Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

Ethan

I did as Brynn asked. I took her across the street to the coffee shop. When I opened the front door, she barely walked in before she started to cry. It was horrible to watch and feel so helpless.

Walking around the tables and chairs, her hands touched everything as if for the first time. The tears fell one after another as she walked back into the kitchen and saw her place there. The oversized mixer Leo and I hauled in for her when she first opened, the giant industrial stove where she baked her pastries and goodies, the stove top she made her sauces and filling. All those memories flooded her.

"I was so excited when I opened up here. Some place that was all mine." She spoke softly, remembering at last. "I understood how you and Leo, even Aubrey, felt having my own business. I was my own boss, no one to tell me what I can and can't do. It was the most liberating moment for me."

"You earned it, Brynn. You worked so hard for Paige and she was so proud of you. All of us were. You made success out of your dream." She has more dreams to fulfill. The restaurant she's opening with Paige, that place is going to be amazing too.

"You were right here by my side. Even though I was horrible to you. I've treated you so badly, Ethan." Lifting her hands to her mouth, she sobbed.

It broke my heart. I hate seeing her like this. Brynn is a good person, better than I am. She was hurt and that was my fault, not hers. I made her not trust me. I was the one who cheated. It's my fault for her pain. But now that she's finally dealing with it, maybe we can heal.

"Don't do that, Brynn." Going to her, I pull her tight to my chest and kiss her forehead. "It was a long time ago, baby. I understand what I did to you and God, I'm so fucking sorry."

"No. I meant to punish you for it. I was angry at you and I wanted to make you hurt as much as I did. I'm sorry, Ethan. I shouldn't have done that to you. You have apologized so many times and I wouldn't accept it. Even after you told me everything that happened I still wouldn't listen to you. I was wrong. God! I was so wrong." The flood gates opened and her body trembled in my arms.

I know she has to get through this but I feel helpless. I don't know how to make this easier for her. Maybe I'm not meant to, but damn it, I feel her pain as much as my own.

"Come on, Brynn. Let's get you upstairs." I suggest. Nodding her head, she stays curled against my side as we go out the back door and up the stairs.

Opening the door, I led her inside. It's the first time I've been back here in a long time. Never when we were together but when she needed something fixed. A clogged drain, a new sink. I laid the planked floor for her and installed the ceiling fans. Any reason to put me in her vicinity.

"Can you stay with me? I know you want to help the others find Lindsey but.."

"I'm staying. I'm not going anywhere." Never again. The door has been opened and I will make sure it doesn't close on me again. "I'm going to check on Leo and let him know we're here. Then I'm all yours."

She nodded and smiled softly looking around her home. "I'm going to the bathroom while you do that. I need to fix my face."

She doesn't need to fix anything but I know she's giving me time to talk to my brother. He took a hit. A hard one for Quinn and the baby. I would have done the same thing. But I saw the damage on his back. I know how hard that hit was and that if he hadn't blocked Quinn like he did, she would've been seriously hurt or lost the baby.

Brynn kissed my cheek before she walked across the room to the bathroom and closed the door. Taking a long breath, I took a good look around myself. Nothing is out of place, nothing looks messed with but there's no telling if Lindsey has been in here too.

I have to believe she has. She seems to have gotten in everywhere. To stay on the side of caution, I call Leo as I make my way around the small apartment.

"I thought you were staying here tonight? Where'd you go?" Leo answered his phone.

"Brynn wanted to go home. We're at her place. How are you?" I'm not stupid enough to not tell anyone where we are. Not after everything that's happened.

"Quinn and Georgia have been babying me. It's not a bad deal having a beautiful woman doting on me and her mama cooking up a storm. I'll tell you this, Ethan. If I find Lindsey first, I'm gonna kill her. I'm not joking about that. She crossed a line." And everyone says Leo is the calm one.

"I'll hold your beer. Then you can hold mine. We're staying here tonight. If anything else happens..."

"I'll call you. Take care of her. Brynn is a strong lady but she's been through hell because of Lindsey. I don't think she's done with Brynn." Unfortunately, I agree with him. Lindsey has her target and we're it. "I'm letting Charlie know where you are. I'll have him keep an eye out there too."

Brynn comes out of the bathroom and my mouth drops open. She's stripped down to my old football jersey and nothing on those legs. The woman has a mile worth of legs. And damn if seeing her like this isn't worth all the time I've waited for her.

"Ethan? Hey! You there?" Leo calls me, trying to get my attention.

"Yeah, gotta go." Disconnecting the call, I can't take my eyes off her. She's gorgeous. And mine finally. I'm going to make her mine again.

"Would you mind holding me until I fall asleep?" She fidgets with the string on the bottom of the shirt. Lifting the material just enough for me to get a glimpse of a pale blue satin.

My mouth has suddenly gone dry. I can't find my voice, so I nod anxiously. Even back when we were dating, I never saw her like this. It was nights we snuck out to the falls under the moonlight or parking out in the middle of nowhere so we could get our hands on each other. But never did I have her in bed.

That changes tonight.

Following Brynn into her bedroom, once again everything is in its place. I know Aubrey and Paige came in to clean it up when Brynn was in the hospital. Just as I know Brynn is meticulous about cleaning up. Everything in its place, including her.

Crawling into bed, she shimmies down under the covers and waits for me to join her. Setting my phone on the nightstand, I pull off my jacket and t-shirt. Toeing off my sneakers, and dropping my jeans, I slid in next to her.

"Try to rest." I tell her, knowing I won't get a lick of sleep. My imagination didn't do her justice when I imagined this moment with her. I've got a pretty inventive imagination too, and I seriously left a lot out of this picture. Especially how she could make my palms sweat and my heart pound.

No one has ever been able to make me feel nervous and giddy, excited and trepidation at the same time. Only Brynn.

"Are you going to hold me?" She asks, waiting for me to put my arms around her.  Complying with her wishes, I lift my arm and bring her against my side. "Are you going to kiss me, Ethan?"

Oh shit! Again more than happy to do as she asks, I kiss her forehead, her nose, before taking her mouth. One kiss at a time, I sink into her. The way she feels against me, her sighs, her touch, her taste, all having me drowning in her.

Kiss after glorious kiss, it felt like coming home at last. My memory of Brynn was good but that was of the young innocent girl I took for the first time. She's no blushing virgin now, and is all woman.

Her curves that were slight are now fully developed. Her breasts that were small and firm now fill my hand. Yes, I wasn't prepared for the woman she became but I'll never forget her again.

Her hands roamed, learning my body again from the gangly boy I was to the broad shouldered man I've become. Touching muscles that weren't there before, finding scars that I've accumulated over the years. She's as nervous as I am when I notice the slightest shake to her hand, the sharp intake of breath when I skim my hand over her center.

There's so much more here than there ever was before. So much passion and need, desire and heat that I didn't appreciate as a boy. When Brynn rolled me to my back, when she rose over me and took me in, it took every ounce of control to not lose it right then.

Her hands over mine, she showed me where she wanted me to touch her. As she rode me, she took everything I had. Every strength to hold myself back, every weakness to lose myself in her. Every restraint to make the moment last and every desire to give her all I have. Everything I have, need or want is in her.

I couldn't contain myself. Watching her, feeling her move with me, it was too much. Gripping her hips, I flipped us over and plunged into her. That long blonde hair splayed over the pillow, made for the perfect backdrop of a picture when she reached her peak and got lost in her release.

It was stunning, beautiful and erotic to watch her fall. And to my embarrassment, more than I could handle when I let out a loud growl of pleasure and pumped deeply into her as I found my own relief.

It was over too soon. I wanted to make this perfect and last for her but I couldn't control myself. She broke that thin thread of control I have held onto all these years. I don't think I'll ever get it back.

"You've changed from who you were before." She whispers, her head nestled against my chest.

"So have you. Is that a good thing?" I wonder, hoping I'm not a disappointment for her.

"Oh no. I didn't mean it like that. You grew into your body. You were a skinny kid the last time we were here like this. You grew your muscles and yeah, not a bad thing at all." She laughed, touching the ribbon of muscle on my arm. "Definitely not a complaint."

Rolling us over, I settled my body into hers again. "That's good because I plan on this being a regular thing now. I'm not letting you go again, Brynn. I made my mistake and it won't happen again. I've loved you all my life. That's all there is to it. I love you and I'm not letting you go."

Brynn didn't answer right away but took a moment to think about all of what's happened. There's been a lot, and I know she's still recovering but I've got her in my arms again. She has to know I'm going to do what I didn't last time.

I'm going to fight to keep her.

Quinn

We sat around the table and ate. The conversation was muted as most of us were still thinking about what happened at the park. I don't have much of an appetite now. It scared me, more so now than before. I have Hope to think about and this baby.

Pushing the fork around on my plate, my other hand cups around my belly. I have to protect both of my children now. Leo wants us to go back to California tomorrow with Blake and Emma. He's afraid of what could happen if we stay.

Leo has refused to go with us. He says he needs to stay here to help the others find Lindsey. I understand why he wants us to go just as I understand why he feels he needs to stay. But it scares me to think that Lindsey could and would be able to hurt him again and I wouldn't be here for him.

"Everything is set with the plane for first thing tomorrow morning." Blake announces, coming back into the room. "Quinn, I've got Ma's suite ready for you and Hope when we get there."

Not the guest house or a guest room but Georgia's rooms. She has a master suite of rooms on one wing of the house. It's private and is probably bigger than my rooms here. I don't need that much space but I know it's a comfort to Georgia that we take what she's offering. She wants us safe as much as Leo does.

"Okay, thank you." I feel weak. I often felt weak growing up. Beckett defended me always and he protected me until the day he left. After that I was on my own and I was weak. I didn't know how to defend myself and that was a mistake. I won't be weak again. "I want to take self defense classes."

Blurting out my intentions wasn't my plan but I have everyone's attention now. I might as well keep going with it. "I don't want to feel weak anymore. I want to know that I can defend myself and my children. I need this."

"I think it's a good idea for all of us to do that." Emma agrees. "After everything we've been through as a family, we've faced some crazy people. It would be smart for us to know some self defense."

Blake and Jake nod in agreement. Grace, who has been very quiet about her opinion of all this, speaks up. "A good self defense class would help. I think it would be better to bring someone to the house and work with all of us at once. We stick together, we can work as a team. One on one, someone has a better chance of overtaking us but as a team, we're harder to beat."

"I agree. I'll have Laney set it up." Georgia makes a note on her tablet. "I'm also setting up a meeting for security and the decorator to meet with you, Quinn. I want you to arrange for a security system to be installed at Leo's and for you to get to work on the nursery. With the wedding and a baby coming, you will need help keeping it all straight. I can help with that."

I can't argue with her. I know she's right just as I know Leo is. But I can ask her for something for Leo. "I will do all of that but I want something too."

I've never directly asked Georgia for anything. The single perfectly sculpted eyebrow lifted at me. "And what is that, sugar?"

"I want Leo, Aubrey and Beckett to have security here. Aubrey is pregnant, she can't leave. She needs protection. Beckett and Leo are staying and hunting Lindsey. They need protection from her." My statement is true and reasonable. None of us are safe.

"So do Brynn and Ethan." Aubrey spoke up. "Actually I think Brynn needs the security more than anyone. Lindsey has gone after her all her life. There's always been digs, bullying or something. She has the best reason to get security."

"I agree with that." Beckett took his wife's hand. "And I think Lindsey's main target is Brynn but she's going to take who she can get just to hurt us."

"She feels cornered. We've found her hiding places. We've been able to keep her from doing too much damage. She's getting desperate." Aubrey analyzes the situation. Standing up, Aubrey begins to clear the table.

Leo continues with the thought. "She's frustrated. She's going to make a mistake."

"She already has." Georgia agrees, tapping her finger on the table. "She's given away her hand and..."

"I found something!" Mia rushes in. A dusty old book against her chest, she drops it on the table. "Marriage and death certificates are public records. So are divorces and property."

"Yeah. We know this." Blake says looking over Mia's shoulder at what she's found. "Son of a bitch!"

"What is it, Mia?" Aubrey encouraged the shy woman to continue. "What did you find?"

"When the Mayor and his wife had their daughter, Lindsey. It was a home birth. Not in a hospital like most births." Flipping the page, Mia turned the book around and pushed it toward Georgia. "Twins run in families, usually skipping a generation before another set is born. Another child was born as well. One that was reported as stillborn but there's no record of that child being buried. No death certificate, no proof of the child anywhere but being born to the mayor and his wife."

"Lindsey is a twin?" Aubrey asks just as she doubles over in pain. Holding her belly, Aubrey lets out a scream of pain and a puddle of bloody water forms around her feet. "Beckett? I think it's time."

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