No Broken Bond

by Angel Payne

  “Which Drake will never approve of.”

  “Meh. He’ll come around.”

  She giggled at that then bumped me with her shoulder. I returned her grin, but the assurance behind it was a fast fade.

  This was bad.

  Really bad.

  I had just laid the groundwork for a major upheaval in my life, and only a small portion of me cared. When I gazed at the woman trying to persuade me to get into the car with her, her big brown eyes so careful and concerned, even that small part fell away.

  Until my head butted in on my heart again.

  What was wrong with me? It had to be abnormal, realizing your entire family wanted to wash their hands of you—and you didn’t care. What did that say about me? Maybe I really was broken—beyond just the normal ‘broken’. Missing some essential component everyone else had. That weird, wacked-out part causing people to love blood family even if they were disgusting excuses for humanity.

  Even if, on many occasions, they felt like someone’s worst enemy.

  “Fletcher.”

  I was conscious of my head snapping up. “Huh? What?”

  “Get inside.” There she was again. My sanity, pulling me toward the joy of my future instead of the defeat of today—and from this point, the garbage of my past. I fixed my gaze on her incredible face as she held the door open to the back of the Range Rover. “Come on. Get in the car, Fletch. Sit in back with me. Drake will drive us home. You can put your head in my lap and I’ll scratch your head, just the way you like.”

  My lips kicked upward of their own accord. This smile for her…it was honest and good and real. Everything I felt for Talia Perizkova was real. All my hope, my energy, my vitality, my determination to become a better man…a better person. She was all the best parts of me. The best parts of both Drake and me. The discovery that had completed our friendship and made us whole. Along the way, we’d sure as hell lived a lot of life—and made a lot of women’s dreams come true.

  But that had always been the catch. The fantasy fulfilled was always theirs, not ours. All incredible women, even mind-blowing lovers—but not our one. Not the woman we kept looking for, bound by some strange, tacit agreement that we would find her. Perhaps she’d even come to us…

  Drake’s deep voice interrupted my poetic thoughts. “Dude.”

  “Huh?”

  “Want to tell us what the fuck happened in there?”

  He turned over the engine. It was the only sound in the car. I didn’t add to it—unless my stare had a soundtrack.

  Drake threw the Range Rover into gear, grunting hard. “Ohhhh, goodie. I love this version of you. Moonchild Ford.”

  His frustration seeped through in every syllable. I snorted in return. I wasn’t too out of it to issue that.

  “Don’t be mean, Drake.” Talia funneled the plea into her stare, turning into a sienna glow beneath the passing streetlights. “Not now.”

  “I’m not being ‘mean’,” he defended. “Trust me, he needs to be smacked around a little right now. If not, this stargazer shit goes on for hours.” After stopping at a four-way, he shifted to Park and swung around to face us, all but ordering me, “Lie down. Let Tolly calm you—then you can explain why your sister ran to your mother in the middle of their anniversary celebration and broke down in hysterics.”

  “What?” Talia, still shivering from the chilly night, gladly accepted the coat Drake had retrieved for her. She turned to look at me with newly concerned eyes. “Come here,” she beckoned, pulling me close. We embraced, and I simply listened to her heart thudding, silently comforting me through the shitty moment.

  Several long minutes passed as we eased into traffic on the main stretch back to downtown and the condo. I really didn’t want to re-tell what had happened with Sasha, but the air in the car was thick enough to cut with a butter knife. Both of them waited, exercising incredible patience, as I dug deep to find my balls—and own up to the mess I’d just created.

  “I went into the kitchen to fix a drink for myself. The bartender was watering stuff down, so I went for the good gin in Dad’s freezer.”

  “Got that much,” Drake conceded. “But when I left, trying to find Tolly, you were in there by yourself.”

  “Not for long,” I filled in. “She came in seconds after you left. I’m surprised you two didn’t pass in the doorway.”

  “I had more important things on my mind.” Drake’s voice was a velvety spread of affection for our girl. Like he could be blamed.

  I took advantage of the moment to force down another long breath. “As soon as Sasha discovered me, she started in at once with some judgy crap, transparently clear as a message from my mom and dad.”

  Talia stiffened, though I felt her dismay before it even hit her muscles. “Judgy crap?” she echoed. “About…what? Us?”

  “Not worth going into.” And I meant it. No way would I subject the two of them to the blow by blow. “She just started in and wouldn’t let up,” I summarized. “And I lost my cool. Said some things I shouldn’t have said.”

  I wrapped it up with a fast shrug, like there wasn’t more to tell. They’d have to accept it. I wasn’t digging out the gory details.

  “Dude?”

  “Yeah, D?”

  “That story is more watered down than the shit that bartender was pouring tonight.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Stop.” Talia huffed. Pushed away from me, throwing a pleading gaze at us both. “Please don’t keep things from us, Fletcher. Most of all, from me. I can handle it, damn it, and you know it. Lord knows, I know my way around a family argument.”

  Her desperation instantly tore down my walls. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I had no barriers with her around.

  “Fine. Okay. You’re right, baby, and I’m sorry. I still just want to protect you from so much. But you’re strong. One of the strongest people I know. It’s easy to forget what you had to go through to be with us.”

  “And the shit before we came along,” Drake added. His ominous undertone was tough to miss. Talia had told us bits and pieces of the crap she’d endured with her asshole ex, but we never pushed her for more details. She’d tell us when she was ready.

  I couldn’t afford to be as coy about what had happened tonight. Exes were way different than blood family. One could write the former out of the picture. Not so easy when DNA bonded you to someone.

  Talia coaxed me away from that brood with her sublime curve of a smile. She gave it the perfect accompaniment, patting her lap in invitation. “Do you want to lie back here with me for a little bit? It’s the best we can do until we get home.”

  Did I want to? Better question was, how could I resist? Her nearness was my balm. Her hands, threading through my hair, de-jangled my nerves.

  As soon as I’d become putty in Talia’s hands, Drake started in again. “So, what about any of that would have Sasha carrying on the way she was?” Clearly, he wasn’t satisfied with my details so far. I couldn’t blame him. In his boots, I’d be pressing harder, too.

  “I dropped the bomb about Marshall and Lorena Clemson on her.” I damn near muttered it, not proud of what I had done.

  “No. You. Did. Not.”

  At once, Talia snorted out a laugh. While meeting Drake’s glower from the rearview, she quickly covered her mouth. “Sorry, sorry.” She half-giggled it all out. “I know it’s not funny but you sounded more like one of my girlfriends, Mr. Newland.”

  I laughed, too. “She’s right, dude. You just did a good one of the blonde with the Southern drawl. Taylor.”

  “Yeah,” she concurred. “Just too funny, coming from you.”

  “You’re wearing off on me. Making me go soft.” He winked at her via the mirror. Her eyes twinkled in response. “But back to the subject. Fletch…you really told her?”

  “I did,” I reposted. “And would do it again in a heartbeat.”

  Drake slid out a low whistle. “God damn.” He gave his astonishment another break. “What’d she do to bring that on?”<
br />
  “Saying shit I didn’t appreciate.” Talia’s caresses or not, I defiantly jutted my jaw. “So, I went for the slam dunk.”

  “Slam dunk?” Drake drummed nervous thumbs on the steering wheel. “Dude, in her tea-and-finger-sandwich world, you just dealt a finishing move. A figure-four leglock of sisterly destruction.”

  “Did you just stick a WWE reference in the same sentence as finger sandwiches?”

  “Damn right.”

  “There’s a new one for amazing me, Newland.” Hopefully, he’d bite on the praise and we could shift off the subject. The guy wasn’t immune to flattery all the time. Just most of it. Right now, I was trying everything to avoid the rest of this. The pain I’d have to give them by exposing them to the truth about my family.

  “Ohhh, no, no, no, no. Don’t go there with that buttery flattery wannabe humor shit, man.” Drake sure as hell made that part clear. “This is serious. You just pummeled that girl into no man’s land. You either got really toasted really fast, or Sasha must have said something pretty shitty…”

  Ding, ding, ding.

  I could literally feel the air shift as the truth clicked into place for my best friend.

  “That. Little. Bitch.”

  Talia started. “All right. Confusion, party of one.” She tried to sit forward but couldn’t get very far due to my head in her lap. “What the hell are you two talking about?”

  Drake’s dark eyes found mine in the rearview mirror as I sat up once more. This explanation wasn’t the kind of thing you gave a woman from the middle of her lap. I nodded some reassurance at him. I got this. And yes, I’ll really talk this time.

  “My sister was saying things, Tolly. Not so nice things.” I took both her hands, stroking thumbs over her knuckles. “Things about…the three of us. That I shouldn’t have come to my parents’ party with you two. That we would be the talk of the family, and probably the whole town, with the way gossip spreads in their circle.”

  She let out a watery laugh, though her fingers trembled against my grip. “So? Let them talk. Haven’t we traveled down this road before? Last summer, anyone?” She shook a bit harder. Reliving that mess wasn’t easy for any of us. “Look, I won’t be separated from you two ever again. I don’t care what people are saying when we walk by. They don’t understand what we have. I’m through living my life worried about what others are going to think.”

  No more finger shivers. She actually squeezed my hand tighter, as if urging me to give the same brave declaration.

  “Tolly.” I freed up one of my hands. Scrubbed it down my face. “It’s just not that easily said and done with my family.”

  Pussy. Why did it feel like I was defending them, even after the three of them had rolled over, spread wide and shown me every speck of dirt in their judgmental souls?

  And why did this woman suck the very breath from my lungs with her sweet, trusting little shrug?

  “They’ll come around,” she said simply. “If my family did, yours can, too.”

  “It’s not that simple, Toll. Not close to it. Believe me, I wish it were.”

  “Explain it to me then. Why is it so complicated?”

  “My father is very…” I let out a heavy sigh. “Shit.” More face scrubbing. “How do I explain this?”

  I directed the question to the front seat. Shock of shocks, I was actually at a loss for words. Sometimes, Drake had the perfect set of syllables for my needs. Could step into the side of my brain that wasn’t working.

  Thank God now was one of those times.

  “Richard Ford is a powerful businessman in this town,” he started. “If he sets his mind to it, he could make a lot of business dealings much more unpleasant for Fletch.”

  Talia worried her bottom lip. “And you, too?”

  “Probably. Likely,” he amended. “Luckily, he’s pretty self-centered and lazy, so a lot of it would take more effort than he’s willing to expend—but he certainly jumps to the bidding of his wife, and if this shit blows up with Marshall and Sasha, that’ll be a brand-new mess. Marshall works for the legal counsel serving as advisor to the city manager. If we start having permit issues on job sites, just as a starter, we will know exactly who to thank. That slime ball is getting what he deserves, but he’ll take down as many innocent bystanders in the process.”

  Talia ceased biting her lip. She pushed that soft pillow out again, tapping a finger to her chin in deep thought. “Hmmm.”

  “Hmmm?” I pressed.

  “Just thinking,” she mused. “And coming up confused. I mean, wouldn’t your sister be grateful to you?” Her voice carried a matter-of-fact clip now, despite how my expression must have been clear with its own bafflement. Was she nuts? “Okay, maybe not right at this moment,” she clarified. “But when Sasha calms down and realizes you just saved her from wasting more of her time with this guy, not to mention the rescue from becoming a fool, I think she’ll want to thank you. And further, why do you all sit back and condone that? That kind of sickens me, actually, the more I think of it.”

  “Hey.” Drake’s comeback scythed through the shadows in the car. “We don’t condone it, okay?”

  “Sometimes you just have to mind your own business,” I cut in, attempting to explain one of the trickier aspects of guy code. “Let karma do her thing and catch up to the fucker. Things have a way of working themselves out. Eventually, Marshall would’ve slipped up and Sasha would’ve caught him. It wasn’t my place to make a mess of her life, especially because I did it out of anger and not love. That’s the wrong motivation for anything.”

  Regrettably, Tolly hadn’t stopped shaking her head. “I think you’re wrong. Both of you. She’s your sister, Fletcher. You should do what you can to protect her. That’s what family does.”

  “I know you believe that. Hell, I love you for believing that—but I was raised in a different world than you. In your world, there was always right and wrong, good and evil, black and white. The right things were the right things, period. But in the world of the Fords? Of Chicago society? It’s just not always so cut and dried.”

  She hunched back against the cushion, huddling deeper into her jacket, then angled her gaze toward the blackness beyond the car’s windows—the ones not on my side. “Then I don’t think I like that world very much—and I’m glad you won’t be a part of it any longer. It’s a wonder you came out so normal, if those are really the values your parents taught.”

  I settled against the cushion as well, my body humming with tension. I was so tired. I knew that. I was drained. I knew that, too. But I’d had enough judgment for one night, so I chose the riskier discussion path—but the one that brought more vindication. “Huh. That’s sort of funny coming from you, baby. Your own parents all but forced you to stay in a relationship with an abusive asshole—and you’ve stated, every way but straight-up, your sister is probably being abused by her husband, too. Want to tell me, with that kind of a family, how ‘kin’ are supposed to treat one another? I don’t think you have room to judge that.”

  Yeah. It had felt good—for all of two seconds. Then immediately, I wanted to take it all back. The crestfallen shock on her face tore through my chest then clamped my heart in a torturous vise.

  “I’m…sorry.” She wouldn’t look up while she whispered the words, fretfully tugging at her hands.

  “Fuck. No. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please look at me. Please.” I waited, through what felt like a thousand years, for those bottomless brown eyes to reach mine. “That was unnecessary. I apologize. I’m an ass. I’ve had all I can take for one night, but I should’ve never lashed out at you like that.”

  “It’s okay.” Her voice held ration portions of warmth, not shared with any part of her face. “Fletcher…it’s okay.”

  Yeah, she’d said the words—but every roiling inch of my gut told me they were empty and patronizing. It wasn’t okay. I’d royally screwed the pooch, opening up on her like that. I would just have to spend the rest of the night making it up to her. />
  Drake made the final turn into our driveway, rounding the bend to the porte cochere. A new night doorman hustled to greet us, swinging the front passenger door open. He looked a bit confused when the seat was empty. Drake hitched a thumb over his shoulder, indicating he had passengers in the back, and the new guy quickly compensated, opening the rear door with a smile.

  “Sorry about that, folks. Not used to everyone’s habits just yet.” His smile was warm and genuine.

  “No worries,” Drake responded. “Hey, does this mean Maurice’s Mrs. is in labor?”

  “I believe so, sir. I’m not completely sure, but I received a last-minute call from the agency about the shift tonight. They mentioned something about ‘someone making an early appearance’. With the other residents asking similar questions as yours tonight, that’s what I’m piecing together.”

  “How exciting!” Talia sure got animated about that. “We’ll have to check in the morning with the desk and see if the little one arrived.” Her face was bright as a Christmas display, playing up every aspect of her beauty. The new guy assisted her out of the car, chatting her up while they walked toward the building’s door. He swung it wide for her. I followed closely behind, not wanting to let her get too far, deep in my damage-control mode. Drake, gone nearly to radio silence, brought up the rear.

  “We’re in for the night. Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” Drake handed him the keys, following up with a quick self-introduction.

  “I’m Harold,” the jolly man replied. “It’s an old-fashioned name, I know, but I was named after my grandpa and—”

  “Sounds good, man. Have a great night.” After a hearty pat to the man’s back, Drake stepped up on the other side of Talia. Using just the subtle press of his big body, he pushed her a little closer to me. I shot a fast nod of gratitude. Yeah, he was on board with moving our party along as fast as possible, too.

  “That guy would’ve talked all night if you let him,” I commented as we waited for the elevator to arrive. “I think he liked our girl, too.”

  Hopefully, I could start winning her back with some teasing. The compliment earned me at least a small giggle. It was brief but suffused her cheeks with a light blush. “Stop. He’s a harmless old man. Probably gets lonely sitting down here by himself all night.”