The Freeman Brothers: A Secret Baby Romance Collection

by Natasha L. Black

  “Tonight?” I asked to give my brain time to catch up.

  “Yeah. I’m going to see my best friend for a bit in about an hour. We can have a drink and talk. I’ll text you the information,” he said.

  “Sure,” I said. “I’ll see you then.”

  We ended the call, and a few seconds later, a text appeared. I opened it and read the information for the bar. It wasn’t somewhere I’d ever been, but I recognized the area. It was local and would only take me a few minutes to get there.

  I hopped into the shower and blow-dried my hair before throwing on clothes and doing my makeup. I stared in the mirror, trying to decide if this was the look I was going for. We were meeting at a bar, so I could get away with being a little extra. But it was technically a business meeting, so I didn’t want my cleavage doing the talking for me. It was a fine line.

  When I finally settled on my look, I headed out. I didn’t want to give myself any time to rethink anything, either the clothes or the fact that I was doing this at all. I wanted to know what was going on, but the fact that he didn’t want to talk about it on the phone made me nervous. If I didn’t go right then, I might end up talking myself out of it.

  Leaving so fast meant I got to the bar early. I walked in cautiously, evaluating the space so I could settle into it. It was still early in the evening, which meant the place wasn’t crowded. I made my way over to the bar itself and sat on one of the round, backless stools.

  “Hey, there,” a woman behind the bar said, walking up and setting a napkin down in front of me. “What can I get for you?”

  She was smiling in that way that involved her eyes as much as her mouth. The happiness radiated out of her like it was just her natural state of being, and it put me at ease.

  “Just a beer,” I said.

  “Any particular kind?” she asked with a laugh.

  I looked at the handles on the taps and shook my head. “Whatever’s your favorite.”

  The woman grinned a little wider, if that was possible, and pulled a glass out. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

  “My first visit,” I said, watching her masterfully pull the beer.

  “Then, welcome.” She looked like she was about to say something else, but her attention snapped over to the door as it opened. “Here comes trouble.”

  It was said in a playful, teasing way rather than like she dreaded a brawl breaking out any moment. I looked up and was surprised to see it was Nick striding across the bar toward us. He dropped down onto the stool beside me and gave the bartender a look.

  “What are you saying about me?” he asked. “Bryn here doesn’t need you spinning tales.”

  The woman’s eyes widened, and she looked between us. “You two know each other?”

  “Not really,” I said.

  “This is Bryn Stephens,” I said. “She came to the office to talk to me about an issue she’s having, and I had her meet me here to discuss it. Bryn, this is Lindsey Trewes.”

  “This is your best friend?” I asked, then was immediately embarrassed.

  He glossed over my awkwardness again and nodded. “Best friend. Bar owner. Brother’s girlfriend. In that order.”

  Lindsey shook her head. “You’re ridiculous.” She looked over at me. “It’s very nice to meet you, Bryn. I’ll do my best to keep this one in line.”

  I laughed somewhat awkwardly. “Good to know.”

  Nick turned to me with a big smile, and for a second, all I could concentrate on was how hot he was. Young and model-attractive, he was too sexy to be an investor. I couldn’t stop looking at him until he spoke again.

  “So, I have news,” he said.

  I immediately forgot his looks and zeroed in on the possibility I could get my money back.

  6

  Nick

  It was difficult to interpret the look on Bryn’s face. There was some sort of emotion there, something affecting her expression. But I couldn’t quite figure it out. Not right up until the moment when I told her I had news. Then her eyes widened just a little, and I knew what that look was.

  Hope.

  It was a good thing I was the one who asked her to come out here to the bar and that I had potentially good news for her. It would have made me feel like a serious ass if I had to look into those big eyes, see the hope in them, and totally let her down.

  The involuntary sway in her hips and the way she rolled her bottom lip in to bite down slightly on it when she was thinking meant I wasn’t going to fully discount hitting on her. Maybe just a little bit. But that wasn’t why I was there. I actually had good news for her.

  “Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat first?” I asked.

  Bryn shook her head. “No, I’m fine. What’s the news you have to give me?”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  She looked something between aggravated and confused, squeezed her eyes closed, and then looked over at Lindsey. “Um, sure. Whatever’s good.”

  Lindsey looked at me and lifted her eyebrow just enough to silently ask me what was going on. I smiled at her.

  “Give us a couple of my favorites,” I told her.

  “Sure,” my best friend said, continuing to stare at me for a couple more seconds before she turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

  I turned to Bryn. “Alright. So, I went through the papers like you asked me to. You were right; what this guy did was pretty shady. And it was definitely illegal. He shouldn’t have been able to access your account to take the money out. But that’s a different point. The investor losing the money is serious bullshit, so I wanted to look into what kind of investor he was using.” Bryn looked down to conceal a giggle, and I tilted my head to get a better look at her. “What?”

  She looked up and shook her head, making her hair bounce around her face and tumble back over her shoulders. “Nothing. It’s just… I like how you just kind of go for it. You’re so straightforward.” She ran her finger around the rim of her glass as she stared at the remnants of her beer, then gave a shrug. “My mother and grandmother would both probably have the vapors if they heard you. All the other people I spoke to were so… delicate. They were so stuffy and formal, almost like they were too afraid to say anything even slightly negative. I think the world I’m looking for is litigious.”

  “I think the word you’re looking for is obnoxious. But I understand what you’re saying,” I said.

  She laughed and looked over at me. “Like that. You don’t try to sugarcoat things. The words are right there, and you say them. You don’t try to figure out prettier ones or try to make yourself seem smarter or more important. You just say what comes to mind.”

  “Well, sometimes I would probably sound smarter if I did take a little time to figure out a better way to say things,” I said. We exchanged a quick smile, and I forced myself to look away. “Anyway, when I was going through the papers looking for the information about the investor, I thought something looked familiar. But it took me a minute to realize it.”

  “To realize what?” she asked.

  “The investor who Justin worked with was someone who came into the firm where I worked five years ago looking for a job. This was before I started my firm,” I said.

  The kitchen door opened, and Lindsey came back out with two massive plates of food. She set one down in front of each of us. I dove right in, but Bryn just stared down at the mountain in front of her. It included a bacon, swiss cheese, and sautéed mushroom double-patty burger on a bun griddled with garlic butter, a pile of double-fried fries, a couple of mozzarella sticks, and small bowls with dipping sauces.

  “Um,” Bryn said, cautiously poking at the toothpick tenuously holding the towering burger together. “I’m a vegetarian.”

  I paused with my mouth full of beef and a tiny piece of crispy bacon sticking out of the corner of my mouth. “Oh, shit.” I poked the bacon back into my mouth. “Are you serious?”

  Bryn shook her head. “Not even a little bit. This looks amazing.”
She pulled the toothpick out of the burger and set it aside. “What is it?”

  “Lindsey came up with it for me a couple of years back. I was kind of going through a funk.”

  “A funk?” Bryn asked after her first big bite.

  “Yeah. Work stuff. Trying to decide if I really wanted to stick with this career or do something more exciting. I’m the only one of my brothers who didn’t stay with the family business, and I was suddenly having questions about that.”

  “It was a whole thing,” Lindsey said.

  “Anyway. I came in here one night, and Lindsey made this for me to drown my funk in,” I said.

  “So, it’s like the guy version of eating a pint of ice cream after a bad breakup,” Bryn said.

  “Just a pint?” Lindsey asked. “Girl, you must have had some easy breakups.”

  Bryn looked up at her with her mouth full and then glanced over at me.

  “Not exactly,” I said. “Which is how she ended up here.”

  “Ah,” Lindsey said.

  There was an awkward silence until Bryn pointed at the little bowls sitting at the edge of her plate. “What’s that?”

  Thankful for the diversion, I plunged a fry into my own little bowl. “The red one is marinara. It’s for the cheese sticks. The other one, though, that’s where the magic is. Mayonnaise and garlic. It’s to dip your fries in. I know it sounds weird, but it is pretty common in other cuisines. Just try it.”

  Bryn looked at me with the same kind of incredulity my brothers did when I told them to try it. Finally, she picked up a fry and dipped it into the mixture. She bit it and her face contorted. Picking up the little bowl, she dropped it on the bar near my plate.

  “See?” Lindsey said. “I told you it’s not universal. I might have made it, but that stuff is gross.”

  I shrugged. “Can’t win them all. Which, actually, brings me back to the investor. He came in to have the interview at the firm where I was working, but he didn’t get the job. I never heard anything else about him after that. My boss never talked about it and nobody else seemed to know what happened. I didn’t even think about him again until I saw his name in their papers. So, I called my old boss.”

  “Did he remember him?” Bryn asked.

  “He did. So, I asked why he didn’t get the job. He said when the guy came in for the interview, he exuded untrustworthiness. That’s a big problem when you work with money. He said there was more to it than that, but the biggest thing was he just didn’t feel like this guy could be trusted or would be able to handle large investments properly,” I said.

  “And that’s the guy Justin worked with?” she asked.

  “Yep. Apparently, someone took pity on him and gave him a job. And now that I know he’s the guy who’s responsible for this, I can look into the actual practices he used to see if he cut any corners that we could catch him on.”

  Bryn nodded like she understood and looked back down at her burger. I was glad for that. If she wasn’t looking at me, I didn’t have to see the hope in her eyes anymore. That was good, considering it was possible I was about to steal it all right back.

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Now, I have to tell you. Even if I can prove he did something illegal, it might not mean you’ll be able to get your inheritance back. The money might be gone for good. And if, a very big if, this goes to court, it could take years to make it all the way through and deal with the red tape, appeals, everything. So, I might be able to prove your ex did illegal dealings, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll be able to get your money back,” I said.

  I didn’t want to dash her hopes completely, but I also didn’t want her to get built up and then disappointed later. Being honest with her now might not be easy for her to hear, but at least it prepared her for the possible outcome. I could only hope maybe the situation was about justice and accountability, and not just about the money.

  Bryn looked over at me, her eyes scanning over my face for a few seconds, and then she nodded again. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, okay. I mean, I came to you because I had no idea what to do about the situation. This isn’t something I ever could have imagined would happen, and I just wanted to know what could be done about it. I don’t want Justin getting away with pulling something like that. Obviously, I want to get my money back. My inheritance was really important to me. Not just because of the money, but because of the fact that it came from my mother. Justin knew that and he still went behind my back and did this to me. That hurts even more than not having a nest egg anymore.”

  “Your ex stole your inheritance?” Lindsey asked.

  Bryn and I both looked over at her. She was leaned against the bar, her chin rested in her hand as she listened intently to the conversation unfold. When she realized we were staring at her, she straightened up, looking embarrassed.

  “Yeah,” Bryn told her. “That’s exactly what he did. He took every cent my mother left for me, invested it with an apparently incompetent investor, and lost it all.”

  “That son of a bitch,” Lindsey said.

  “Thank you, Lindsey,” I said. “Can Bryn and I finish talking now?”

  “Oh. Yes. Sorry, go ahead.”

  She went off to talk with some other customers, and I turned back to Bryn. “The hazards of having your best friend be a bar owner. You get the bartender who wants to listen to everything, and the best friend who wants to be all in your business.”

  “You two seem close,” Bryn said.

  “We are. Have been for a long time. Now she’s with my older brother, and that’s its own whole thing. But anyway, about your situation. I will keep looking into it and figure out what exactly happened. It’s possible it was just really irresponsible investing. That happens sometimes. But with that much money, I doubt it. I have a feeling something else is going on here. And when I figure it out, we’ll decide what can be done next,” I said. “I’ll keep in touch.”

  Bryn agreed and we spent a few minutes eating. When she was full, she gestured to Lindsey to get the bill, but Lindsey waved her off. Bryn smiled at me, said good night, and left. I was so focused on watching her leave, I didn’t notice Lindsey slide back into place in front of me. When I looked up, she was inches away.

  “You better watch out for her,” she said as I recovered from being startled. “She’s hungry for something.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I told her. “I have this under control. She just needs some help figuring this whole thing out. Don’t worry. I’ll stay on top just like always.”

  I cringed but tried not to let Lindsey notice.

  7

  Bryn

  Trish was an interesting figure in my life. Usually when I talked about her to other people, I would refer to her as an acquaintance. Sometimes a friendly acquaintance. Other times, a friend of a friend. But that was only because I couldn’t think of a more accurately descriptive term for her that wouldn’t get into the complicated way I saw this woman. If I really had to get right down to it and find a way to describe her, it would probably be that she was a sometimes friend if I could deal with her at that particular moment.

  That sounded really awful. I was fully aware of that. It wasn’t that I meant it to sound that bad. I didn’t really dislike Trish. At least, not most of the time. Not as a general rule, at any rate. She just wasn’t someone I clicked with immediately. Not for lack of trying on her part, though. From the first moment we met, she was eager to befriend me. She tried to latch onto me and develop much more of a friendship than I really felt building up between us.

  Not that there was anything particularly special about me. That wasn’t the point. Trish just liked people. She was one of those women who smiled all the time and wanted to be a part of everything. A lot of people really seemed to adore her. She was great for a gossip session at the coffee shop or to have somebody to commiserate with when you were having a bad day. But she was apparently also great for getting too flirty with other people’s boy
friends and forgetting to do the kinds of things she was supposed to be doing rather than gossiping. Things like work.

  But one more thing my sometimes friend was good at was being a brunch companion, and that Friday I woke up with a craving for eggs benedict. Wanting to thank her again for the tip about Nick anyway, I went ahead and invited Trish to a local brunch spot. She swept into the restaurant a vision in pink gingham. That was one of those fabrics that didn’t look like it would work on anybody over the age of five, yet in a sundress silhouette and paired with massive white sunglasses and a floppy hat, Trish pulled it off.

  She giggled excitedly when she saw me and scurried across the room. Her hug and a cheerful peck on my cheek were full of more energy and theatrics than was really warranted at this time of day, but I smiled at her all the same.

  I didn’t get a chance to even mention Nick before she launched into a story about the dates she went on that week. Trish wasn’t the type to relegate her dating activities only to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. That was far too limiting for her. We managed to get our orders in during a break between date descriptions, and she just kept on going.

  I had to admit, it was entertaining to listen to. Even if it didn’t sound like an actual person’s life. I was most of the way through my coveted eggs benedict when my phone went off beside me.

  I snatched the phone off the table and read it. The message from Nick was just as vague as the first time he asked to meet up. I told him I could come to his office again, then tucked the phone in my pocket. Trish was looking at me over the edge of her coffee cup in that wide-eyed way that said she was going to act like it didn’t bother her but was a little bit annoyed.

  “It was Nick,” I said. “Nick Freeman.”

  “Oh, Nick,” she said, wiggling a little in her seat and grinning at me. “You’re still talking to him.”