Redeemed Book 2: A Military Stepbrother Romance

by Snow, Lucy

  I put on the smallest polite smile I could find, and quickly glanced down at Harrison’s hands, watching the ball into fists and stay like that. I had to resist the urge to take one of his hands in mine. Unfortunately, Steve at least knew who we were, and I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that Harrison and I were something approaching involved with each other.

  “But I thought I was your best friend,” one of Steve’s friends mock whined. The rest of the group howled in laughter, before trying again to look tough.

  None of them really look tough, not beside Steve, and no one here could hold a candle to Harrison, but they did have a big advantage in numbers compared to the two of us.

  “Oh, you were, and you were a great best friend…” Steve said, finally tearing his eyes away from Harrison and me. “But recently,” he looked back at Harrison, his eyes gleaming, “I’ve made the acquaintance of someone new, and he has… Had a big effect on me.”

  “Oh yeah, tell me about it.” The friend was talking made a big show of putting his hands up and then getting into a fighting stance. The rest of the group watched and laughed along, but I could tell they were stealing themselves up for something, something violent.

  Harrison had stood tall and silent the entire time. On the one hand, I was glad that he was this a little slower, now that I wasn’t in any immediate danger unlike last time, but at the same time I almost wanted him to say something a little faster, and diffuse the situation as quickly as he could.

  Steve must’ve sensed Harrison’s reticence also, because he stepped forward and got right up in Harrison’s face. In the cold wind of the winter night, everyone’s breath came out in clouds, but Steve’s cloud was the largest as he hyped himself up, trying to psych Harrison out. Harrison did not take the bait.

  “Got nothing to say?” Steve said, his face right next to Harrison’s. Harrison just looked straight on, impassively, as if nothing was going on out of the ordinary. “That’s funny, last week you did a lot of talking.”

  He smiled and stepped back, addressing his friends. “Yeah, this guy did a lot of talking so far in our brief friendship.”

  “Brief best friendship,” added the same friend who had whined before. The rest of the group snickered, really finally getting into this comedy routine. They all looked very similar to Steve, and I had no doubt they took their style and grooming cues from him. It was like running into a sad emperor and all of his most loyal followers at the same time. I honestly didn’t know people like this really existed on planet Earth.

  To me it was just the most pathetic of male posturing rituals. Steve knew from experience that he had no chance to even intimidate Harrison one on one, and if his friends hadn’t been here, I bet Steve would have run away by, run off to find people who treated him better because of his father’s wealth, and overlooked his many dangerous faults.

  People just like his friends, who crowded around him now, trying to leech off of that family money, and perhaps off of the local legal protection it was able to buy.

  At the same time, it was a fascinating peek into how then behaved around each other. While Steve and his friends had been ogling me from the moment they saw me, when I moved towards Harrison, since then they had all but ignored me, choosing to focus their attention instead on Harrison.

  “Yeah, quite a lot of talking from this guy. Regular chatterbox.” He raised one of his hands and lightly brushed it over his black eye, wincing a little even at the light touch, before pulling in a deep breath and bending his legs a little bit. His voice became sinister. “But he also does a lot of talking with his fist.”

  “Oh yeah? He likes to mix it up?” A different friend this time. It was fascinating how this chorus of lackeys prop Steve up, and fed on his antagonism and anger. It reminded me of animals I’d heard about in college psychology classes. They were heading for trouble, and none of them saw it coming. “This is the guy that sucker punched you? He doesn’t look so scary.”

  Steve turned his head toward his friend. “He’s tougher than he looks,” he smiled back at Harrison, “but he also doesn’t look very tough at all.”

  Harrison remained silent, but looking at his face, he was definitely present. It was like he was taking the entire situation in, and then choosing not to respond. I had to marvel at his near-complete self-control. The only hint that I had that he was at all bothered by what was going on was his balled up fists And a peculiar look of calm on his face.

  “Oh yeah, he likes to mix it up.” Steve replied, the gleam in his eyes still coming out. “He likes to get in the way of boys and girls having fun together.”

  “Having fun together?” I practically shouted, unable to hold it in any longer. Not when they were talking about me. “That’s not what I would call it at all.”

  Steve looked me up and down like he was deciding which stake he wanted to grill up tonight. “You seemed to like it back at the bar.”

  He had me there. Before Steve had decided to get ahead of himself, I really had enjoyed his company. The very fact now made my skin crawl, to think that a guy who looked so nice, so all-American, could be such a terrible person. “I didn’t like where it went.”

  Steve laughed, throwing his head back and letting his long hair shake all around him. “Of course you did. You loved. And if your brother here,” Steve pointed at Harrison, “hadn’t gotten in the way, you’d have loved it even more.”

  I couldn’t help it. He just made me so mad, I rushed forward, raising my hands to punch him or push him, or do anything to get him to shut up, but just as I was about to pass by, Harrison stuck out his arm to his left, and held me back.

  Harrison looked at me. “No, Laurel,” and I saw the strength and determination in his eyes, “don’t do anything. I’ll handle this.”

  It was the first time Harrison spoken since I noticed Steve and his friends were here. Just hearing his low and rumbling voice sent me immediately at ease. I could tell that none of these guys were any match for Harrison one on one, but I was still a little worried about what would happen if they rushed him all at the same time.

  Harrison still kept his cool, calm and collected like a sphinx. If you had taken him out of that time and place and sat him in a museum in front of a famous painting he would have looked to all who passed him by like an art lover basking in the glow of his favorite work. This was not the Harrison I was used to. Maybe he was turning over another leaf after all?

  Steve could clearly see that he wasn’t having the effect on Harrison that he wanted, even if he could also see that he and his goon friends were scaring the shit out of me. Instead of slinking back into whatever cave he and his buddies hung out in when they weren’t date raping random girls in the parking lots of bars, Steve decided to avenge this obvious affront to his august manliness by upping the ante.

  He took a swing at Harrison. Out of nowhere, it looked like. One second he was grinning in Harrison’s face, trying to draw him out, then his face clouded in anger that he wasn’t getting anywhere, and he reached back as if to turn and gesture to one of his friends behind him, but instead of talking to them, or getting something from them, he came back his hand coiled up in a fist, moving quickly toward Harrison’s face.

  And then, Harrison simply wasn’t there, and a moment later, I lurched, moving to my left faster than I could have imagined, as Harrison pressed me away from Steve’s punch while avoiding it himself. I almost screamed as it happened so fast, but managed to hold it down to a bare squeak as Harrison looked at me and gave me a tense nod. “Stay here,” he whispered quickly, and I nodded as he turned back to Steve and his gang of shitheads.

  Steve had followed through on his punch way too far, expecting some kind of resistance in the form of Harrison’s face. When that didn’t come, Steve was thrown off balance, pitching forward and crying out, his triumphant bellow turning quickly into astonished embarrassment as I could see him contemplate how much his friends would rib him about this later, assuming any of them had the guts to say
anything other than praise him.

  Harrison stayed standing to the left of where he’d been just a moment earlier while Steve picked himself back up and brushed himself off, his friends having quieted down now that their leader had been embarrassed. Clearly this was a new situation for almost all involved.

  “Don’t do that again,” Harrison finally spoke, for the first time since I’d come into earshot after seeing Steve and his all-american gang show up.

  “Yeah? Oh yeah?” Steve sputtered as he looked for the right words, all his good humor gone now and replaced with seething anger. This was already much worse than what Harrison had done to him the last time they’d met, and that time Steve had actually suffered a blow - so far tonight the only thing bruised was his ego. But I had a hunch that was far more damaging to someone like Steve.

  He must have spun a good tale to his friends to explain the black eye, a story that must have involved Harrison coming out of nowhere and trying to mug him in the dark recesses of the Crown parking lot. No doubt they’d believed it and talked amongst themselves about how much of a badass their de facto leader had been in the face of such danger.

  Now they might be seeing just a glimmer of the reality of Steve - he was a bully, and not a very good one that. Certainly not the kind of person you wanted to hitch your wagon to, whether you were a potential romantic interest or just a guy who wanted to hang out and drink.

  “What did you say?” He finally found some words.

  “I said, ‘Don’t do that again,’” Harrison said, evenly, as if he was swatting away a pesky fly with his words.

  Steve got back in Harrison’s face again, and I saw his crew square up, like this time they were going to be ready for a fight. One on six, just the kind of odds they really liked. “Or you’ll what?”

  Harrison closed his eyes and sighed, breathing out a huge cloud of steam that caught Steve right in the face. “I just don’t want to fight anymore.”

  “Yeah? Too late for that.” Steve swung again, but this time, he turned toward me first, and tried to hit me.

  I was shocked and could barely drop my mouth open before Harrison had sprung into action and pushed me out of the way. This time he didn’t move with me, and I grasped at air as I fell down, crumpling in a heap. As I fell, though, I saw Harrison lean into Steve’s punch and then swing back with his own.

  Steve caved in, sinking to the ground with a loud groan. His buddies froze as they tried to understand what was happening, but to their credit, they recovered quick, rushing to Steve’s help as he lay on the ground, clutching at his side where Harrison had hit him hard.

  Harrison didn’t wait around for them to regroup, though. He dashed over to me, helping me finish standing back up and collecting myself. “Run!” he shouted at me, grabbing my arm and pulling me hard, throwing me off balance one more time as we charged down the alley way next to us.

  Chapter 23 - The End

  What were Steve and his buddies doing here? How did they find us? Had they been following us the entire time? These were just some of the questions that ran through my head as Harrison and I ran through the dark alley way away from the group.

  If they weren’t following us already, they would be in just a few seconds and we didn’t have a moment to spare. The unfamiliar buildings loomed large on either side of us as we moved past them in the dark, trying to stay out of the way of rubbish bins and all the trash lying around. We kept running, till the end of the alley, and then back out onto the next main street, before we stopped to catch our breath.

  I couldn’t believe that I’d managed to run that far in heels - they weren’t too high, but still, not exactly what these shoes were designed for. Not my dress, either.

  As I huffed and puffed, trying to catch my breath, my hands on my knees, Harrison stood looking back, not nearly as winded as I was. That’s what he got for being a soldier.

  Harrison watched the alley for any sign that Steve and his merry men were chasing us, and at the first sign that they were, he grabbed my hand again and we were off, running perpendicular to the alley, trying to get out of sight as quickly as possible.

  Just as we turned a corner, I looked back and saw the other group come out of the alley and spread out, gazing in all directions and trying to find us. My hesitation cost us and one of them pointed at me just as Harrison pulled me out of sight.

  “They’ve seen us!” I tried not to shout. Harrison, looking grim, didn’t say anything, but off we went, down another alley in the opposite direction. We turned a corner still in the network of alleys, away from the street lights. A cat squealed next to us and ran away after we disturbed its sleep.

  We had to keep going and confuse them, get out of the natural path so they would run past us and eventually stop looking.

  Or, of course, we could turn around and fight them off. Really, it was Harrison who would do all the fighting, and I had no doubt that he could take them all on, but that wasn’t really an option. He’d said only a few minutes earlier that he was trying to work on his anger issues, and getting into a fight, even a justified one, just minutes later couldn’t be good.

  Harrison seemed to be mulling things over as we jogged further away from Steve and his friends. He looked like he had something on his mind. All of a sudden, his eyes widened and he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him.

  I snapped my eyes in the direction he was heading until I saw what he’d seen and the plan became clear. Harrison had found us an abandoned building, one with a door open!

  We could hide in there until Steve and his crew lost interest, and then we’d be free to make our hasty getaway to the car.

  We stopped in front of the door and Harrison motioned me to stay outside and keep watch while he checked to make sure it was safe. I turned and watched the way we came, keeping my eyes peeled for any signs that they were on the right track and that we had to move even faster than we already were.

  Harrison went inside, slowly at first, I guess so as not to disturb anyone who was sleeping or also hiding there. He must have done things like this many times when he was on deployment, but I had a feeling each of those times he had way more gear, armor, and weapons, and I was also pretty sure he wasn’t dragging around his stepsister dressed for a nice dinner out all those times.

  That was definitely something that sounded like it would cramp your investigating-building style. Harrison seemed to take no notice, though, and came out of the building a few minutes later, beckoning me to follow him back in.

  I gave one last look behind us, this time my ears pricking up as I thought I heard someone coming down the alley in our general direction. They were onto us!

  I pulled my head back just as the first of them came around the corner and hurried into the abandoned building after Harrison. He grabbed my arm and pulled me in close, and I gulped, loving the feel of him all around me despite how scared I was of being caught.

  Harrison pushed his finger against my lips as I was about to open my mouth and ask if we were far enough in to avoid detection, but I managed to stop before anything came out. I alternated looking at Harrison’s perfect face and staring at the door we’d come through just a few seconds earlier - if they happened to find us we’d have to make a break for it, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to find another exit to the building in time.

  We might have to fight. I knew Harrison would keep me safe, but I started looking around for something heavy I could pick up to help out. As much as I’d already been cast in the role, I really didn’t want to be the damsel in distress anymore.

  My ears pulled me back to reality and focus - they were just outside the door. I heard voices speaking in low tones, asking questions about who’d seen us last and which direction we’d been going. No one seemed to have any answers, that much was clear.

  They argued like that for a little bit, Harrison and I bundled up inside the building that must be just off to their side if we could pick them up like this unassisted. I could feel the sweat coming out all over
me, I was so tense. Harrison, though, was like a cool breeze, just as calm and relaxed as ever. I didn’t know how he was able to do it.

  His face, though, didn’t look nearly as calm as the rest of him. No, Harrison’s face was a storm of emotions, but he managed to keep it mostly internal, his face the only betrayer that something was going on besides hiding the two of us from the marauding gang. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, but I hoped it passed soon - when I had relaxed enough to breathe again I’d then think about asking him just what was going on.

  Finally, Steve’s group decided they needed to keep moving if they were to have any chance of running into us, and off they went, completely bypassing the nondescript abandoned building they’d conveniently stopped directly in front of.

  Convenient for them and inconvenient for us because that was the place we’d chosen to hide. But, it looked like we were safe. For now.

  I started to move, wanting to stretch out and get some blood circulating back into my joints, but Harrison pulled me in closer and gave me a look that stopped the giant sigh from coming out of my mouth at the source.

  Of course. He was worried someone might double back and try to investigate the building, and if we were tramping around like we owned the place when and if that happened, they’d call their friends over immediately and we’d be sunk.

  It didn’t happen. We held our breaths for another few minutes before Harrison gave me the green light by nodding. I relaxed immediately, but didn’t pull myself away from him. It was nice being this close after the last few days of seeing him around the house but not being able to touch him. My body already craved his touch and I didn’t want to feel that connection break.

  I pulled Harrison’s face away from looking at the door and scouting for trouble toward me, and I kissed him long and hard. I needed to feel that reassurance, that bond between us. We’d just been through something stressful, and though we weren’t entirely out of the woods yet, I needed to know he was there for me, and I needed him to know I was there for him.