Mace

O wen showed up at the bar first, followed by Steel and Mav. “Tell me that you have some news,” begged. The guys having their own security agency was coming in handy. “We were able to do some digging into Julie’s past and found her childhood home.”

“Why would her childhood home be important?” asked.

“Because it’s been empty since her parents passed in a car accident together,” Owen said.

“Okay, what’s the big deal about a vacant house?” asked.

“The house recently had the electricity and water hooked back up to it,” Owen said.

“So, someone is staying there now,” concluded.

Owen shrugged, “It’s at least a good starting point. Maybe Julie wanted to be some place she felt comfortable and took Brooke there with her.”

“It’s a least a lead,” agreed. “So now what happens?”

“Now, we call Julie and get her to meet with you so that we can check out her old house to see if that’s where she’s keeping Brooke,” Owen said.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” he asked. worried that poking the bear might not end well for his girl, and the idea of Julie hurting Brooke scared the hell out of him.

“I do,” he said. “We’ll have the cops meet you both at the bar, and I need you to wear a wire,” Owen insisted.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” promised, “I just want Brooke back.”

“I know man,” Owen said. “The cops will be able to monitor your every word once you’re wired up and when Julie admits that she’s taken Brooke, they’ll move in. Mav had set everything up with his detective friend on the force. He knows Brooke and will do whatever it takes to help find her.”

“He knows her?” asked, his protective instincts coming to the surface.

“Not like that,” Owen said, rolling his eyes at him. “They have worked on a few cases together and he’s testified for her a couple of times. Don’t go getting jealous, . Brooke only has eyes for you.”

“I’ll wear the wire,” agreed. He didn’t care who the cop was to Brooke as long as he could bring her back to him, that was all cared about.

“Do you still have Julie’s phone number?” Owen asked.

“I do,” admitted. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called her.

“Julie,” he said, clearing his throat. “It’s me, ,” he said.

“I thought that you’d be calling me sooner or later. Your girlfriend and I are getting to know each other, so this better be important,” Julie taunted.

“Is she all right?” growled. “Did you hurt her?”

“She’s okay for now,” Julie assured, “but, I can’t promise that she’ll stay that way. That part is up to you.”

“What do I have to do, Julie?” he asked. would grovel on his knees if that was what Julie wanted.

“I haven’t decided that yet,” she said. “I’ll call you back when I have one of my brilliant ideas.” If let her get off the phone with him, he worried that he wouldn’t get another chance with Julie.

“Wait,” shouted, “meet with me, Julie,” he said. “Meet me at my bar and we can talk.”

“And why would I want to do that?” she asked. “I have the upper hand here, —why would I want to give that to you?”

“You’ll still have the upper hand, Julie,” assured. He worried that she wouldn’t meet him and then he’d never be able to find Julie.

“Can you promise me that there will be no funny business, ?” Julie asked. He could promise her no such thing, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Absolutely,” he lied, “I promise you that nothing will happen. I just want to talk to you in person, Julie.” It was the only way that the Blain brothers would be able to get close to Julie’s childhood home to see if that was where she was holding Brooke. Hopefully, this nightmare would all be over tonight, but first, he had to convince Julie to meet him.

“Please,” he begged.

“Fine,” Julie sighed. “I’ll meet you at your bar, but if you pull anything, I’ll kill Brooke. You have my word on that, . She means nothing to me, but I’m betting that she means something to you.”

“She does,” admitted. Brooke meant everything to him, and there was no way that he’d lose her or his unborn child to Julie’s crazy plan.

“Good, so then, we are on the same page. I’ll see you at your bar at three,” she promised, ending the call. whispered to himself that he’d be there, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear him—not that it mattered. He just hoped that his whispered promise could reach Brooke because he wanted her to hang on—if not for him, then for their baby.

knew that Julie was out for blood and her getting what she wanted from Brooke made him feel sick. Julie had agreed to meet him at his bar. It was the only plan he could come up with if he wanted Brooke back—and he did more than he wanted his next breath.

walked into the bar to find Julie standing in the corner by the bar. “Where is she?” growled at Julie.

“Don’t be so impatient,” she teased. She was giving him the same flirty smile that she had the night that she walked into his office to have sex with him.

“Don’t play with me, Julie,” warned. “Tell me where Brooke is.”

“She’s safe for now,” Julie said. He knew that trusting her wasn’t smart, but a part of him needed to believe that Brooke and his baby were both safe as Julie said.

“Why are you doing all of this, Julie?” asked. “Why did you kill Reece?”

“He deserved to die,” Julie spat. “He dumped me with no explanation, and I’m done playing the victim. I won’t be that woman anymore.”

“I get it,” lied. None of this mess made any sense to him, but he needed to keep Julie talking so that Owen would have time to call the police.

She rolled her eyes at him, and he knew that he might be failing at his plan. “You know about being a victim? Who dumped you, ?” she asked.

“You’re angry with him for what he did to you. I know how that feels. Reece was my half-brother, and I never got to meet him because my father kept us from each other. I’m angry with my father—enough to do what you did. So, I get it.” knew that might not be a close enough comparison to make her believe him, but he had to at least try.

“I’m not sure if that’s exactly the same thing, but I’ll give you that one—for now. Reese told me that his father admitted to him that he had a half-brother, and I was there for him. I promised to stick by his side when he came to find you. Your old man gave him the address and I was shocked that it was your bar. I had only been working here for a few weeks, but I never imagined that you were my boyfriend’s brother. He told me that he needed to meet you alone. He didn’t want me tagging along. Can you believe he said that to me? As though I was a bother or a child in his way. I wasn’t tagging along—I was there to support him like a true partner, but he just couldn’t see that. He told me that I was too clingy and that he needed some time away from me. That stupid ass misunderstood my love for him as me being clingy. He just didn’t know how good he had it.”

“So, you killed him,” finished her story for her.

“Well, not at first. I came into work that night and while I was cleaning up, I looked out the back window and noticed his truck in the parking lot. I went out to talk to him—you know, try to convince him that he had made a huge mistake dumping me. I was the best thing that ever happened to him, but Reece was being stubborn. He told me to get lost and let him talk to you privately, and that was when I ran back into the kitchen and grabbed the knife off the counter. If I couldn’t have Reece, no one would.” knew that Reece was stabbed, but that was about it. At first, he believed that someone had killed him and moved his body to the parking lot at his bar to set him up. He never imagined that his half-brother was killed in a rage of passion by a crazy woman.

“Why take Brooke?” asked. “She had nothing to do with this.”

“She has you and I can’t allow that. You’re mine now—ever since that beautiful night that we were together,” Julie said.

barked out his laugh, knowing that he was poking the bear. “I fucked you over the desk in my office. There was nothing beautiful about it. I used you to get off—that’s it.” Yeah, he was pissing her off, but maybe that was what he needed to buy some time.

“You’re wrong,” she spat. “Our night together was magical, and you know it .” She crossed the room and awkwardly cuddled into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Just admit that you want me, and not Brooke, and I’ll let her go.” He couldn’t believe that it was going to be that easy. There was no way that she would just let Brooke go. stood there with Julie still wrapped around his waist when Owen burst into the club with the cops.

“You tricked me,” Julie shouted. She tried to pull away from him, but banded his arms around her.

“Going somewhere?” he asked. Julie cursed and squirmed against his body until a police officer too her from and tugged her arms back to put handcuffs on.

“You’ll never find Brooke now,” she shouted. “She’ll die where I have her hidden and that will be on you, . I thought you were different from the rest,” Julie hissed.

“We’ve already found Brooke,” Owen said from the other side of the bar. “It wasn’t very smart of you to hide her at your parent’s old house. Turning back on the water and electricity after years of it being off was your downfall.”

The cops read Julie her rights and dragged her out of the bar, kicking and cursing at . She was pissed, but it wasn’t anything that the rest of her life in prison wouldn’t take care of.

Owen Blaine walked over to him and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “You okay, man?”

“I am,” breathed, “tell me that you really got my girl,” he begged.

“We did,” Owen assured. “Steel and Mav took her to the hospital to be checked out. That tip that Mav got about the electricity being turned back on at her parent’s old house was lucky.” Owen was right—it was Lucky. felt like the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet.

Mav and Steel had gone with Brooke to the hospital, and for that, he was grateful. But they had to head down to the police station to give statements about how they tracked down Brooke. One thing was for sure—he owed the Blaine brothers big time for finding his girl.

burst into the emergency room, shouting for Brooke, paying no attention to the nurses and security staff who were trying to stop him. “I’m looking for Brooke Reyner,” he shouted.

“I’m in here,” Brooke yelled. “Room four.” He followed the sand of her voice, mean mugging the staff, even if they didn’t deserve his ire.

He walked into the room as he pulled back the curtain divider that was between room four and room three. looked Brooke over as if he was searching for any bruises or scrapes and she giggled.

“I’m fine, ,” she insisted.

“The baby?” he asked.

“The baby is good too. I just had a sonogram, and her heartbeat is strong, and she looks completely healthy. I’m getting some IV fluids to make up for having nothing to eat for about two days.” crossed the room and stood by the side of her bed. “It’s okay, ,” she promised. “I won’t break.” She scootched over and patted the bed, silently asking him to climb in with her.

“Are you sure?” he asked. Brooke nodded her head, and he slid onto the bed next to her. “I’m so sorry,” whispered, pulling her into his body. God, it felt good to hold her again. Brooke snuggled into his side and his whole world felt right again.

“There is nothing for you to feel sorry about, ,” she insisted. “Julie was delusional. She thought that if I was out of the way, you’d want her. I think that the only reason she kept me alive instead of killing me like she did Reece, was because I told her that I was pregnant with your baby.”

“Why would she care about our baby?” asked.

“She said that I was carrying a piece of you, and I think that she believed that killing me would kill her chance at a future with you,” Brooke said.

stilled next to her, going over their conversation and letting is brain catch up. “Wait, did you say that ‘She’ is completely healthy, and ‘She’ has a strong heartbeat?” he asked.

Brooke smiled up at him and nodded. “I did. I hope you don’t mind me spilling the beans about the baby’s gender. I just couldn’t help myself to ask when the nurse did the sonogram.”

“We’re going to have a little girl?” asked.

“We are,” she repeated. “I’m feeling a little lost here, . I can’t tell if you’re happy or upset about our news.”

“Happy,” he breathed. “I’m just trying to figure out how to ask you to marry me.”

“Marry you?” she almost shouted. He covered her mouth with his hand and nodded.

“I want you to be my wife. Hearing that we’re having a little girl makes me want us to be a real family. I want to make it legal.”

Brooke pulled his hand down from her mouth and her smile nearly lit up the whole room. “Well, I tend to know a thing or two about legalities,” she said. felt as though he was holding his breath waiting for her to give him her answer. “And I would love to marry you and make the three of us a family.” She covered her little bump with her hand and slid his hand over hers.

“I’m afraid that I don’t have a ring, but I’d like to get you one as soon as you get out of here,” said.

Brooke scrunched up her nose in the cutest way, “I’ll be here for a few days,” she said. “They want to rehydrate me, and my blood pressure was up a little bit. They’re just being abundantly cautious. As for the ring, I don’t want to help pick it out. That wouldn’t feel right. I’d like for you to choose my engagement ring,” she insisted. had never bought any jewelry for a woman, but he knew that he could call on a few of his buddies ol’ladies for help.

“Deal,” he agreed. “You work on growing our daughter and I’ll pick you out a ring. I’m going to stay right here by your side.”

“What about your bar?” she asked. “Who will take care of it if you stick around here?”

“You let me worry about the bar,” insisted. “I’m sure that the guys will lend a hand to help out around the place.”

“ don’t be silly,” she insisted. “You don’t have to sit around her and watch me have my blood pressure taken every hour.”

“It’s not up for debate. I love you; Brooke and I’m staying right here with my two girls.”

“I love you too, ,” Brook breathed. wasn’t sure how he had gotten so lucky, but somehow, he found the woman that he was never really looking for. had spent so long refusing to fall for any of the women he was with. He was up for a good time, and that was it, but Brooke had changed his whole life, and wasn’t going to ever take her love for granted. She and their daughter were his whole world now, and he wouldn’t want things any other way.

The End

I hope you loved and Brooke’s story! Now, buckle up and get ready for another Road Reaper! Ink is coming in November 2024 from K.L. Ramsey!