Page 11 of Undeniably Corrupt (Boston’s Irresistible Billionaires #7)

“ H e’s so small,” Katy murmurs as she gently rocks a swaddled Nolan in her arms.

Mason already looks tired but blissfully happy as he tosses his hands back behind his head, closes his eyes, and leans into his sofa.

Baby Nolan was born a little early when Sorel went into surprise labor at her baby shower.

Four days later, they’re home, and Sorel is taking a much-needed nap while Mason—and us—are on baby duty.

Katy, Keegan, Owen, Stone, and I all took the morning off. Kenna, Wren, Tinsley, Jack, and the others couldn’t make it work.

“That’s because he is,” he says around a yawn. “Don’t worry, I’ll have him throwing a ball in no time.”

Keegan snorts out a laugh. “What if he doesn’t want to be a quarterback or play in the NFL? For that matter, what if he doesn’t want to play football?”

Mason peeks an eye open, a rare frown tugging down his lips. Mason has big dreams that his son will follow in his footsteps and his father’s before him and be the quarterback for the Boston Rebels .

“Just because you had a change of heart about your career doesn’t mean my son will.”

Keegan holds up a hand. “Fine. He’ll be the best quarterback to ever play the game.”

Mason nods. “Now you’re talking.”

“Okay, you’ve held him long enough. It’s my turn.” Keegan makes grabby hands at Katy, who gently passes the tiny thing over to her.

“How weird is it that Mason’s a father?” Owen muses.

“Pretty weird,” I murmur distractedly, checking my phone again for the hundredth time this morning.

I’m annoyed. I texted Liora an hour ago to let her know I was going to be in late, and she hasn’t responded.

It’s been two days since she started, and she’s already driving me nuts.

I should have put a million dollars in her bank account and be done with her instead of hiring her and suffering through all this.

The red lips and ponytail stayed all day Monday. She even touched up her lips after lunch to make sure none of the color faded. Yesterday, she came in wearing a skirt that hugged her ass like a fucking glove and had a slit up the back that at the right angle showed she was wearing thigh-highs.

You’d think she’d be grateful for the job, but no. Instead, she’s trying to torture me, and I don’t know if she quit the club or if she’s still dancing for strangers who call her my nickname for her because I refuse to hack her or the club again.

“What’s her name?” Katy asks, nudging my foot with hers, and my head shoots up to find everyone’s eyes on me. Mason is smirking. He already knows I’ve hired Liora, but everyone else is a little too interested in Katy’s question for my liking.

“Whose name?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “The girl you keep checking your phone over and scowling at when you see she hasn’t replied to you.”

“There’s no girl. ”

Stone sits up a little straighter and shoots Mason a finger. “Shit, there totally is. You know about this. I can see it on your face. What the hell, man? How can you hold out on me?”

“Because I said I wouldn’t say anything, and, unlike you gossip queens, I know how to keep my mouth shut.” Mason laughs at Stone’s sour expression. “But yes, I know about her. She works with Katy and Keegan at their hospital.”

“What?” everyone cries at once, and I sigh.

“So much for not gossiping there, queen.”

Why do I tell anyone anything? This is why I prefer computers to people.

He shrugs. “It was going to come out.”

But that’s when it dawns on me. Today is Wednesday, and she’s at the hospital doing her clinical rotation or whatever she calls it. So… not ignoring me. Just busy and probably doesn’t have her phone on her.

“Who is she?” Owen questions. “Is this someone we know?”

“It’s no one.”

“She’s a nursing student,” Mason explains for me, bypassing my non-answer, and now he’s on a roll. “She also worked at a coffee shop and The Landing Strip as a dancer.”

“Oh yeah?” Stone questions. “Pretty? Nice tits?”

“Hey! Watch it,” I snap, and Stone cracks up, flashing me a shit-eating grin.

Shit, I fell for that, didn’t I? And now the women are in on it.

“Yeah. No one, huh?” Stone is smiling like the damn Cheshire cat. “Dish it, brother.”

“There’s nothing to dish.”

“Where did you meet her? At the coffee shop or the strip club?” Owen asks, amusement in his voice since now I’m scowling like a child.

I flip him off and stand to snag the baby from Keegan, who glares at me for it, before I sit back down and hold baby Nolan close while he sleeps .

“Just tell us,” Katy whines, throwing herself dramatically prostrate on the couch. “You know we’ll get it out of Mason if you don’t.”

Dammit, if she isn’t right.

“Fine. I saw her first at the coffee shop, then later at the club when I was going after Tommy Hardgrave.” I nod at Keegan, and she blows me a kiss for that. “And that’s not how I met her. Just how I saw her again.”

Katy holds up a hand from her supine position. “I’m sorry, I’m going to need further explanation on all of this. Especially if she works in my hospital.”

I stare down at the sleeping baby. “He looks like Sorel,” I note.

“I know,” Mason deadpans. “Lucky for all of us that he does. You’re evading. Tell the class what they want to know.”

“Yes. Tell us about the girl you can’t seem to stop thinking about for two seconds,” Katy demands.

“She met your husband.” I smile, thinking about that. “I used his name in the coffee shop because I didn’t want her to recognize me at first, and she told me she’d met another Bennett at MGH.”

“Seriously?” Katy gasps. “That’s wild. And what do you mean you didn’t want her to recognize you at first? Who is she?!” Her hands fly about. “You’re killing me, Smalls.”

“Nice Sandlot reference, babe.” She glares, but I decide to take pity on them. “It’s Liora.” I let that hang in the air.

“Why do I know that name?” Keegan questions, staring at Katy with a quizzical brow.

“Liora.” Katy tests the name as she sits up to take a sip of her Diet Coke, only to pull the can away from her lips just as fast. “Wait. Isn’t that?—”

“Cassian’s sister,” Stone finishes for her and turns to me. “And you didn’t think to tell me? ”

“Aw, princess, are you hurt I kept running into my high school girlfriend a secret from you?”

He rolls his eyes.

“Not just your high school girlfriend,” Owen states. “The only girlfriend you’ve ever had.”

“Something like that,” I admit as I rock Nolan in my arms. “He’s so freaking light and tiny and kind of looks like an alien while also being cute.”

“You’re evading again.” Stone scoots to the edge of his seat, staring at me like he has X-ray vision, and part of me knew I shouldn’t have mentioned this. He points to my arm. “Lift up your sleeve.”

“That’s a bit forward for us, lover. What would your wife say?”

“Vander Suze Moore, lift up your left sleeve, or I’ll do it for you.” Great. Now Katy’s climbing all over this. She must remember too.

“Oh shit.” Owen covers his mouth with his hand. “The tattoo.”

Dammit. I adjust Nolan and slide up my left sleeve, and Katy points to my forearm.

“Turn your arm over,” she demands. “Ah! I knew it. Those bloody angel wings. You have a tattoo for her.”

“It was for Cassian too.” Sort of. The blood was for all three of us.

Cassian’s, Liora’s, and mine, because Liora was in my blood, and leaving her felt like I was spilling it everywhere, and hers because she bled with losing both of us.

“It was a long time ago,” I state. “I was just a kid when I did it.”

Except everyone is staring at the bleeding angel wings on my forearm and not bothering to listen to my rebuttal of them.

I had these inked three weeks after I got to MIT.

I was drunk and I couldn’t get her face or her tears out of my head.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Cassian and how he died and how I couldn’t decide if he’d kick my ass harder for being with her all that time behind his back or walking away from her the way I did.

Everything about her was haunting me, and I couldn’t think of anything else to exorcise her ghost. Or his.

It’s the only tattoo I’ve had done that neither my father nor I did.

“Wow,” Stone hisses. “I forgot how realistic the blood looks.”

“He hired her,” Mason tells them, sort of saving me, sort of not.

“You hired her?” Stone questions. “As what? I thought you just said she’s a nursing student, works at a café, and is a dancer.”

“She is.” I sigh again, knowing that won’t be the end of it, and bounce Nolan a little when he starts to squirm and fuss a bit in his sleep.

“He ran into her at the café and again at The Landing Strip,” Mason once again explains for me.

“Then, because he’s freaking Vander and doesn’t know how to let shit go, he hacked her, got her fired from her job as a barista, and essentially blackmailed her into taking Champagne’s job.

Oh, and he beat up some drug dealer who had apparently been heckling her. ”

“Is all that true?” Katy looks half appalled and half impressed.

“All except the blackmail part,” I admit. “It wasn’t blackmail. Just… coercion. And I apologized to her for getting her fired. She obviously doesn’t know about the hacking, nor will she ever. Especially since I plan to go after her ex.”

“Vander!” Keegan half-yells. “No!”

“Her ex deserves it,” I defend. “It looks like he took all her money, put her into debt, and left her with nothing but their kid. Once she confirms that for me, I’ll ruin him.”

“Wait.” Owen holds up a hand. “She’s a single mom?”

I nod at him.

“Shit, Vander. ”

“Um.” Keegan shakes her head like she’s not sure where to start with that. “I guess that explains why your knuckles are split. Why would you do all of that? I get destroying her ex if he did all that, but you beat up some drug dealer for her and forced her to work for you?”