Sean: A Stepbrother Romance (Coded for Love Book 3) Read online

  SEAN

  Coded For Love #3

  © Saskia Walker

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book is contains sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers.

  All rights reserved. This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work.

  Cover design: Daqri Bernardo at Covers by Combs

  SEAN

  Cover copy

  Rowan Vaughn doesn’t need a man. All men do is break your heart. So when Sean Rattigan drives into town on a Harley Rowan Vaughn doesn’t need a man. All men do is break your heart. So when her stepbrother Sean Rattigan rides back into town—ripped and brooding—she has to lift her jaw and act like she doesn’t care. Sean stole her heart and promptly disappeared with it. She isn’t going to give him the satisfaction of falling on her back for him—not again.

  Fresh out of jail for cyber crimes—and with a pack of hungry gangsters on his trail, slavering for his hacking skills—Sean Rattigan heads to Wales, determined to win back the only woman he ever loved, his stepsister, Rowan. The magnetic attraction between Sean and Rowan is more powerful than ever, and their passion is quickly reignited.

  Rowan has a confession to make, but Sean disappears again without hearing her out. Furious, Rowan vows to give him a taste of his own medicine and follows him to London. What she doesn’t know is Sean left her behind to protect her, and she’s headed straight for danger.

  SEAN

  Chapter One

  Sean Rattigan strode out through the jail gates, looked up at the sky, and breathed in the clean air. Freedom felt good.

  Behind him, the gate slammed shut.

  It was a year of his life he’d never get back. Time to start over.

  His mind flickered over a well laid plan.

  Time to get back what mattered.

  The sound of his name being called out focused him. Sean’s brother, Rory, climbed out of a pickup truck parked nearby and raised his hand in greeting. Sean made his way over, glancing up and down the street to see if they were being watched.

  Rory walked to the rear of the truck and unlatched the tailgate. A moment later he lowered a ramp, jumped up onto the truck and wheeled down a motorbike. Sean checked out the Harley as he closed in, nodding in approval. He was keen to get on the road, get the hell out of there.

  Rory rested the bike on its stand then reached out.

  Embracing his younger sibling, Sean ruffled Rory’s hair. “Thanks, bro, I appreciate this.”

  Rory grinned and gestured at the bike. “It’s been serviced within in an inch of its life. Full tank. Everything’s good. Still planning to take to the road for a while?”

  Sean nodded and glanced back at the jail. He wasn’t going to be leaving the experience behind, not completely. Some of the guys probably walked away and didn’t give it a second thought, but his time inside had changed him. “Yeah, I need to clear my head.”

  “Whatever you gotta do,” Rory responded. “There’s a room and a job waiting for you in London, whenever you’re ready.”

  Sean clasped Rory by the shoulder. “Just give me a few days, call it time out.”

  Rory grabbed a pair of biker boots and a jacket from the back of the truck.

  Sean kicked off his shoes and pulled on the boots, then shrugged the jacket on.

  Rory reached into his hip pocket and pulled out some banknotes rolled with a rubber band. “There’s new gear in the bike panniers and a phone with a bunch of credit on it. Here’s some cash to get you started.”

  “I’ll pay you back,” Sean said, as he accepted the money. “I’ll work it off when I get to London.”

  Rory shrugged.

  Sean noticed his brother looked well. A lot had changed for Rory since their hacking days. “How are things?”

  “Good, getting on top of things at the workshop. Making tracks with the house renovation.”

  Sean was pleased to hear it. Rory had stepped up to the plate and taken on the running of a motorcycle mechanic workshop, with accommodation thrown into the deal. “And Sky?”

  “She’s happy. She started college, part time. She’s moved in. In fact, she’s painting one of the spare rooms for you right now.”

  “Hey, tell her not to bother.” Sean wished they weren’t going to so much trouble.

  “We’re glad to do it. We owe you, all of us.”

  Sean shook his head. “I should’ve known better than hacking a major corp.”

  They stood in silence for a few moments, then Rory nodded at Sean’s bulked physique. “You’ve built some muscle there.”

  “I learned a few tricks from one of the guys I shared the cell with. Learned how to protect my territory too.”

  Rory’s smile faded. Their childhood and teens had been blighted by violence.

  “How’s Draco?” Sean asked about their stepbrother to break the tension. He didn’t want Rory to know about the shadows at his back, or his willingness to take his enemies down. “You seen him?”

  “Yeah, he’s good. Things were difficult between us, for a while, but he’s got a great job in the banking district now and a classy girlfriend.”

  “Classy? Seriously? How did he meet her?”

  “I think I’ll let him explain that one, once you get to London.” Rory was trying to not to laugh, which made Sean even more curious.

  “What?”

  Rory shook his head. “Trust me. You need to be chilling with a beer in your hand when you hear about it.” He reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he handed over. “You’ll need this.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s Rowan’s new address, she’s moved in with the family in Prestatyn. Just in case you felt like calling by to visit.”

  Sean stared down at the piece of paper, opening it. Rowan. The sound of her name made his stomach tighten. “I don’t know where I’m headed.” It was a lie. He didn’t want Rory to warn Rowan he was coming. In reality his course was set in stone, and it led straight to his stepsister’s side. Thinking about Rowan had got him through his twelve months banged up in jail. He couldn’t leave their relationship unresolved any longer, even if it turned out to be the wrong thing to do.

  “Well, you have the address if you want to call in on any of the ladies.” Rory stared over at the piece of paper. It seemed as if he was holding something back.

  “Ladies?”

  Rory reached into the truck and passed over a helmet. “Yeah, Rowan and her Nan moved in with Aunt Gladys, hence the new address.” Again he looked like he was going to say something else, but didn’t.

  “Okay.” Sean folded the piece of paper into his hip pocket and accepted the helmet.

  “I’m sure they’d give you a bed for the night, at the very least, if you call by.”

  Sean nodded. “Any news from dad?”

  “No.” Rory gestured at the piece of paper in Sean’s hand. “These guys are our family now. Call by.”

  Nodding silently, Sean pocketed the piece of paper. “Promise me one thing.”

  “Anything.”

  He got on the bike, kicked back the stand and revved the engine. “Don’t tell them I’m coming.”

  “Want to surprise them, huh?” Rory
chuckled.

  “Something like that.” Sean pulled on the helmet, squeezed Rory on the shoulder, and set off.

  Sean Rattigan was ready to rebuild his life.

  First goal: reunite with the woman he loved.

  Chapter Two

  Rowan Vaughn stared at her phone in disbelief. “Please tell me it’s not true.”

  Nan looked up from her winged armchair. “What’s the matter?”

  Rowan slammed the phone against her chest. Her heart hammered and she tightened her grip on her baby girl, Pixie—who was kicking her legs, trying to be break free.

  Laughter emanated from her grandmother’s chair. “Whatever it is, it’s got you in a state. Give Pixie to me.”

  Rowan glared at her grandmother and cuddled Pixie tighter against her side.

  “Whatever is it? I haven’t seen you this flustered since you found out your mother was remarrying.” Edging forward in her chair, Nan put out one hand as if to reach for the phone and read the text message for herself.

  Horrified, Rowan shoved the phone in her dressing gown pocket and cradled Pixie in both arms, cuddling her tightly before carrying her over to her toys. When she set Pixie on the floor, the little girl scrambled up onto the sofa.

  “It’s not bad news from your sister is it?” Nan frowned.

  “Don’t fret, Sky is fine. As for the message…I just haven’t decided exactly how bad the news is yet.” She pulled the phone back out of her pocket, desperate to read the message again. She’d already read it three times. It really was true.

  “Sean is getting out of jail today.” She read it aloud, as if to prove it to herself. Eventually she dragged her attention from the phone back to her grandmother.

  Nan’s eyes gleamed with interest. “No wonder you’re flustered.”

  “I’m not flustered.” Rowan pocketed the phone again. She stomped to the window, trying not to freak out. He could turn up at any moment. “It probably doesn’t matter whether he’s out of jail or not. He won’t want to come here.”

  “Then why are you looking out the window so expectantly?”

  Rowan dropped the net curtain and turned on her heel, infuriated. “I’m not. I look out the window all the time.” She gestured in despair, raising both hands. She and Pixie lived in the same house with Nan and Aunt Gladys, Nan’s sister, and sometimes it was a battle of wills between headstrong women across three generations. Rowan loved Nan and Gladys, and they’d given her a loving home when she desperately needed it, but sometimes they teased her for their own entertainment, and it blew her mind.

  Stomping over to the mirror over the fireplace she looked at her reflection in despair. It was nearly midday and she was still in her dressing gown. Thank God Sky had warned her by text. She pulled her hair back from her face. Her mass of black hair needed a bit of TLC and a damn good conditioner. She scooped it up and looped it into a top knot. “Even if he did come here,” she murmured, twiddling with her eyebrow piercing, “he wouldn’t recognize me. I’ve changed.”

  “Read me the message,” Nan instructed from her armchair.

  Rowan glanced over her shoulder. Pixie had climbed into Nan’s lap, and the two of them were staring at her expectantly. “Oh hell, why? I don’t have time for this. I’ve got stuff to do. I’ve only just started my evening classes. I can’t afford to mess up my second chance on week two.”

  “So,” Nan continued, undeterred, “Sean’s coming here, is he?”

  “How the hell do I know?” Rowan lifted her hands in a gesture of despair, then withdrew the phone from her pocket. Pixie reached out with grabby hands. Rowan held the phone at arm’s length. “It’s from Sky. She says, ‘you haven’t heard this from me, you’re not supposed to know. Sean is out today and he’s headed for Wales.’”

  “Ah now, that explains it.” Nan brightened up considerably, as if she relished the thought Sean might turn up at the door at any moment. The ladies did love a bit of drama to gossip about.

  That annoyed Rowan even more. Three years ago he was the devil incarnate to the older generation, a wicked seducer, a breaker of family law. Now, just because she had a child, Nan seemed ready to fix her up with anyone—even her own stepbrother, the forbidden one. If only Aunt Gladys were here. It was one of her volunteering days. Her moral code was rigid, and whenever Sean was mentioned she delivered a lecture on the evils of perversion, ludicrous though it was. They had nothing to worry about anyway, because Rowan was over him, well and truly, had been for a long time too. So what if he turned up here. She didn’t care one little bit.

  “Wait, wait,” she blurted, her mind working overtime, “he’ll go to the old house. He doesn’t know we’ve moved in with Aunt Gladys.”

  “Surely Rory will tell him?” Her Nan was laughing at her.

  It was too much to bear. Rowan fumed silently. Quickly, she texted back.

  Inside a minute she had another message. Rowan stared at the screen in horror. “He’s got a motorbike and our new address. That means he could be here within hours.”

  Again she texted back. The reply came just as quick. “She says ‘last message cos Rory will kill me if he finds out I told you. Sean knows you’ve moved to Prestatyn, but that’s all he knows.’” Rowan glazed over. “It bloody well better be all he knows!”

  “I’ll phone Gladys,” Nan said, her eyes bright with interest. “Tell her to pick up more groceries. He’ll be starving after being in jail all this time.”

  Rowan felt as if steam was going to start coming out of her ears. “They do feed them, mores the pity. If it was me I’d starve him for being so bloody stupid. Hacking…I mean, for fuck’s sake.”

  “Language, Rowan.”

  “Sorry, Nan… but you’d think they’d have grown out of it at some point.”

  “Indeed.” Nan nodded approvingly.

  Rowan stared at her grandmother in horror. It was always a red flag warning when Nan agreed with her. “Oh God, I’m beginning to sound like you and Gladys.”

  Slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand, she tried to decide whether to start boarding the doors and windows, or get in the shower first. Nan was treating the news as if it was some lovely family reunion, and all she could think was he better not turn up here having disappeared without saying goodbye nearly three years ago.

  Nan was on her feet, plumping the cushions on the sofa.

  “Don’t make a fuss,” Rowan declared. “I’m not going to. He won’t come here. Why would he? Even if he does, I couldn’t care less.”

  Nan laughed.

  Rowan tied the belt on her dressing gown even tighter. She stared down at Pixie, who was happily playing. Her child. Her secret. Emotions tumbled through her.

  Her phone buzzed again. She pulled it from her pocket.

  Nan paused her tidying and looked over expectantly.

  “Oh, bloody hell…”

  “Language, Rowan!”

  “Sorry, Nan. This one is from Rory. He says Sean is on his way.”

  It was true. Sean really was on his way. “I can’t let him see me like this!”

  She didn’t even catch Nan’s reply before she dropped the phone and headed for the shower.

  Chapter Three

  Sean burned rubber until he hit the Welsh border, then he slowed down and let the bike hug the roads, driving through blots of afternoon sun and the occasional misty rain. The bike handled beautifully, and he was grateful for it. Savoring every breath of freedom as he travelled, he closed the distance between him and Rowan.

  Rowan. His stepsister was like a magnet. Always had been.

  He used to be able to fight it, used to be able to stop thinking about her by filling his brain with other stuff. Computer code, alcohol, bikes, fighting, and other stupid shit. But then he was locked up. Four walls and enough time to regret the things he’d done—and those he hadn’t. It got to the point where all he could think about was being with Rowan again. His stepsister. Out of bounds. But they were both rebel souls and soon became secret lovers. Litt
le could keep them apart. Their hidden relationship raged for months before their parents found out, then all hell broke loose. Things got nasty.

  Ever since, he was haunted by images and memories of her, from the feeling of her lush lips on his skin, to the intimate details of their secret lives together, including those intense moments when they lost their virginity together.

  He deeply regretted not dealing with it at the time. They had so quickly evolved into a deep relationship, stuff he’d have had to match up to, stuff that happened long before he was sure he could deal with any of it. He’d never been able to escape it though, and now he wanted to reverse everything in between. He was willing to do anything to get her back. Anything.

  They’d been too young to feel so much, that’s why. But he’d had time to reflect on it, and he was sure they would have hacked through it—together—both the obstacles and hardships, the denial from parents, family and friends. They could’ve handled it all, if he hadn’t taken the opportunity to hightail it out of town with Draco and Rory.

  It was time to right the wrongs.

  By late afternoon he had sight of Rhyl, the seaside town on the north coast of Wales where he and his brother, Rory, and their dad had stopped to rest a while on a journey from Dublin to London. The pit stop had forever changed all their lives. His dad had married again, they were part of a new family. Not easy.

  Rory and Sky were together now. It gave him hope.

  Would Rowan even give him the time of day though? That was the big question. Parking up on the seafront, he secured the bike and walked along the promenade. Usually busy with tourists, the misty rain had kept most of them inside the arcades and cafes and pubs. A few hardy types were walking their dogs.

  It was quiet, and it gave him time to think, to remember.

  He stared over at the pier. It was there underneath the arches where he’d first kissed Rowan. They’d been so hot for each other. It’d been building since the moment they laid eyes on each other. The kiss when it came was wild, fuelled by weeks of pent up lust. Then she’d run off, laughing, making him chase her.