Chapter 12

Brooks's whole body tenses.I try to turn around to see the woman who called him Brooky. It better not be that neighbor again. I might lose it this time. Now that I know Brooks is all mine I can stake my claim all I want. I also know he thinks that woman is bat-shit crazy and his lawyer was supposed to have handled all of it. I was all too happy about that. I don"t want Brooks anywhere near her.

I'm not worried about her, though. I know Brooks only sees me. When we were out today most people knew who he was. Women openly stared at him, but he didn"t even notice. All his attention was on me. In fact, he was the jealous one. Any guy who tried to even talk to me he either growled at or he barked at them to get away from me. I'd had to fight laughter most of the day because of it. Maybe I was wrong in finding it funny and adorable. The truth is that it made me feel wanted. As if he was scared someone might try to steal me away from him. My finger goes to the diamond ring on my finger. Both Brooks and I keep playing with it absently.

Brooks's big body blocks my view of whoever it is that just walked in. "I brought Vick with me," I hear her say.

"Fuck," Brooks grits out, his voice irritated and angry.

When he looks at me I can't read him, but I know something is wrong. He's serious and looks somewhat panicked as he takes my face in his hands.

"I love you," he tells me, catching me off guard. "Tell me you know that."

"What's wrong?" I ask, unsure what the hell is going on.

"I love you," he says again, right before his mouth lands on mine in a hard kiss.

It takes my breath away, but also takes away the chance for me to say it back to him. His hands dig into my hair and hold me captive as he devours me.

"Eleanor." I freeze when I hear someone I don't know say my proper name. No one calls me that except Brooks, and sometimes my mother.

Brooks pulls back from the kiss and looks into my eyes. "I love you," he says again before stepping aside and letting me see who is in the room.

I start to smile when I see a tall older woman with the same eyes as Brooks standing there in white slacks and a deep blue shirt. Her blonde-gray hair is short and styled away from her face. She steps towards him and opens her arms.

My stomach drops when I see who is with her. The man who said my name.

"Vick?" The sound of his name is almost accusatory, but I don't care. He looks as shocked to see me as I am to see him.

"You know my husband?" Brooks's mom asks me with a smile on her face.

My eyes shoot to Brooks. "What?" I ask, needing him to fill in some blanks. I'm confused, and suddenly panic is beginning to rise in my chest.

"He's not my father," Brooks adds quickly. "My mother married him a short time ago."

I feel a trace of relief that he isn"t my freaking brother, but still that makes us…what? Brother and sister by marriage. Oh god, he's my stepbrother? My mind is racing to keep up with what's happening.

"You're mine. My wife, the mother of my children," Brooks rasps, and he closes the short distance between us.

As usual he clears out all thoughts in my mind just by his presence. I don't know how he always knows what I'm thinking. It reassures me that we were made for each other. Two halves of a whole. It's how we came together so fast.

"You're married!" I hear my mom yell, and I close my eyes. Shit. "Vick?" I hear my mom say next. The question is clear in her voice. She's probably wondering what the heck he's doing here.

This is a mess. It's way too messy for it to have happened all on its own. I look around to see everyone"s staring at me. I turn my eyes to Brooks. It's then I know the truth in my heart.

"You knew he was my father, didn"t you?" He nods. "You don't even have a pregnant sister, do you?" He shakes his head.

Even with discovering those two pieces of the puzzle, this still doesn"t make any sense.

"Why?" I ask. "Why did you do all of this?"

"I knew Vick was a piece of shit the moment my mom came home with him," Brooks says, and I see the honesty in his eyes.

"Brooks!" his mom yells, and my mom snorts with laughter.

"A piece of shit," he says again with emphasis as he stares at his mom before turning his attention back to me. "I started digging into him to give my mother the hard evidence she was ignoring, and I found you: his daughter." His hands come to my face, and he holds me so I can't look away.

"You have a daughter?" Brooks's mom shouts again, but this time at Vick. I ignore them. This is more drama than I've ever been in.

"I told you I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I set up that meeting and pretended I needed to hire you. Then there you were. You were in my office and I knew if I wantedto, I could get you into my home that very day." He drops his forehead down to mine. "And I wanted that more than anything. I'd never felt so much all at once, Beautiful. You have to believe me. I was in love on the very spot and I didn't want to chance losing you. Once I got you here I knew I never wanted you to leave. I was worried that when you would find out about my lies you'd try to leave me." His voice is thick with emotion.

He's gone so far to get me. Maybe he did it the wrong way, but I know he would always do whatever he could to have me by his side. To make me happy and keep me safe. It's written all over his face right now. He loves me with every inch of his heart. If I thought for a second that he didn't, then I wouldn't have agreed to this in the first place. But I've known somewhere in my soul from the moment we met that this thing between us is the real deal.

"Maybe we should go." I glance over to see my mom standing right next to us. Brooks pulls back and looks at her.

"I'm in love with your daughter. If you give me a chance, I'll prove that," he tells her.

My mom smiles at him, then reaches out and places her hand on his arm.

"All right. I'll be back again tomorrow. Let's try to do dinner again." She gives his arm a small squeeze before turning to look at me. "Call me tomorrow," she says, kissing me on the cheek. "Whatever makes you happy makes me happy. I give no shits about Vick. I got you because of him, so it's hard to hate him," she whispers in my ear. "But Brooks is right, he's a piece of shit."

I fight a smile. She didn"t have to tell me that. My mom always wants what's best for me and whatever makes me happy.

My mom walks over to Brooks's mom and introduces herself as she completely ignores Vick. Brooks's mom looks like she wants to murder Vick. I'm guessing like all the women in his life, he hasn"t been honest with her either.

My mom gives me one last smile before she leaves, and then Brooks wraps his arms around me.

I glance over to see Brooks's mom and Vick, who seem to be in a whisper argument that's getting hotter by the second. I can't hear what they're saying from over here, but Vick's face grows hard and I have a feeling things are about to change between them.