Page 26 of Brutal Collateral

CHAPTER SEVEN

Griffin – April

Two Navy SEALs presumeddead off Somalia...

I look up from the desk in Da’s office, hearing a news headline blabber from the television over the fireplace. A memory sparks life into my chest, a vision I often return to.

Thoughts ofhercome flooding back to my mind. Instead of the usual hardening of my cock, my heart beats wildly hearing two SEALs might be dead.

I scroll the story and look for the names, pissed their identity always remains a secret.

“Hadleigh,” I whisper, a name I’ve only ever murmured in the dark. “Be safe.”

Then I laugh because that bitch tied me to the bed and left me in my motel room. Still, every thought of that wildcat even after all these years sparks that familiar throb in my groin.

The sex isn’t the only thing I remember, or that she tied me up. My mind always first goes back to the few hours we spent in the bar talkingbeforewe got behind closed doors to get naked, sweaty, and fucked like our lives depended on it.

The fire she showed me on that platform after Rand Miller had her pinned to the floor, only slightly tapered off with a few drinks. The looks I was giving her, signaling what I wanted, poured gasoline on her spirit, and she roared back to life.

I never felt that kind of magnetic chemistry with a woman. Before. Or after.

The morning light was tipping over the horizon and she needed to get back to the base, but I needed to fuck her one more time. She used the one cheesy tie I had packed and bound me to the bed frame. We played a game. I let her tie me up, while she rode my dick. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and my swollen cock clouded my brain.

I’d already come a few times, and this one took longer, but she didn’t care. When I finally climaxed, she hopped off. My bleary eyes caught her getting dressed.

Fast.

She popped onto the bed next to me, and I’ll never forget what she said:

“I like you. That’s why I’m letting you live.” Her mouth crashed down on mine and then she was gone.

Leaving me fucking tied to the bed.

I dislocated my shoulder yanking hard enough to snap the headboard to get free. I endured a plane ride from California to New York in excruciating pain.

I’d fucked plenty of women since then, but no one’s memory is as vivid as hers. She did things to me and made me feel like I never felt before, and I thank fuck I’ll never see her again.

I don’t need that kind of distraction.

I have a mob house to run, and a Greek princess to marry, but that’s a business transaction. I’ll be keeping my dick dry for a year. Memories of wild Hadleigh and my fist will keep me warm and satisfied.

Her gorgeous face fades away, and I look down at the tie I was wearing, which is now unraveled and torn to shreds. “Aw, fuck.”

“What are you doing?” Connor asks me from the doorway.

Pulling the tie off and tossing it in the trash, I say, “Looking at the house expenses for the past few months, making sure Ma will have everything she needs when...”

“When you move out?” Connor takes a seat and puts his feet up on my desk.

Hissing, I say, “You and I need to move to Manhattan if we want the Irish to believe we’re invested in running the place. Troi Keller had several properties. Have Kai give you a list.”

I have my eye on Aunt Mary Ellen’s townhouse.

Shane, who already lives in a brownstone where he runs our spy network, but has been crashing here on and off, rushes inside and lays a photo down on the meeting table. “I found him!”

“Brandon?” I ask and join him at the table.

We look over his drone footage and my heart pounds. For four months, Shane and a team working for Ares tore apart Lower Manhattan looking for Brandon.

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