Prologue

PROLOGUE

B raxton

“I never want to see you again. Ever.”

Her words burned into me, cutting like an icy dagger every time I thought of them.

“Have you had any recent conversations with her?” Valerio asked as soon as the meeting was concluded.

Her.

As if my brother feared whispering her name.

I glanced at the oldest of the three of us and shook my head, a moment of sadness creeping in. “Not one. She’s disappeared. Trust me. I’ve scoured the goddamn earth.” She. Neither one of my brothers wanted to mention the name of the woman who’d turned my life upside down beginning four months before. I couldn’t blame them. I’d gone into a level of depression they weren’t used to seeing, fighting my need for her just so I could resume my life.

“I’m sorry, bro. It wasn’t meant to be.” Gage was being more practical than I was used to, although both had grown weary of dealing with my mood swings.

I couldn’t say I blamed them.

“Maybe so. At least business is back on track,” I told them, although very little of that was because of my actions. I’d lost sight of everything but my desire for her.

Valerio patted me on the back as we headed to the closed door. He threw it open and stopped me before I left the conference room. “Just remember both Gage and I are here if you want to talk.”

Talk. It was highly overrated. What more could I say about the woman I’d fallen hard for and the one who obviously wanted nothing to do with me? “I appreciate that. As you’ve both continued to tell me, it’s time to move on.”

“Good for you. Find another hot chick, brother,” Gage recommended.

At least I could laugh, although the sound was bitter.

As soon as we walked out, I could tell my assistant was antsy. Camille had been with me for years, although until recently mostly in the background.

“Mr. Royal. I mean Braxton. I didn’t want to interrupt you, but you had a visitor and she was very agitated that I wouldn’t allow her to talk to you.”

I took long strides toward her, with enough force in my step that she had a momentary look of fear in her eyes. “What woman?”

“A young girl who tried to get past me.”

“Did she identify herself?”

Camille shook her head, still extremely nervous. “No.”

“What did she look like?” I was growling, irritated for several reasons.

“Dark hair and lovely eyes. She had an accent. English or something.”

No. No. No.

It couldn’t be her. She’d made it very clear she’d wanted nothing to do with me or my nefarious world as she’d called it.

Oh, fuck me. “Jasmine. When? How long ago?” My voice had risen by a full four decibels.

“I don’t know, sir. Five minutes. Maybe. I’m sorry. I thought…”

“It’s okay, Camille,” Valerio said from behind me.

“I’m sorry, sir. She didn’t have an appointment. You said not to be disturbed.”

Meanwhile, I didn’t hesitate, rushing out of the room toward the elevators, slamming my hand on the button. When the doors didn’t open right away, I headed toward the stairs. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to her.

I had to race down twenty flights, but I couldn’t care less, jumping down several then taking a giant leap around every flight to the other. By the time I was outside near the entrance, a huge crowd had developed forming a circle.

What the hell?

My gut told me something was terribly wrong.

“Out of my way,” I yelled, pushing my way through, not caring how brutal my actions. My lungs burned, my heart thudding erratically. The moment I made my way through the crowd, I couldn’t breathe.

I wasn’t the kind of man easily shocked yet the sight in front of me was horrific enough, I was tossed into a horrible fog. I knew I was moving, my legs jerking as I headed closer, yet I had no understanding of what I was seeing. My mind was one huge blur.

My breathing difficult, I pressed forward, the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach making it lurch. The sight of long, curly dark hair splayed across the parking lot pavement was telling. There was blood, so much blood, a man crouched down near a broken woman, her body limbs at awkward angles. The spell broken, I rushed forward. “Get away from her. Now!”

“Hey, I’m sorry, dude. I was just trying to help.”

As I dropped to my knees, I remained lightheaded. I eased wet hair away from her face and instantly threw back my head and roared.

It was her. Her broken body was right here in front of me, the woman I’d sworn to protect with my life if necessary. I’d failed. Failed! “Oh, baby. Oh, God. What happened?”

“She was hit,” someone said. “A huge black SUV came swinging into the parking lot. She didn’t have a chance.”

“No, it was a Dodge Ram,” another said.

“You’re both wrong. A racing car of some kind.”

Anger swept through me and I fought to keep from lashing out at them.

Stunned, I pressed my shaking hand against her pulse, praying as I’d never done before a miracle would happen. When I found one, the anger resumed, my heart beating rapidly for an entirely different reason.

“Call an ambulance. Now. Now!”

“Braxton!” one of my brothers called.

I didn’t care. I couldn’t respond. The woman I loved was lying in a pool of blood, her face white. “Get an ambulance. Find the fucker who did this.”

“Brax-ton…”

Her voice was faint, her eyes only half open. Oh, my God. “Don’t talk, baby. Just hush. Don’t die on me. Just hold on.”

“Li-sten,” she continued.

When I leaned down, at first all I could hear was the rapid beating of my heart echoing in my ears.

But the moment she whispered, the news hit me hard, the shock immediate.

“The baby. Our… baby. Save… the… baby.”