AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was a good lawyer and part of it I enjoyed, even if it was corporate law. But working with my father or doing it because of the money like he always had, were two things that made me not want to do it at all. And at the end of the day, I still craved something more.
Only one person besides myself knew what I had once longed to do with my life, but I’d given up fighting for myself and her, letting us both down. I should have listened to Alley, should have listened to my heart.
Because she was my heart.
“Hey, man, sweet ride!” a voice called out, pulling me from my thoughts.
I turned at Kace’s voice and took in the guy walking toward me as he approached with his usual carefree, yet still intimidating demeanor. How he always pulled off both was beyond me, but he did it well.
Getting to my feet, I extended my arm to shake hands with him. “What’s up, you working today?”
“Yup, I’m just coming back from dropping some papers off with a client. I love what I do and this place”—He gestured over his shoulder at the extremely large, gray, stone building that housedNo Surrender—“But the paperwork and making sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed is a pain in my ass.”
That’s when I found myself offering up my help that would require me to use the skills I learned for a job I had just walked away from. But just maybe I could use what I knew and was good at, to help my friends and make a difference.
“If you ever need help with the paperwork or to just look anything over and make sure all your bases are covered, let me know.”
“Dude, I am going to be all over that. I will let the guys know.” Kace grinned as if he had just won the lottery. Then he continued. “So, what brings you by?”
I hesitated for a minute and cleared my throat before finally saying, “I came to talk to Braxton.” What I needed to talk to him about wasn’t going to be easy.
Kace’s eyebrows raised, and he had a weird look on his face. “By all means, let me take you to him, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. He’s been a cranky ass since the engagement party. And although I understand why,” he said, making it clear by his tone that he had his friend’s back, before smirking and adding, “who am I to get in the way of love?” It was the two sides once again that kept the guy one serious mystery.
“Have you been in love before?” I asked, curious about his answer since he never really talked about that stuff when it pertained to himself.
The change on his face was instant, the laid-back person he was moments before was gone. A mask went up and I could tell that conversation was off-limits, which he made clear in the seconds that followed.
“Nothing to talk about there, let's go inside.” He turned toward the building and walked off, leaving me no choice but to follow.
I’d only made it a few steps inside the door before Braxton’s irritated voice rang out from across the room.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Not wasting time because I had somewhere I needed to be and what I came to say was long overdue, I crossed the room where Braxton stood.
“Can we talk in your office?” I asked him with a lift of my chin, letting him see I wasn’t intimidated by the pissed off attitude coming off him in waves.
Braxton was mad, that was obvious by the look on his face. And as Kace said outside about himself understanding why, I did too, but it didn’t matter now. I may have felt bad, but nothing was going to change how I felt or stop me from pursuing his sister and trying to convince her to love me again.
“Just say what you need to say,” Braxton said.
Looking around the front lobby area, I noticed our audience had grown. Gemma was at the front reception desk, Kace was standing by the door we’d just come through and Gyth had appeared from somewhere down the hall and was leaning against the wall, his eyes just like the other two, shimmering with interest.
Fine, I have nothing to hide, so here it goes...
“I’m in love with your sister and have been for a long time. I may feel bad for keeping that from you because you’re a damn good friend, but it doesn’t matter what you say because with your blessing or without, I’m gonna get her back!” I told him, a little louder and more forcefully than I had intended, but I was worked up and put on the spot.
“You—“ he started, just as another voice yelled, drowning him out.
“I knew it! I absolutely freaking knew it!”
Turning toward the sound of the voice, I glanced over and there was Jurnee, now standing by Gyth. I'm not sure where she came from, but she’d obviously heard my speech.
“Babe, please stay out of this,” Braxton tried to tell his wife as calmly as he could all the while it looked like a war was raging within him.
As she approached us, her eyes determined, and on her husband, she said, “That’s my best friend, don’t tell me to stay out of it. She may not have told me, but something in me thought there was more between them, and I want Alley to be happy just like us.”
Braxton's eyes softened at his wife’s words and he pulled her into his side to close the last few inches between them. She seemed to calm him instantly. In fact, it had been that way since the day he had rolled back into town and they’d reunited. The woman had him wrapped around her finger. Obviously sensing her husband was under control, she turned her gaze on me.
