by Anna Brooks
She sniffles. “Don’t make me go.”
“Go where?”
“I want to stay with you. I don’t want to go back to—”
I cut her off, pulling her to me until our foreheads are touching. “I would never make you go. Why are you questioning it?”
Her eyes sparkle, and a speck of guilt flashes. What she’s hiding. Dammit, I need to figure this shit out, and I will. “Nothing good ever stays, Noble. Good always leaves.”
“I will. God, Brinley. Don’t you know? I’ve been fighting it, fighting you, but your pull is too strong. No way can I let you go even if I wanted to.” I should, though. She deserves way more than I can offer her. All I have is me. My house. But that’s it. No family, no legacy, no nothing. I never, ever want to have another kid. In whatever way I can have her, I’m keeping her.
“Promise you won’t make me go.”
I tilt my head, and when I blink, my eyelashes glide across her cheek. “Promise.”
The way she sighs in relief makes me feel like a grade-A asshole at how much she’s been through recently. I fucked up last week, but my skin was practically vibrating with the need to taste her, to bring her some kind of pleasure, security. I wanted to for a while, but knowing someone was creepin’ around my house, and the thought that someone would get to her fucked me up. And now I’m even more fucked up over her because I know what she tastes like.
I shouldn’t have done it because I still don’t think she’s ready, and her questioning if I’d make her leave does nothing but solidify my point. If she thinks she doesn’t mean the damn world to me and that I wouldn’t do anything to keep it whole and spinning, she’s not ready for more. Not until she believes in me. In us.
Fuck, I never thought I’d consider myself part of someone else again. And maybe she’s questioning it because she’s not sure, and maybe she’ll realize what a chump I am and leave me for someone better. If that’s the case, I’ll let her go because she deserves to be happy, even if it’s not with me.
I want it to be, though. So I’ll do whatever I can to prove to her that I can be everything she needs.
If it were up to me, I’d stay like this with her forever, but when the ride is over, we get off and head to the exit. My hand is tight in hers, the rowdy crowd making me nervous. Thank God the exit is just ahead. “I need to use the bathroom before we go.”
“Sure. Don’t take too long.”
I walk her as close as I can get before letting her go. I then rest my back against a tree and lay a foot on the log while I wait for her, staring at the exit. I hate the number of people who are coming and going. It makes it hard to get a clear view of the door she’ll be coming out of.
And after a few minutes, I get that sinking pit in the bottom of my stomach. A cold, sharp knot of awareness tightens, and I erupt into action.
I shove through the throngs of people at the exit door and into the women’s bathroom, despite the protests and screeches. “Brinley!” I shout her name, and when I get no reply, I do it again. “Rinny!” Still nothing. I crouch down and look for her white shoes beneath the stall doors but don’t see them.
Panic starts to make my palms sweat, but I can’t lose my shit. I rush to the exit and call her name but still get nothing. Turning the corner to the back of the bathrooms, I get socked in the gut because lying there is one lone, white tennis shoe.
Chapter 12
Brinley
As I’m walking out of the bathroom, I pause to look at my reflection in the mirror. I see myself, but I don’t recognize me. And that’s a good thing. I’m happy and content. And I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt that, if ever. Today was amazing. I feel like whatever is happening between Noble and me is finally happening.
But then I remember it’s only temporary because I can’t keep the truth hidden much longer. That makes my shoulders slump and my face fall, and I finally recognize that girl looking back at me.
The noise from the carnival filters into the bathroom, and I decide to forget the inevitable and focus on what’s happening now. Enjoy this moment, this night with Noble.
With a little skip in my step, I head to the exit, but it’s blocked by a bunch of teenagers taking selfies, so I bypass them and head out of the bathroom entrance. A strong hand grabs me by the arm, and I know immediately it’s not Noble. Before I get a chance to scream or fight, a rag is shoved into my mouth and another set of hands grabs my ankles.
I hear a few gasps and screeches from people who obviously saw me, but nobody helps. Like always.
God, where’s Noble?
Flailing my body, I try to get free, but one petite woman is no match for two big burly men. I scream against the cloth and try to spit it out, but a big hand covers half my face, including my nose. I suck in air as best as I can and try to calm down so I don’t hyperventilate, and at that moment, I hear Noble screaming my name.
He’ll save me. I just need to stall them. I thrash around and buck my hips, but they laugh. The two of them carry me around the corner of the bathroom and through an alley of sorts. “Come on. It already took us too long. Danny’s gonna be pissed.”
Danny.
Goddammit. I’m gonna kick his ass for this. I totally stop fighting now and let them take me to their leader, knowing I’m not actually being kidnapped. They throw me in the back of the van where I hit my face on the floor. “Ouch,” I whisper mumble around the gag before I rip it out of my mouth and bring my hand to cradle my cheek.
“Shut up,” the one with a bald head hisses at me.
“Danny’s gonna be maaad at you,” I warn and glare at him. I look around for my missing shoe but don’t see it anywhere.
This is bullshit. Stupid, controlling, irrational Danny. I knew he was going to be mad because I told him I’d come to him in a week, and it’s been a week. But in my defense, so much has happened, and I’ve been happy. God, for the first time in my life, I’ve been content, and he’s going to ruin that and have his little shit-stains kidnap me just so I’ll check in. Ugh! He has no right to sic his minions on me. I love the guy, but damn, he can be a pain in my ass sometimes.
I have no doubt Noble will find me. And I’m not sure if I’m more afraid of his wrath or what I have coming from Danny. Actually no, I’m more afraid of what’ll happen between Danny and Noble when he finds me. Both men are protective, but in their own different ways.
The bumpy road causes me to hit my head again, and I wince at the already forming goose egg. It doesn’t take long to get to Danny’s lair, and when they open the back door, I don’t even try to fight them. “Follow me.”
Forced to walk between the two men, the one in the back holds my wrists together, and I follow them through the private back entrance. They don’t need to lead me because I know where his office is. They knock two times, and I hear a faint, “Come in.”
The one with dreads pushes open the door, and as I walk in, the bald one releases my hands and gives me a little shove forward.
“What the fuck, Danny?” I screech at him.
“What happened to your face?” His sinister tone makes me snap my mouth shut. I’ve heard that voice directed at other men but never me. His eyes dart from mine to the two guys, then back to me. “What happened?”
I jump and swallow nervously, something I don’t usually do in front of Danny because he doesn’t scare me like he does everyone else. “Nothing. I just hit my face.”
“When?”
“Danny, I—”
“When?” he bellows and reached for the gun in his waistband.
Taking a step closer to him, I try to placate him, fearful for what he’s about to do to these two guys who were no doubt just following orders. I already witnessed him kill one man; I don’t want to see two and three. “When they put me in the van. I’m fine.”
“When they threw you, you mean?”
My non-answer is all the response he needs. He gently rubs his thumb along the bruise, then bypasses me and brings the butt of his gun in the
air before slamming it down on the bald guy’s face. He bellows in pain and nearly collapses but manages to stay on his feet. The second guy with dreadlocks doesn’t fare so well and falls to the ground. “Fucking morons. I told you unharmed.” He nudges the fallen soldier with his foot. “Get his ass outta here.”
Baldie, with blood dripping down his face as his eye swells by the second, drags the unconscious man out of Danny’s office. As soon as the door closes behind them, Danny holds his arms out for me, but instead of going into them like I usually would, I take a step back. His violence isn’t something I enjoy witnessing.
His head tilts in confusion, but he saunters to me and wraps his tattooed arms around me. “Brinley.”
Giving in to the comfort of his familiarity and knowing he’d never hurt me, I hug him back. I did miss him, and I was worried that he’d be in jail for the rest of his life. “Hi, Danny.” I need to give him this play for a minute before I tell him I’ve got to get a hold of Noble because he’s probably going insane right now.
He holds me at arm’s length and nods at where his guys just walked out of; well, one of them walked, the other was dragged. “Sorry they were rough.” His black hair is slightly wavy but slicked back. His body is the perfect cross between muscle-y and lean, and his eyes are the lightest brown I’ve ever seen. Beneath his darker skin, he has to have some type of Italian in him because he has the worst temper I’ve ever seen. Not with me, though. He’s gentle with me. Before Noble, he was the only other person who actually cared about me. Our history started in a foster home years and years ago.
“What do you want?”
His tongue darts out, moistening his lips. “You. You said a week. It’s been a week, and I’m not patient. You know this.”
He motions to the black leather couch on the other side of the room, so I head in that direction. “Well, I’m here, and I’ve gotta tell you, I’m a little pissed at how you handled that. You know I would have come to you. Don’t you have better things to do since you just got out of jail anyway? How did you get out so fast?”
Once I sit, he takes the spot next to me. He ignores my questions, somehow having connections and a way of never getting prosecuted that’s always baffled me. “Nothing is more important than you. Don’t test me with your attitude, Brinley. I said a week, and you didn’t show.”
It dawns on me, and I sigh. “You were at his cabin in the woods the other night, weren’t you?”
“Yes.” He doesn’t hesitate to answer. “You know if anybody knows about you, you’re a liability. You finally called from your new number, and there was no way I was going to risk not physically seeing you to make sure you were unharmed.” Danny has told me in the past that if something ever happened to him, I’d be covered, whatever that means.
And I get it.
I’m not sure, though, if Noble knows Danny was there the other night, or if he really thought it was an animal. Either way, it irritates me that Danny was following me. But at the same time, I like knowing he really does care about me enough to come find me if he’s worried about me.
“Dammit, Danny. What the hell were you thinking?”
His eyes narrow. “I was worried.”
Noble’s going to be worried, too. “I know. I’m sorry you were worried, but still.” Noble could have shot him, but I’m sure he already knows that. “Kidnapping me is not cool.” Danny would never hurt me. I know that with all of my soul, but he still scares the hell out of me. He’s not a good guy. He’s ruthless and brutal and has no remorse. I swear if I didn’t know him like I do, I’d think he was soulless.
“They weren’t supposed to harm you. They were just supposed to bring you to me. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”
“Whatever. You have me, but I need to go. Actually, I need to use your phone.” I didn’t bother bringing mine with me, because why would I?
“Why?”
I look at him like he’s an idiot, which I know he’s not. “I need to call Noble, so he knows I’m okay before he freaks out and you have every guy at their security company after you.” If Danny was at his house, I have no doubt in my mind that he somehow looked up Noble to see who he was, so there’s no need for me to explain any further.
He looks over my shoulder.
“I think I could finally settle.” Something we both always dreamed of. “But he doesn’t know. When he finds out…”
“When he finds out what?”
“He probably won’t want me to stay.”
He leans toward me. “If he doesn’t want you to stay, then he’s a fuckin’ idiot, and you’d be better off without him.”
“He really cares about me. I’m afraid to ruin that.” At least he does now. After this, who knows. Noble was trying to fight it, and I may never have him exactly how I want him, but he told me today he’d never let me go. No matter how I’m in his life, as long as I’m in it somehow, that’s good enough for me. I know he cares, and if I can make him believe that it’s okay that we’re together forever, it’ll be perfect. As long as he still wants me.
“I can tell he cares, angel. He couldn’t keep his hands off you all day. And he knew you two were being watched. I like that he’s got his shit squared to have your back.”
I roll my eyes to try to hide the fear of these two men finding out about each other for more reasons than one. “How long were you watching me?”
“Long enough. I had some… business to deal with down there, and I saw you, but I was already occupied, so I had to send in reinforcements.” He pauses, then releases a breath. “I know who this guy is. But who is he to you?” His knee bounces, and he bites his thumbnail, the one tell he has that he’s nervous. Something he only does in the privacy of his home. On the street, he has no tells and shows no emotion, but I know a completely different side of him.
“He was my friend’s dad a long time ago, but she died, and he moved away. That was like… eight years ago. Recently, as in the day you got arrested, I started staying with this girl because she and her parents felt sorry for me. Turns out her dad owns Royal Ace Security.” I omit the reason I was there in the first place and the whole having a nervous breakdown thing because he doesn’t need to know that part. “That’s where I ran into Noble. He remembered me and took me to his house. And now we’re… together, I guess, in a way.”
Danny really needs to accept this so I can get ahold of Noble. The last thing I want is for him to think I’m in danger and bother the other guys to come and find me. I mean, obviously, he thinks I was taken, but it might not be too late for me to stop him before he sends the cavalry out searching.
“I’m assuming you won’t be providing your services to me anymore.”
A little disappointed in myself that I’m just stopping without a notice, I nod.
Noble
“I’m sorry to just leave you hanging with no notice.” I hear her apologize.
“You know I never wanted you in on my operation anyway, so I’m fine with you moving on with your life. But you will not move on from me, understand?” He growls the words at her.
What the fuck?
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Don’t be scared of me. You know I’d never hurt you.”
“I’m not. I know.”
There’s a beat of silence before the guy starts talking again. “He deserved it, Brin.”
Who deserved what?
“It’s not your job to play God.”
He grunts. “Someone has to do it since natural selection is a myth. I’d have done the same thing no matter what woman he was hurting, but it just happened to be you, and there was no way I could let him get away with that shit. Not only because it was you, but because he was doin’ that shit on my turf. Nobody fucks with my turf, and nobody definitely fucks with someone I care about, on my turf or not.”
“You can’t keep doing this forever, Danny. What happens the next time you get arrested, and you can’t get out of it?”
“I’ll always be able to ge
t out of it.”
“You’re not invincible.”
The sound of ice being dropped into a glass echoes before he talks again. “Out there, I am. I worked my ass off for it, and if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have had the chance. You gave me this, and I know you don’t agree with it, but it’s mine. I fuckin’ run this turf. It’s all I know, and it’s all I’ve got.”
“I know you control a huge part of the street, but you could have so much more.”
“Let’s be real, angel.” I have to grind my teeth together to hold in the growl that threatens to come out at him calling her that. Nobody gets to call her anything other than her name, and even then, it’s a fucking privilege.
“I am being real.”
A set of shoes sounds against the floor. “You’re the only real thing in my life, and the only person I can trust a hundred percent.” Who the fuck is this guy? “It blows, babe.” I hear him suck in a breath. “That we’ll never work since I know how fuckin’ great we’d be together.”
Oh, hell motherfucking no.
“But you deserve better.”
“I’m not special, Danny. You could have anyone. You’re the one who deserves better.”
“Anyone isn’t you.” There’s a long pause, and I’m about to make my presence known, but he starts talking again. “He good to you?”
There’s a smile in her voice when she says, “Yeah. He really is, more than you’ll ever know. He gets me, and I get him. But like I said, he’s gonna be worried and pissed, so I need to call him before he finds me and does something bad.”
“How do you know he’ll find you?”
“I just know.” I love that she knows I’ll come for her. I’ll always come for her. “Plus, he works for one of the best, if not the best, security company in the country.”
Damn straight. I already laid out four of his guards, and if it wasn’t for the easy and comfortable communication she has with this guy, I wouldn’t have hesitated to barge in that room to do the same thing to him. But when I heard him ask her if her services were done and with the way she’s so closed lip about her past, I’m totally eavesdropping.
