Shattered Vows (The Denton Family Legacy Book 2) (2 page)

“I’m not talking about this with you. Not now, not ever.” Her cheeks heated as her friends stared at her.

“You want to press it against your clit, and relax, Harp. You’re too uptight.” Lara was trying not to laugh as she talked.

“You’re doing this on purpose. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“The key is to have fun. If you see a guy wanting you, let him take you.” This came from Betty.

“I’m not screwing some random guy.”

Before Betty and Lara could say anything, the elevator doors pinged open.

“Try not to look guilty about having a fake ID,” Betty said, whispering against her ear.

“Fine. Fine.” Harper didn’t know how to not look guilty. She was breaking the law, but her two friends wouldn’t be without her tonight.

They could have gone to a nice restaurant, or done something else, but still, they wanted to go out and party. The guard at the door watched Betty with hunger in his eyes.

“You’ve scored there,” Harper said.

“Sh.”

Rolling her eyes, Harper followed her friends.

“Hello, ladies,” the bouncer said.

“Hey, handsome. We’re looking for some fun tonight, and heard this was a good place,” Betty said, stepping forward.

Yep, Harper was going to end up going home alone tonight. Why she even tried was beyond her. She hoped she wouldn’t have to listen to Betty and Lara getting it on seeing as they lived in the same apartment.

Minutes passed, and finally the doors were opened toward the nightclub.

“Save me a dance,” he said.

“Sure thing.”

Harper didn’t even need her ID. The loud music caused her to frown.

“You’ll get used to everything,” Lara said.

“I need a drink.”

Harper, once again, didn’t say anything. What was the point? No one would listen. Following her friends to the bar, she stood at the counter as her friends ordered a drink. Within seconds they were being asked to dance. A guy asked her, and she shook her head. The last thing she was interested in was getting groped.

“Come on, Harp, dance,” Lara said.

“Nope. I’ll babysit the drinks.” She hopped onto a stool, and waved them off. Resting her head in her hand, she watched as Lara and Betty gave in to the mad crowd. It had to have been less than five minutes they were inside the nightclub.

“Here you go, miss,” the barman said.

“Thanks.”

Guarding three drinks, she took a sip of her own, some kind of fruity thing, and struggled as the drink burned her throat.

“Not much of a drinker?”

Harper turned to see a guy sitting a couple of seats away. He was around her age, maybe a little older.

“No. What gave it away?”

He got up and took a step toward her. “Many things. The way you stared at all the drinks, the tentative sip, and the look of horror on your face. Damian Denton.” He held his hand out.

“Denton? Isn’t that the name of this place?”

“Usually women offer their names.”

“Oh, Harper Mavis.” She shook his hand, noticing how firmly he held hers. “So, Denton?”

“I’m the son.”

“The only one?”

Damian burst out laughing. “Nope. Not even close. I have five brothers, and a sister. Not to mention cousins.”

“Wow, big family.”

“Yep.”

She took another sip of her drink, not knowing what else to say. “I don’t do this.”

“What?”

“Talk. To strangers.”

“You’re so sweet.”

“How old are you?” Harper asked.

“This is a really interesting conversation.”

“You do know that is strange.”

“I’m twenty-three years old.”

Licking her lips, she nodded. He was close to her in age. “Your family owns this?”

“Among other things.”

“Why do I feel like you’re laughing at me?” she asked.

“I’m not laughing. I find this entirely refreshing.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Most women are impressed to learn I’m a Denton, but you don’t have a clue who I am.”

“You’re part of a family that owns a casino. Congrats? I don’t know what you want me to say. I own a shit car. You don’t see me bragging about it.” Harper had never been interested in material things. It was nice to have a shiny car, but they still broke down.

Damian sat down next to her. “I have a nice new car. Few hundred miles on the clock.”

“I have a shit car, got a few hundred thousand on the clock. I don’t think it could go above fifty.”

He started laughing. “Well, how about that. I believe I’ll be the one taking you home tonight.”

Harper snorted. “Yeah, no, you’re not. It’s not going to happen.” She sipped at the horrid drink, liking the way Damian started at her. Maybe the night wouldn’t be a total waste.

Chapter Two

“Can you believe Dad is making him write freaking essays? We’d have been put into every single fight imaginable,” Gideon said. “Just goes to show the younger generation gets it better.”

Abel laughed. “Better? I’d take a fight over the essay any day. We’re all different. Landon, the fucker, gets off on fights. What you’ve got to think about is our dad can be an asshole. With Mom saying shit like that, Dad is not going to let that stand.”

Oliver chuckled. “Landon’s going to feel like he’s being tortured. Wish I could see it.”

“I need a fucking drink,” Abel said.

“Do you think Mom will ever leave?” Gideon asked.

Abel turned to look at his brother. He hadn’t for a second considered his mother leaving. Yes, he’d heard the tale that she had. Jacob had even told him a great deal of their … legacy. Each Denton man was destined to find one love, and the moment he saw it, it was supposed to be like a fairytale. Only, it came with a little hiccup. While the men knew without a doubt, the women didn’t. It was all up to the men to fight for them. Abel hoped his woman stayed hidden for the rest of her life, and he didn’t have to worry about a single problem.

“Don’t know. I doubt Dad will let her leave. It’s Mom. His one and only.” Abel rubbed at his temples, exiting the elevator onto the floor that contained the tower overlooking the nightclub. Gideon and Oliver joined him as he first had to check out the security before relaxing for the night.

“Can you believe Jacob is away again?” Oliver said. “Our brother has turned into a pussy.”

“I like Lou. She’s good for him.” Abel stared at the screens, checking everything out. He spotted Damian, and shook his head. A little older than Landon, Damian was a lazy fucker, who needed to learn to do shit. It would suit Abel for Damian to be replaced by Landon, as then shit would get done. He watched on the screen as Damian ran his hands over some woman’s ass, pulling her in close. “If he’s going to party, then let’s go and join our brother.”

Storming out of the control room, he made his way down the stairs from the VIP lounge, toward the dance-floor. Whoever the woman was she had his brother completely captivated. She spun around, laughing as Damian held her hand and her back was flush against him.

Abel froze on the stairs as he watched her. He couldn’t look away, and his heart started to pound. Everything else fell away as he watched her. She was all he cared about, all he wanted, and seeing his brother holding her, he wanted to fucking kill him. How dare Damian touch what belonged to him?

“Why did you stop?” Gideon asked.

Unable to answer, he stormed onto the dancefloor, and without saying a word, took hold of the woman’s hand, and pulled her close.

“Fuck, Abel, what are you doing?” Damian asked.

“Rude!” the woman said.

“I’m Abel.” He reached down, grabbing her ass. She was so perfect. Her tits were large, her curves calling to him to hold on to as he sank inside. This woman would make the perfect lover, the perfect wife, and the perfect mother. Damn, that was a lot of perfects.

Pain shot through his foot, and suddenly he was on his knees, grabbing his junk. What the hell had happened?

“I don’t know who you are, but you never touch a woman like that.” She folded her arms and glared at him.

Shit, she didn’t feel the same way about him, and now Abel knew exactly what Jacob had to deal with.

Damian stared at him, looking clueless. “What the hell, Abel?”

“You know him?”

“Yeah, he’s my brother.”

“No offense, your brother is an ass.” His woman stormed off the dancefloor, going toward the bar.

“Don’t you dare follow her,” Abel said, finding his voice even though pain was rushing from his dick all throughout his body. The pain was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, and the need to cry was strong.

Suck it up.

“Abel, I know you think I’m a lazy ass, but I did my job before coming here.” Damian shook his head. “I like her.”

“She’s mine.”

“You don’t get to call dibs. You haven’t been here two minutes.”

“Damian, I don’t think Abel’s doing it to call dibs,” Gideon said.

“Then what the fuck is it? I don’t get it.”

“She’s mine, as in, fucking mine.” Abel punched his chest, and glared at his brother.

It took a few seconds for the truth to finally set in, and Damian glanced back, his shoulders sinking. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. There is no mistaking this feeling.”

“You fuck everything.”

“This isn’t about fucking.” Abel got to his feet and coughed a little. He made to go toward her, but his brothers held him back. “Let me the fuck go.”

Damian placed a hand on his chest, keeping him away from the woman that was destined to be his. He grabbed his brother’s wrist, about to twist it.

“She’s not like other women, okay? I’m just wanting you to not be an asshole.”

“Do you know her?”

“I’ve been with her for the past hour, and we’ve talked. I’m not going to get in your way, but her knee has met your balls. Let me help you right now,” Damian said.

“You snap his wrist, Dad’s going to make you do all of his chores. You know Mom hates us all fighting, and then she’ll bitch at Dad. Hey, Dame, did you know Mom threatened boarding school to Landon?”

“Stop calling me Dame. For real? Wow, he must have really pushed Mom’s fuck-off button.”

Two other women walked up to the girl who owned his heart, and Abel watched as they all spoke as if they didn’t have a care in the world. He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted anything else in his life.

“Her name’s Harper.”

“Introduce us.”

“Be calm, Abel. She’s … different.”

“I know she’s different. She’s mine.”

“Let him figure this shit out for himself. He’s not going to listen, so I don’t see a point in making him,” Gideon said.

“Fine.” Damian threw his arms up in the air and stomped over toward Harper.

“Oh, Damian, I want you to meet Lara and Betty.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Damian, I heard you’ve been keeping my girl here company,” Betty said.

“I’ve been doing my best.”

“See, you can go out, find a friend, and socialize,” Lara said, sighing. “It was so hard to get her to come out tonight.”

He was done listening to the friends. Slapping Damian on the back, he made his brother aware he wasn’t about to wait all night.

“These are my brothers, Abel, Gideon, and Oliver.”

“Wow, you really weren’t kidding about the whole sibling thing,” Harper said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Harper,” Abel said, wanting her to touch him. He held his hand out, ready, expecting her to hold him. Instead, she looked at his hand, and then up at him. Her lips were pursed, and she wasn’t interested.

“I wish I could say it’s a pleasure. It’s never fun to have a guy squeezing your ass before you even know his name.”

Her two friends gasped.

“I apologize. You do have a nice ass.”

Harper’s cheeks went a deeper shade of red. She looked so fucking cute, and she’d look even cuter bouncing on his dick.

She shook her head. “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

“Would you like me to see you out?” Able asked.

“No.” She climbed off the stool, and made her way toward the door.

He wasn’t going to let her leave all on her own. Following behind her, he kept up the pace with Damian beside him.

She stopped, whirling around. “Stop. I don’t get why you’re following me. I can make my own way home.”

“What is your name again?” Abel said.

“What? I’m not going to tell some creepo what my name is.”

“I’m not a creep.”

“You touched my ass, and you did it without permission. You’re a creep.” She turned to Damian. “Thank you.”

She tried to walk away, but Abel wasn’t about to let her get away. “I want to go on a date,” he said.

“What? No.” She spoke the last bit with a forced laugh. “Why don’t you go find another woman to fondle?”

“I don’t want to fondle anyone else.”

“You’re so weird. God, I was only here for my two friends, and I wish I hadn’t come.”

“I’ll leave you alone,” he said.

She turned to face him. “What?”

“Give me your full name, and I’ll leave you alone.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll follow you home, and you won’t get me to leave.”

“I’ll call the police.”

“I own the police.”

Her gaze once again landed on Damian. “How are you two related?”

“I ask myself that every single day,” he said.

“Fine. I tell you my full name, and you leave me alone?”

“Yes.”

“Harper Mavis.” She turned on her heel, and walked away.

Grabbing his cell phone, Abel dialed a number, and pressed it against his ear. “You’re not to go near her.” He glanced at his brother, who was watching her nice round ass. “You hear me?” He snapped his fingers.

“I hear you.”

“Hi, I want the full details of a Harper Mavis. I expect it in two hours.” He hung up, and turned toward his brother. “She’s mine.”

“Tell me one thing, Abel,” Damian said as he made to turn away.

“What?”

“Is it as intense as they say?”

Abel knew what he was asking. Glancing toward Harper, he nodded. “The world falls away, and you know without a shadow a doubt that she will be yours for the rest of your life.”

****

The apartment Saturday morning was always interesting. Harper sat in her chair at the kitchen, and waited to see who would appear out of her friends’ rooms. Chewing on the cereal, she put some money on Betty. Out of her two friends, Betty was the early riser. Both had come back with men last night.

The earbuds had gone in, and she’d been listening to random styles of pop to fall asleep to. It was much nicer than the sex that was being played out in the other rooms. All three of them shared an apartment off-campus. Their first year in college, they each had a dorm, and all three of them had a roommate they couldn’t stand. So they put their money together, and made sure they were able to afford a separate apartment.

There was some distant groaning, and yes, she won her own ten dollars back as Betty exited her room, looking well and truly fucked. Behind her was a man from last night, only it wasn’t one of the guys they’d been dancing with. Damian, the guy
she
had been dancing with, came out behind Betty.

Now, that actually hurt.

The little game of watching awkwardness wasn’t fun any longer.

“Morning,” Betty said.

Harper averted her eyes and took another spoonful of cereal. She had never allowed herself to dance with anyone before, and Damian had seemed like a really nice guy, until his brother ruined everything. There had even been a brief spark of interest, only now there was no chance of that ever happening.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to look up, and be her usual self. Betty would start asking questions, and she didn’t want that to happen. Her friends always saw too much.

“Morning, fun night?”

“Yeah, sorry. We ended up coming back home.”

“No problem. You live here, too.”

“Some guys don’t like taking girls back to their apartment.” Betty gave Damian a pointed look.

Harper stared down at her pajama shorts and small top. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and normally that didn’t bother her. Today, it did. Finishing her cereal, she made her escape, and was more than happy to do so.

Entering her room, she closed the door, leaning against it.

Why are you so upset?

You weren’t even going to go home with him.

He was fun.

He’s with your friend.

Pushing all of her insecurities aside, she focused on the now, rather than last night. She shouldn’t have gone to the club last night, and she never would again. It was Saturday, and she had work to get to from lunchtime. She worked in a law firm, delivering mail, coffee, and taking notes for some of the lawyers if they needed it. The job was to help her decide if she even wanted to go into law. So she had gotten a job as a kind of intern. Yeah, it was totally weird, but it worked for her.

Her friends didn’t get why she pressured the owner of the law practice into giving her a job. She was just out of place, unfinished. College was supposed to be a place where she had clarity, and understand what she wanted to be. Instead, she was taking courses that were just boring.

“Harper! You’ve got a delivery,” Lara said.

She’d missed her other friend’s awkwardness.

“Delivery?” She opened her door, and stepped out to see the guy Lara had slept with last night was none other than Gideon Denton.

Two Denton men stood in her apartment.