39. Reed

39

Reed

I was already at the door by the time Brandy was stepping out of her Bronco. She hadn’t texted before she came over, which meant something had to be wrong.

I nearly ripped the front door off the hinges before running out to meet her in the driveway after I’d seen her pull up through the kitchen window. Her chest was rising and falling too fast as I approached, her whole body shaking in the cold, despite wearing a sweater.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Before she could answer, I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to my chest. Her hands fisted in my shirt, but it did little to ease the tremor.

“My d-dad,” she stuttered, and the sound broke my fucking heart. Shredded it to pieces and stabbed it a hundred times. I could handle anything other than broken Brandy. Anything . “He g-grabbed me.”

She didn’t have to tell me where. I was already moving.

But I didn’t make it far as her hand wrapped around my arm, stopping me in place. “No. Stay. Please stay. I need you.”

I looked down at her, into eyes filled with unshed tears. Fuck, I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t built to choose. I wanted to rip him apart, then hold her for eternity. I couldn’t do both at the same time.

But over the course of the last few months, I realized maybe I could.

Brandy came first.

Always.

I knew it took a lot in her to admit that she needed someone other than herself. I couldn’t abandon her right now. Not like this.

“Okay.” I moved back to her, wrapping my arms around her again before pulling back and scooping her up. She didn’t even attempt to fight it as her head fell against my shoulder while I carried her inside. I headed straight for my bedroom, pulling back the black sheets once we were in there. I laid her on the bed, scooting in next to her and covering us with the blanket.

I pulled her close as she nuzzled her head into my chest, and finally, she let those tears fall. A sob wracked her, her fingers digging into my skin through my shirt as she let it all out. All the pain, the years of fear that lived deep inside her. She let it all fall like water out of a ruined dam, feeling every emotion she tried to keep carefully tucked away. Today was the last straw, for her and for me. I wouldn’t let him do this to them anymore.

No woman should ever have to live in fear, and if I had to be the bad guy to ensure they felt safe, I would be. I’d be anything Brandy needed me to be, so long as she was okay, mentally and physically.

Once she calmed down and her breathing evened out, I stroked a hand down her hair, mustering up the courage to ask the question I didn’t know if I wanted the answer to.

Swallowing the rage that threatened to consume me, I finally asked, “Where did he grab you?”

She nuzzled her head deeper into my chest, as if she could dig a hole there and bury herself away from the pain of today.

“My neck,” she answered, her voice muffled in my shirt.

My entire body stiffened, her answer the last choice I was imagining. I expected an arm, a wrist, but her neck ?

“I’ll kill him,” I promised, no other option acceptable.

She shook her head, gripping me tighter. “You can’t.”

“I can.” And I would.

“Reed.” She shimmied away from me slightly, looking directly at me. “You have to promise me you won’t do something that lands you in jail.”

I kept my mouth shut because I couldn’t promise her that. Imagining her helpless with his hand around her throat… Fuck. Why the fuck was I still lying here?

“Please.”

“We have to do something, Brandy. He can’t just get away with touching you.” Her eyes fell, and devastation hit me in the gut. “What?”

With a heavy breath, she said, “He hasn’t only touched me since he’s been back.”

My head fell against the pillow as I rolled to my back, my hand coming up to drag down my face. She had to be fucking kidding.

“He touched your mom again and you didn’t tell me?” I was no longer able to keep the anger out of my tone. But I wasn’t mad at her. Fuck, I could never be. It was him I wanted to rip apart.

“I didn’t want you to get involved. What if you go to jail? What if he hurts you?”

I sat up, looking down at her beside me. “ Me ? He’s been hurting your mom your whole life, fucked with your head, and now he could have killed you today, and you’re worried about me ?”

Her bottom lip trembled, and guilt instantly crept in, dwarfing my frustration.

“Come here,” I murmured, reaching for her. She scooted over, laying her head on my lap. I ran my fingers through her hair as I rested against the headboard.

And as her breathing evened out and she fell into a deep sleep, I knew we wouldn’t have to come up with a plan once she woke up.

I already had one.

And it didn’t include him making it out of this unscathed.

***

Once midnight rolled around, I carefully scooted out from under Brandy, where she still lay sleeping on my bed. I’d nearly woken her to make sure she ate dinner, but I figured she wouldn’t be in the mood to eat. As soon as I got back from what I was about to do, I’d make her the best damn breakfast she ever had. But first, I had an agenda I needed to take care of.

Quietly sliding her mother’s house key off her key ring, I pocketed it before grabbing my gun from my safe. I didn’t plan to use it, but I was bringing it as a precaution. Her father was clearly unpredictable, and the last thing I wanted was to walk into the fire unarmed.

After sneaking out of the room, I headed out the front door, trying to be as silent as possible as I got in my truck, started it, and headed toward the road. Once I made it to Brandy’s mother’s house, I decided to park up the block in case her father wasn’t home. By the looks of the empty driveway, I figured he wasn’t, so this was the safest bet to remain discreet. Last thing I needed was him to see my truck out front and instantly grow suspicious before I had the chance to say my piece.

Hooking my gun into the waistband of my jeans, I got out, locked the truck, and walked the rest of the way. Using Brandy’s key, I let myself in, making sure to lock the door behind me.

Then, I sat at the kitchen table in the dark for two hours before finally, the deadbolt clicked.

I didn’t move an inch as Brandy’s father entered the house, clearly inebriated as he swayed on his feet. His hand slid along the wall, searching for the light switch before finding it and flicking it on. As soon as he did, he froze with frightened eyes pinned on me, alarm clear in his posture.

Like the switch itself, his body slouched slightly as he realized it was me, his guard dropping. That was his first mistake.

“Oh, it’s just my daughter’s boy toy,” he muttered, dismissing me with the wave of a hand. “What do you want?”

I kept my calm, reaching into my jeans to pull out my gun and set it on the table. I didn’t try to be gentle about it, hoping it’d send a message that I wasn’t here to make small talk.

His gaze moved to the gun as he swayed again. He set a hand on the wall for support, moving his focus back to me. “This some kind of threat, boy?”

“Does using such demeaning terms make you feel powerful?” I asked, my tone flat, reserved, lethal.

He blinked as if the question took him off guard.

“Does putting your hands on women give you some kind of power trip?” I folded my hands in my lap, like I had all the time in the world to wait for his answers. Truth was, I didn’t give a shit what bullshit response he might try to spew.

“This some kind of joke?” he questioned, leaning into the wall.

I shrugged. “If you want to live, I wouldn’t take it that way.”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s definitely a threat if I’ve heard one.” He started to move forward, and my hand went for the gun. He froze, knowing if he made another move, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it. Maybe he had a brain after all.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said, lifting the firearm off the table and studying it like it was the most interesting thing on the fucking planet. Really, I just needed to get my eyes off him before I put a bullet in his damn skull. “You’re going to take your ass to the station and turn yourself in.”

“And if I don’t?” The man had balls to ask questions with a loaded pistol not ten feet from him.

I looked at him now, letting every ounce of hatred come to the surface and shine in my gaze. “Then this chamber will be empty in less than five seconds.”

Fear widened his eyes, and it only satisfied me. Good, the man was starting to realize I wasn’t fucking around.

“They’ll give you a light sentence for confessing,” I went on. “But those men in prison? They don’t take kindly to cowards who put their hands on women. So if I were you, I’d be real fucking careful the moment you step into that building.” I stood from the chair, my finger a hair’s width away from curling around the trigger. “But if I’m being honest, it’s not those inmates you should be scared of.” I looked at the gun again, turning my wrist to eye the other side of the pistol before pinning him with my eyes. “It’s me.”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and I wanted to fucking revel in the pure terror that shone on his face. After scaring his family for years, he was finally feeling an ounce of their fear, and I wanted nothing more than to let him suffer in it. But even then, that wasn’t enough. Hell, prison wasn’t enough. But I needed to be here for Brandy. I wanted to see our future together, and landing my ass in a jail cell wouldn’t get me there.

He stepped forward, nearly missing his footing as his face contorted in rage, the alcohol giving him the confidence he needed to override his fear. “You think you can come into my house and threaten me?”

I shrugged, knowing I had the upper hand here if he wanted to get any closer. He was drunk, unbalanced, and pissed. The combination wouldn’t get him far.

But then the door behind him opened, and the last fucking person I wanted to see here right now barged in.

Brandy stopped in her tracks as she saw the gun in my hand, her eyes moving to her father as he spun around to face her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He was directly between us, and I had no way of getting to her before—

He was already moving, knowing exactly what I was thinking. I started running, but he was too fast, even drunk. Brandy was frozen to the spot as he grabbed her, and before she could register the scene before her, she screamed as he put her in a headlock and faced me.

I already had my gun trained on him, but fuck, I couldn’t take the shot without risking hitting her. And I would never risk her life. He knew that.

He tightened his hold on her, and she pressed her lips together, her eyes pleading with me to do something. But I had no fucking idea what. Would he kill her? I didn’t fucking know, but I didn’t want to find out.

“Threaten me now, boy,” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth.

“Let her go,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my voice level so I wouldn’t show him how truly fucking screwed I felt. “Let her go and do what I told you, and this will all be over.”

“You won’t fucking shoot me,” he said confidently, the sentence ending with his laugh. The man was really fucking laughing with his arm around his daughter’s neck. “Although, maybe if you try and miss, that bullet will teach her a lesson.”

Despite the helpless position, Brandy’s eyes rolled the slightest. But clearly it wasn’t subtle enough, as her father flexed his arm, squeezing harder. Her hands came up to his arm, fingers clawing at them as her face turned red.

“Drop your fucking arm or I swear on my life, I will put a bullet through your foot before I put a second through your heart.” I shifted the aim to his legs, but he quickly shuffled them to hide perfectly behind Brandy’s. I internally cursed.

“Oh, come on, Reed. You’re just like me. That anger would’ve ended in this anyway,” her father said, a sardonic smile on his face.

I shook my head as Brandy choked out, “No. He wouldn’t.”

He brought his face closer to hers, his body practically vibrating with rage. He opened his mouth to speak, but all sound was cut off as a shot rang through the air, and my whole world tipped on its axis.