Braden: #5 (Kelly Clan)

by Madison Stevens

Braden sighed as he stepped off his treadmill. Sweat ran down his bare chest as he grabbed a towel from the handle bar and swiped it off.

  Though he couldn’t push Teagan out of his mind, it felt good to run off some of the extra energy that he had after his encounter with her, even if he’d be sore later. The pain might help as a distraction.

  She wound him up so badly that he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to think after seeing her again. Watching her slumped shoulders as she hurried down the alley had killed him. It took all his self-control to not call out to her and offer her the comfort she needed. Would it have been so wrong to let her know the truth?

  He kept reminding himself that it was best for her if he kept his distance. He’d protect her and keep her safe, and that’d have to be enough, no matter how much it tore him up inside.

  He didn’t have time to worry about her feelings toward him. He had to make sure those pricks didn’t find their way over to her apartment. He’d already underestimated them once, and he wasn’t about to make the same mistake.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a position yet to go forward with his kidnapping plan, not without risking blowing his cover, but that didn’t mean Teagan was in any less danger.

  Before starting his exercise, he’d placed a quick call to Finn and was relieved when he sent Conor over to watch over his sister.

  It was just the break he needed: some time to collect his thoughts and figure out what the hell he was going to do to save Teagan without making everything blow up more than it already had. The Russians, not to mention Boris, probably were even more suspicious than before. After all, there was no reason for Finn or Conor to suspect they’d target Teagan.

  The one good thing about what had happened was that it’d be now easy to get Ennis to agree to the kidnapping plan. The only remaining problem now was Boris and what the hell he was hiding from them, especially with the shipment. Having his attention divided at such a critical time wasn’t going to help keep Braden at the top of his game.

  The Russian was going to be a problem, and eventually someone was going to have to deal with him. Braden only hoped that he was the one that got that particular pleasure.

  Everything about that asshole screamed thug and scum. He deserved to be put down. Hell, even the Pope would probably agree. Once Boris was put in the ground, the whole world would breathe a sigh of relief.

  Braden clenched his fists. Was he any better? He was scum. He was a thug. He was sitting there right then, thinking about doing horrible things. Not only did it not bother him, he was even enthusiastic.

  He shook his head. This was why he couldn’t be with Teagan. What kind of man thought about all the ways they’d like to kill another man, even if the victim was a terrible person? Not the sort that deserved a woman like Teagan.

  She was special. Teagan deserved a man who would give her everything she wanted in life and wasn’t drowned in a lifetime of crime and violence, someone who didn’t have such a stained soul.

  Even if he hadn’t been in the Kelly Clan, he’d never be able to give her everything she needed and wanted. It was too late for him.

  That wouldn’t do. She deserved a good life. She’d spent most of her life cut off from other people, her immune system problems making even the simplest of contact potentially life-threatening. Now, because of better doctors and medicines, she could live a semblance of a normal life.

  She’d been limited for far too long. If he couldn’t give her what she needed, he didn’t deserve to be with her. He wouldn’t be another roadblock on her way to her living up to her full potential. And the idea that he might be that sickened him.

  Braden kicked off his shoes and made his way into the bathroom. He flipped on the spray and was glad he’d installed the multi jets when he remodeled the room. After the hard run he’d just done, his muscles ached all the way to his bones. And after the last few weeks, his soul ached. He needed a distraction.

  He discarded his old clothes into the basket and stepped into the hot spray. Although he hated to admit it, too many days had passed since his last shower. Even without keeping an eye on Teagan, he seemed to just be going straight between seedy, criminal meetings in dank out of the way places, whether with Ennis or Finn.

  He snickered. Movies and shows made life in organized crime seem glamorous. The reality was different. Blood, sweat, and grime was far from glamorous.

  Braden lathered on some soap and started to wash his body. He wrinkled his nose, thinking about how he must have seemed to her. Unwashed. Crazed. Cold. Like some sort of dirty killer looming over her, little better than the men hunting her.

  His mind went back to how soft her hand had been against his cheek. If he smelled, she hadn’t acted like he did. That offered some hope.

  After all, it was obvious she was reacting to his presence as a man, and not just as a man who’d saved her.

  His cock twitched as he thought about her soft hand. Braden reached down to stroke himself with his soapy palm. If he couldn’t have her, then he could at least have his dream of her.

  He closed his eyes and pictured her there with him as he had many times. Only now he had her soft hand and sweet breath still seared into his brain, making the image more alive, more real than it’d ever been.

  In his mind Teagan was there with him, stripped down in the shower with him, her soft supple body rubbing against his own. Braden imagined running his hands over her in the hot spray as his fist continued to stroke his hard length.

  He could almost feel her soft skin, feel her breasts as he kneaded and teased her. The sound of her moan echoed in his mind. He sped up, his hand flying over his cock now.

  In his mind, she bent over slightly, and he slammed his rigid rod into her tight pussy. She cried out as he thrust repeatedly. A daydream, nothing, more, but damn if his cock could almost not tell the difference.

  He could feel his balls already tightening for his impending climax as he continued to pump himself. Every beautiful part of her filled his mind. His cock twitched hard as jets of hot cum spurted from him.

  He took several long, deep breaths, his eyes still closed, his cock twitching, wanting more.

  Braden opened his eyes and leaned a hand against the tiled wall in front of him. His need for her was only mildly satiated, and far from gone. If anything, he’d made it worse.

  Touching himself wasn’t enough. He needed her to touch him. He needed to be in her. He wanted to feel her tighten around him, hear her cry out in reality and not in his mind.

  Frustrated and dissatisfied, he stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off. He could hear the chimes of his phone from the bed and wrapped the towel around his middle as he raced to pick up the text from Conor.

  She’s safe and sleeping.

  He grunted.

  Good. He could use a break and a good sleep in his own bed. The rate things were going, he’d have to leave town tomorrow to stay ahead of the Russians.

  Now the only question was how did he go about kidnapping a woman who might willingly come?

  His lower half jumped at the idea, and that worried him even more. The only person he trusted less than Boris around Teagan was himself.

  Chapter Seven

  Teagan sat in the cold doctor’s office as she waited for her lab results to come back. She rubbed her arms and wondered why they couldn’t turn up the heat a little.

  It was a hospital filled with sick people. She couldn’t imagine it’d be helpful to patients trying to recover if they were shivering and cold all the time. Whatever her medical issues were, she’d never been all that sensitive to temperature, so it had to be really cold there.

  She sighed. Maybe, though, it was more about how tired she was. Last night had been long and filled with a lot of worry and little sleep. She’d come so close to being captured by the Russians. If Braden hadn’t been there, there was no way she could have escaped.

  She shuddered. She doubted that the men were just going to take her somewhere for a chat. They were vicio
us men, much more vicious than the men in the Kelly Clan, she knew that much.

  After the horrible experience, she’d debated all morning if she should even come to her medical appointment. She needed to come to get an update on her condition, but what if the men knew about her appointment and ambushed her? In the end, she figured that was silly. If anywhere was safe, it’d be a hospital.

  They had security there, after all, and cameras everywhere, not to mention tons of people. It didn’t strike her as the kind of place you’d try to snatch someone without running into a lot of trouble. That was her theory anyway.

  Still, this time she wasn’t taking any chances. Teagan moved her purse just a little closer. The small gun given to her by Braden lay nestled inside its confines. She still wasn’t sure she’d be able to use it when the time came but figured it was better to have it than not. If she was going to go down, she wanted to at least take one of the evil men with her.

  Teagan shifted uncomfortably in the office. She hated the idea of being cooped up in some office or other hospital room again.

  Much of her life had been spent in the hospital, being poked and prodded with needles, along with being lectured to by nurses and doctors about what she needed to do on a day-to-day basis.

  She wasn’t resentful. She understood that most people with immune conditions like her often didn’t manage to live as long as she had. It wasn’t all that long ago that she couldn’t even live any sort of semblance of a normal life, that she’d been stuck away from almost everyone. New therapies and better doctors had allowed her to do what she’d always wanted: to live like any other woman.

  She’d been lucky, but she didn’t want to allow herself to be dragged back into living like a fragile flower who might die from being sneezed on. She’d tasted freedom now, and the idea of losing it almost terrified her more than the Russians.

  Getting killed by gangsters was one thing, being killed by your own body not being able to do a basic job was another. It was the worst sort of basic betrayal.

  Three short taps came from the door, and she smiled as the doctor stepped into the room. His weathered face was something she’d come to love seeing over the past year. He was a miracle doctor. He was the man who’d given her freedom.

  “Your blood work looks very good, and your white blood cell count is stable. Things are even better than your last check-up.”

  Teagan smiled, relief washing through her. It was hard not to feel like she just won some epic battle.

  “Of course, I still wish you’d consider staying indoors more,” he said. “With flu season upon us, more than ever you must be vigilant about your health. Even with the therapy we’re using, your immune system is still far weaker than most people’s. If you do get sick, it’ll be more severe and last longer. And you could still easily end up hospitalized.”

  She nodded, but had no plans to take his advice. There was no way in hell she was going back to that lifestyle. Been there done that and wrote the damn book.

  She’d take the risk. It was her life. She had the right.

  It wasn’t that the flu didn’t scare her, but she just couldn’t go back to the life she’d had before. Never able to meet friends or join in on anything, always living in the protective shield of her home.

  A lot of people she knew online thought that just the internet would be enough, but those people, at the end of the day, could log off and go to a store or meet with friends at a restaurant.

  They had the choice. That’s all she wanted. The choice.

  “I understand,” she said. “I’m very careful. I always wash my hands and make sure to disinfect after being in public. I’m sure you could do surgery in my kitchen it’s so clean.” She chuckled.

  He sighed but nodded his head. “Well, at least you are taking it seriously.”

  He stood from the little stool he had been sitting on and held out his hand to her.

  “Let me tell you that you really are remarkable,” he said as she shook his hand. “Only about half of my patients see improvement with this new treatment, and an even smaller group demonstrate the level of success that allow them to routinely travel in public without getting sick, and you’ve improved much faster than most with your level of deficiency. You’re an anomaly. A good one, but still an anomaly.”

  Anomaly. Not exactly the word you want people to know you by, but it was better than being a mortality statistic she supposed.

  “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me,” she said. “You’ve given me my life back.” She shook her head. “No. It’s more than that, you’ve let me actually live my life. For the first time in a long time, the future seems like a real possibility.”

  He patted the hand he still held. “You just take care of yourself and enjoy your new life.” He gave one last smile before stepping out of the room.

  She smiled. Things were going to be all right. Those men wouldn’t come after her again, not anytime soon. And by then, Conor and Finn would have a plan. She was sure of it.

  Chapter Eight

  Teagan mulled over the doctor’s words as she made her way through the hospital corridors until she hit the parking garage. Overall, she thought she was succeeding in enjoying her life. She could do so many things she could never do before, but there were still moments when she missed having someone to share it all with, someone who could truly be her partner.

  She loved her brother and his wife, but it just wasn’t quite the same. She’d never seriously thought about a future together with anyone for most of her life. When you know you’re going to die sooner than later, it made no sense to worry about that sort of thing. If anything, it’d be cruel to her partner, but now she had a chance at a future. Why not a future with someone else? Someone nice, strong, and brave… someone like Braden.

  She shook her head. No. She had to stop thinking like that. A kiss didn’t mean anything. He’d said himself this was just a job. She wasn’t quite sure why he was helping her and wasn’t sure if he’d do it again, but it didn’t matter.

  Conor and Finn would take care of her, and, for now, even if he’d helped her, Braden worked for the enemy, and the next time she ran into him, he might be helping the Russians instead of her.

  She couldn’t be with him, no matter how much the thought of him made her insides flutter. She needed to be realistic and accept the situation around her.

  Her thoughts screeched to an abrupt halt when she stared down the row of parked cars and found her own surrounded by more than a few scary-looking large men in ill-fitting suits. She didn’t need to hear them to know they were with the Russian Mafia.

  She took a deep breath. She’d assumed they wouldn’t try again so soon, and that they wouldn’t dare go after her at the hospital. She silently chided herself for underestimating the boldness of the criminals.

  Fortunately, at least from what she could tell, they hadn’t spotted her yet. So she had some small advantage left.

  She turned and placed a hand inside her purse, desperately searching for the gun she’d placed in there. She didn’t care what she had to do. She wasn’t going to let them get her.

  Maybe if she shot one, they’d leave her alone.

  “Hey!”

  Her heart kicked into overdrive. Teagan didn’t wait to see which of them had called out. Her shootout plan now seemed ridiculous. Escape. That was the only option.

  She dropped her hand from her purse and ran toward a nearby stairwell. She burst through the heavy door and ran down the stairs until she reached the next level of the parking garage. Not stopping, her breathing ragged, she pushed through the door and looked around for somewhere to hide. Anywhere.

  No one else seemed to be in sight. She didn’t know if that was a good thing. Maybe if other people were around, the gangsters would run away, or maybe they’d just shoot the innocent people.

  She wiped away a few tears threatening to form. She didn’t have time for self-pity. She needed to move.

  Heavy footsteps echoed in
the stairwell. Her heart pounded even harder than before, her breath was ragged, and sweat covered her palms. She needed to find a hiding spot fast before she pushed herself too hard.

  Teagan ran across the way and slipped her body under the closest car just as the door to the stairs burst open. The thugs rushed through glancing around the area, a few pointing, best she could tell at least not at her.

  She shook as she struggled to get out the gun hidden in the depths of her purse. Her hands gripped the cold steel and pulled it from inside. Teagan flipped the safety off. She wondered if they could hear that.

  The men ran around the garage, calling to one another from time to time in Russian, at least she assumed it was Russian.

  Most of the voices seemed to be growing distant. They didn’t know where she was. Though her heart felt like it wanted to explode, she listened for her chance to make a getaway.

  Footsteps suddenly grew closer to the car she was hiding under. Teagan could see their feet now, and used her free hand to cover her mouth to keep from being heard. All they had to do was look under the car, and she would be a goner. Even if she shot one guy, it wasn’t like she could take them all. She’d never even fired a gun before.

  Two loud pops echoed among the walls of the garage. The men called to one another as they raced in the direction of the sound.

  Teagan let out the breath she had been holding.

  She decided to wait a minute or two before trying to make her way out.

  The silence of the garage was suddenly shattered by the funky melody of a Marvin Gaye song. Her phone!

  “Shit,” she mumbled and scrambled to find her phone. She pressed the button inside her purse and sighed when the sound cut off.

  Teagan jumped as a pair of brown boots came into view beside the car she was under. One second they hadn’t been there, and the next they were. Bile rose in her throat as she bit her lip. This was it.

  “Teagan, come out.”

  She froze. The voice sounded familiar, but terror held her in place.