The Strand Brothers Series: Complete Set

by Lora Ann

Alex chimed in, “Ari, I won’t tell you again. Be respectful.”

  She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Unbelievable. They’d had no idea they were father and daughter, yet the bond was clearly formed. Well…Alex now knew the truth, but Ari didn’t. I couldn’t help but be jealous.

  Alex added, “Do you mind if I speak to Ms. Fields for a moment?”

  Ari smiled. “Go right ahead, Alex. I’m feeling tired anyway.” She yawned to punctuate that.

  I needed to remember this young woman, my daughter, was still very ill and should rest. I squeezed her hand. “I’ll come back later if that’s okay with you?”

  Her eyes were at half-mast. “Alrighty.”

  Alex stood at the door. “Shall we?”

  I nodded and slowly walked towards him. Why, oh why, did it feel like I was making the trek to the execution chamber? When I passed by him to step into the hall, I felt both emotions warring within him: desire and rage. I had to wonder which one would win. Sure hoped it was anger. Then again, angry sex was freakin’ hot. Maybe I wanted both. Glutton for punishment—nothing new there—I tended to thrive on it. Might as well get this over with. The sooner Alex and I had this out, the better for everyone. Wish that lie was believable, but I knew better. The story I had to share was beyond horrific. Honestly, I didn’t know if I were capable of sharing it. Let alone with the man who still had my heart, whether he realized it or not. What a mess my life had become. Where did I even begin to tell him all I’d endured the last sixteen years? Worse, what if he didn’t give a damn? And that, right there, was what made me decide this wasn’t the time. I would answer the questions regarding Ari only. He hadn’t earned the right to know me yet. I doubted he would ever want that. Which was just fine with me, I had no use for a man in my life. Better off without them…they came with way too much heartbreak. Keep lying to yourself, So. Great, now I was using his pet name for me. Crap, not a good sign at all. I turned towards him. “Alex, I can…” The word explain never left my lips.

  I was up against a wall. His mouth on mine with the violence I craved. Hell yes. Desire and rage collided in a spectacular display as his tongue forced mine to obey his every command. This was not the boy I had once loved. No, this was a man full of dark, tumultuous emotions. And he was punishing me with each thrust of his tongue. I wanted more. I reached between our bodies and stroked his hard length.

  He hissed, “Fuuuuck, I’m going to come.”

  I pulled away from him and scanned the hallway. It just so happened we were next to a closet. I tested the door to see if it was unlocked. Sure enough, it opened. I had no time to second guess my actions. All of a sudden, I was being lifted and then the dark enveloped us. Once more ravaged by his sinful mouth, and I never wanted to come up for air again. “Alex,” I pleaded, “I need you inside me.”

  “God, yes,” he panted out before entering me with not a little force.

  I didn’t recall how I became nude from the waist down, or, when he had freed his huge cock. But I welcomed the invasion. He pumped furiously into me, and I was stunned when I came. I had not had an orgasm since him all those years ago—unless we count the ones self-induced, but by a man, no, only this one. It had always been Alex. It would only be Alex who could command my body to his will. No sense in denying that.

  Once Alex came, he pulled out as quickly as he’d entered me and growled, “Fix your fucking clothes.” The light from the hallway blinded me for a moment as he stood at the door and spat out, “Never again. Do you understand me?”

  I nodded. “If that’s the way you want it.”

  “God, So, don’t be nice about this. I just fucked you. At least be pissed off by that fact.”

  “I wanted it.”

  “Doesn’t make it right,” he scoffed, leaving the room.

  For the first time in sixteen years, I slid to the floor and cried. Alex was also the only man who could make me feel anything, but this was not what I anticipated. Careful what you wish for, right? Had I not said I wanted his desire and rage? Yes, I did. But I hadn’t wanted disgust. Great, every woman’s dream come true. Ha! Ha!

  Chapter Three

  Alex

  Talk about a what-the-fuck moment. Stupid didn’t even begin to cover it. I ran my hands over my face before they ended up in my hair, pulling until I winced. For fuck’s sake, did I really think it’d mean nothing to me? That all I felt for Sofie was contempt. I was only kidding myself. The feelings I had for her had simply laid dormant all these years. I acknowledged I was still angry and bitter. But thanks to that escapade, it had become painfully obvious I still wanted her. Why my obstinate ass couldn’t figure that out earlier, I had no idea. But there it was, for all the damn world to see. Worse, I wouldn’t let myself fall in love with her again. I barely survived the first time. No second chances were happening. Ever. Though, I was acutely aware that it would be easier said than done. Still, I wasn’t going there. My only regret, at the moment, was that I’d given her hope. Whether I liked it or wanted it, she yearned for me too. Again, I tamped down the memories that threatened to overtake me. There was no way I would be strong enough to relive it.

  As I rounded the corner, Shannon was exiting Ari’s room. The hell? Ari had just had another transfusion, Shannon shouldn’t be disturbing her. Naturally in the state I was in, what popped out of my mouth would be called abrasive at best. “Leave her the hell alone, Shannon. Your damn investigation can wait. Clear?” I barked out.

  Her posture changed immediately. Standing before me wasn’t just a detective but a strong woman that wouldn’t put up with my shit. Period. “Don’t take that tone with me, Alex. This is not a courtroom, nor do you have any right to tell me what I can and can’t do. Comprende?”

  God, her smart mouth had always turned me on and made me want to take her over my knee at the same time. Not now, not ever. You just fucked Sofie, lest I forgot that. Although it’d been hard and fast, full of pent-up anger, that had still awakened a side of me I’d once thought dead and buried. Let’s face facts, I liked Shannon a lot, even desired her, but acknowledged she would never be the woman I spent the rest of my life with. No, that’s Sofie, dipshit. I growled at myself, not if I could help it. “Shannon, as much as I want to kiss that damn mouth of yours, we need to talk.”

  She leveled a look at me that made me feel like the asshole I was. “Sofie,” she stated.

  One name with more meanings than I cared to examine. I exhaled heavily, “Yes. I owe you more information.”

  “I agree. Let’s walk,” she declared, turning towards the corridor that led outside to the garden.

  I matched her stride and took her hand in mine, not to lead her on or give her false hope, but to let her know that I genuinely valued her. “I wish there were an easy answer to this debacle, Shannon.”

  She squeezed my hand. “Listen, cowboy. You got a lot on your plate right now.”

  “That I do,” I nodded. “Still, you don’t deserve any of this shit.”

  “Life doesn’t work that way, Alex. You know that.”

  “Unfortunately, I do.” Holding the door open for her, I acknowledged that it was time to say goodbye to a wonderful woman. Why couldn’t we choose who to fall in love with?

  We walked in companionable silence until reaching a Koi pond in the Japanese section of the gardens. I always felt such peace there. At the moment, I felt anything but. As we sat on a nearby bench, I pulled no punches. “Sofie and I go way back.”

  “Well, that’s obvious by Ari’s age. However, Sofie had shared a little when you passed out earlier.”

  I bowed my head. Man, how embarrassing was that? I hadn’t had anything but coffee in over twenty-four hours, coupled with the blood I’d donated and the shock of learning Ari was in fact my daughter sent me over the edge. The doc wasn’t all too pleased when I came to and walked out of that damnable room. Matter of fact, I left while he was still saying something along the lines of how dangerous it could be for me to just up and leave without an examination. Fuck
that. “Yeah, not my most manly moment,” I apprised.

  “You’ve been under a lot of stress and have donated as much blood as you can. I’m not surprised it bit you in the butt.”

  I chuckled, “That it did.”

  “Look, Alex…the detail that you share a child with Sofie doesn’t bother me, but there are still feelings between the two of you whether you’ve acknowledged them or not.”

  Hell, she was good. She could give Aimee a run for her money in the intuition department. “I want to deny that vehemently, Shannon.”

  “But you can’t,” she filled in.

  I hadn’t let go of her hand the entire time. I turned towards her and brought that hand to my mouth, softly kissing each knuckle. “I want it to be you,” I confessed.

  “Oh, Alex.” Shannon’s voice cracked, bringing my eyes to hers where I saw moisture glistening on her lashes. With my fingers, I gently caressed her cheek. She reached up and held them against her face. “I always knew there was someone else in your heart. I simply hoped there was room for me, too,” she admitted.

  “So did I.”

  “I guess this is goodbye,” she sighed.

  “I’m not in the right place for you, Shannon. Plus, no matter how much I want to make it happen, I’m not the man for you either.”

  She nodded. “I think I’ve always known that. But I really like you.”

  I tilted her face up so I could look her in the eyes. “I really like you, too. However, what kind of future would that be?”

  Her tears were freely falling. “We deserve more,” she whispered.

  Well, she did. I wasn’t sold on that for myself. Nevertheless this was hard enough. No need to go there. Instead of speaking, I leaned in and gently kissed her. There were no sudden jolts of awareness or longing for more. In and of itself, that was telling.

  When I pulled away, she stood. “I’m still running this investigation. So I will see you from time to time.”

  “I figured as much,” I admitted. “I’d like to think we’re still friends.”

  She half-smiled. “Give me some time, cowboy. But I do think that’s possible.”

  I stood up and embraced her tightly. “I’d like that very much.”

  She was the one to pull away. While pivoting to walk towards the hospital, she said, “I’ll see you soon, Alex. Please, take care of yourself.”

  “You, too, red.” I used my pet name for her. Hopefully she heard that I still cared, even if I wasn’t in love with her.

  Once I was alone, the memories I’d tried so hard to keep at bay flooded.

  Sofie and I were together every minute possible, usually in an embrace of some form or another. We’d even been busted at work gettin’ busy in the men’s room. Not our finest moment. Meanwhile, her father tried every way in the world to keep us apart, which only fueled the need to be together more often. Almost like our silent fuck you every time we managed to slip away. It did come back to bite us in the ass, however. On that particular day when I entered the gates of the water park, I’d no idea my life would change forever. I found Sofie sobbing in front of the locker rooms and honestly thought her father had laid down another ultimatum. Man, had I been way off base. Took her a solid ten minutes to calm down enough to even try and speak to me. Then again, she didn’t say much. Just “here” as she handed me a plastic sandwich bag with a weird white stick in it. I flipped the bag over to see the writing on it: two lines equal positive, one line equals negative. I stood there staring at it like an idiot until Sofie whispered, “I’m pregnant, Alex.”

  I only nodded, for words had escaped me. Then I asked, “How?” Talk about the dumbest question ever spoken. Of course, it had brought on more weeping from Sofie. I knelt in front of her and comforted, “Maybe it’s wrong.”

  She reached into her backpack pulling out a brown paper bag. She turned the bag upside down and at least seven more sticks fell out. As I examined them awareness of the truth became clear, she was pregnant. Never any doubt in my mind I was the father, I grabbed her hand in mine. For a second, I marveled at the size difference. Sofie wasn’t petite or tall. She was average I supposed for a woman, though her five-foot, seven-inches seemed short to me. Her build was average as well. She was neither skinny nor fat. In my eyes she was absolutely perfect, beautiful beyond compare. Right down to the adorable freckles across her nose, which she hated with a passion. Yet it was her eyes that had first captivated me, the lightest amber with a dark blue outline around the irises. My brother Even had that same ring around his silver eyes. Although in Sofie’s case, it was the result of her mother’s blue eyes and her father’s brown ones. I might have considered that man a dick and thought his wife a doormat to put up with him, but they sure had created one stunning daughter.

  While down there on my knees staring into her tear-swollen eyes, it hit me: She had just turned seventeen. “Will you marry me, Sofia Louise Howard?”

  Her arms went around my neck so fast we fell over. With her on top of me, she kissed my face over and over again. I tangled my hands in Sofie’s hair and held her where I wanted. Then I kissed her thoroughly. No doubt in my mind, it would’ve escalated if we hadn’t been interrupted.

  Before I could continue down memory lane, a noise caught my attention. After a beat, I recognized the sound of weeping. I began to search the gardens for the distraught woman, drawn to her pain by some unforeseen force. I neared the roses and could swear her sobs were familiar. My heart wept with hers, which made no sense to me. Yes, I had a soft spot for a crying female. My brothers did as well. Could be due to the fact we only had our mother after dad was killed, and we were all close to her. Whatever the reason, it brought out a protective side in me I wasn’t fully prepared to handle.

  Eventually, my search paid off. Sitting on a stone bench, nestled amongst the red roses, was a woman. She was bent over with her hands covering her face. Therefore, all I could see was her hair. I noticed the blonde shimmering in the sunlight, although, her hair was a sea of brown reaching just to the middle of her back. Without forethought I gently ran my hand over her head, letting the silky strands weave between my fingers. A low moan escaped carrying my name. I squeezed my eyes tightly. I’d known it was her all along, but that had confirmed it. “Oh, Sofie,” I groaned, “Why? Tell me why.”

  Sofie’s head raised as her hands fell into her lap. Tear streaked cheeks and puffy eyes told me everything. She’d been crying for quite some time. I watched as she swallowed hard. “Okay. But it’s not a story you want to hear, Alex.”

  I nodded in agreement. “I still need to hear it.”

  She licked her lips as my eyes tracked her tongue. I fought for control not to kiss her. “Yes, I suppose you do.”

  I sat down next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She wept some more as I held her there in an array of beauty. I had once known the heart of this woman. Whether I liked it or not, we shared a child together. Once upon a time, I had given her all of me. She needed someone to lean on at that moment. In spite of the red flags I had waving at me to stop, my soul knew hers and my heart ached for her. A few minutes passed, might have been several hours—I had no idea—as we sat there while she cried it all out. I simply held her. Little did I know, at the time, how that gesture would change the game. Forever.

  Chapter Four

  Sofie

  If you’d told me when I awoke that morning I’d be in the arms of the love of my life, I might’ve slapped you for the lie. Yet, I was not only in his arms but had recently had angry sex with him in a storage closet. Talk about a mindfuck. I pulled myself together, acknowledging there was no easy way to tell him what he needed to hear. Taking a deep, cleansing breath I began, “Father was beyond angry when he learned about the pregnancy.”

  Alex dropped his arm and leaned forward with his elbows resting above his knees. “Hell, Sofie. How did he find out?”

  “One of the test sticks fell out of my backpack as I rushed past him in the foyer,” I answered sheepishly. A humiliatin
g moment then, and sharing it with Alex brought that back in full Technicolor.

  “Shit.” His eyes widened. “Did he hurt you?”

  I exhaled loudly, wringing my hands in front of me. All of a sudden his hand stilled mine. I slid a sidelong glance at him and gasped at the sight before me. Alex’s face was contorted in rage and his breathing heavy. The chill in the air was unmistakable. Lying would’ve been the wisest choice, yet I couldn’t bring myself to do so. He deserved the truth. “Yes,” I whispered.

  He stood abruptly and growled, “I’ll fucking kill him,” as he began to walk away.

  I jumped up and tugged on his arm to stop him. “Alex.”

  “No, So. Bastard had no right. Let me beat the shit out of him like I should’ve done years ago.” He yanked free of me.

  “He’s dead,” I yelled.

  That halted him in his tracks. He turned towards me. “When?”

  “About a month ago.”

  “Fuckin’ A. You didn’t know about Ari, did you?”

  I tilted my head to one side in confusion. “Of course I knew I had a child out there somewhere.”

  His powerful strides brought him to me, front and center. “But you didn’t know where she was until his deathbed confession, correct?”

  I nodded. He was spot on, no use denying that. “How she survived the beating I got that night, I’ll never know. He forbade me to see you and forced me to write that damnable letter, which made you hate me forever. I-I couldn’t contact you, ever. Part of the deal I made when I sold my soul,” I sobbed out, hitting my knees before him. There wasn’t any more pride left in me. I had destroyed so much. I should’ve contacted him years ago, but convinced myself he was better off not knowing. I deserved his wrath. He dropped to his knees before me and pulled me against his hard body, weeping too. Never had I expected compassion or, more like, his pain blending with mine. My God, what had I done to this man? I reared back and continued, “Father threatened to press charges, Alex. I knew that would destroy your career before it ever started.”