by Peak, Renna
I coughed and took another sip of my tea. I had been ravenous before but now my appetite was gone. Was my entire life just a giant lie? "You know who did though, right?" I lifted my gaze to meet his.
"I don't know for sure. I try to keep myself out of those things. It makes it easier when the shit comes down."
I tapped my index finger on the table. "You know."
He pushed his food around his plate. It seemed like he had lost his appetite, too.
I tapped my finger again. "Say it."
"I don't know, Jen."
“You're lying." I balled my hands into fists.
He picked up his glass of water and took a drink before meeting my gaze again. "I have my suspicions, but I don't know anything. That's how I like to keep it."
I rubbed my fist on the table but kept myself from pounding the table with it. "There's only one person who could have helped him do it if you didn't. Say it."
He shook his head. "I'm sure there are many people who could have helped him. Countless, really."
"You're lying. You know." I glared up at him, but he refused to entertain my question.
"I don't know anything. I'd tell you if I did."
"That's a lie, too. Why are you protecting him?"
He closed his eyes. "I'm not protecting anyone but you, Jen."
"I don't believe you." I didn't want to believe what I knew was true, either.
"Jen, this is a dangerous direction to be going."
I banged my fist on the table that time. "The senator did it. You're protecting my father."
12
Brandon leaned back into his chair and stared me down. "You should really ask him about that."
I nodded. "I will."
I swear I saw a flash of a grin cross his face before he covered it with a near scowl. "I'm sure you will." He motioned for the waitress to come over and he looked back at me. "Be sure to let me know what he says."
I glared back at him.
He signed the check and leaned back into his chair again. "So what now?"
My body softened a bit and I crossed my arms in front of me. "I don't know."
He nodded and set his napkin down on the table in front of him. "I've got an early flight. You have my number."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "That's it?"
"I don't have anything else for you." He looked down at the table. "Do you know what you're going to do?"
"About what?"
His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "About what." He shook his head and traced the wood grain on the table, mocking me. "Right."
"Honestly, I don't know. I'm not supposed to see either of you…"
His head snapped up and he looked into my eyes. "Not supposed to?"
I tried to keep my chin from the quivering I could feel beginning to take over. "My father…"
He raised an eyebrow. "You're a big girl. You can make your own decisions."
"Yeah." More like yeah, right. I was incapable of making any decision at that moment. I clenched my jaw and looked down into my lap.
"We should get out of here. Are you free?"
I looked up at him. "Am I free? No, sorry, I have another fiancé coming over tonight to tell me he isn't dead. Big plans."
He nodded. "Are you collecting those? Fiancés, I mean?"
"Of course. Doesn't everyone?"
He shrugged. "Only the cute ones." He stood up and walked behind my chair. Very gentlemanly.
I stood up. "Stop saying I'm cute."
"You are cute." He leaned into my ear and whispered. "And the most unbelievably beautiful woman I've ever met. Is that better?"
Chills ran down my spine and goose bumps raised on my arms when he whispered into my ear. There was something so damned arousing about his voice—I almost wanted to die. "Let's go."
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and another shock ran through my body, making me shiver. He leaned in and whispered again. "Can he do that to you?" He traced his fingertip down my neck and across the back of my shoulder.
I stepped away and turned back to face him, my brow furrowed. "Stop."
He dropped his hand and the smile fell from his face, too. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"
"Did you have something in mind?"
He cocked an eyebrow. "I have lots of things in mind."
I narrowed my eyes to slits. "I meant to do now."
He smiled again, a full faced grin. "I know what you meant." He reached his hand out for mine and I let him take it.
We walked out of the restaurant and he led me a short distance to another open area inside the resort. There were a few people, most seemed to be families, sitting in the small seating areas. The air was filled with the sound of children playing.
I saw where he was leading me and I stopped in my tracks. He pulled at my arm and nodded at me. My brow furrowed at him, but I let him lead me by the arm without a word.
We sat down at the grand piano in the corner of the lobby. He looked over at me and nudged my shoulder.
I shook my head. "You first."
He laughed. "I'm not sure that's such a great idea."
I shrugged and looked down at the keys. "Then I'm not doing it."
He smiled and edged me over to the far side of the bench so he could be in the middle of the keys. He held his hands above the keys and looked over at me. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
I shrugged again and he put his hands down on the keys. He took a deep breath and then began playing the worst rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb that I had ever heard. He didn't even play chords, just the melody. I suppose he had tried to warn me.
He finished playing with a flourish of his hands and looked over at me with a grin. "Well?"
I raised an eyebrow and forced a smile. "Wow. That was something."
He threw his head back and laughed. "I tried to tell you." He scooted himself to the other end of the bench to allow me to take the middle spot. He nodded down at the keys. "Now you."
I shook my head at him and couldn’t help but smile. I touched my fingers to the keys and played a much better rendition of the same song, at least with the chords this time.
He tilted his head at me. "I think you can do better than that." He pulled my hand into his and kissed the back of it.
I gasped at the shock his lips gave me, my eyes widening. I shook my head and was only able to get out a whisper. "I don't think I can."
He smiled. "Please? Play something pretty."
I pulled my hand from his and looked down at the keys. It was like the whole world was blocked out except for him. I looked over at him and I saw him nod at me, urging me to play. I gave him a small nod in return and let my fingers hover over the keys. I wasn't even sure what I was going to play or if I'd even be able to play anything.
What came out was another Chopin piece, one I hadn't played in several years. It was the second movement of his second concerto, one of my favorite pieces. I couldn't even remember the last time I had played it. I just closed my eyes and the music flowed through my fingers like I'd never stopped playing. I couldn't even describe the place that I was transported to when I played the piano—it was almost otherworldly. I was filled with peace and contentment that I hadn't felt in a long time, just by playing the piano.
When I finished ten minutes or so later, he wasn't sitting next to me anymore. I hadn't noticed him get up, but he was sitting off to my left in a plush chair in the seating area where all of the families had been. He looked almost hypnotized. I heard clapping and I looked up. I guess I had drawn a crowd, because there were several dozen people sitting and standing in the lobby who had listened to my performance.
I stood up from the piano, my cheeks burning. I did a little courtesy-bow kind of thing and almost ran over to where Brandon was sitting. I pulled on his arm and he stood.
"That was amazing. So—" He turned to look at me. His gaze burned into mine. "So damned beautiful. You are so damned beautiful."
I could feel the crimson glowing eve
n brighter in my cheeks and I could still hear the murmurs of people behind me. "Let's just go. For a walk or something."
He looked like he was in a dream with a sleepy smile on his face. He took my hand in his and we walked to the door that exited to the beach area.
We walked out past the lawn and play area that was behind the hotel to the actual sand. I pulled the shoes from my feet so that I could feel the sand between my toes.
He looked over at me and squeezed my hand. "Why'd you stop playing?"
I looked up at him. I knew I shouldn’t talk about it. I didn’t really want to discuss the many reasons I had decided to stop playing. "You should talk to your pal Daniel about that."
13
He guided me to a bench near one of the volleyball courts that was set up on the sand. A group of teens was in the middle of a game and were making too much noise to be paying attention to us.
"Jen, I know you're hurting, but you need to understand that I had nothing to do with what happened." He pulled my hand into his and edged closer to me on the bench.
I slanted my head away from him and watched the game. "Mostly nothing, anyway."
He shook his head. "I don't know what else I can say." He laced his fingers through mine.
I could hear the distant roar of the ocean and I tried to focus on that instead of the squeals from the kids playing the game. The silence between Brandon and I was already too deafening.
I was the one that finally broke the silence after several minutes. "It wasn't part of the plan."
He turned to look at me. "What wasn't part of what plan?"
"Music." I stared off into the distance where the sun was turning the sky a million shades of pink as it sunk behind the horizon. "It wasn't part of the long term plan."
"Whose long term plan? Daniel's?"
"Heads!" A volleyball came flying at my head and I ducked out of the way and it bounced off my shoulder and into Brandon's hands.
He tossed the ball back to the kids on the sand court and turned back to me. "What plan are we talking about?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "My father's. I busted my ass to double major in music and business in college, but there was no way to keep doing it once I started business school."
"Ah." He leaned back against the back of the bench and squeezed my hand. "And what else was part of this plan?"
I turned to look at him before turning back to stare back into the distance. "You know, the usual. Getting Daniel elected to Congress, a wedding. Getting on the boards of a long list of charitable organizations. Carrying on the Davis family legacy of getting into politics." I shrugged again. "The usual," I repeated.
"I see. Don't I remember you telling me you were going to run off to music school?"
A small smile came to my face. "Yeah. I was going to make my own plans." I gave my head a small shake.
"But?"
I turned to him and the smile fell from my face. "But I'm an idiot."
His brow furrowed. "How is pursuing your dreams being an idiot?"
I turned back to face the water and wished to myself that he wasn't so afraid of it. I could have used feeling the ocean on my feet in that moment. I sighed. "I was going to tell Daniel. I was going to tell him I was going to drop out of business school and I was moving to San Francisco to go to the music conservatory."
He squeezed my hand. "Not following, Jen."
"He killed himself that night. That was the night he wrapped his car around the tree." I shook my head. "Suicide by car accident."
His voice lowered to almost a whisper and his eyes widened to saucers. "God, I'm sorry."
Another ball came flying at me and I raised my hand to block it from hitting me in the face. I caught it and rolled the ball back to the volleyball court. My voice lowered to a whisper like his. "You swear you had nothing to do with that part?" I couldn't bring myself to even look at him when I asked.
He squeezed my hand again. "God, Jen, I swear. I couldn't have done that you. I know we didn't know each other then, but I couldn't have done that to anyone."
I nodded and looked out at the water in the distance. In that moment, I believed him.
I heard him take a deep breath. "Look, Jen. I got a call that day that I needed to pick up a package at a little airport in rural Pennsylvania. I was offered a ton of money to move a package to an address in Japan. I said no at first—I'm not a mule and that isn't what I do. So they upped the offer and they assured me it was nothing illegal. Just an important package that needed to be hand delivered and because they knew I had ties in Japan because of Tomojii…"
I didn't care. I shook my head and tried to pull my hand from his, but his hold was too tight. He squeezed even harder at my hand.
"Just listen, Jen. You have to believe that no one was more shocked than I was when I got to Pennsylvania and the package that was delivered to my plane was Daniel Sato. He came with a different identity already set up—he had an ID and passport already. All I did was get him from there to Japan. I took him to this house in northern Japan. It was the weirdest thing I've ever done, but I didn't ask questions."
"I don't care. I don't need to hear this." I tried to pull my hand away again, but he wouldn't let me.
"Well, I need to tell you. I didn't know about him being dead, about him faking his death until I got back a few weeks later. I happened to see it on the news and I realized what I'd been a part of. You have to believe me; I wouldn't have done it if I had known what was going on."
"Really? Even if there had been more money?" I tried to wrestle my hand back, but his hold tightened almost to the point of being painful.
"I'm not saying I'm proud of it. It was a lot of money, but I didn't know what the point of it was. I still don't. I didn't know anything else about it until Daniel showed up at my office in Tokyo a few months ago and asked me for a favor."
"And offered you more money."
He nodded. "And offered me more money. But he was clearly in love with you and it was an easy job. I just had to get you to Japan."
I twisted my arm and freed my hand from his death grip. "Yes, you've told me that part." I clenched my hands together in front of me. "You must do good work to keep getting repeat business."
"I do, Jen. I do very good work." He shook his head. "I don't think I can win this one."
"I didn't know we were playing a game."
He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. "It's all a game, Jen. Life is a game." He dipped his head and pressed his forehead against mine. "I need to know something before I fold my cards on this one."
I pulled against his grip on my shoulders but he wouldn't let go. My voice was sharp. "What, Brandon?"
He looked into my eyes with his forehead still pressed against mine. "Do you love him?"
The tears that stung at my eyes in that moment took me by surprise. It was hard to admit that I hadn't thought about it. It had been so hard to move past Daniel and I had almost destroyed myself before I was able to do it. I didn't know the answer. I fought against the tears. I wouldn't let him see me spill a tear for either of them.
"I'll walk away. It will be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'll walk away right now if you want me to."
How was I supposed to answer that? It was like the wound had just been reopened—my heart was bleeding inside my chest and he wanted me to choose?
He pulled his forehead away but kept his hands on my shoulders. His eyes burned into mine. "I have to know if I even have a chance, Jen. If you want me to fight for you.
I didn't know what possessed me in that moment, but I reached up and touched his face.
His hand slid from my shoulder up to my neck and he threaded his fingers into my hair. He pulled me to him and crushed his lips against mine. He ran his tongue along the seam of my lips and I eagerly obliged him. My lips parted and allowed him to explore my mouth.
I felt the electricity coil through my body. My hand traced his jawline and my fingers entangled in his soft black curls. I ran my ot
her hand up to feel his hard chest through his thin t-shirt.
A volleyball bounced off the back of my head and into the shrubbery behind us. We broke apart as one of the boys from the volleyball court jogged over to retrieve the ball. He ran around the back of our bench and picked up the ball. He turned back to us as he jogged back to the court. "You two should really get a room." He ran the rest of the way back to the volleyball court and they began playing again.
I ran my hand up from his chest to cup the side of Brandon's face. My voice lowered to a whisper and I leaned in toward his ear, resting my cheek against his. "I have a room."
14
We held hands as we walked back to the lobby of the hotel. I could tell that he was watching me and I felt heat burn at my cheeks. I had never wanted anyone or anything more in my life than I wanted him in that moment.
We got on the elevator and I pressed the button for my floor. He took me into his arms and pulled me into him. I raised my hands to his chest and felt the ripple of his muscles beneath my fingertips. I couldn't wait to run my tongue along each and every bit of them when we got to my room.
He pressed his lips against mine and his body pushed me against the wall of the elevator. My hands ran up to his shoulders and down his back and I allowed him to press his chest into mine. He slid his hands down my sides and his fingertips grazed the swell of my breasts. My hard nipples ached against the pressure of my bra and his chest and begged for release—begged to be touched. The heat coiling between my legs threatened to drive me insane.
He broke his lips away from mine and whispered into my ear. "You're sure you want to do this?"
I nodded and crushed my lips back against his. I had never been more sure about anything.
The doors of the elevator opened and we stumbled out, still locked in our embrace. We somehow made it to the door of my room and I fumbled in my bag for my key card as he kissed at my neck.
He pulled away from me suddenly, tapping me on the shoulder. I looked up at him and I saw him pointing at something behind me. I turned around and almost jumped out of my skin.
