Page 11 of His Brother's Wife
“Just for a minute, then I have to be going.”
They sat, and Penny explained who Enda was. The young man, Danny, nodded.
Enda couldn’t bear the tension. “Look, I just wanted to say. I’m glad. You both look so happy. Hell, I’mdelightedfor you, Penny. You have my word; Jackson will not hear of this from me.Fuckhim.”
Danny looked relieved and Penny looked close to tears. She put her hand on his arm.
“Thank you, Enda.” She sighed, wiping away her tears. “I tried to finish it with Jackson …he won’t accept it. He just cuts me off. I can’t do it anymore, Enda. He’s …abusive. He cheats constantly. And he …” She broke off and shook her head. Enda and Danny exchanged a concerned glance. Penny didn’t have to say anymore. That Jackson beat her was obvious.
“You don’t have to worry about it anymore, Pen,” Danny said.
Enda nodded. “Is there somewhere you can stay while he gets the message?”
Penny nodded, looking over at Danny. “We’ve just bought an apartment in Palo Alto. He’ll have no clue we’re there.”
A week later, Penny had called Enda in hysterics. “It’s Danny. He was in a hit-and-run. Oh god, oh god, they’ve taken him to the hospital, but it’s bad, Enda, so bad. I know it was Jackson …please, can you come?”
He raced to the hospital, but it was too late. Danny was pronounced dead on arrival, and Enda had to help a hysterical Penny while processing his own shock. Was Jackson really capable of murder? He didn’t want to believe it, but something in his half-brother’s make up made him think he would be. A month later, his worst fears were realized.
A still-grieving Penny left her office just after eight p.m. and went down to the parking garage. She got into her Mercedes and was distracted by her phone ringing. She smiled when she saw who was calling.
“Hey, Enda, how are you?”
“I’m okay, sweetheart. I was just thinking about you. How're things?”
“I …”
Penny never got to tell him. From her backseat, a masked attacker pounced, one arm curling around her neck. When she grabbed at his arm to try and prize it free, he drove a knife into her stomach again and again. Penny screamed until she could no longer breathe when the blood loss and shock grew too much. Her killer was savage and merciless, stabbing her again and again until she slumped in the seat. In her last moments, she could hear Enda screaming her name and the final whisper of her killer.
“Jackson Gallo wants you to know—nobodyleaves him.”
With a last thrust of the knife, he stabbed Penny in the heart and ended her life.
Enda would never forget that night. The sound of a defenseless woman being brutally murdered …and the worst thing was, in the midst of it, Jackson had walked into the room where Enda was with a triumphant look on his face, and Enda knew, for sure, his half-brother was a murderer. Enda flew across the room and punched him, the brothers rolling around until Olivier pulled Enda off Jackson. Enda stormed out of the room, calling the police as he got into his car and sped to Penny’s office. He got there just as the police arrived. He would never forget the sight of Penny, slumped in the driver’s seat, covered in blood. She had been butchered. That much was obvious. Enda had no compunction in telling the police everything he had heard and that he thought Jackson was behind the murder.
Jackson was questioned about Penny’s murder, but never arrested or charged. There was simply no evidence against him. Penny was buried, at her request, next to Danny, but at her funeral Jackson played the part of the grieving boyfriend perfectly. Staggered by the lack of justice wrought by Jackson’s position and billions, Enda was repelled by him and had left the country. He’d stayed away from his family since then—even Olivier, who he adored. Olivier had finally flown to Italy to plead with him not to abandon him and Mac, just because of Jackson. It had taken some persuasion, but finally, Enda agreed. When Olivier told him, a few years later, that Jackson was marrying Amalia, Enda couldn’t help but feel a chill go down his spine.
When he found out the circumstances of the marriage, the arrangement, and the coercion of Amalia Rai to marry Jackson, Enda had felt the shock keenly. Enda determined then to go to the wedding and make sure that the signs weren’t there—that Jackson had finally fallen in love for real.
He had been disappointed, but not shocked, when he saw in his younger half-brother the same possessive contempt that he had shown Penny. Amalia was there to be his property. Enda was pleased to see that Amalia hadn’t been as subservient as Jackson would like, even on her wedding day. And when he, Enda, had made love to the beautiful bride in the garden just hours later, he’d seen her strength.
He just hoped it was enough to save her life.
Ama was relieved when Olivier accompanied them home. “I just want to talk to dad for a while,” he said, but she knew he was there to keep the peace, at least until Jackson calmed down. Enda had been desperate to do the same, but she had shaken her head at him.I don’t want him to guess, she tried to communicate with her look, and she thought Enda had gotten it. God, she was crazy about that man, though. She would call him later, when it was safe.
She went to her room as soon as she got home and began to run a bath. Going back into her room, she checked the door was locked, then propped her usual chair underneath the handle.God, what a way to live.But Jackson scared her. There was violence in him, she was sure, and it wasn’t far from the surface—ever. Ama knew Olivier and Enda thought so too.
She stripped off and sank into the tub, feeling the soothing water ease her aching body. She ached from tension constantly now. The only time she ever relaxed was with Enda, naked and gasping for air in his arms.God, that man …
She slipped her hand between her legs and began to rub, thinking about the last time they’d made love. It had been a slow, leisurely afternoon of making love, Enda cradling her in his arms as his cock plowed deep inside her. God, would she ever get tired of this? He had flipped her onto her stomach, parted her buttocks gently, then asked if she was sure. She had nodded, and he had eased into her ass, his other hand stroking her clit. She’d come almost violently, surprising herself. When he’d wrapped his tie around her wrists and fucked her, holding her hostage to him and his huge cock. She’d loved every moment of being dominated by him. Even when she was straddling him, he was in charge, impaling her on his cock, gripping her hips with strong fingers, and cumming on her belly and breasts.
Amalia could hardly bring herself to leave him every day, and she fantasized now about going home to him in the evening. About opening the front door, only to be greeted by his fierce kiss, his hands pushing up her skirt, and his cock thrusting into her as he fucked her hard against the wall.
Ama gave a soft moan as she stroked and dreamed her way to an orgasm. Relaxing afterward, she wondered if she could call him later and maybe indulge in some phone sex.
That man has turned you into a nympho, she grinned to herself.God, I love you, Enda Gallo.
Her eyes flew open and she gasped in shock. Oh god …shedidlove him. She wascompletelyin love with the man.
