Redeem Me (Beckett Brothers #2)

16. Caelon

Chapter Sixteen

CAELON

She works for me, I remind myself over and over again.

She works for me.

She works for me.

So why does hanging out at the beach with Ivy feel like a date? One that I accidentally brought my super annoying family on.

Killian arrives with pizzas, beer, and champagne for Scarlett and Ivy. His expression doesn’t falter when he spots me sitting with my legs either side of my new nanny, but I’d bet my life his hazel eyes are taking in every minute detail.

I tear myself from Ivy’s towel to greet him.

‘Do I look like a fucking pizza delivery boy?’ he says gruffly, handing out boxes from Juliana’s, the most exclusive Italian in Dublin. ‘How many staff do you guys have between you? Next time, call one of them to do the food run.’

‘Any update on the O’Connors?’ I ask in a low voice.

‘I found the money trail.’ His voice is grim.

‘You did?’ Finally. The proof we’ve been looking for.

‘I sent two female security agents to interrogate Stacy Bourke. She didn’t deny receiving money, but she claimed it came from an anonymous source.’

‘That’s ridiculous. Does she think we’re fucking stupid?’

‘We need Danny to wake up. When he does, you can extract every detail from his body, painfully. Hang tight.’

‘My patience is wearing thin.’ It’s the understatement of the century. Any patience I had died along with my wife. Now all I have left is a thirst for blood, oh, and a highly inappropriate desire to devour the nanny.

Ivy was right. Even when it’s sunny, I feel morbid. Restless. There’s a beast beneath my skin just bursting to break free.

‘The other problem is that we took or froze all the O’Connor assets. Which begs the question, if it was them, where did they get the money from to pay Stacy, anyway?’ Killian’s voice is grim. ‘They must have at least one remaining affluent friend.’

‘Fuck,’ I spit.

‘Is it okay if I drink this?’ Ivy calls to me, holding up the plastic flute of bubbles Scarlett handed to her.

‘You don’t need my permission. You said it last night. I’m not your father.’

‘No, but you are my boss.’ She sucks the inside of her cheek.

I empty my lungs in a long, slow exhale. ‘Don’t stop until you get to the bottom of this,’ I tell my brother before turning my back on him to rejoin Ivy. She is possibly the only person capable of distracting me from my rage.

I might have “taken the edge off” for her, but truthfully, something about her takes the edge off me. I feel slightly less irritable when she’s beside me. Her warmth will never be enough to penetrate my frozen heart, but it does take the chill from my skin .

‘I think we’ve already established it’s not as clear cut as that. Last time I checked, we were trying to be friends.’

I should have suggested friends with benefits. That way there’s no promise of a future, no pretending I’ll ever be able to give her anything more than my fingers, mouth and cock. But I could give her orgasms. Lots of them. ‘Drink, relax, I’m driving anyway.’

In fairness, she’s worked damned hard with my kids since she started. Chasing them round the garden. Taking them to the park and the pool. The yoga in the garden. Some nannies do the bare minimum, but Ivy goes above and beyond, her enthusiasm for her job obvious. She deserves a bit of down time. Just not on a Friday night in a bar where there are men out to prey on vulnerable, sexy-ass women like her.

‘Cheers to that.’ Ivy raises her glass and takes a mouthful.

‘Can we go in the sea now, Dad?’ Owen comes running across the sand with his armbands and goggles already on. Traces of pizza sauce line the corners of his mouth.

‘Come here, sweetheart.’ Ivy beckons him over and swipes the sauce away with her fingers. He doesn’t even flinch. ‘Were you saving that tomato sauce for later?’ she teases, pressing his nose playfully.

He laughs. Laughs. My serious little son is smiling.

It appears Ivy has us all under her sunny, sassy spell.

Fuck.

Another reason why I can’t fuck things up, no matter how badly I want to sink my cock into her.

‘Mary Poppins has got nothing on you,’ Scarlett says wistfully. ‘How much is Caelon paying you? We’ll double it if you come and work for us.’

Ivy laughs, but Owen’s face falls.

Thankfully, Ivy spots the change immediately. ‘Don’t worry, buddy, Scarlett’s only joking. I’m not going anywhere.’

‘I’m not,’ Scarlett mutters, low enough that I can hear, but Owen can’t. ‘She’s a keeper,’ she says, and I’m pretty sure my future sister-in-law isn’t referring to Ivy’s employment status.

‘Come on then, let’s go wave jumping,’ Ivy says, handing her a glass of champagne. ‘Will you look after this for me?’

‘Sure.’ Scarlett puts it on top of the pizza boxes beside her.

Ivy beams at me. ‘Are you coming, Daddy?’

I’d like to. All over your tits if you keep calling me Daddy.

‘Sure.’ I kick off my Nikes, pull my t-shirt over my head and toss it on Ivy’s towel.

Her mouth opens, but words don’t come. She’s staring at my torso like she’s never seen a shirtless man before. Her tongue dips over her lower lip in a feline gesture. ‘What a gene pool,’ she finally mutters.

‘What’s a gene pool?’ Owen asks. ‘Is it like a rock pool?’

‘Not exactly, buddy.’ I bite back the grin that’s threatening my lips. I don’t grin. Not anymore. Well, apart from last night with Ivy, when I thanked her for the lingerie, but that was a slip up.

I extend a hand to Ivy to help her up. The second she takes it, a fizzing warmth sears my skin. She kicks off her flip-flops, her fingers reaching for the hem of her top.

The polite thing would be to look away.

I never claimed to be polite, though.

I’m torn between a desperate urge to see her in that bikini again and the urge to cover her up so my brothers can’t see her. Mind you, James wouldn’t notice if Ivy got naked. He only has eyes for Scarlett. Killian and Sean are probably too gentlemanly to stare, but Rian, well, I wouldn’t put it past him to dry hump Ivy’s leg like a mangey rabid dog.

‘Orla, we’re going in the sea now.’ Owen runs towards his sister, who is still digging.

‘Am I safe taking this off?’ Ivy glances at her top. ‘Or will you really “take me in front of your entire family?”’ she whispers with a giggle.

‘I’m still contemplating it,’ I mutter. My cock is already stirring in my swimming shorts. I need to get in the water fast, or risk embarrassing myself in front of my brothers.

‘I’ll take my chances.’ A smirk touches her lips before she yanks her top over her head and stares at me defiantly.

‘That bikini top is nothing more than a couple of Post-it Notes covering your tits,’ I grumble. ‘Are you trying to torment me?’

‘Maybe,’ she shrugs, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

‘We talked about this last night.’

‘We did a lot of things last night,’ she reminds me. As if I could forget.

An ear-splitting wolf whistle pierces the air. Rian. I catch Ivy’s wrist and pull her towards the water. ‘Don’t make me drown my brother. My parents would probably be cross.’

‘What time will I pick you up tomorrow, Ivy?’ Rian shouts.

‘Oh, leave him alone, Rian!’ Scarlett chides.

‘The only thing you’ll be picking up is your ass from the floor after I knock you on it.’ I glare at him, and he chortles.

‘I needed some fresh material for the spank bank!’ Rian grabs his crotch and laughs.

‘I will kill him.’ I shake my head as I mentally commit every inch of Ivy’s body to my own personal vault.

Owen slips his hand in mine and Ivy takes his other one. Orla grabs Ivy’s free arm until the four of us are joined physically for safety. Mentally, I’m not sure how safe any of us are. The kids are already forming attachments with Ivy, and they aren’t the only ones.

‘On the count of three, we run in together, okay?’ Ivy says, swinging the kids’ arms back and forth .

‘It looks cold.’ I stare at the waves cascading in front of us.

‘Says the ice king himself,’ Ivy quips. ‘One. Two.’ She glances between my kids, checking they’re ready. Their little faces are lit up with glee and my heart thaws a fraction.

‘Three!’ Ivy calls, pulling me forwards until the cold water slaps my skin.

‘Fuck! It’s freezing!’

‘Daddy! That’s a bad word!’ Ivy scolds jovially. The kids are too busy shrieking with laughter to pay any attention.

‘I’m a bad man, Ivy.’ If I’m not thinking about torturing and murdering the entire O’Connor family, I’m thinking about fucking my best friend’s little sister.

Bad doesn’t cut it.

‘I don’t think you are.’ Her head turns towards mine. ‘I think you’re a good man who’s been through a really awful time.’

Oh Ivy, you have no idea.

Ignorance really is bliss, I suppose.