The Return of Brody McBride

by Jennifer Ryan

  Brody checked out the cars in the lot. Some he recognized as the usual crowd. A late-nineties Camero caught his eye. Red. Roxy’s favorite car color. The windows were tinted near black. Taking a few steps toward the front end, he noted the Nevada plates. Looks like Roxy was still residing in Las Vegas. Her kind of town. It matched the information Owen dug up on her over the last week.

  Just past five on a Monday, the bar wouldn’t be very busy until later. Good. Not as many witnesses. Of course, in a small town, his being at the bar with Roxy would spread faster than a phone call crossing the wires all the way to Atlanta.

  He thought of Rain and the last time he’d been here. He’d let her find out from someone else how badly he’d screwed up and betrayed her. Not this time. The consequences then had been devastating. Losing Rain and his girls again . . . he’d rather die.

  By the time Brody walked the short distance to the door, he was near to being in a rage. Everything Rain told him came back in a rush. He’d have to keep his emotions in check, deal with Roxy without strangling her.

  Roxy leaned over a table, giving some guy a full view of her abundant cleavage spilling over a purple tank top. Tightly hugging her tits and body, it outlined every roll in her belly to her hips. The skimpy jean skirt barely covered her wide ass. If she leaned over any further, he and everyone else in the bar would know whether or not she was wearing underwear. He’d lay odds against it. The thought of confirming that suspicion made him cringe. Some things never changed. From her wild mane of reddish-brown hair to her cowboy boots, nothing much had, except she’d put on some weight. He wondered if it was left over from the pregnancy or hard living. When she turned and locked eyes on him, the lines at the corners of her eyes and around her mouth told him she’d been living hard and fast for a while now.

  A smile came to her face, despite the predatory look in her eye. He remained passive, not giving anything away. A skill he’d perfected in the military. He waited for her to make the first move. She stood straight, her shoulders back, breasts out, showing off her best feature. Too bad they’d looked a lot better in her younger days.

  Rain’s image came to mind. Her body still toned and supple. Her breasts high and round. Not overly big, but a nice full handful. Her legs were slim and strong, probably from playing softball with the girls and running around after them all the time. Not a single line marred her pretty face, and when she smiled, she lit up a room.

  How could he have ever betrayed her with a woman like Roxy? Because he’d been a monumental jackass. Not anymore. Older, wiser, desperate to keep Rain and his girls, he’d never make a stupid mistake like that again.

  Roxy bobbed her head toward the back stairs that led up to her apartment. Without waiting for his acknowledgement, she sauntered to the stairs and started up. He let her go, stood his ground below with his arms crossed over his chest and waited. When she reached the landing, she turned back and her head whipped to him. He gave her a feral smile and tilted his head toward her office door just past the bar. Everyone in the room watched the play-by-play. Brody didn’t give in, even when Roxy cocked her hip and waved him to come up. Furious, she stomped down the stairs, crossed in front of the bar, and walked straight to the office. He followed, but took his time about it, not wanting anyone to get the idea he was anxious to see her.

  She stood at the entrance and waited for him to draw close before she said for everyone to hear, “Afraid to be alone with me upstairs?”

  “No. I came to talk about my daughter, not fuck the local whore.”

  Smiling inside at her outrage, he walked past her and stood by the desk.

  “She’s our daughter.”

  “Autumn belongs to Rain. What are you doing here?”

  “Want a beer?”

  Brody wasn’t deterred, but he’d let her take the lead if it took him where he wanted to go. “No thanks. I don’t drink.” Not with all the meds he took.

  “Rain’s got you on a short leash. Too afraid you’ll turn out like your old man.”

  “I’m not like him.” So easy to say and believe now that he had some life experience under his belt.

  “I heard something about you getting hurt.”

  “I have a few new scars.”

  “I heard you’re not quite right in the mind.”

  Brody didn’t take the bait. “You called me. What do you want?”

  “I want to see my daughter.”

  “She’s not your daughter. Rain bought and paid for her.”

  “I gave birth to her.”

  “You sold her,” he shouted.

  “What was I supposed to do? You left me.”

  He actually laughed, despite his anger. “Left you. You. Get something straight, Roxy, any guy who’d fuck you while drunk out of his mind isn’t thinking about having anything with you past the three minutes he takes to get himself off.”

  “You’re a real cold-hearted bastard.”

  “You’re a cold-hearted bitch, who sold her own child.”

  “Well, then, we’re suited for each other.” She reached up to touch his face, but he grabbed her wrist and held tight.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  “Oh, come on, sugar. I just wanted to soothe your ruffled feathers. You’re looking real fine, Brody.”

  She fisted her hand and tried to pull away. He didn’t let go.

  “So much strength. You know you want to throw me up against the door and pound into me until I scream your name.”

  He flung her hand away. “The only thing I want to do is wrap my hands around your throat and squeeze.”

  “So much violence and rage. What you need to do is release all that passion, sugar. Rain must be some sorry piece of ass to have you all wound up like this.”

  “Have you seen her lately?”

  She glared and crossed her arms over her middle. Not in a defiant way, but to hide her plumper figure. Yeah, she’d seen Rain, hated her for the way she looked and the life she made for herself despite Roxy’s efforts to wreck it.

  “God, she’s more beautiful now than she was back then.”

  He leered at her from top to bottom, the look on his face making it clear he found her lacking.

  “The two of you looked real cozy after the softball game Saturday. Hard to believe your precious Rain would forgive you for leaving her behind pregnant.”

  So, she’d been in town long enough to spy on them. He wondered what else she’d been doing, or watching them do.

  “She’s got a big heart.”

  “I’ll just bet she jumped at the chance to forgive you,” Roxy said, baiting him.

  Eyes narrowed, he replied, “She loves me more than I deserve.”

  “Yeah, sure. Your company has nothing to do with it.”

  “You know about that, too.”

  “Even I read the paper.”

  Brody bet she’d heard the news from someone in town. She wasn’t one to watch the news, let alone read the paper.

  He sat on the corner of the desk, crossed his arms over his chest, and faced off with her. “How’s Vegas?”

  “Expensive.”

  “Especially when you’ve got a boyfriend with a gambling habit, and you both have an aversion to steady work.”

  “You’ve done your homework.” She took the chair in front of him, her thigh brushing against his leg.

  He stood and moved away, looking at some of the open files and papers on the desk. A couple of her suppliers’ bills were past due. Her liquor license was up for renewal in a couple months. Interesting.

  “Know your enemy,” he said vaguely.

  “I’m not your enemy,” she said, her voice husky. “Well, I don’t have to be.”

  “Let’s cut the crap, Roxy. I don’t want you as an enemy. I don’t want you in my life, or Autumn’s. What do you want?” He enunciated each word to let her know he meant business.

  “I want to take Autumn back to Vegas with me. You’ll pay me child support, and you can visit her any time you like.”


  “Not going to happen.”

  “Why not? I’m her mother.”

  “You were an incubator. You don’t want to be a mother to her.”

  “That’s not true. I never got to be a mother to her.”

  “Because you sold her. You threatened to end the pregnancy and kill her. You kidnapped her and threw her in a closet. You scared and tortured a three-year-old little girl. The child you gave birth to,” he growled.

  He stood over her, his face inches from hers. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open. He stood up tall again and took a breath.

  “Autumn isn’t going anywhere with you. She stays with her mother.”

  “I’m her mother,” Roxy spat out.

  “Rain is the only mother she knows. She’s the only mother Autumn will ever know.”

  “You can’t keep me from her.”

  “Yes, I can. I will. Nothing is more important to me than the happiness, safety, and protection of my family.”

  “I gave birth to your child. You owe me.”

  “Rain paid you sixty-eight thousand dollars. She’s paid to raise Autumn all by herself. You never gave her a dime for food, clothes, her medical and dental expenses, the roof over her head, softball uniforms, birthday and Christmas gifts . . .”

  “You didn’t either.”

  “I didn’t know I had any children.”

  “I’ll bet you gave Rain a fat paycheck.”

  “I owed her child support for seven years. Any court would have made me pay.”

  “I guess I’ll have to take you to court then.”

  “For what? I don’t owe you child support. You didn’t raise my daughter.”

  “A judge will give me custody. I’m her mother.”

  “How will that play out? Will you walk into court and ask a judge for custody after what you did? How will you explain selling Autumn to Rain?”

  “I don’t have to. She paid me in cash. No records.”

  “Do you think a judge will take your word over Rain’s when she raised Autumn for the last seven years? You never made a single phone call to check on Autumn. Not for a birthday or holiday. You never took her to her first day of school, or picked her up when she was sick. You never sent her a gift, or even a letter. You never sent any child support. Rain can prove she’s been with Autumn for everything. She’s got albums of pictures. She has receipts for everything she’s bought for her. She has an entire town who knows what you did and what it’s taken for Rain to raise those girls on her own.”

  “A judge will side with me because I’m her biological mother. The courts favor the biological parent.”

  “No way in hell will I ever let that happen. If you take her to court for custody, I have no doubt Autumn will tell the judge she wants to stay with her mother. If that isn’t enough, you can bet I’ll walk into court with as much evidence as I can dig up on you to prove what an unfit mother you are. I’ll parade in half the male population of this town as character witnesses, maybe even some of their ex-wives. How many homes have you broken up over the years?”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I can, and I will. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you from being within a hundred miles of Autumn. She didn’t speak for over a month the last time you took her. She’s been terrified the last few weeks thinking you’re coming back to steal her from her family. You think I’d risk her health and safety again? Never.

  “Quit bullshitting me. You don’t want anything to do with Autumn. She’s just a means to an end. Always has been to you. How much do you want?”

  “Just like that,” she said, not believing he’d make things so easy.

  Tired of playing games and dealing with her, he wanted to finish this. Quick.

  “Name your price.”

  “A million dollars.”

  He laughed outright. “Not going to happen.”

  “Why not? You own a company.”

  She didn’t know how much he was worth. She only knew what she’d learned from the Internet probably. The company was privately held, so she couldn’t get all the financial information. He downplayed his role.

  “I own a small part of the company. You’re asking for what I don’t have. I’ll give you twenty thousand cash.”

  “That’s a drop in the bucket. I’d get more in child support.”

  “Keep up. You’d never get custody, and you know it.”

  “I know you’ve got money. Look at the place you’re building out at the ranch. New stables and buying horses, those things take serious money.”

  “Exactly. I’ve tied up what I have in the house and ranch.”

  “For her. So, she’ll finally have everything. You, the kids, the big house, and all your money. It’s the only reason she’d take you back after sleeping with me.”

  He didn’t believe that for a second. Rain loved him. Enough to forgive him and want to make a life with him.

  Not giving anything away and allowing Roxy to believe Rain was using him, he only shrugged. “Face it, you’ll never have what Rain has. You don’t even want the same things.”

  “Half a million.” She threw out the figure, hoping he’d bite.

  “Fifty. Cash.”

  “Brody.” She pouted, frustrated he wouldn’t just give her what she wanted.

  “You don’t have a leg to stand on. I’m offering you enough money to pay off your bills,” he said, indicating the stack of papers perfectly visible on the desk. “You’ll have enough left over to live a few months.”

  “It isn’t enough, you bastard. I have things to take care of in Vegas. Plans.”

  A flash of desperation crossed her eyes. Problems were waiting for her in Vegas. Probably an unhealthy dose of trouble, too.

  “One hundred grand. Cash.”

  Her eyes lit up a bit at that figure.

  “For that kind of money, you’ll sign off on your parental rights, and you’ll stay away from Autumn.”

  She opened her mouth to ask for more, but he cut her off. “That’s my final offer.”

  With a feral smile, her sharp mind latched on to the one thing she could use to get what she wanted.

  “You want me to sign something giving Autumn up for good?”

  “You gave her up more than seven years ago. This will make it official, you’ll have no rights to Autumn.”

  “Maybe going to court would better serve me.”

  “Try it. You don’t have the money it will take to go up against me. Take Rain out of the picture entirely. I’m a war hero and a businessman. Autumn is living with me. Who do you think the judge will choose? You or me?”

  Her eyes narrowed as she thought about it.

  “When I marry Rain, we’ll be a family. Do you think the judge will choose to send Autumn with you, a single mother with no job or means of supporting her, or keep her with the only family she knows? She’d have a mother and a father, plus a sister.”

  “Why do you have to be such an asshole?”

  “It serves me,” he said, using her words. Roxy was all about serving herself and leaving others to starve. “Take the offer. Take us to court, piss me off, you’ll get nothing.”

  “Fine. How soon can you have my money?”

  “Since it’s after five and the bank is closed, tomorrow morning. First thing.”

  “I’m busy tomorrow. The day after,” she suggested.

  “Tomorrow. I want this done.”

  “I have something I need to do. The day after.”

  He didn’t know why she’d stall on getting her money, but he’d go with what she wanted if it got him what he wanted.

  “Fine. You’ll sign the papers, or you won’t see a dime. Clear?”

  “Crystal.”

  He walked out of the office, Roxy on his heels. “That’s it,” she said.

  He turned back and glared. “Day after tomorrow we’ll meet. You’ll get what you want and I’ll get what I want. After that, I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  “Is being around me too much o
f a temptation?”

  “Don’t push me,” he said, knowing full well everyone was listening to them. “You won’t like the outcome. You’ll lose what little you’ve gained from me.”

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. Apparently, she didn’t believe him. He had one last card to play. He walked to her and stood toe-to-toe. In a low voice, he threatened, “If you play any more games with me, I’ll put Rain and the children on a plane and we’ll leave the country. My company does business all over the world. We can be gone in a matter of hours and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

  Her eyes showed him she understood. Leaving was the last resort. Rain would agree to keep Autumn safe. She’d always wanted to travel. They could settle in another country as well as they could on Clear Water Ranch.

  He turned on his heel and walked out. Every eye in the place on his back. Just before exiting the door, he caught a glimpse of a man sitting in a booth. Pure hate and rage shown in his eyes. His hands fisted on the table. Roxy’s boyfriend. Another player in this strange game.

  Another threat.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  * * *

  BRODY WORRIED ON the way home. Roxy was unpredictable at best. Toss in a boyfriend feeding her impulsive, volatile ways and it could spell more trouble. The last thing he wanted.

  He made a couple of pit stops on the way home and walked in the door carrying two bags and a bouquet of flowers. The girls were on the couch watching a movie.

  “Dad!” they yelled when he came in the door. They both ran to him, throwing their arms around his legs and hugging him.

  “Hey, you two. Did you have a good day at school?”

  “Yeah,” Dawn answered.

  Autumn didn’t respond. He set the bags down and picked her up, handing her the flowers. “Want to give those to Mom for me?”

  “Okay.”

  “Don’t worry, baby girl. Your mom and I will talk to your teacher tomorrow. She’ll understand why you’ve been upset.”

  “Did you see her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is she coming here?”

  “No. She’ll leave real soon.”

  “Promise.”

  “Yes, honey. I won’t let anything happen to you.”