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“Oh honey, did you think they loved you?”
Chapter
Nineteen
Gideon
The days were blurring togetherfor me. My brothers always tried to get me to leave my room, but beyond meals, I worked all day at my desk in my room. When I couldn’t sleep, I was working. I knew it wasn’t healthy. I knew I was obsessing. But until Lyle was found, I didn’t see a way for us to get Brooklyn back.
I ran my hands through my hair, pulling it back into a bun, as I watched additional surveillance videos from near the cafe where Brooklyn had been attacked. I couldn’t stop, not believing that the fucker had just disappeared into thin air. Watching the same videos over and over wasn’t really going to get me anywhere, but I was feeling at a loss.
Missing Brooklyn was more than I could handle at times. Nothing I had experienced in my life had captured me in such a way. I regretted not telling her, not saying the words that would have told her what she meant to me. Maybe if she knew, she would understand why we were so crazy about her safety.
I was lost in my musings of her when my phone rang. Frank’s name flashed across the screen and I frowned. Frank and I had normal check ins, evening and morning. It was the one lifeline I had to Brooklyn, since she wouldn’t respond to our calls or text messages. Knowing she was safe, knowing she wasn’t alone, gave me a small bit of solace.
“Frank?”I asked, pressing the phone to my ear.
“You need to get to Brooklyn’s office now,”Frank said quickly.
Before I even knew why, I was running from my room and pounding down the stairs.
“Is she safe, Frank?”I yelled into the phone.
“Yes. But you will not believe who’s down here,”he replied.
I skidded through our kitchen to the mudroom and launched myself into the garage. I snatched my keys off the hook on the wall and was on my bike before Frank said another word.
“Missy is here. She is meeting with Brooklyn,”Frank said.
“Fuck!”I yelled.
I hung up the phone as my motorcycle roared to life. I sped down the drive and the moment the gate had opened enough, I squeezed through. I drove faster than was safe, but the fury and panic in me wouldn’t allow me to let off the throttle. We knewMissy coming back when she did wasn’t a coincidence. Now I knew Brooklyn was part of her plan.
Getting to Brooklyn’s office didn’t take nearly as long as it normally would, but by the time I was parking my bike and running for the elevator, I was panting as if I had run the entire way. I paced the elevator as it slowly rose. I watched the numbers, willing it to bypass all the other floors.
When the doors opened on Brooklyn’s floor, I rushed through the glass doors, finding Frank waiting for me. The receptionist looked panicked, but she didn’t stop us as we went further into the office. We found Pam standing with her eyes on the window of the conference room. When she saw me approach, her face pinched for a moment, but she didn’t say anything. We didn’t exactly get off well when she had a hand in Brooklyn’s cafe attack, even if she hadn’t meant to do it.
I wasn’t prepared for the emotional blow it would be to see Brooklyn in person. I took in the scene quickly before getting to the door of the conference room. Brooklyn sat on the edge of her chair, her back ramrod straight, her hands gripped in the lap. The tension rolled off of her in waves and it was all directed across the table.
Missy looked cheap, even covered in jewels. Her look felt forced, and I was sure it was all just her way of getting to Brooklyn. The problem was, nothing Missy wore or did would make her more sophisticated or beautiful than Brooklyn. She couldn’t even imagine comparing to my girl.
I threw open the door and Brooklyn barely glanced over at me, as if she knew I would be there. Missy’s eyes flew to me, widened, and then she smiled brightly. She began to stand up, and I held up a hand.
“Don’t even think about coming near me,”I growled.
Missy sat back down with a huff and comically pouted.“Oh, come on, my muscle man. Not even a kiss hello?”
Her taunt was said to me, but it was an arrow right at Brooklyn. I took a chance and stepped closer to my girl. I laid my hand softly on her shoulder, feeling how tense her body was. She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t move into me either.
“Missy, you’re well aware it’s been years since I’ve been anywhere near you. You have no place here. You need to get out,”I said.
My voice was laced with violence and though I had never put my hands on a woman in that way, I was willing to make an exception for Missy at this point.
“Oh no, Gideon, that’s where you’re wrong. I have my place. With my boys. And I’m back to claim it,”Missy said.
I could feel Brooklyn’s body jerk back at her comment, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Missy. She had a sly smile on her face as she batted her overly thick lashes at me. Studying her for a moment, I honestly couldn’t remember what we saw in her when we were younger.
“We have no space for you. We’re with Brooklyn. Which I’m pretty sure you’re well aware of, or you wouldn’t be here in her office trying to cause a scene,”I said.
