Legal Heirs - Box Set Edition: Books 5-8 (Surrendering Charlotte Chronicles) (28 page)

“I always do, a weapon, huh? I’ll try not to kill anyone with it,” Holden said, and they both laughed as Atticus led the way and Holden followed.

Holden idolized Atticus, much to everyone’s surprise. Mia was an entirely different matter, but the two brothers had become friends as soon as Atticus began to spend time with Alexander Bly. That was thirteen years before, when Atticus was seven, and Holden was six, and the bond of brotherhood was strong between them. From the moment Alexander Bly had introduced Atticus to Holden and Mia as their older brother, he had instilled in them the importance of the blood they shared. Mia fought against it, rejecting Atticus and treating him with disdain, but Holden loved his brother without question or reservation. 

Two years before, Atticus had been accepted at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, just outside of Washington, DC, and Holden had joined him there a year later. Holden had survived the previous grueling summer as a ‘plebe’, and he’d just finished his first full academic year. Now the two of them were marking one off on their bucket lists and taking a motorcycle road trip to the Gulf Coast. Bly knew they were making the thousand mile trip on Harley’s, in fact, he’d paid for them. His sons had picked them up at the dealership that afternoon and would head south first thing in the morning. Charlotte and Finn didn’t know, and Atticus had to wonder if Alex had gone along with the idea simply to piss his parents off. Especially his mother, he imagined Alex would relish a confrontation with Charlotte. Alex Bly was a brilliant and powerful man, and Atticus loved his father completely, but he didn’t understand Bly’s fucked up love for another man’s wife.

Matilda did show up that night, she didn’t even knock on the hotel room door, just used the key-card she’d bullied the desk clerk into giving her, and walked right in.

“Asshole!” she said, standing next to the bed where Atticus lay with the bride-to-be from the bar. “You, out of here! Grab your polyester dress and fuck-me-heels and move your little ass before I call the manager and report you for prostitution.”

“Really Matilda?” Atticus laughed and told the girl to calm down and ignore the drama queen. “Give me the key to my room and go back to your fiancé, better yet, go take care of your foolish brother.”

“I said out!” she said to the girl who was hurriedly sliding into her dress and shoes as Matilda held the door open for her.

“Call me!” the girl said over her shoulder, smiling at Atticus as she scurried out the door before Matilda slammed it behind her.

“What is your obsession with common trash, Atticus? Ugh, you just love the lowlife, don’t you?”

“Do you ever think before you speak, Matilda? That young woman is Director of Communications for Senator Bradley’s office, I’d hardly call her trash. In fact that’s a despicable word, you should erase it from your vocabulary before your fiancé runs for president.”

“Let’s take a shower and wash her cheap perfume off of you,” Matilda cooed, she’d already begun to undress as he stood peering down at her. “Come on lover, hate me all you want, but some things you can’t hide,” she wrapped one small hand around his hugely engorged cock and stood on tiptoe to press her lips to his. “This is the only thing that will ever come between us, Atti, your amazing cock. I love it, and you love that it’s too damned big, and that the only way you can hurt me is by fucking me with it.”

He lifted her with one swift movement of his powerful arm so that her legs circled his narrow waist, her hands clutching his broad shoulders. They kissed deeply and savagely, and the heat between them had nothing to do with love, only physical chemistry, with a side of the forbidden, and an abundance of carnal desire.

“Yeah, you’re right, I do like to punish you, and God knows you deserve it. Although it takes a bit of the thrill away knowing that you love it so much. You love my cock, and I love the way it brings to your beautiful, arrogant knees and reduces you to a primitive, whimpering animal like the rest of us,” he said, and he carried her into the shower, and she stayed with him, and he didn’t get any sleep at all that night.

Fatigue and sleepless nights didn’t bother him, he had gotten through two years at the Naval Academy, and replacing pain and discomfort with endurance had become second nature. He and Holden rode south the next day, cruising along on the powerful Electra Glides. His body was weary but that didn’t matter to him at all, he was young and alive, and he was keenly aware that his was a charmed life. He turned and nodded to Holden as they rode side by side, the sun on their faces, and the warm wind rushing past them, enveloping them in that place in time. Holden nodded and smiled at his brother, he looked just as tired and just as content. The classic rock Charlotte had subtly taught Atticus to love when he was a kid played on the sound system. He’d disliked the music at first, but it had grown on him, now it was part of his history, part of who he was. He sang along in his head, loving it as he loved life. He controlled the music with a flick of his thumb on the hand grip, and The Allman Brothers Band sang a mellow song for a young man traveling light and free.

“
Well, I gotta run to keep from hidin’, and I’m bound to keep on ridin’. And I’ve got one more silver dollar, but I’m not gonna let ‘em catch me, no, not gonna let ‘em catch the Midnight Rider
.”

“Let’s crash here and order a pizza, what do you think?” Atticus asked as he and Holden parked the bikes and walked toward a motel in the middle of nowhere that had seen better days. “It won’t hurt you to slum it for the night, you’re a spoiled rich kid; you need see how the other half lives.”

“Fine with me, and you’re one to talk, your blood is as rich as mine,” Holden shot back and both of them laughed. “Just do me a favor and don’t have them send any girls to the room, I’m whipped and I’m out of rubbers.”

“Hey, this motel has our names all over it, look at the sign,” Atticus said and he Holden laughed until their stomachs ached. The sign said ‘
Big
Dick’s Halfway Inn
’.

They settled into the scantily furnished room and ordered pizza after they figured out how to use a rotary dial phone, then they sat on the lumpy mattresses eating and talking.

“Are you happy with your life so far?” Atticus asked as he searched for something to watch on the ancient TV. “This place is fancy, remote control and three channels to choose from.”

“Sure, I guess, what’s not to like? I got to ditch my body guard for a few days, and hit the road on a Harley, I don’t suppose money will ever be an issue, and Dad’s pretty cool. My mother leaves a lot to be desired, it would have been nice if you and I had the same mom… your mom, to be specific. Charlotte, the kind of woman men go to war over, Dad and Finn, at least,” Holden said, and watched his brother’s face to see how those words would affect him.

“Right, my mother, the infamous Charlotte. Helen of Troy’s face may have launched a thousand ships, but Charlotte’s face launched a world of hurt for my two fathers. I can’t imagine falling in love like that, you know, where it colors your entire life. I’ve seen both the good and the bad of what love can do to a man. My dad, Finn, is the happiest man I’ve ever known, and Alex is happy until he thinks about my mom, which is most of the time. Do you hate her, Holden? For what she’s meant to him, for having me?”

“No, I don’t hate her at all. I don’t really know her except for what I’ve heard from you and of course, from Dad. I think she must be an exceptional woman to have two great men love her so much and for so long,” Holden said. “Dad said he never thought he could or would fall in love, he was deep into conquests and one night stands. Then he met your mom and the world began to spin in the opposite direction and he was the only one who ever noticed, obviously. Anyway, yeah, absolutely, I want to fall in love. It has to feel great for a while at least, if a man is willing to suffer the rest of his life. But, we’re not like him, he’s Alexander Bly, the great and powerful. You and I are just knock-off versions of him, right?”

Atticus thought about it, lying on the sagging bed with his hands laced behind his head. He was watching the only clear station on the TV, a man was rolling around in the mud wrestling an alligator. “Sometimes I don’t know who I am, I have two fathers and a mother who have had these huge, extraordinary, lives. All three of my parents have had bizarre brushes death, how am I supposed to live a normal life? But, I want to love a woman, really… really love a woman, and be loved in return, and someday down the road, have kids. First I want to fly, fly fast and change the world, make it better. It’s what my dad… what Finn wanted, what he did in his own way. I’ll graduate from the Academy but I’m doing my time in the Air Force instead of the Navy. Floating around on a ship is not for me, I want to fly all the time, so I’ll graduate, and do my flight training, then who knows. I’m sure they’ll send me to some country with a lot a sand and deserts and I’ll do my thing for the good ol’ U.S. of A. After that I’ll figure it out while I wait for the weight of the world to fall in my lap.”

“Bly Inc. you mean, sorry about that, I hate to say it, but I’m glad it’s you and not me.”

“Guess what little brother? You’re going to be right there by my side, no way I’m doing it by myself. I can count on you, can’t I?” Atticus asked.

“Fuck, are you really going put that on me? Let’s talk about something else, all that responsibility is too depressing to think about. What about Cuatro and Hadley? And how do you feel about her being a celebrity, she will be, you know. She’s Charlotte’s daughter, it must be her destiny.”

“Cuatro’s in love and now he’s going to immortalize her in a book, I’m not wild about that idea. She’s great, Holden, my little sister. You haven’t had the chance to really know her, but she has something special, a spark of the divine, maybe. She’s gorgeous and talented and… she’s sweet and a little clueless about the way people really are. That worries me, my family has sheltered her too much, probably. Now she’s about to go off to New York and who knows where else with this celebrity shit. Listen, do me a favor, help me watch over her this summer, I want her to have this last bit of teenaged innocence before she goes out into the big bad world. I can count on you, I know. I’m going to sleep now, brother, you should too; we’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

Atticus turned over and fell asleep right away, Holden lay awake for a while. He loved his brother and even though he had no desire to be a slave to the mega-corporation that was Bly Inc., he would do whatever Atticus asked of him. He would also do his part to see that Hadley had a nice, peaceful summer, free from those who would exploit her. It was just one more good thing he could do for his only brother.

*

“The tattooed lifeguard from the beach club? Please! No possible way you’d give it up to him, he’s like… foreign. I can’t understand a word he says, can you?” Skyler asked Hadley. The two girls lay on the beach outside of the McCall House just like they had every summer of their lives as far back as either of them could remember. Skyler sat up and tied her bikini top, she had been lying on her stomach trying to get a little sun on her perfect pale back. She and Hadley loved to lie in the sun although it was their little secret that they wore tons of sunscreen. As far as the two of them were concerned Hadley’s mother was the best advertisement for wearing sunscreen anyone could ever hope to see. Charlotte’s skin was wrinkle-free and baby’s-butt-smooth even at forty eight. When all Hadley’s friends went on and on about how cool and fun and gorgeous Charlotte was, gorgeous was the one thing Hadley had to agree with. Other than that, Hadley and her mother had issues, not major issues, but they pretty much argued about anything and everything concerning Hadley’s life and future. Then Hadley’s dad would step in and calm his wife and daughter down and always make them call a truce. He was the voice of reason that held their family firmly and happily together.

“Absolutely I am!” Hadley said, looking at Skyler as if she’d lost her mind. “Angus Mc… whatever his name is, will be the first but not the last, please God. I am so sick of listening to Mia talk about how good the sex was when she and Beau were together, and now it’s glaringly obvious that Ava and Keller are spending some serious time in the sack and probably the sand and anywhere else they can do it. I’m going to New York to live in two months, there’s every possibility I’ll be nominated for an Oscar for my very first movie, and my face is going to be on the December issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Listen closely… I need to lose my virginity!”

“Those are fabulous reasons to decide to get down and dirty with some strange Scottish gang-member you’ve known for all of ten minutes. What are gonna do if Cuatro finds out, and is he seriously that set on keeping you pure until your wedding night? My God, are people really that totally out of touch down there in the wilds of Texas?” Skyler said, although she was honestly past giving a shit whether Hadley remained a virgin or not. As for herself she was holding out for one man and only one man to be her first and, she very much hoped, her
only
lover for the rest of her life. She was closer to Hadley than to anyone else in the whole world, but she didn’t even want Hadley to know that she was helplessly, hopelessly, head-over-heels, ridiculously in love with Atticus. Of course who wasn’t, but Skyler’s feelings for Atticus were different from those of all his other ‘groupies’. They worshipped him for the way he looked, his beautiful face and burning blue eyes, his tall, hard muscled body, his killer charm and smile. She loved all those things about him, she wasn’t a fool, after all. But mostly she loved the boy that he had been, and the man that he had become. He acted all cool and unaffected, but she knew the real Atticus. He was the kindest, most tender-hearted person she had ever known.