Acceptance (Club X Book 5) Read online

  She rode me like my cock was hers to use, and I loved it. I loved her, probably more than she knew. Sure, we said I love you all the time, but over the years I’d come to realize that meant more than romance and sex.

  Shay was the only woman I could imagine being with for the rest of my life. We never talked about it or mentioned marriage, but I knew it. A piece of paper wouldn’t change how I felt about her. She was the woman for me.

  With one last thrust into her tight cunt, she came apart, milking my cock to my own release, and then in the middle of the afternoon we lay there in each other’s arms not caring about anything but each other. It wasn’t what my brothers had, and I didn’t care. They had their happiness, and I was happy for them.

  But Shay and I had ours too.

  As I lay there lost in thought about how good she felt next to me, she asked, “So how did the meeting go? Are you guys going to see what’s up with this guy who claims he’s one of your father’s kids?”

  I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts about us and nodded. “Yeah. Well, Kane and I are. Cash isn’t interested so far.”

  Shay kissed me softly on the lips and smiled. “I think it’s a good idea. Who knows? He might be someone you can hang out with. Someone like you who isn’t married like Cash and Kane.”

  Chuckling at the idea, I kissed her on the forehead. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m too old to be hanging out anymore with twenty-six year olds. Those days are long gone.”

  Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I can’t believe it. The legendary Stefan March has officially become an adult. You better watch out. Who knows what that will bring?”

  She was right. If I didn’t watch myself, one day I’d be thinking I should be like Cash and Kane.

  Chapter Four

  Kane

  After getting the green light, at least from Stefan, I headed over to John Kearney’s to see what else he’d found out about Sebastian. The guy worked seven days a week since his wife left him for some insurance salesman from Orlando and practically lived at his hole-in-the-wall office if he wasn’t out in the field investigating, so I had a pretty good shot at finding him sitting behind that old wooden desk of his.

  John looked up when he heard the office door open and waved me in. “Kane, what brings you here on a beautiful Sunday afternoon? I don’t think I’ve found out much more since I last talked to you.”

  I sat down in front of his desk and looked at him, trying to figure out if he’d even bothered going home the night before. His face hadn’t been touched by a blade in what looked like days, and his brown hair looked like it needed a good washing by the way it hung down in his eyes. Hell, it needed a good trim too.

  “Living here now, John?” I asked half-jokingly.

  He looked around at the drab tan walls surrounding us and laughed. “No, why?”

  “You look like shit, man. When was the last time you left here?”

  Running his hand over his chin, he shrugged. “Life of a single guy.”

  How different he looked since I met him all those years ago when I first needed someone to check out people at Club X. Back then, he was a married man with a young wife and looked like he was on top of the world. Now all I saw was the empty shell of that guy. He sounded the same, but there was something missing in him these days.

  “I guess the life of a single guy doesn’t involve a shower or a razor.”

  “Beards make women go wild these days. Haven’t you seen all those young douchebags with them? The chicks dig it. It’s like carte blanche to look like a goddamn scumbag. It’s a good time to be a lazy guy. You should try it.”

  I shook my head and cringed at the idea of any woman digging John like this. “Yeah, no. Not my thing.”

  “Your loss. You’re married anyway, so what do you care about what attracts the ladies, right?”

  “I don’t. What I care about is finding out what more you know about this person who claims he’s a son of Cassian March.”

  John nodded and blew the air out of his lungs slowly. “Well, I still haven’t found any legal proof he’s your brother. His birth certificate only lists the mother’s name. And I’ve found no real evidence that your father ever recognized him as a child of his. I can say this, though. I’ve seen him and damnit if he doesn’t look like you and Cassian. Those must have been some serious genes your father was toting around with him. I wonder what happened with Stefan, though.”

  I thought about Alexandria and how strong she was and chuckled. “You’ve never met his mother. Something tells me her genes are just as serious.”

  Whatever I said must have struck him as funny because he burst out laughing like we’d been telling jokes for the past five minutes. “Interesting family you guys have.”

  “So did you find out anything else about this guy?”

  John shook his head. “Other than his name, where he lives, and where he works, all I know so far is he doesn’t seem to have any legal claim to being Cassian March’s son. It has only been two days since I started this case, though, so I expect I’ll find out more this week.”

  “Okay. Let me know as soon as you find anything out.”

  I stood to leave as he promised to call me the minute he got any new information on Sebastian Thorne. Thanking him, I turned to leave and stopped. My curiosity wanted more satisfaction. Looking back at John, I said, “How about giving me the addresses of his place and his work?”

  A sly grin slowly spread across his face. “Want to check him out for yourself, huh?”

  “Yeah. Can’t hurt to look.”

  As he scribbled down the addresses on a sheet of paper, he nodded. “Nope. Just a warning, though. He’s like the mirror image of you. There’s no way he’s not going to recognize you if he sees you, so lay low.”

  “You think he hasn’t seen me or my brothers yet? He contacted me, not the other way around.”

  John handed me the paper. “That’s true. I guess he probably has taken a gander at you already. Still, I think it would be better if you lay low on Frisco with this guy. Look, but don’t touch.”

  “Got it. I’ll keep that all in mind. Thanks, John. Let me know when you find out anything else.”

  “Of course. You’ll be hearing from me soon, hopefully.”

  *

  “Mommy! Liam pooped again and it’s awful!”

  Annalea’s announcement that her brother’s diaper was dirty greeted me as I walked back into the house. From the kitchen, Abbi yelled out, “I’ll be right there, honey.”

  I picked up my son from the playpen as Annalea showed me a picture she’d drawn. “Daddy, look what I made at Grandma’s. Guess what it is.”

  My eyes teared up as the smell wafting up from Liam’s diaper nearly overwhelmed me, so all I saw was a blurry flower or maybe a rainbow. Taking my best guess, I answered, “That’s a beautiful flower picture, honey. I’ll take a better look as soon as I get your brother changed.”

  Abbi met me as I began to climb the stairs. “Kane, I didn’t realize you were home. Everything okay at the restaurant? Did you find out what the problem was with the electricity?”

  Remembering the lie I’d told her about where I was going hours earlier, I forced a smile and nodded. “Everything’s okay. Just a problem with one of the breakers. I’ll be right back down. Just need to clean up a mess with this little guy.”

  Thankfully, I got away before she could ask me any more questions about the nonexistent problem at CK. As I changed Liam’s diaper, I stared down into his dark blue eyes so similar to mine and told myself my lies weren’t really anything that could hurt anyone. I just wanted to keep the whole business with this potential new brother away from my family until I knew one way or another what kind of person he was.

  That wasn’t a bad thing, was it?

  Liam smiled up at me, likely thankful that I’d helped him out of wearing shit, and I lifted him off the changing table to give him a kiss. “Feel better, little man? What do you say we go back downst
airs and see the ladies in our life?”

  Before we could get out of the room, though, Abbi appeared in the doorway with a look on her face that told me she wanted to talk. All I could hope was she didn’t ask more questions that would force me to lie again.

  “Do you want me to take him?” she asked sweetly, her arms out to take hold of Liam.

  But I didn’t want to give him up just yet. I didn’t get too many chances to hang out with my son, and I liked to take advantage of the time I got.

  “No, I have him. Is it time for him to eat?”

  “In a little bit.” She took his hand and pretended to nibble on his fingertips. “Who gets pears today? Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Does my little man love his pears?”

  Liam smiled at her playing with his hand, and Abbi smiled back at him like he was the light of her life. I loved watching her with the kids like this. That’s why I wanted to protect this part of my life from anything that could hurt the ones I loved.

  Abbi looked up at me and said, “He looks more like you every day. Compared to when Annalea was a baby, he’s like the polar opposite.”

  “It’s the black hair. He got the March genes. She got yours,” I said as I guided her toward the hallway. “Annalea’s alone, isn’t she? We should go downstairs.”

  She touched my arm to stop me, and I turned around to see that look again. “She’s okay, Kane. Is something wrong? You’re acting weird.”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.” I bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. “I had a great time last night, by the way.”

  “I did too,” she said as her cheeks blushed a gentle pink. “I don’t know if we should be talking about this in front of the baby.”

  I looked at Liam, who sat in my arms blissfully unaware that his parents were talking about the great sex they had the night before. “I think we’re safe, angel. Our little man here understands nothing yet.”

  Abbi touched my arm again, and I turned to see her staring up at me like I’d just said the most wonderful thing she’d ever heard. “It’s been a long time since you called me that.”

  I knew exactly what she meant. Between work, a new baby, and getting used to having two kids, it had been a very long time since I’d been much of anything but someone’s boss or someone’s father. I wanted to change that, though.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I’ve been too busy at work and with everything happening after Liam was born, but I’m going to make sure I’m more than just the guy who sleeps here from now on. I promise, Abbi.”

  She looked at me with wide eyes full of concern. “Okay. Is there something I should know, Kane? You’re sort of making me wonder what’s going on with you.”

  I really didn’t want to have this conversation. “I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong, Abbi.”

  Liam thankfully got antsy in my arms and cried out, breaking the tension and giving me an excuse to walk away, even though I knew Abbi had more to say. The problem was she wasn’t going to just let this go.

  As much as I wanted to be wrong, by the time I reached the kitchen and put Liam into his high chair, Abbi was right beside me with that same questioning look in her eyes. As I turned to get the baby’s lunch, she said, “I think maybe we should talk, Kane. Okay?”

  Pretending to be busy picking just the right glass jar of pureed green vegetables, I said nothing as I grabbed peas and pears and the feeding spoon. I pulled a chair from the table and sat down in front of Liam, who was completely oblivious to the tension growing between his mother and father at that moment.

  “Ready for some delicious peas, little man?” I asked with as much enthusiasm as I could muster for the gooey green goop I’d scooped out of the jar.

  “Kane, are you ignoring me or didn’t you hear me when I said I wanted to talk?”

  Liam gobbled up the spoonful of peas and then proceeded to dribble half of it down his chin and onto the blue and green bib with caterpillars Abbi had put on him. Thoroughly pleased with himself, he banged his hands on the highchair tray and kicked his legs out as he squealed for more food.

  “You must really love this,” I said as I directed another spoonful of peas at his mouth.

  He repeated his drooling act, this time keeping even less in his face than before. I wiped his mouth, feeling Abbi’s stare practically boring a hole through the side of my head.

  “I’m not ignoring you. I just figured it was time for Liam to eat. If you want to talk, that’s fine. We can talk, Abbi.”

  My words might have seemed a bit more truthful if I’d bothered to look at her when I said them, but I was pretty sure she’d see right through my lies if she got a look at my eyes.

  “Fine, then let’s talk. Maybe you can even face me too.”

  There was no missing her meaning there. I took a deep breath and turned to look at her, but I didn’t see the angry glare I thought I would. Instead, I saw a look of pure fear in her eyes, the kind someone got when they were afraid they were about to lose everything that meant the world to them.

  Christ, I didn’t want it to be like this. I wasn’t lying just to get my jollies. I never lied to Abbi, except about things that could hurt her. But I hated seeing how frightened she was by how I was acting.

  “Kane, I don’t know what’s going on, but my gut says something is. What’s wrong? Are you unhappy with me? With our life? It seems like every time I look into your eyes I see something that says you don’t want to be here anymore.”

  Hearing those words made me feel like someone was punching me in the heart. I put the spoon in the jar of baby food and took her hands in mine, wishing whatever I said next would erase the fear and sadness in her face.

  “I love you, Abbi. You and the kids are my life. I wouldn’t trade this for anything. I hate that you even thought I wasn’t unbelievably happy with what we have here.”

  “Then why do you seem so preoccupied in the past few weeks? I was so sure you found someone else that I asked Olivia about it. She thinks I’m crazy. Maybe I am, but I’ve never seen you like this before. So I’m asking you now. Is there someone else?”

  My chest hurt at the thought of any other woman other than Abbi for me. “No. I don’t want anyone else. Not from the moment I fell in love with you, which was about ten seconds after meeting you. You know that.”

  Liam squealed for more peas, so Abbi fed him another spoonful and then crouched down in front of me. Looking up into my eyes, she said, “Even now as you’re telling me there’s no one else, you have that look in your eyes. I’ve never seen you look like this, Kane. It’s like a look of need, and it scares the hell out of me because I’m worried one of these days you’re going to come home and tell me you’re leaving.”

  I wanted to tell her I knew what that look was from. I’d seen that very look in my eyes every time I looked in a mirror growing up. It came from knowing a part of my life was absent. Then it was because of my father, and now it was the possibility that I had another brother out there, another person like me who had been ignored all his life and never seen for who he truly was.

  But until I knew he wasn’t like the person I’d been back then, I wouldn’t risk bringing him into my life in any way that involved Abbi and the kids.

  Cradling her face, I tried to ease her mind and show her the look in my eyes was nothing. “I’m crazy in love with you, and every day I love you more, angel. I don’t want anyone else. There’s only you for me. You’re my life. Without you and the kids, I’d have no reason to live. It’s that simple. Whatever you’re seeing in my eyes, believe me, it has nothing to do with how much I love you and our kids. I’m sorry you thought I was unhappy. I’m not.”

  She let out a heavy sigh as tears filled her eyes. “I was so worried you’d gotten tired of this life and wanted something else, Kane. I told you that last night, and I meant it. I just want you to know if this isn’t what you want to do with your life, if you don’t want to run the restaurant or live in this house anymore, I’ll be right by your side with what you want to do. I’m not
afraid of change as long as we’re together. Just keep that in mind.”

  I leaned forward and kissed her gently, loving the feel of her lips on mine. “My work and where we live are things I can live without. You and the kids I can’t, though. You’re the most important parts of my life. You’re my family.”

  “We’ll always be there for you, Kane. I love you and the kids love their father. Never forget that.”

  Liam let out another cry to let us know he wanted more of his lunch, and while Abbi finished feeding him, I watched the woman I adored tend to him and hoped someday soon I’d be able to tell her what that look in my eyes was about.

  I may not have realized it until my own father died, but family was more important than anything else in the world.

  Chapter Five

  Stefan

  The parking lot outside The CocoNut Restaurant and Bar began to empty out as the minutes ticked toward midnight. Kane and I had sat there in his Mustang for nearly two hours trying to get a look at Sebastian Thorne. The PI my brother paid to do just this kind of thing had told him he’d be off work at ten, yet there we sat in his incredibly uncomfortable car staring at the doors of the building hoping to see him.

  “Tell me again why John couldn’t just take a friggin picture of the guy and we could see what he looks like that way? I swear you and that guy are stuck in the seventies,” I mumbled as I watched out the passenger side window for any sign of the person who might be our brother.

  “You didn’t have to come, Stefan. I never asked you to, in fact. All I said was I was coming here tonight. You invited yourself.”

  I turned to look at Kane and gave him a well-deserved sneer. “Whatever. That doesn’t answer the question of why John couldn’t do this. It is his job, you know. This is just the kind of thing he’s supposed to do. Instead, he’s comfy at his house while my ass feels like it’s about to fall asleep from sitting in this damn relic of yours. Why didn’t you use the SUV you guys own?”

  “Because it has the seats for the kids and if Abbi needs to take them anywhere she needs that car.” Reaching for the radio, he turned up a Led Zeppelin song and said, “Now if you’re done questioning me on things that have nothing to do with what we’re doing here.”