Read Only Love (The Atonement Series) for Free Online Page B

sweatpants, a white tank top and a matching sweat jacket with Juicy Couture written on it. Yep, this was definitely my cousin’s doing because I would wear this kind of clothing in the house on a lazy afternoon but never in public.
    “I hope they meet your approval?”
    I plastered on a fake smile. “They’re great. I’ll just go get changed and we can get ready to blow this joint.”
    Drake’s smile was sexy as hell as he revealed a pair of perfect white teeth. “I can’t wait.”
    I ignored the double entendre and walked into the bathroom before I closed the door behind me.
    What was I allowing to happen and was I just asking for trouble especially since my ex-fiancé was still in town?

Chapter Six
    Colin

     
    Colin faced a pissed off Aubrey and the look on her face didn’t exactly give him any confidence to continue the conversation. Drew glared at him and they were friends for Christ’s sake. What was his issue?
    He didn’t want to behave like a stalker but at the same time, he also knew Deirdre was coming home from the hospital that day and he wanted to be there for her. He also knew that prick, Drake, had picked her up and her emerging new life certainly didn’t sit well with him.
    Men were so crafty and that motherfucker was especially devious. He didn’t trust him and couldn’t put his finger on why he thought the relationship between the guy and his “business partner” seemed inappropriate. Sure, he’d shared this little fact with Deirdre but he didn’t mention she was a five foot, ten inch tall bleached blonde with ties to the Ukrainian Mafia.
    It turned out not only was Drake related to Drew—they were first cousins—he had been disowned by his family and it was the primary reason he called the West Coast his home. However, having grown up with money, he knew where to find it and promptly started dating Mikayla Shevchenko, daughter of Evgeni and sister of Andrij and Fedir.
    The family had come to the United States while Fedir had been a baby and established themselves as some of the top gun runners and drug dealers in southern California. Hell, the family had a working relationship with the Madreras Cartel, the most powerful Mexican Mafia in their country and the United States. Through Mikayla and her brothers, the family had begun to wash a lot of the money through a string of popular and see-and-be-seen restaurants, bars and clubs the siblings began to buy along the Pacific, from San Diego to San Francisco.
    It was true: she and Drake were split partners; they were not only former lovers but he’d been involved in the Shevchenko family business before he could be trusted with Mikayla washing money in the restaurant business. They’d been engaged for a time but he’d broken it off and never gave a reason. Though he seemed positively enthralled with Deirdre, it was rumored he was still had feelings for Mikayla and the feeling was more than mutual. Women were just a means to an end until she “ceased her party-girl attitude and realized they were supposed to be together”.
    This was the knowledge he’d shared with Drew and Aubrey that morning he’d shown up at Deirdre’s apartment. Instead of them being happy he was trying to protect his ex-fiancée, they accused him of being a stalker and immediately asked him to leave.
    “Surely you don’t plan to tell Deirdre any of this nonsense?” Aubrey inquired in an incredulous manner. “The woman just had a miscarriage—she doesn’t need to hear about her neighbor being a former gun runner and having mob connections.”
    “Drake never ran guns, believe me,” Drew responded in an authoritative manner. “He may not be welcome at barbeques and family reunions but he hasn’t been completely cut off. His mother is my mother’s sister for God’s sake and as an O’Connell, you never get cut off from one another, not really.”
    Colin sat down on the love seat despite Aubrey having asked him to leave. “I know he’s family and when I