Page 6 of Navy

CHAPTER 3

NAVY

The hotel ballroom was teeming with the rich and wealthy. Supper was over and now everyone was mingling. I’d found a corner to prop myself up in and was casually observing all the fakeness and backstabbing that was going on in the room with some amusement.

It was only the brothers that had Old Ladies here tonight. The single brothers and Bull had opted to stay home with the children. Our table was the most colourful when it came to dresses, and I couldn’t help but smile. The women of the MC had had a ball, pun intended, finding dresses that suited them all. It had made me happy to spoil them and like I’d anticipated; they’d loved Hope just like I knew they would. Seeing them smiling and having a good time was a bonus.

My brothers, on the other hand, were not so happy. I smirked at how uncomfortable they were looking, but I knew they’d suck it up for their ladies. I may have to do this yearly just to piss off the stuck-up toffs that came to these events. We’d raised a good amount of money for the chosen charity. The evening was now nearly over and for that I was thankful.

A flash of gold caught my attention and then it disappeared again. Standing up straight from where I’d been leaning against the wall, I searched for the flash of gold again. Just when I thought I’d imagined it, I caught sight of it again.

That feeling you get when you get hit in the solar plexus and it takes your breath away? That’s how I felt when my gaze caught and held the eyes of the dark-haired beauty in the gold dress. Not that she held my eyes for long before her gaze skittered away, and her eyes darted around the room as if looking for an escape. That, I did not like.

Paying closer attention to who she was with, my mouth tightened when I noticed the tight hold the tall arsehole with her had on her arm. He was holding her so tight his fingers were white. She tugged her arm slightly and his grip tightened even more. He bent his head and said something to her, and I had to grin at the glare she aimed at him.

It seemed whoever he was, she wasn’t afraid to show her dislike for him. Standing on her other side was another guy, looking disinterested with everything. Straight away, he put my back up. He was short with a gut that his jacket barely did up over and a slicked back comb-over and thin moustache. His gaze flittered to the woman beside him, and he licked his lips. I didn’t like any of what I was seeing.

The smell of Hope’s perfume tickled my nose as she threaded her arm through mine and looked towards where my gaze was held by the beauty in gold.

“Do you know them?” I asked softly.

Hope tilted her head back to look at me with curious blue eyes before they shifted back to the crowd.

“Mmh, he’s Julian Wallingsworth, the Second,” at the tone of Hope’s voice, I looked down to see her nose wrinkled in disgust before her face cleared and her society mask was back in place. “I don’t know the other man, but the woman is Wallingsworth’s stepsister, Gianna Abate. I’m surprised to see her here. I thought she was on a cruise with her grandmother.”

“What do you know about them?” I queried.

“Not much,” Hope answered, moving closer to me as Sebastian stepped up and stood on her other side.

“Who are we talking about?” Bas asked, wrapping an arm around Hope’s waist.

“Julian Wallingsworth,” Hope answered.

“Fucker,” Bas muttered. I snorted out a laugh as Hope clapped a hand over her mouth as she tried to hold her laughter in.

“Tell it like it is, Bas,” I grinned at my cousin. It’s only when you saw us together that people realised who I was. We looked a lot alike. Both of us dark-haired, blue eyed, with the family trademark dimples. The only differences were that he was clean shaven while I had a beard, and I was a little taller than Bas but otherwise we could have been full brothers.

“He’s a fucking prick,” Bas continued. “There are rumours about him and his family. They’re not good and if Gianna’s here then I can only assume they’re true.”

“What are the rumours?” I asked with interest.

Bas hesitated, looking at me then he suddenly grinned, “Rumour has it that his father left nothing to him except the house and a monthly stipend. The company and all its shares are being run by a board of directors to be held until Tristan, the youngest son, turns twenty-one or his sister, Gianna, gets married. Once she gets married, then she will hold Tristan’s shares until he comes of age, but she needs to be married within a year of the will being read. If she’s not, then everything goes to Julian, and he’ll run it all into the ground within a few years. He’s a waste of space. The father knew that, and he also knew that Gia would do anything for her younger brother. Julian, the First, was an arsehole, too.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that it would be in his best interest if Gia didn’t get married?”

“Yep, although whoever marries her comes into a lot of money as he left her quite a bit in the will. The type of prick that Julian is, he’d marry her off and take half the money. He doesn’t give a shit about the company.”

“How much are you talking?”

“Not a hundred percent sure, but the rumour is she’s worth ten million.”

“Fuck’s sake,” I muttered. “What the fuck is wrong with men putting the women in their families in danger?”

Sighing, I straightened my jacket, pulled my cuffs straight. I had a mission to complete.

“Um, Alan, what are you doing?” Hope asked, looking worried.

“I’m going to go and get my wife,” I declared with determination as I walked off.

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