Page 19 of Under His Control

A joke?

Liam glanced at me coolly. If I hadn’t already been staring at him, I might have missed the subtle way he faltered, almost like a double-take at seeing me in my bikini. He reverted to that stony stoicism, though, returning his attention to the toddler in his arms. “Want to swim with Aunt Tess?”

Oh, fuck me.This was too much. He was gorgeous enough, so ripped and hardened in that perfectly masculine manner of melting my panties off. But knowing he was a dad?

I was mush, unable to tear my stare from them.

She was so small and secure in his big, strong arms. Something about the image of this rough-and-tumble man being so gentle and protective of that innocent little girl made me seehim in another light. That he wasn’t just the dirty-talking, smug, expert lover who could rock my world in a quickie. He was also a parent. A caregiver. Someone who gave his all for someone else.

Dammit.I’d never cared much for the expression of ovaries exploding, but I understood it now. Maybe it was hormones. Maybe it was stupidity. But seeing Liam with a baby was a potent tease.

“Eva, meet Olivia,” Tessa said, smirking at me. She smiled widely, entertained with how surprised I was to see that Liam had a baby girl. “Isn’t she the cutest?”

I numbly nodded, overwhelmed with this new fact I’d need to dissect about the man I shouldn’t want.

“She’s darling,” I replied as I hurried to scramble off my chair. “Really… darling.”

I turned and escaped the room, unable to face that man, especially with how much hotter he looked as a father.

7

LIAM

Eva ran out of the solarium, and I wasn’t strong enough to resist staring at her as she went. I’d held that luscious ass in my hands once, and it was a mistake I refused to repeat.

Seeing her in that black bikini was torture. It was as close as I’d ever get to seeing her uncovered, and it was both a blessing and a damnation. A blessing because I could now have the visual to fantasize about. But a damnation because I shouldn’t be dreaming about having her again.

Even if I had ample time to lie around and enjoy casual sex with her, we were ill-fated to not get along. She was too prickly. I was too prejudiced.

That prejudice was fading, though, and it irked me how much these Constellas chipped away at the biases I'd held against them from day one.

“They’re in the fucking Mafia, though,” I said on a call with an old army friend. Ethan was one of the good ones I’d toured with. He retired a few years ago, but we’d stayed in touch. In fact, he was one of the men I considered reaching out to when I debated not signing up for more of the army. Located in Brooklyn, he was sort of nearby. After a week of being in Dante’smansion and catching up with Tessa, though, I was wondering if I should be hasty to leave.

I didn’t want to mooch, and Tessa and the others never implied that I was, but I felt comfortable to stay here with Olivia, where we were guarded and safe, until I figured out what else I could do.

This morning at breakfast, where I encountered Dante again, he posed the possibility of my working for the family.

“So?” Ethan replied.

I cringed as I paced in the guest room. Olivia was napping, but if I kept my voice low, I wouldn’t disturb her. I still glanced at her as I walked by, both to check that she was resting and just in the marvel that she was mine and I was a father. It had yet to fully sink in. “So?” I replied. “They’re criminals.”

“Yeah, but in the scheme of all the good and evil out there in the world, who gives a shit?”

“That’s blunt.”

“It is, but it’s true. You take any organization in the world, any entity of power, and you know it’s corrupt. Or it had been. Or it soon will be.”

“I know.” He had valid points. No government or leadership on the face of this earth was free from corruption. Religions, clubs, cults, gangs. They all had equal likelihood of succumbing to one evil or another. “It’s part of human nature.”

“Yeah. Damn right. you get a group of people together, and they’ll figure out a way to hoard power. We were pawns in the government’s power, serving how we did. It’s no different from any organized crime family. Just… domestic, I suppose.”

“True, but it’s not an easy jump to consider.” I hadn’t told him any specifics. I didn’t mention the Constella name. I wasn’t stupid. But after Dante’s job offer to join as a Constella soldier, I wanted a fellow serviceman’s opinion.

“At least it’s a respected crime family wanting you on board.” Ethan’s chuckle was dry and raspy, just like it was when we fought together. He hadn’t changed a bit. “Everyone fears the Mafia. Not like it’s some lowlife MC or biker gang trying to pull you in.”

I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, right.” I did have a motorcycle. It was supposed to be delivered whenever I had an address to ship it to. It was a purchase that better suited my nomadic life. Without a house to keep up while I was touring, I could store my bike far easier.

Not anymore. Now that I had Olivia, I had to do all the typical adult shit that everyone did when they settled. I needed a home, an address for my bike to come to and also to serve as a residence for me and my daughter. To obtain that, I needed a job, a source of income before I considered draining my savings from my time in the army.

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