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Brianna was dazed and confused then. She studied Flint’s expression and couldn’t help but notice the difference in him. Normally warm and compassionate, Flint was angry and his fury was soul deep. “Answer him now, Brianna.”
She swallowed. She hated this. She hated it because somewhere deep inside her, she understood what admitting the truth could cost the Jackson brothers. Perhaps in the back of her mind she came to terms with something else, too. The Jackson brothers may have denied their feelings for her in the past, but their actions then proved much stronger than words. Their feelings were well understood.
They cared for her. They were willing to fight a man they didn’t know because of her.
Gripping the phone, her hand trembled. Drina had told her about the Jackson brothers coming to the hospital. They’d been there and they’d gone to that roadside motel, too. Drina and Gemma had agreed—they were enraged, but more importantly they were hurt.
“Answer him now or give me the phone.” Flint looked harder, colder, and more determined.
“Damn it, baby. I don’t have all day here.”
Baby? She swallowed. Jax didn’t typically call her pet names. He’d spent most of his life running from her and yet now he wanted to know something so personal, so intimate and embarrassing.
The silence was deafening. How could she—
“Did. You. Fuck. Him?”
“Yes.” Her response was barely audible. It was as if his demanding voice had literally stripped her reply from her parched lips, her dry mouth.
“Of your own free will?” Jax asked.
Brianna turned away from Flint. She thought back to the night when her entire life had changed. Just a few short days ago, she’d been happy, or at least happy enough. She’d reached a place in her life where she could honestly say she was content and contentment had felt pretty good. It had taken her years to reach that point. Then, in a blink of an eye, a stranger had rushed in and turned her world upside down. To make matters worse, she’d not only invited the trouble, she’d chased it down. She’d thrown a lasso around its beastly neck and had him wrapped and slapped, so to speak, without a second spared.
“Yes, Jax. It was my choice.”
“So you’re telling me this bastard is right? You’re just a wildcat in bed and things got out of hand?”
“That’s what happened,” she said, squeezing her eyes closed in an attempt to shut out the bad memories, the moments when Handsome had stuffed his shirt in her mouth and squeezed the ever-loving daylights out of her throat. Gasping for air, she dropped the phone and quickly scooped it up. “Here. You tell him.” She glared at Flint. “Tell him everything he was told was exactly the way that guy says. I asked for it. Do you hear me? I begged, groveled!” With the final words tumbling from her lips, she turned and ran.
She didn’t stop at her car. She didn’t stop by the house to grab a jacket. She just took off through the pastures, running wild and free like the renegade she’d become.
Like her father, Brianna had always bucked authority. She’d always wanted to be that rebel without a cause, a vixen without a worry.
So yes! She had asked for it! She had played with fire and she had been burned! She couldn’t blame anyone but herself!
Before Handsome had taken away her confidence, she’d been a seductress, a curious young woman who had wanted adventures and good times. Sure, she’d borrowed trouble every now and again, but it wasn’t like she’d tried to live in the throes of danger. Still, if the experience with Handsome had taught her anything at all, it had taught her how to survive.
She was her father’s daughter.
The bad memories continued to play out in front of her mind’s eyes. Handsome’s voice resounded in her ears. After he’d released her neck and tossed her aside like yesterday’s garbage, he’d said, “Your dad owes us big bucks and I intend to collect from you Brianna. The others will take your sisters. One at a time, we’ll make every last one of Alberto’s daughters pay. Understand me?” He’d kicked her in the gut and left her on her knees.
The door had slammed and dust mites had stirred as the morning sun cast a ray of beams on the bed where he’d taken her, where she’d given herself freely to one of her father’s enemies. She vaguely remembered collapsing on the floor, muttering, “You’ll have to kill me. I am my father’s daughter.”
She still believed and stood by her convictions. She could exert her own revenge. If Handsome and his thugs were coming after her or any of her sisters, she would do whatever it took to protect them. The sooner the Jackson brothers accepted the fact that she lived on the edge and she didn’t need a man to keep her safe, the sooner they could all go on with their lives!
A hundred thoughts ran rampant through her head as she ran through greener pastures. Why had she answered Jax? Why had she felt the need to tell him anything? He didn’t own her. The Jackson brothers had toyed with her for years and now suddenly they wanted to be her saving grace?
Well they were too late.
She stopped to catch her breath. Bending over, she planted her palms on her knees. As soon as she took the position, another memory flashed in her mind. When she and Handsome had first started fooling around, he’d pushed her forward with his palm against the small of her back. Her hands had landed on her thighs and she’d thrown her hips back and asked for a spanking.
God help her. She must’ve been out of her mind. A spanking?
Shaking off the recollection for fear it would lead to others, she took off again, acknowledging the stretch of empty land in front of her. An hour or so later, Brianna ran upon the Nolichucky River.
The dangerous rapids often lured folks to the area for whitewater adventures, but in early spring, the crowds weren’t there. Other than the occasional wildlife sighting, the area was pretty much deserted. The year before Brianna had discovered a cabin on the riverbanks. Surrounded by natural beauty, the two-story rustic home was often used by overnight guests exploring the Nolichucky or The Appalachian Trail.
Whoever owned the cabin worked on the honor system. There were four separate entrances and each of the private quarters had one bedroom, a small kitchenette, tiny bathroom, and a spacious liv
