "Say one more word about her like that."

"Interesting. You actually care about this one."

"She's leverage. Nothing more." I take a step back, and he smiles, straightening his tie.

"Bullshit. I saw your face when she walked past the living room this morning. You looked like a starving man who just spotted a prime steak."

I glare. "Cut the shit, Declan. Go back home."

"I thought I'd stick around, you know?" He takes a slow sip, savoring it. "Just until dinner tonight. Will she be coming? Belle Donovan?"

Her name in his mouth makes my jaw clench. "Watch yourself."

He raises a brow. "Relax. I'm not stupid enough to touch what you've already marked. But she's a distraction, Luca. Don't dress it up as anything else."

I turn away, pouring myself a drink to hide the heat crawling up my neck. "You're seeing things."

"All I'm seeing is the Russians pushing into our territory, Luca." His voice drops. "And the feds sniffing around the shipyards. Can you afford a distraction right now?"

I knock back the whiskey, let it burn all the way down. "I know what I'm doing."

Declan steps closer. "From where I'm standing, it looks like you're making the same mistake you made with Elena."

I slam down the glass on the table, so damn hard, it cracks.

Elena's name in his mouth is a match to gasoline.

"Mind your own fucking business," I hiss.

Declan shakes his head. "You wanted Elena because she was innocent, just like this Belle girl, and look how that ended. You weren't yourself for months! MONTHS!"

The memory of Elena's burned-out car flashes behind my eyes.

I'd turned into a ghost, and it was Declan who had stepped in, who sat in my chair while I haunted memories.

It was also Declan who enjoyed my power far too much.

"Get out. I'm done with this conversation," I bark at Declan.

He chuckles on his way to the door. "Remember, brother. Leverage has a way of becoming a liability when you start thinking with the wrong head."

"Close the door on the way out."