by Juniper Hart
“Is this like some charity thing for you?” she asked and winced at the way the question sounded as she asked it. There was a near petulance to her tone which she hadn’t intended.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I’m just wondering if you just wait around hospitals looking for good charity cases.” Oh, God. Shut up, Briar.
He laughed softly. “No,” he replied. “This is my first experience waiting around a hospital in a long while.”
“Why are you here?”
“This is my car.” She realized he was teasing her. Briar wasn’t much in the mood to be jested with, and she scowled.
“I made a mistake,” she said suddenly. “Can you let me out?”
“Here?”
“Yes.” To her surprise, he steered the car off to the side of the road and parked it. Confusion swept through her. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, unbuckling her belt. “I don’t know why I came with you.”
“Probably for the same reason I was waiting for you at the hospital.”
She paused and stared at him, her perplexity mounting. “Why… why did you come to the hospital?”
Alec sighed and turned to stare out the windshield.
“I heard about your accident,” he offered vaguely. “So, I found out where they had taken you, and here we are.”
“But why? Why me? Do we know each other?”
Slowly, he turned his head back and peered at her. “I feel like we do. Don’t you?”
I’ve been in an accident. I’ve been on drugs. My judgment is impaired. None of this makes sense.
“Yes,” Briar heard herself say. “I do.”
“Where are you going to go?” Alec asked as she reached for the handle. “I know you just gave your brother the last of your money.”
Her head whipped back toward him. “You heard all that?”
“It was hard not to hear,” he replied easily, unperturbed by her embarrassment. “Can I at least drop you off somewhere, not in the middle of drug row?” Alec cocked his head to the side. “Unless that’s where you want to be.”
“I don’t do drugs!” Briar snapped hotly, a flush filling her cheeks. “I live close to here.”
“I know.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Should I be worried about you?”
“I can see why you might think so.” He gave her a half-smile. “The truth is, I’m worried about you.” None of it made sense, yet Briar was still reluctant to leave the expensive vehicle in which she’d found herself.
“Where were you going to take me if I hadn’t asked you to stop?” she asked.
“My place.”
Why didn’t those words fill her with concern? She had no answer except to say that she felt an air of peace near this man, this stranger whom she knew nothing about.
He’s rich. He’s charming. And he’s the only person who’s been here for me since I got into the hospital. My own brother took my last five bucks and left me.
Briar knew she’d ordered Colton away, but that didn’t lessen the feeling of loneliness she was experiencing.
“I’ll do anything you want,” Alec said. “There’s no pressure, but I feel like I should warn you about something.”
“Warn me?” A shiver of fear slipped against Briar’s spine for the first time since agreeing to go with him. “About what?”
He exhaled. “I was there last night,” he explained. “I was one of the people you robbed.”
“Um… what?” She looked at him with confusion, her fear becoming anxiety. Shit. He’s crazy. I got into a car with a crazy man.
“I don’t know if you went on a spree or what, but I was one of the people involved with your robberies last night. We didn’t go to the police, but we did trace your van.”
The dubiousness became a sick feeling of understanding. “You traced my van? That’s why I’m sitting here right now?”
He nodded. “Listen, Briar, it’s just stuff to me, but the wedding rings you took—”
“I didn’t take anything!” Briar exploded, tears of anger flooding her eyes. She was going to murder Colton with her bare hands.
“Briar, I’m not here to hurt you. On the contrary. I’m here because the others who were with me are not so forgiving. When they find you—and they will—it will be ugly.”
“I wasn’t there!” Briar spat, her hand reaching for the door handle. “You can tell your friends the same thing.”
“Hey!” Alec cried at her, annoyance creeping into his voice for the first time. “You’re not paying attention. There will be no reasoning with my friends when they find you. They will harm you.” Briar’s breaths were escaping in jagged rasps. “If you go home, they’ll track you down there. I’m offering you a place to go until we can figure this out.”
She glared at him defiantly. “If you think I’m so guilty, why would you try to help me?”
“Why do you think?” The question hung between them heavily, and Briar’s pulse began to race. She felt the connection between them, too, even though it made no sense.
There’s no such thing as an instant connection. Alec doesn’t know me, and I don’t know him. But she wanted to know him, and the expression on his face told her that he felt the same.
“How did you find me in the first place?”
“I told you, your van. Raven—the woman who was with us—she got the number of the plate.”
Briar sank back against the passenger seat and closed her eyes. “Why didn’t you go to the police?” Alec was quiet for a moment.
“We are not the kind of people who go to the police,” he told her softly. “We’re more apt to handle matters on our own.”
Her eyes flew open. “Did you see me there?” she demanded. “No. Because I wasn’t there.”
A look of understanding crossed over Alec’s face. “Ah. That’s why you were so angry with your brother. He took your van last night.”
“My brother didn’t do anything!”
“You don’t need to protect your brother—at least not yet,” Alec sighed. “Your ass is still the one on the line right now, Briar. They are coming for you.”
“Do you believe me?” she asked. “Do you believe I wasn’t there?” Begrudgingly, he nodded.
“I didn’t see you,” he conceded. “But there was a lot happening.”
Briar scoffed lightly. “You think I had something to do with it.”
“No,” Alec told her calmly. “I don’t. But it doesn’t matter. Raven and Drake won’t care, and they’ll make you pay all the same.”
Briar looked at him urgently. “Not if you tell them that I had nothing to do with it.”
“It’s not that simple, Briar. Your brother and his friends took some things of great value, both sentimentally and financially. If they aren’t recovered and are sold…” He trailed off and shuddered slightly.
“What things?”
“Rings,” Alec told her. “Their wedding bands. Can you help me retrieve them?”
“If I can, which I highly doubt I will be able to, do you think that will call them off me?”
“It’s a start, Briar.”
She pursed her lips together. “How do I know you’re not setting me up?”
Alec snorted, and more irritation flashed over his face.
“Your cynicism would have served you better before you got into my car,” he retorted sharply. “I haven’t done anything but try to take care of you all day, Briar.”
Guilt passed through her, and she hung her head.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered. “It’s been a day from hell.”
“I know.” She pulled her hand back away from the door and fastened her seatbelt again.
“Let’s go to my apartment,” she said. “I’ll see if I can talk some sense into my brother.”
“He’s going to need to give up his accomplices sooner or later, Briar.”
“One thing at a time, Alec. I can only handle one thing at a time.” And she wasn’t even sure she could
handle that anymore.
The car moved away from the curb, and Briar looked blankly out the window, her mind reeling. How many more blows could her brother administer upon her?
I’m done with him, she told herself firmly. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Briar,” Alec said softly. “We’ll figure this out.”
She nodded but kept her eyes fixed on the outside, watching the rain drizzle in twisted streaks across the streetlamp-kissed pavement. Her whole life, she had been alone, trying to do what was best in the right way, and look where it had gotten her.
I shouldn’t have spent so much of my life struggling, she thought. Maybe I should have gotten into a life of crime, too. I’d probably have more to show for it. If I’m going to be hunted, shouldn’t I at least be hunted for good reason?
“Briar?”
“What?”
“Look at me.” She turned her head slightly toward Alec and watched as his face contorted in surprise.
“What’s wrong?” He shook his head and focussed his eyes back out the windshield. “Why are you looking at me funny?”
“No, nothing’s wrong,” he replied quickly. “There’s nothing.”
Briar narrowed her eyes and reached up to flip down the sun visor, peering at her face in the rectangular mirror. Nothing on her fair skin was shocking, her skin smooth. She was slightly paler than usual, but that was to be expected. Why was he looking at her like that?
And then it struck her. There was nothing wrong with her face. Her skin was unmarked, her complexion even. There was not a mark on her. She had been in a terrible accident, and there was not a blemish on her. How could that be?
She remembered the doctor’s shock when she realized that Briar’s ribs were not broken. No wonder Alec was looking at her like she was a freak. A spark of excitement slithered through her as she considered why she might have escaped such injury.
I’m a miracle. Maybe for once in my life, something went well for me. Yet the sentiment was short-lived as the car slid into the parking lot of the complex. Yay me. I’m alive and unscathed to fight for my life and survival. How lucky for me.
“You ready?” Alec asked, turning off the ignition. Briar cast him a side-long look and nodded, exhaling deeply.
“Yeah,” she muttered. “I guess I am.”
They exited the car and made their way toward the entrance of the building, Alec shocking her by looping his arm through hers.
“What are you doing?” she asked before she could stop herself. He smiled wanly.
“I’m making sure you have support. You just got out of the hospital, remember?”
Briar didn’t know how to respond, but she looked to him gratefully. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn’t feel alone.
8
Colton was not in the apartment when they arrived, but Briar didn’t seem surprised by the fact in the least.
“He’s probably out with his friends,” she sighed. “My cell phone got lost in the crash, and the landline…” She inhaled sharply. “The landline doesn’t work.” She darted her eyes away, though not before Alec could read the embarrassment there.
Another unpaid bill, he realized.
“I don’t think we should stay here any longer than necessary,” Alec told her softly. “Maybe grab what you’ll need for a few days, and we’ll head to my place.” His inert sixth sense told him that Raven and Drake had not sat in place after learning that Alec had gone to Briar’s ex’s house.
It took me nothing to find Briar. They are hellbent on revenge and a lot more motivated than I was.
Briar didn’t argue and hurried further into the apartment, leaving Alec to look around at the poorly-decorated space. It was rife with old furniture and Salvation Army posters, all hung haphazardly to cover holes or water damage. He remembered what she’d said to Colton about being evicted, and he wondered how much of that was true.
Did she just tell him that to scare him or is she actually about to be homeless? Alec knew it wasn’t really his place to ask her, but it bothered him as much as everything else in the situation did.
“Are you sure going to your place is a good idea?” Briar asked, reappearing in the living room, holding a torn knapsack. “I mean, won’t I be walking right into their territory?”
“First of all, I wouldn’t walk you into a trap. Secondly, they don’t know what you look like.” At least, he hoped so. “Even if they happen to see you, we could say you’re someone else,” Alec continued. It was a flimsy plan at best, but he was running out of ideas after going full force all day. They both needed to rest, and his place was the safest spot he could think of at that moment.
“Do you have a cell?” Briar asked, nodding toward the bulge in his hoodie pocket. “I could call Colton from yours.”
“NO!” She was taken aback by the firmness in his tone, and Alec instantly softened his voice. “My phone needs to stay off until we get home, all right?” She nodded slowly, but Alec could see she didn’t understand why. To her credit, she didn’t push the issue.
“I got a couple things,” she said, holding up her bag and a cat carrier that held her cat, Suki. “We can go if you think we should.”
The indecisiveness in her face was clear, and Alec watched her as he had when he’d first seen her lying in the hospital bed. An overwhelming sense of protectiveness flowed through him as their eyes met.
She trusts me, but she doesn’t know why. I know why, but she has no idea.
At first, he hadn’t been certain. The more time they spent together, though, the more he realized that his gut instinct was right about her: there was more to Briar Baker than met the eye.
“You’ve got to stop staring at me like that,” Briar told him, shattering his penetrating gaze. “You’re giving me a complex.”
“Sorry,” Alec murmured, beaming. “You’re very easy on the eyes.” Her face exploded into a crimson blush which crept into the highs of her ears, and Alec’s smile widened. “Does that surprise you?” he asked innocently. “I would have thought that you get complimented all the time.”
Briar turned her head away, her messy blonde tresses half-covering her cheeks, but Alec read her face clearly.
“Forgive me if I don’t feel overly attractive right now,” she sniffed. “I’ve got other things on my mind than my stunning good looks.”
Bemusement tickled Alec’s stomach. He nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s get out of here then. I’ll save my compliments for the ride.”
Before either of them could move, there was a pounding on the door, and they froze in unison. Briar’s eyes were like saucers, ready to spring from her head, but Alec shook his head slowly, pressing his index finger to his lips.
“Baker? Are you in there?” Relief caused Briar’s shoulders to sag, and she moved toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Alec hissed. Instead of answering him, she threw the door open.
“Hi, James,” she sighed. “He’s still not home.” The older man in the stained undershirt grunted.
“Harrumph,” James snorted, his eyes traveling toward Alec. “You wouldn’t be hiding him, would you?”
“No,” Briar said quickly. “I haven’t seen him.”
“Well, Briar, I’m not going to tell him about this again. The rent is—”
“I know, James, I know,” she interrupted. “I’ll tell him. I promise. You don’t have to keep coming back.”
“One week, Briar. That’s all you have.”
“We’re just on our way out, James.” Briar looked meaningfully toward Alec, who stepped forward.
“How much is rent?” he asked. The landlord snickered.
“You gonna pay it, Richie Rich?”
Alec’s mouth became a firm line. “Briar, how much?”
Her face paled. “Never mind,” she snapped. “James, I’ll tell Colton you came by. Again.”
She moved to close the door in the super’s face, but James stuck his foot inside to peer at Al
ec.
“Two grand. That includes the back rent,” he announced. “You got that?”
“James!” Briar yelled, but Alec held up his hand.
“I’ll have it to you by tomorrow. Is a check okay?”
James leered, exposing a set of ugly, nicotine-stained teeth.
“If it bounces, it’s just going on the eviction notice,” he replied. “Hey, look at you, honey. You finally found a man worthy of you. Good for you, Briar.” He removed his foot from the doorway, and Briar slammed it shut, her cheeks almost purple with humiliation.
“You’re not paying my rent!” she huffed. “I really wish you hadn’t volunteered your two cents.”
“That guy shouldn’t be harassing you for your rent,” Alec said evenly. “I can pay him, or he can keep making your life miserable.”
“I don’t need your money!” Briar’s tone was almost hysterical. “I don’t need anything from you!”
“You might be surprised.”
“God, I don’t even know you, Alec! You can’t just swoop into my life and take over!”
His brow furrowed, and he stared at her.
“I’m trying to help you,” he reminded her tautly. “This isn’t my mess; it’s yours.”
“It’s not my goddamned mess!” Briar howled. “It’s Colton’s! It’s always Colton’s!” Tears flooded her eyes, and Alec watched as she whirled away. “I don’t want to go with you,” she muttered, but he could hear the catch in her voice. “You should leave now.”
“I’m not leaving you here when Raven is going to burst down this door any minute.”
“Well, I’ll find somewhere else to go then. I don’t want to go with you.”
Alec didn’t respond. He stepped toward her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Why are you so angry with me?” he asked quietly. “I’m not your enemy here, Briar.”
“I don’t know what you are,” she said, “but I’ve been around long enough to know that I should be wary of strangers bearing gifts.”
He bristled but steeled his temper. “Strangers or men?”
She whipped back around to glare at him. “Are you going off on some incel tirade now?”
Alec smirked. “Hardly. But I did meet your charming ex. Jack was it?”
