An entangled christmas m.., p.1
An Entangled Christmas (Merge Second Generation #2), page 1
An Entangled Christmas
THE MERGE SERIES, BOOK 5
KYLIE KENT
MCCARTNEY INDUSTRIES PTY LTD
Contents
Please Stalk Me
The Merge Family
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Chased By him Prologue 1
Chased By Him - Prologue 2
Chased By him - Ch 1
Chased By Him - Ch 2
Afterword
Devilish King
Devilish King
Also by Kylie Kent
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright ©2021 by Kylie Kent
This book contains scenes of sexual acts, profanity, and violence. If any of these are triggers for you, you should consider skipping this read.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Ebook ISBN 13: 978-0-6452572-3-6
Paperback ISBN 13: 978-0-6452572-7-4
Cover illustration by
Sammi Bee - https://www.facebook.com/SammiBeeDesigns/
Editing services provided by
Kat Pagan – https://www.facebook.com/PaganProofreading
Please Stalk Me
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To Nana, you are the one who instilled a love for all things Christmas. You gave me the best Christmas memories I have as a child. Thank you for being you!
The Merge Family
Who is who in the merge family? This world all begun with Zac & Alyssa and grew into more than I ever could have imagined it to be.
Below is the family tree’s of all the characters you’ll read about in both The Merge Series.
Prologue
“I don’t care what it costs. I want that fucking house! Make it happen, or I’ll find an agent who can do their fucking job.” I disconnect the call and slam the phone down on the desk.
I’ve been trying to secure the deal on this house for two weeks now. It’s October, and I want that house settled by Christmas. My niece wants a beach Christmas, and I plan on giving her one. The fact that this beach property happens to be right next door to the McKinleys is a bonus.
I’ve been working on a multimillion-dollar merger with McKinley Industries for months now. The owner’s hesitant to get into business with me. I need to show him that I’m a family man, just like he is. Besides, I’ve heard the rumours about Joshua McKinley—his past ain’t all rainbows and sunshine.
He’s a full-blooded psychopath in an Armani suit. Blood stains designer labels the same way it darkens the second-hand clothing I grew up with. The only difference between Joshua McKinley and me is he was born into that world. Me? I built my empire from the ground up. My wealth has literally come at the cost of the blood, sweat, and tears of my enemies.
Anyone who’s dared to cross me, undermine me in either my legitimate businesses or my alternative ventures, found out very quickly exactly who they were dealing with. Not many of them lived to tell the tale. The few who have survived my wrath, only did so as a strategic move on my part.
If you don’t have anyone to tell the stories, to spread the rumours, then how the hell are people meant to get the warning? The one that says not to fuck with me, or what’s mine. I suppose the few strung-up bodies and posted-out digits would have sufficed. While such acts could never be traced back to me, there was no doubt who was responsible. Not from anyone in the Sydney region.
People whispered my name, in fear that saying it too loudly would somehow make me appear. People are fucking idiots. Especially the real estate agent who is failing to secure this fucking property for me.
“Do you really need to yell, Alessandro? Tessie is sleeping. If you wake her, you’re dealing with her for the night. Not me.” My sister Mia stomps her foot, probably louder than I was speaking just now.
“That’s not really a threat. You know I’d stay up with her all night if I needed to.” I can never say no to my niece. Apart from my sister, she is my biggest weakness. One I’ll pay any price to protect.
“That’s not the issue. She needs to stay in routine. What’s going to happen when she starts school next year? She can’t be having all-nighters with her crazy uncle, then go to school the next day. She’s five, Alex, not twenty-five.”
“I’m aware of how old she is, Mia. And as for school, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Besides, I don’t see why she has to go to school when there are perfectly good teachers I can hire to tutor her. It’d probably cost half as much as the fees at the school anyway.”
“She’s not being homeschooled, Alex. She needs to socialise, to make friends who are not old men working for her uncle.”
“Argh, I’m not fucking old! Not even fucking close. I can give you a demonstration of just how not fucking old I am if you’d like.” That comes from Leo, my second in command, and my fucking about-to-be-ex best friend if he keeps hitting on my sister.
Picking up the letter opener from my desk, I fling it across the room. It embeds in the wall a hair to his left. “Next time, that will be directed at a fucking eye. Stop hitting on my sister.”
“It’s not my fault your sister is hot.” He laughs as he ducks the paperweight that flies at his head.
“Stop! You don’t have to worry, Alex. I wouldn’t sleep with Leo if he were the last man on earth,” Mia yells as she storms out the door.
“I’ve heard that speech before, Mia!” I yell back. I stop myself from adding the “and where did that get you” part of the sentence. As fucking furious as I was at the time, I wouldn’t change a thing now. Because that mistake of Mia’s gave us Tessie. And nothing about that little girl is a mistake, apart from her waste-of-space sperm donor, who no longer resides on this fucking planet.
The ringtone of my phone deafens me. It’s my real estate agent—again.
“You better have good news for me,” I answer.
“It’s done—4.2 mil. Settles in four weeks. The house will be yours just before December. Congratulations, Alessandro.”
“Perfect. Send my assistant the documents.”
“It was a pleasure doing business with you, sir.”
“Wish I could say the same.” I hang up. I don’t waste time with small talk. Time is money, and my time is something that guy cannot bloody afford.
I smile at Leo. “Looks like it’s going to be a beach Christmas.”
He groans. I know he hates the beach. It’s like the guy was born to be a vampire, never wanting to go anywhere hot or sunny. Why the fuck he chooses to live in Sydney is beyond me. It’s hot and sunny here more often than not.
“Really, why? All that sand, sun… it’s overrated. Why don’t we fly to Canada? Have ourselves a white Christmas?” he grunts.
“Tessie wants Christmas at the beach.” I shrug.
“So you bought a whole house? Have you never heard of Airbnb?”
“I like the house. I like the neighbours even more. Stop complaining and start making the arrangements to install as much security as possible. It has to be discrete; we need to blend in out there.”
“You don’t blend in anywhere, Alex,” he says as he walks out the door.
Chapter One
I pull up behind my parents’ car; they know I’m here. You can’t not hear my Monaro purr as she drives up. Do they stop the disgusting level of PDA they currently have going on? No. I slam my door to get their attention, then silently apologize to the car. It’s not her fault my parents are so bloody gross.
“Eww, Dad, just stop. People can see you. The neighbours don’t want to be blind for Christmas.”
My dad stops giving my mum mouth-to-mouth in the driveway. “Lily, sweetheart, glad you made it here in one piece. And trust me, anyone who gets a glimpse of your mother is a lucky son of a bitch.”
“T
Dad tilts his head at me. My father, the Bray Williamson. Nothing ever gets past him when it comes to me or my twin sister, Hope. “Lily, you don’t know what happens in a bedroom, other than you go there to sleep. Right?” he asks.
I’m sure he knows I’m not a virgin. I’m twenty-five for crying out loud. Since he’s determined to gross me out, payback is going to be a bitch for him right now. Smiling sweetly, I say, “Daddy, I’m twenty-five and my entrance into the nunhood flew out the window a long, long time ago.” I leave him there for my mum to deal with.
“Take that back, Lily Hope Williamson. That is not true,” he yells after me.
“Bray, calm down. She’s an adult. Stop acting like you don’t know.” I hear my mum trying to talk sense into him.
Walking into the house, I go in search of my Aunt Ella. This is her beach-front property. Her husband, my Uncle Dean, bought it for her as a gift when they first got together. We’ve spent many Christmases here. As the years have gone by, it’s squishier than it used to be, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my family, and Christmas is my absolute favourite holiday.
“Ah, hi,” I call out as I enter the kitchen, where my Aunt Ella is lecturing my Aunt Lyssa on why you can’t use so much flour. Both of my aunts are currently covered in the clumpy white powder. The usually pristine white marble kitchen is a disaster zone.
“Oh, Lily Pilly, thank goodness you’re here. Honey, do me a favour and get Aunty Lyssa out of my kitchen before I kill her, and then Uncle Zac kills me, then Uncle Dean kills him—the killing spree won’t end until we’re all dead, really,” Aunt Ella huffs, before adding, “Actually, Josh and Emily will be the only ones to survive. No one’s crazy enough to take on Emily.”
“Wow, sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this.” I laugh.
“You have no idea the shit I have had to deal with over the years.” She starts pushing Aunty Lyssa out of the kitchen.
“Wait! I’m getting better. I almost had it this time,” Aunt Lyssa says, wiping her hair out of her face.
“Almost had what?” In comes the growly voice of my Uncle Zac. Out of all my uncles, he’s by far my favourite. I mean, Uncle Dean’s great. And Josh, even though he’s not technically my uncle, he still kind of is (my Aunty Ella is married to his brother, my Uncle Dean). And Josh would definitely be the one I’d call to bail me out of anything I didn’t want my dad to know about.
But Uncle Zac, he’s my number one. “Lil, how are you?” he says as he hugs me tight.
“I’m better, now that you’ve saved me from these two nuts.” I squeeze him back. For a man in his fifties, he’s still as fit as a thirty-year-old. He’s also vain as hell, and the way into his good graces is to compliment him on his looks.
“Uncle Zac, have you been living at the gym? You’re looking mighty fit,” I say, punching his stomach.
He pretends that my jab hurts him. I know it doesn’t. “Ouch, what’s with all the women in this family knowing how to hit better than I do? And you’re my favourite, Lil. Why the hell are you hitting me?”
“Aww, well, don’t tell Uncle Dean, but you’re my favourite too.” I wink.
“Remember when I was your favourite?” Aunty Ella pipes up from the sink, where she’s started washing dishes.
“Don’t worry, El, you’re still my favourite sister.” Uncle Zac laughs, then turns to Aunt Alyssa. “Sunshine, you look like you could use a shower. I can help you with that.”
“Eww, gross. What the hell is wrong with you all? There are children around.” I stick my finger in my mouth, in a mock gag.
“Children? Last I looked, they all went and grew up,” Aunty Ella comments.
“Well, those grown-up children don’t want to see the oldies making out, or hear about their plans to. It’s gross.”
“Please, Lily, it’s not like you’ve never kissed anyone,” Aunt Lyssa says. “Besides, when someone like Zac Williamson kisses you, you don’t have a care in the world as to who sees it.”
“No, she hasn’t kissed anyone, sunshine. Lil, boys have cooties. Stay away from them,” Uncle Zac grunts out.
“I’m going to tell you what I just told Dad: my entry into the nunhood sailed away a long time ago. But that doesn’t mean I want to see the PDA between all the oldies. Maybe I’ll just bring a boy home and start making out with him in front of everyone.”
“You could try, Lily, but he won’t last too long before he’s fucking pig food.” I jump ten feet in the air. Where the hell did he come from?
Turning around, I stare at Josh. “Really, you think I’d let any of you crazy fuckers near a guy I date? Why do you think you’ve never met any of them? Because you’re all nuts—the lot of you. You’d scare them away before I even got a goodnight kiss.” I throw my hands in the air.
Uncle Josh comes over and hugs me. “Lily, any guy who isn’t man enough to stand up to your overprotective family doesn’t deserve you anyway. You find someone who will never back down for you,” he whispers in my ear.
“Well, if you see him first, be sure to send him my way.” I laugh. I need to escape. I’ve been here all of ten minutes, and I already need a break. I’m used to having Hope or one of my cousins around to share the craziness of our parents, but I’m the first one to arrive.
“Aunt Ella, is it the usual room?” I ask.
“Sure is, sweetheart. You, Hope, and Ava. Then I have Axel and Dominic in the room next to you,” Aunt Ella says.
“Where’s Ash staying? And where is everyone? Why am I the only one here?” I ask. I’m usually the last to arrive; it’s weird being first.
“Ash rented a house just down the street. But he will be spending most of his time here. He just wanted a quiet place to work. Axel and Dominic are already out surfing,” Aunt Lyssa explains.
There are seven of us kids. Ash is my Uncle Zac and Aunt Lyssa’s first child. He’s also the oldest, at twenty-eight. Then they have Ava (she’s eighteen) and Axel, who’s just turned sixteen. My Aunt Ella and Uncle Dean have one child: Dominic, who is nineteen. Then there’s me and my twin sister, Hope. We’re twenty-five. Oh, and Breanna, who has just turned twenty-two. She is Josh and Emily’s daughter, and also Dominic’s cousin, since Uncle Dean and Josh are brothers.
“When’s Ava getting here? She’s going to be pissed I got the first choice of beds.” I laugh. Ava is the most precious of us all, the little princess of the group. You would think it’d be Breanna, considering she’s literally the heiress to McKinley Industries. Her name and picture are continually splashed all over the papers for being the wealthiest kid in the country. Yet, Bree is the one who isn’t bothered by glitz and glamour.
Don’t get me wrong… she’s stunningly beautiful, and dresses to kill everywhere she goes. But when she’s around just us family, she’s usually in yoga pants and a t-shirt, with her hair left undone and no makeup. Unless it’s an event where Ash is in attendance, then she goes full-on glam queen.
Bree and Ash have the whole “I want you but I can’t have you” thing going on. They both lust after each other from the sidelines. They think no one notices. But Hope and I notice… Every single time they are in a room together, you could cut the sexual tension with a damn knife.
