by Tina Saxon
“You don’t have to ask…” he rasps into my ear. “Just take.” He thrusts his cock inside of me. I cry out, and my eyes roll back at the overwhelming sensation of pleasure bordering on pain. He sits back on his knees, his fingers grip my hips. His eyes rake over my body and the hunger in them makes my nerves tingle from head to toe. Little electrical sparks explode on my skin, making me writhe underneath him. I place my feet down on the sides of his legs and grind my hips, begging him to move. He lets out a guttural moan, driving in and out of me. His arms are flexed, his stomach muscles tight as he takes control. My breaths quicken and my cries increase. He reaches down in between us. His thumb circles my throbbing clit. My back lifts off the bed, and I scream out his name as my orgasm rips through me. He picks up his pace, pounding inside of me.
“Fuck!” he roars, falling on top of me. His whole body convulses. I can feel his chest heaving while he comes down from his climax. He stays quiet longer than I expect him to. His nose nuzzles my neck.
“You okay?” I whisper. I feel him shake his head.
“You don’t ever have to ask me if I’m okay when I’m inside of you.” He pulls in a deep inhale and lifts his head to let it out. Pushing up on his elbows so he’s inches from my face, he flashes a half-grin and pushes his hips into me. I moan softly. “Because when I’m inside of you, everything is fucking perfect.”
Unfortunately, perfect can’t stay perfect forever. Life doesn’t stop, but it’s the moments of perfection that can get us through anything. The key is to remember them and not let obstacles stand in the way of finding our way back to each other.
After Aiden cleans us both up, he slips on his jeans and winks at me. He pulls out his phone from his front pocket. “It was Max,” he says, looking at his phone. He puts it up to his ear and listens to a message. I watch his expression for any clues, but he gives nothing away.
“What’d he say?” I ask after he listens to the voicemail.
“He wants both of us to meet him at his hotel room.” He picks up his wallet off the bedside table and sticks it in his back pocket. “He got the results.”
“And he didn’t tell you?”
“Max doesn’t leave information on voicemails.” I roll my eyes as I stand up.
“Mr. Spy Man could’ve just said yes or no. Nobody would’ve known what he was talking about.”
Aiden cracks a smile and slaps my ass. “Get dressed. Something’s up because he sounded serious.” My body freezes. What if she is his? I’ll have to deal with Jessie my entire life. This is the first time I’ve had this feeling that maybe she is his. “Addison, don’t.”
“But what if—”
“We’re not speculating anything. We’ll deal with actuals. And if you get your ass moving a little faster, we’ll find everything out quicker.” He stares at me with a lifted brow.
“Okay! I’m moving.”
When we knock on the door to Max’s hotel room, Aiden squeezes my hand. I look up to him. “You okay?” Our drive here was in silence. I don’t doubt both our minds were too busy flashing images of what ifs.
I let out a deep exhale. “Yes. You?”
He nods slowly, unsure. “You’re here, so yes.”
“I love you.” I offer a reassuring smile.
Max opens the door, holding it wide so we can walk in. The room is a suite, so it has a living room and a separate bedroom. Ryan is sitting on the couch, his knee bouncing up and down. That’s a bad sign. Aiden pulls me with him into the room, and we sit in the couple chairs Max has set up around the coffee table. I sit down slowly, feeling like we’re walking into an intervention. Ryan glances at Aiden and then his gaze lands on me. There’s something wrong. Aiden must feel it, too.
“What the hell is going on?” He narrows his eyes at Ryan and then turns his attention to Max, who sits down on the couch.
“You’re not the father,” Max declares. Aiden’s body deflates like a balloon was just let loose. I want to stand up and jump up and down. I knew it.
“Holy shit,” he rasps, grabbing my leg. Relief settles into his face, and he manages a soft smile. I put my hand over his and squeeze.
“But…” Max starts, pulling our attention back to him. But, what? We only needed a yes or a no. There shouldn’t be a but. “I told my guy to run a familial DNA test since we were pretty sure Aiden wasn’t the dad. You just never know.” He looks at me and I nod in understanding. I would’ve done the same thing. We run familial DNA tests all the time. “There was a match.”
“That’s good. At least Jessie can’t lie about who the dad is then,” I say.
“It wasn’t an exact match. The match is a relative of the father. Of course, you know we can’t determine which relative though,” Max says to me. I nod again, wondering where this is going. Max leans forward on his knee, weaving his fingers together. The seriousness of his expression is almost frightening.
“Max, you’re not one to usually beat around the bush. What the hell are you holding back?” Aiden asks, mimicking Max by sitting forward.
“Presley is related to Travis.”
Wait. What? I jerk my head to Aiden and then back to Max. I don’t think I heard that right. I couldn’t have heard that right.
“What did you say?”
“She is somehow related to Travis, which means—”
“I know what the hell it means,” I snap, standing up and walking around. My eyes bounce from spot to spot. Never in my wildest what ifs did this scenario ever go through my mind. How? Who? I spin around, looking back to the guys. Ryan has a look of guilt as he fidgets with his watch, Max is staring at me, and Aiden’s head is lowered. “What don’t I know? What am I missing here?”
Aiden jumps up and walks to me. “Sweetheart.” There’s panic in his eyes. I take a step back.
I put up a hand to stop him. He knows something. “No! If Travis isn’t the father, who else is related to Travis other than me? Because I’m sure the fuck not the father!” I scream, frustrated they’re holding something back.
Aiden runs his hands through his hair, looking up briefly before our eyes lock. He blows out a sigh. “You have a brother.”
The words suspend in the air like time stopped right as he said them. I gasp and my eyes widen in disbelief. “What?” My voice is barely audible.
Aiden swallows, looks at the guys, and then back to me. “I…forgot.” His voice trails off and his eyes plead for understanding.
My head cocks to the side. I’m taken back by his answer. “You forgot?” I say sarcastically. “How do you forget something like that, Aiden?”
I feel hurt and betrayed by the man I love more than anything. I don’t understand. How could he keep this from me? I open my mouth to say something but snap it shut. The tightness in my throat prevents words from forming. I shake my head, whip around, and storm out of the hotel room. I just had the air knocked out of me, and I’m having a hard time breathing.
“I have a brother,” I say out loud to no one. The words are foreign on my lips. It feels like I’m lying to myself. I pace the hotel floor hallway and hear a door open behind me, but I don’t turn around. I know it’s Aiden. When I get to the end of the hallway, I look out the window and see nothing. I’m blinded by deceit. My mind is too busy trying to grasp this new information thrown at me. After a few moments, I turn back toward Aiden. He leans against the door, hands in his pockets, eyes cast down.
My feet move like I’ve got weighted shoes on. I’m trying to understand why he wouldn’t tell me, but I can’t come up with anything. When I finally make it to him, I whisper, “Why?”
“Addison…” he pauses for a beat and lifts his head, meeting my eyes. “You have to understand. See this from where I stand. I found out about Travis’s son when I first started working for him. He had me check up on him every few months to make sure he was fine. He was one of many people in Travis’s world that I checked on for him.” I cock my eyebrow at the word many. “He’s his only son. Anyway, fast forward two and a half years la
ter when I finally find out Travis was your father, it was the furthest thing on my mind at the time.”
I think back to that day, how we’ve come full circle. We’re here because of that week. After he found out Travis was my father, Aiden went to the beach house and that’s when Jessie claims they created a baby.
“And then you were kidnapped.”
He stops talking and lets me gather my thoughts. I pushed him away for months. And when he came back, we had the Lexi situation. I drop my head. We’ve had a rough couple of years.
“Addison, I truly am sorry I didn’t tell you. But, please, believe me when I say I really didn’t remember.” He reaches out for my hand, and I don’t stop him this time. “As soon as he said Presley was related to Travis, it all came back to me.”
“How sure are you he’s the father, though?”
“Travis doesn’t have any living relatives, except you and your brother.”
“You didn’t know about me at the time…there could be more of us out there.” I shake my head at the absurd thought. I can’t believe I have a brother, let alone think I could have more.
“It’s definitely a possibility.” He lifts one shoulder in a shrug.
“But either way, Presley is my niece,” I say slowly. Aiden nods. How the hell did Jessie pull this stunt off? I can’t imagine she randomly found the one person in this entire world who is related to me. Was this her plan all along?
“How did she know?”
“Let’s go inside and I’ll explain.” I nod and he holds the hotel key to the reader and it clicks open. The cool air from the room feels good on my heated body.
“Are you okay?” Max asks as soon as we walk inside. Define okay?
“I can’t believe I have a brother,” I say. “Does he know Travis is his father?” I glance at Aiden.
“Yes. He was put up for adoption when he was born.”
“Where does his live?”
Aiden groans a little. “Here.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Here, as in New York City?”
“Yes.”
I slap my hand down on the kitchen table. I have a brother who has been living in the same city as me and I never knew about him. My mind can’t process this all at once. I rub my temples. My head freaking hurts.
“His name is Brooks Handley.” My head jerks up.
The name sounds familiar. I know I’ve heard it before. I twist my lips, thinking. Where though? I’m leaning against the kitchen table, my finger tapping against it as I search my mind. And then it clicks.
I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. “I’ve met him.”
Aiden’s brows crease. “There was a murder suicide in his apartment building. I remember him coming out of his apartment, asking us questions about what happened. He wasn’t too happy when I told him we couldn’t give him any details. In fact, he got in my face demanding answers.” I think back to how much of an asshole he was. Huh. I was face to face with my brother and I had no idea. “How does Jessie know Brooks?”
Aiden looks at Ryan to explain. “The night I saw Jessie, I didn’t watch her actually leave. I just assumed she was on her way out. When I saw the shape Aiden was in, I was more concerned with him. He was a blubbering mess. It was hard to understand everything he was saying, it was so jumbled. He told me Travis was your father. He also told me about his father. And then he told me you had a brother. He mentioned his name in the conversation because I remember it, I just don’t know at what point in the conversation we were at. Like I said, talking to an inebriated Aiden was a little difficult.” He takes a deep breath and then continues. “I’m thinking Jessie may have never left and heard everything.”
Panic rushes through me, and I turn to Aiden. She knows Travis is my dad. Shit. Shit. Shit. That’s all I need is for her to have that power to tell everyone. I look around the kitchen and head for the fridge. I need a drink. “Max, you have to have something to drink in here somewhere, right?” I go searching frantically for anything to help drown the panic rising inside of me. Aiden grabs my arms, stopping me. He pulls my back into his chest and leans his head down.
“It’ll be okay, Addison.”
“No, it won’t. Jessie is a conniving bitch who will obviously stop at nothing to get between us. She’ll use this information,” I say, turning in his arms. My voice is panicked. “I can’t have the world know I’m Travis’s daughter. I’ve already lived through one revenge; I don’t want to find out what the next one will be. And now I have Lexi to worry about.”
“We don’t know how much she knows. She might not have any idea who Travis is. Especially if I just said his first name.”
“Well, she sure as hell had no trouble finding Brooks and getting him to get her pregnant. I’m pretty sure she can put two and two together.” I lean my head into his chest.
“Let’s just take this one step at a time.” Aiden’s hand runs down my long hair.
I look up to him. “Okay, what’s the first step?”
“Finding out if Brooks knows Jessie.”
I inhale sharply and stare up into his eyes. I’m going to meet my brother. I know we’ve already met, but then he was just a nosey asshole bystander. This time he’s my brother and he might have a child. I can’t imagine this meeting will be any better than our last. I blow out my cheeks and nod.
Chapter six
“Can I help you?” A beautiful, tall, dark-haired woman standing behind her desk asks Aiden as we walk into the foyer of Handley and Rice, Inc.
Brooks and another guy, Jared Rice, started a marketing firm around three years ago, right after graduating college. They hit the jackpot with a few big-name accounts and it skyrocketed their exposure in the marketing world. It’s now a multimillion-dollar company. Numerous business magazines have written about the young duo and their quick success.
When I did a search to see who he was last year, I didn’t bother looking at who he really was. I just made sure he didn’t have any outstanding warrants because I would have loved to turn him in. God, he was such an asshole. Looking at his picture now, I see the resemblance to Travis. In fact, their facial features are almost identical except for their eye color. Brooks has hazel eyes.
“We’re here to see Mr. Handley,” Aiden responds, leaning forward on the tall ledge in front of the desk. Miss I’m About to Kick Her Ass is looking at Aiden like she wants to have him for lunch.
I clear my throat, interrupting her gawking. “Is Mr. Handley available?” She licks her lips as she looks at Aiden one last time before turning her attention to me. I shake my head. When her eyes find mine, her expression changes to annoyance. I flash her an obvious fake smile.
“Do you have an appointment? Mr. Handley is a very busy man.” She snickers and looks down at what I assume is an appointment book. I notice Aiden moving in the corner of my eye, reaching into his pocket.
“I think this will suffice.” He flashes his FBI badge. She looks back up to his face after inspecting the badge. You’d think she’d…I don’t know, call Brooks and tell him FBI is here. Nope. She drags her teeth slowly over her bottom lip and her cheeks flush. You have got to be kidding me. I jerk my head to Aiden. He looks down at me and laughs. The asshole laughs! I grit my teeth, forcing back the words that want to come out. He’s going to pay for this.
“Miss…?” Aiden asks.
“Torres,” she purrs.
“Ms. Torres,” I say between clenched teeth.
Aiden stops me by grabbing my hand. “Will you please let Mr. Handley know we’d just like a few minutes of his time?” Her eyes glance down at our joined hands, and she rolls her eyes. Yes, bitch, he’s mine.
“I’ll be right back.” The clack of her heels echoes the entire distance to Brooks’s office.
“Mmm, I love it when your feistiness comes out.”
I jab my elbow into his side. Thoughts of Secretary Skank escape my mind when I hear her coming back because then I hear another pair of shoes walking with her. I crack my knuckles as nerves flow throu
gh me. This is weird. I’m about to be face to face with someone who shares my DNA. Flutters in my belly make me thankful we decided to eat after this meeting.
When Brooks rounds the corner and we lock eyes, a look of recognition flashes through his. His lips pull up to a sly grin. Oh, shit, he remembers me.
“Ms. Mason,” he says. “What brings you here?” He stops in front of us, his hands in his black slacks. He doesn’t even glance at Aiden.
“I guess you remember me?” I say, clasping my nervous hands in front of me.
“I do.” My mouth gapes open at the seductive way the words slide out of his mouth. I don’t know if I should laugh or be horrified. “You’re a beautiful woman,” he says, unapologetically. “You’re hard to forget.”
“Eww.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Horrified wins.
I look at Aiden right away, and he shrugs. “He’s right.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Aiden’s enjoying this a little too much.
“I didn’t think I was that bad of a catch,” Brooks says sarcastically. I turn back to him. This is wrong and it’s going in a direction I hadn’t expected. I open and close my mouth a couple times as I struggle for words. What do you say to your brother who is hitting on you?
“Mr. Handley, I’m Agent Aiden Roberts. You obviously already know Addison Mason,” he chuckles. I roll my eyes. “Do you have a few minutes we can talk in private?”
He looks at me once more. I flick my gaze away, avoiding his eyes. My brother likes me. It’s not the like I was shooting for.
“Follow me.”
We follow him into his office, and he shuts the door behind us. His office is on the eighteenth floor and faces the Empire State Building. I don’t think I’d get much work done if this was my office because I’d be too busy staring out the window all day. We stand and wait for him to direct us on where he wants us to sit. There’s a couch and two seats on one side of the office and there are two seats in front of his desk. He chooses the desk.
