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ChapterFifteen
LANDON
Feisty as ever.
My girl was like a caged tiger and didn’t hesitate to strike.
It is just how I like her.
ChapterSixteen
ALLEY
Time to bail.
I should’ve been working on my book but after the kitchen scene and everything over the last couple of days, I decided to run from Landon and finish ripping off the Band-Aid.
It hurt, all of it. The memories, the conversations with Landon and my best friends, as well as digging up all the old wounds that were always just under the surface waiting to come forward and steal my breath and damage my heart even more.
And so, I found myself atNo Surrenderseeking out my brother to have a heart-to-heart with him. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he deserved to know everything too. Plus, I didn't want Jurnee to ever feel like she had to keep something from her husband on my account.
Besides, for twelve years until the girls came into my life, Braxton had been my best friend and savior. He had been the only person I could count on before them and Landon.
Years ago, I’d stopped confiding in my brother about everything, not only because I had others, but also because later when he joined the service, I didn’t want him angry or upset when he was gone on missions. I was terrified something would happen to him and I never wanted to add any stress that would cause him to not be clear-headed. It was time to admit all this, along with so much more.
Hopefully, I would still have my big brother in my corner and his support when I got done because I could sure use him right now, even if I acted most of the time as if I didn’t.
I didn’t do the whole vulnerable thing well at all.
As I walked through the front door, I saw Gemma sitting at the front desk. “Hey, girl. Looks like they still have you slaving away and haven’t found anyone for the position yet.”
She chuckled. “They are pretty easy to work for, but don’t tell them I said that,” she joked. “I don’t mind helping out and they are paying me well which is amazing. I will stay if they need me. I’d planned on getting a nanny job or something with kids, but it can wait.”
Gemma was still so young at only nineteen, but the girl was also very mature for her age after all she’d been through. She and Jurnee had a bond after being in foster care together and the rest of us adored her too.
Just as I was about to say something, she chimed in again. “So I missed the little get-together the other day after you came home from Vegas. How did your trip go with your Prince Charming tagging along?” She winked and I realized the girl was as bad as my five-year-old niece when it came to this shit.
She wasn’t getting anything out of me. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” I told her, laughing after the words left my mouth. Shit, now she would think up God knows what, but it felt good to be playful.
“I’m going to go talk to my brother, is he in his office?”
“Yep,” she said with a nod of her head.
As I headed off down the hall with a wave of my hand, I heard her let out a huff.
“That’s not fair keeping all the deets to yourself. Inquiring minds want to know,” she grumbled, her teasing voice echoing down the hall.
I think that Gemma and Embry have been spending way too much time together because both were nosey little things. And sassy too.
As I walked down the long empty hall toward my brother’s office, my footsteps slowed a little and I contemplated turning around. Deep down I knew he would support and always love me, but I didn’t know if I could handle the look in his eye I might get when I told him about the baby.
Would it be sadness etched across his face? Maybe it would be fury because of Landon and me. Or maybe pity would be lining his facial features. Whatever it was, nothing would be easy to handle, that I knew. But I needed to square things between us and the only way to do that was to let it all out.
Just as I made it to Braxton’s door and was about to announce I was there, Kace popped up out of the blue, right next to me. Where the hell did he come from anyway? Damn military taught them to be sneaky. He just about scared the pee right out of me.
“Hey gorgeous, you must have the wrong office. I know you don’t want to see that dipshit,” he said as he motioned to Braxton who had caught wind of the commotion at his door and was now staring at the two of us. “I’m free for lunch by the way,” he continued.
I couldn’t help but smile at the loon. Kace had a way of bringing laughter and a grin to everyone's faces. The guy was a jokester and you couldn’t help but adore him for it. There had only been a few times I had ever caught him looking sad or off his game, but those moments always made me wonder what he kept buried inside. I knew a lot about that myself so I didn’t pry, letting him do his thing.
