Loving Jared: A Mafia Romance Novella Read online

  Jared nodded thoughtfully. Every part of him screamed to reach out and take the woman. She belonged to him and he wanted her to figure it out. If being with her meant having her family around too, then he was all in. One hundred percent.

  But Jared could also understand her point of view. Her entire family had experienced some pretty major trauma, which would leave lasting scars. Even with a normal break up where kids were involved, it could be difficult to introduce them to a potential partner. In Amy's case, it was like navigating a minefield.

  "How about we introduce me as a friend? That way, if things either don't happen between us, or go bad…" Jared didn't bother telling her that neither of those things would happen, because he wouldn't let it. "Then the girls will still have a friend in me." Jared gripped her chin and tilted it until she was forced to look at his face, to see the truth written there. "I promise you, Amy, I won’t do anything to hurt you or your siblings. Not even unintentionally. I will make them my priority, if that's what you want."

  She gave him a slow nod, and, even though she was no longer as enthusiastic about dinner, he was happy that she was thinking about it. Finally, she said, "Okay, we'll see you at seven."

  Jared turned the ignition on the bike, savouring the roar as it came to life. "Don't be late. I’m making hot dogs, and those don't keep."

  The last thing he heard as he rode away from her was the sound of her sweet laughter following. Life was pretty damn perfect.

  Nine

  Life stopped being perfect when Jared arrived early at the jobsite office. Enrico was already in the trailer waiting for Jared and Vincent. Enrico worked with Jared, helping him with security.

  While Vincent ran the entire operation, Jared's job was security and managing the work crews. The legitimate side of their business. Jared also did the occasional odd job that could be considered illegal, sometimes running point when Vincent wasn't available. Which had been happening more and more lately, since Vince was settling down with Jenna and the kids.

  Jared raised a brow at Enrico as he pushed the door open to the trailer. He'd been expecting to have a few minutes to himself. Grab a coffee and settle into the boss's seat to go over the security details before Vince came in. Instead he was met with a grouchy, tattooed ex-biker.

  "What's up with you?" Jared asked, dumping his helmet on the couch.

  "The McDonald's up the road is closed for renovations. Couldn't get my morning breakfast fix." Enrico sounded so affronted that Jared actually worried for the owner. When Enrico wasn't happy, he did something about it. Usually with his fists.

  "There's about ten McDonald's less than half an hour from us. Go get your damn breakfast, then come back and tell me what the fuck you're doing up so early."

  "I don't want those McDonald’s; I want my McDonald's.” If Enrico hadn't been such a big, angry dude, Jared would’ve laughed at his petulance. But one didn't laugh at Enrico and come out of it unscathed.

  "Fine, whatever, pout about it." Jared dropped into Vincent’s seat behind the desk. "What are you doing here? I assume you're here to see me?"

  Though it was plenty early for Jared even, Jared was usually the first one in. Which meant if Enrico, who was usually the last one in, was arriving at the site early, it was to see the head of security.

  Enrico didn't beat around the bush. "The Ghosts are riding again. Don't know how, don't know why, don't care. There's rumbling that they're gonna come after us: you, me and Vince in particular. The truce is a lie."

  "How many?" Jared demanded.

  He didn’t bother asking how his friend knew about the Ghosts. Enrico knew everything about everything. His ability to retain gossip was second only to a Kardashian. Jared kept the reference to himself for two reasons; he didn’t need an early morning brawl and he didn’t want to admit he knew who the Kardashians were.

  "Don't know." Enrico stretched his arms out and cracked his knuckles, the ink across his hands proclaiming his biker heritage. Same as Jared. "About the size of an orgy. Maybe five or six."

  Jared snorted. “Pretty small orgy. You need to get laid more often.”

  Jared thought about it for a few minutes. There were several courses of action that could be taken. First though, he needed to know if the Ghosts were actually gunning for them or if they just wanted to peacefully rebuild their club.

  "Put a few of our guys on them. Find out if they have a new clubhouse and where it is. If we have to take them out at the source, we will." A vision of Amy and her vulnerable family flashed through his mind. "Put some extra guys on Vincent’s and Jenna's place. Mine too. Make sure they're keeping an eye on the neighbour house, the white one with the flowerbed out front. I don’t want any collateral damage if those assholes come after me."

  "What the fuck, man, a flower bed?" Enrico said with disgust. "You going soft?"

  Jared bared his teeth in a feral grin and stretched his arms wide. "Anytime you want to come at me and find out, I'm game."

  Amy had been looking forward to going over to Jared's all day. She spent the entire day, even the hours at work, contemplating what she was going to wear, what she was going to say, and how she was going to get her sisters to behave without embarrassing her.

  She texted Teagan the dinner invite, but he didn't text back. Amy was disappointed but not surprised. Teagan had been growing progressively more difficult over the past few months, a development that worried her, but according to their social services worker wasn't uncommon. He’d experienced the same trauma as the rest of them but being older than the younger two made him more aware of what had happened. Rather than bonding with Amy, as she'd hoped he would, he was pulling away.

  Amy did a little twirl in front of her mirror. Jared had seen her wearing sexy, her crop top and short shorts, he'd seen her wearing slutty, her teeny tiny bikini, now he was going to see her sweet and summery side. She chose a floaty turquoise dress with a halter neck and a pattern of cupcakes and teacups. She brushed her dark hair out until it was shiny and snapping, then gathered it at the back of her neck with a hair tie, allowing it to flow down between her shoulder blades in a tail.

  Amy decided to go with light makeup. She was blessed with mostly flawless skin and didn't need foundation. She ran a light blue liquid shadow over her lids, added mascara and finished with a creamy nude lip gloss. Pressing her lips together, she stepped back and looked herself over critically. She had to admit she looked good, really good. But then, she put way more effort into her appearance for this date than she usually did. If that's what this was. With her sisters coming along, she wasn't exactly positive about the status of the evening.

  She was about to call the girls and head over to Jared's when the phone rang. Though Amy mostly only used her cell phone, the family still had a house phone. This was for several reasons. When her mom had been killed, everything had been thrown into chaos. Family and friends of her parents had no way to get hold of the siblings unless they called the house. Gradually, over the years, Amy had been tracking everyone down and giving them her cell phone number.

  The house phone was also the only way for Amy's father to get a hold of them. She'd refused to give him either Teagan's or her phone numbers.

  Amy's arms prickled with anxiety. She knew exactly who was on the other end of the line. She picked up the phone and looked at the display. The prison. She pressed the green button. Even as her father's deep voice hurtled down the line at her, slapping her in the face, she regretted answering. Yet, for some reason, she always did. As though he still had a hold on her.

  "Amy, sweetheart, I need money. About $100 should do it. Gotta buy some cigarettes for some of the guys in here. Can you still get to a bank tonight?"

  Amy shook her head and sighed. Well, there had to be some comfort to be found in a person who just wouldn't change. Her father only ever called for money. Sometimes he called to ask for a visit, when he needed them to bring him something that they couldn't mail or email to him. Though Amy always felt the compulsion to obey, leftov
er from a childhood spent under the thumb of their abusive father, she'd never gone to visit, nor had she allowed her siblings to go.

  "I don't have $100. I can maybe spare $20, but that's all."

  Predictably, he exploded at her words. "Where the fuck is all the money from social services going? You get paid to keep those kids, right? Well the kids are mine, and the money should be mine too."

  Amy refused to dignify his vitriol with any kind of response. She liked to think that his words were just words, that he didn't mean them. Unfortunately, she knew otherwise. She couldn't imagine how a man like this had managed to father her, her two adorable sisters and her intelligent brother.

  "I don't care how you do it, you find the money. Steal it if you have to. You're a pretty girl, get your boyfriend to give you some. You got one of those right?" Amy heard something in the background, a sharp comment.

  It took her a moment, but she realized it was one of the guards, telling her father to calm down and quit yelling. Despite prison guards often getting a bad rap, Amy was impressed with the ones responsible for her father's care. They were always polite to her when she had to call, and, occasionally, some of them even tried to step in and protect her when her father became unruly.

  "I don't have a boyfriend," Amy said, her voice weary. "I'll see what I can do about the money. I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try."

  "I need it right away; some time in the next few days. Send it with Teagan when he comes to visit."

  "Teagan doesn't visit," Amy said with a frown. What was her father talking about?

  He chuckled, sending a tingle of fear down her spine. "Oh, he doesn't? Interesting. It's not what the prison log says. He's been here half a dozen times over the past few months."

  Amy felt sick. As nausea washed over her, she realized that her brother's attitude had taken a turn for the worse about two months ago. Unfortunately, her father's words rang true and Amy now believed that her brother was sneaking over to the prison behind her back.

  "I'll be talking to him about that. I don't want any of us visiting." It said a lot for how far Amy had come in the past few years that she was able to stand up to him, even that little bit.

  "You little bitch. You never have a good word to say about your daddy, do you?" he demanded.

  Amy didn't bother saying anything. Why would she have a good thing to say about the man who killed her mother? The man who still managed to make their lives miserable whenever he could.

  "Well, we’ll just have to see if that little mouth is still running itself when I finally get out of here. My early release hearing is in two weeks. This new lawyer says things look promising for me. I might get out early on good behaviour."

  Amy truly felt sick. How was it possible that her father might get out after only a couple years? He’d killed a person. He’d killed her mother. He should rot in prison forever.

  "If you somehow get out, you won't be welcome here." Amy's voice was barely above a whisper, but she had to say it. She didn't want him holding out hope that he would be welcome in their family home again. The house belonged to her now. The family was her responsibility. She couldn't allow him anywhere near them.

  "If I get out, you better watch yourself. I'll be teaching you some manners."

  Amy blinked back tears. There wasn't anything left to say, so she just said, "I'll see if I can get you the money." She placed the phone on the counter and allowed the tears to fall.

  "Amy."

  The deep voice came from behind her, scaring her. Amy whirled around, her hand creeping up to her throat. Jared stood tall and firm, his expression fierce. He held his arms out and Amy stepped into them, pressing herself against his chest as though it was the most natural thing in the world. She squeezed her eyes shut and gripped him around the waist just as tight as she’d done that morning when he'd driven her to work. Jared held her while she cried.

  Ten

  Jared held Amy against his chest, running his hand over her hair and giving her the time she needed to calm down.

  Jared was getting the distinct impression that Amy had a lot going on in her life, between her difficult brother and her murderous father. Though her two sisters seemed to listen to her, they were still a handful. From what he’d learned so far, Amy helped them with their homework, fed and clothed them, made sure that they were able to get to their play dates on time, even if that meant busing them there and then busing them home.

  Jared had the intense urge to make Amy's life better. But they barely knew each other, and he couldn't just take over a woman's life, adopt her siblings, and possibly make more babies with her, without at least some discussion with the woman in question.

  For now, Jared would feed Amy and her sisters, and they would worry about the rest later. He gently disengaged from the hug, set Amy away from him and swept her with a look. He set her hair back in order by smoothing a hand over it. He ran his thumbs over her cheeks, erasing the telltale marks of tears.

  "Go get your sisters and meet me next door," he said softly.

  She gave him a watery smile and nodded. "We'll be right over."

  He lightly kissed her lips. "I'll be back if you're not."

  "Is that a threat or a promise?" she sassed him, some of her spunk returning.

  Jared swatted her on the ass to get her moving. "Both."

  Jared went out the front door to check on their dinner while Amy went to collect her sisters. The three girls piled into his house as he was headed out the back door with a plate filled with raw hamburgers and hotdogs. Millie and Sarah crowed with delight when they saw the spread on the table.

  Along with the hamburgers and hotdogs, they were also having potato salad, macaroni and cheese, celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins and barbecue flavoured chips. For dessert, there was a plate piled high with cupcakes from a bakery near one of the jobsites Jared ran security on.

  Amy raised an eyebrow at all the food. "How much do you think we can eat?"

  Jared shrugged. "Children grow, and I didn't know if your brother was coming. A guy his age can eat his own weight in food."

  Jared almost regretted his words when a shadow passed over Amy's face. She shook her head. "He won't be coming."

  "Follow me out." Jared knocked the door latch to the back door with his elbow since he was holding a plate in one hand and barbecue tongs and the other. He stood to the side and waited for Amy to go out ahead of him.

  After he put the meat on the already heated barbecue, he turned to her. "Now, tell me what he said."

  She sighed deeply, with a hitch in her breath. Almost as if her chest was too tight to take a full, deep breath. Jared reached out to run his hands down her shoulders and arms, digging his fingers in just enough to help ease the tension in her muscles. Finally, she let out the breath she was holding and started talking.

  "It's not what he said, it's what he didn't say. I've been texting him since he left and I haven't gotten a single word in return. I'm scared, I don't know what to do. If I go to the police to report him missing, there’ll be an inquiry. He could be removed from my custody. I know he’s old enough that they can’t do much, but what if they start questioning my care of the girls too?"

  Amy's fear ate at Jared and made him want to take her brother, shake him and teach him some manners. Instead, Jared would have to content himself with helping Amy the best he could, for now.

  "He's fine, trust me."

  Jared meant it. After his conversation with Amy, after her brother left, he'd had Teagan's friend’s family checked out. The mother had been picked up for a DUI a few years ago, but other than that they seemed like an average family. Jared had taken it upon himself to watch Teagan that morning and was gratified that the boy had gone to school.

  "I wish I could be so sure."

  Jared tilted her chin up. "You can be. I understand boys that age. I was one, and I had my own set of difficulties. He's old enough to take care of himself and he'll only resent your interference. When he's ready, he'll com
e home."

  Amy threw her hands up in frustration, breaking Jared's hold on her. "When will that be? And what am I supposed to do while I'm waiting, just worry myself sick?"

  Jared frowned down at her. "You absolutely will not. Your health is important to your family. For now, you can worry about him when it’s necessary, but otherwise, you let it go."

  "Easy for you to say." She frowned up at him.

  "Easy for me to say, because you're gonna do what I say."

  Her frown grew deeper, fiercer. Also cuter. If she had any idea what that tiny, ineffectual frown did to him, she'd straighten that face right out.

  "You're pretty arrogant," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  "Yup, I am." He opened the barbecue and started flipping burgers. "I'm also sexy, good-looking, loyal, a great friend, and an even better lover."

  Amy burst out laughing, some of the worry draining from her face. "You forgot humble."

  Jared wrinkled his nose, tilted his head to the side and pretended to think. "I don't think I know what that word means."

  They finished cooking together and sat down to eat with the girls. Millie and Sarah were thrilled to tell someone new all about their day. They regaled Jared with stories about schoolwork, teachers, friends, boys and playground politics. He listened and answered, even asking a few questions, somehow managing to keep his face from betraying how fucking cute he thought they were.

  Millie was outgoing; a chatterbox who talked faster than anyone could possibly keep up with. Her sister, Sarah, was a little more subdued. She contributed to the conversation, but frequently blushed and looked away. Sarah talked more about school and schoolwork while Millie talked about her friends.

  Jared watched the girls with interest, his gaze straying to Amy again and again. The more time he spent with the three the more he could see Amy reflected back in her sisters. Her personality was somewhere between the two, with a good dose of oldest child. Amy was responsible, but still outgoing and vivacious.