After about an hour, Brook looked over at Dylan and gave him a tired smile.
“Maybe we should call it a day,” he said, giving her a worried look.
“But I haven’t stood up yet!” She replied, wiping the water from her eyes once more. “Maybe a little while longer?”
“You can stand up next time, Silly Girl,” Dylan chuckled, shaking his head. “But you look tired. Happy, but very tired. I don’t want you overdoing it.”
“Okay,” she nodded, giving him a broad smile. “And thank you.”
“For what?” Dylan asked, giving her a questioning look.
“For everything I guess,” she smiled again. “For taking me out here today. For everything you’ve done these past six weeks. Mostly thank you for just being you.”
Dylan reached out his hand for hers, and Brook quickly took it.
“It was my pleasure,” he replied, wishing there were enough words inside him to express how he was feeling deep down inside. Bringing her hand to his mouth, he kissed it softly. “Now, let’s get you home.”
They both paddled back to the shore, before making their way onto the warm sand.
Brook dropped her board, then turned to the sea before sitting down on the sand to catch her breath.
“I can see why you love this place so much,” Brook smiled as she glanced at Dylan, before returning her attention to the sea. “It’s so easy to get so lost out there, forgetting everything and everyone. It’s just you and the waves.”
“Yeah,” Dylan sighed as he sat down next to her. His mind went straight to the one question he was longing to ask her. Not even the waves had pushed it from his thoughts today. “I get what you mean.”
“Are you okay?” Brook asked, surprising him with her question.
“Yeah,” he replied, offering her a smile, but inside he was wondering if this was the perfect time to say what he was feeling.
“You’re not,” Brook sighed, giving him a knowing smile. “I know you too well Dylan Murphy. There is something on your mind. Now spill!”
“I was just thinking about the future,” Dylan said, knowing that there was no point in lying to her now. “Our future.”
“Oh!” Brook replied, giving him a worried look before she turned back towards the sea. Dylan watched her for a moment, wondering what the hell was going through her mind right at that very moment. “And what do you see in our future?”
“Well,” Dylan began, taking a deep breath. “I was thinking about what would happen when all of this stuff with Warren, and the case Landen is working on was done. Also, when you’re finished with the hospital. I was wondering if… well, I was wondering…”
“If I was going back to New York?” Brook finished his question, but for a moment didn’t say any more.
They sat for a moment in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. Finally, it was Brook who spoke.
“Dylan, San Francisco has so many bad memories for me,” Brook sighed without looking at Dylan. “I’m afraid I will always be looking over my shoulder. I will always be afraid that Warren is out there somewhere… but…”
“But,” Dylan asked, giving her a hopeful look.
“But now I have a reason to stay,” she said, finally looking at him. “My life is in New York, but my heart… my heart is right here.”
“You want to stay here?” Dylan asked, giving her a hopeful look. In his heart, they were the words Dylan longed to hear, just never believed he would.
“I don’t know,” Brook replied honestly, but then gave him a smile. “But what I do know is, I can’t imagine a future that doesn’t have you in it.”
“Neither can I,” Dylan replied, giving her a broad smile before he leaned forward pressing his lips to hers. “And I promise, I will do whatever it takes to be part of it, because the truth is, Brook. You are my future.”
He leaned forward, claiming her lips once more.
As Dylan drove up the driveway of his parents’ home, he spotted Liam’s car parked outside the house too. He pulled his father’s truck to a stop next to Liam’s car and switched off the engine before he glanced over at Brook, who was fast asleep with her head pressed to the window. Watching her for a moment, he smiled to himself. He was happy that Brook finally seemed to be completely and totally relaxed.
“We’re home sleepy head,” Dylan said as he reached out and gently nudged her awake.
“Wow!” She yawned as she pushed herself up in her seat. “How long was I asleep?”
“Only about twenty minutes,” Dylan replied as the door to his parent’s home opened, and Liam appeared in the doorway. The moment Dylan saw the look on Liam’s face, he knew something was wrong.
“What’s wrong,” Brook asked, clearly picking up his reaction to seeing Liam. She turned and saw Liam standing there, and instantly her shoulders dropped. “Something is wrong, isn’t it?”
“We don’t know that, Brook,” Dylan said, but he knew that he couldn’t reassure her when he knew deep down that she wasn’t wrong. “Maybe we should get out and see what’s going on.”
Brook didn’t even reply to Dylan. Instead, she pushed open the door and quickly climbed from the truck.
“Hey, Brook,” Liam said as he stepped further down the front steps.
“What’s happened?” She asked as Dylan climbed out too, then hurried around the truck to join her and Liam on the front steps.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Liam said, but Dylan could see that his brother was trying to choose his words carefully. “I was actually hoping to talk to Dylan.”
“If this has anything to do with Warren,” she said, the fear in her voice very apparent. “Then I need to know, Liam. I know you think I need to be protected, but I don’t.”
Liam stared at her for a moment, before he looked at Dylan, giving him a questioning look. Dylan nodded, telling him that he could talk in front of Brook.
“Okay,” Liam said, releasing a long breath. “Well, we’ve had someone come forward. The driver of the car that knocked you off your bike.”
“I see,” Dylan said surprised by what he said, still knowing this wasn’t something he was going to like.
“He’s just a dumb, scared kid,” Liam continued. “Twenty years old. He said that he was pulled over three weeks ago and busted for having three ecstasy tablets in his possession. He’s a med student and was terrified he was going to be kicked out of college if they found out. The officer said if he did him a favour, he would drop the possession charges. He said they gave him the make and the license plate of your bike, and where he might find you. He said he was told to run you off the road; that you needed money, and it would be your way for claiming the insurance. He said when he saw it on the news; he panicked, but then he told his dad, and he made him come forward.”
“He was told to run me off the road?” Dylan asked, stunned by this new information. “Why… why would someone do this? Who was the officer?”
“The kid didn’t have a name.” Liam continued. “He said the officer had removed all his identification. But he got a make and partial plate of the cop’s car as the cop drove away. The car was registered to the cop who was partnered with Warren when he first got out of the Academy.”
“So this was about Warren,” Dylan said, releasing a deep, frustrated breath as he glanced at Brook.
Her face was completely unreadable.
“It would seem so,” Liam sighed, but Dylan didn’t take his eyes from Brook.
“This is stupid!” Brook exclaimed suddenly, then without saying another word, she pushed passed Liam, hurrying into the house.
“Brook!” Dylan called after her as he followed her into the house, but she was already halfway up the stairs. “BROOK!”
Nell and Sean appeared in the hallway from the living room, but Dylan didn’t slow down. Instead, he hurried up the stairs after Brook.
When he reached her room, he wasn’t that surprised to find her already inside her closet, packing her belongings once more.
“I'm not staying here any longer!” She exclaimed as she continued to push her belonging into the holdall in her hand. “I will not be the reason that you or anyone else gets hurt. I told you before; Warren will never let me go. The best thing I can do now is just return to New York and forget about this whole stupid mess.”
“Just like that!” Dylan replied angrily as he walked towards her, quickly yanking that bag from her hand. “You’ve decided you’ve had enough, and you’re going to leave?”
“HE TRIED TO HAVE YOU KILLED, DYLAN!” Brook yelled as she turned to face him. “Don’t ask me to sit by and let something bad happen to you because of me. I can’t be the reason you’re hurt…”
“And you don’t think that if you leave, that won’t hurt me too?” He asked, giving her a pleading look.
“That’s not the same thing,” she sighed, giving him a pleading look. “You will get over that. But I will never get over it if you were really hurt or worse, because of me. Please don’t ask me to try.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, Brook,” he tried to reassure her, and he reached for her hand. “You have to believe that.”
“But I can’t!” She exclaimed as suddenly fat tears trickled down her face. “I can’t be the reason he hurts you.”
“And I can’t let you walk away, Brook,” Dylan whispered as he pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her, pulling her close to him. “I love you, Brook. If you leave, the only one that wins is Warren. You can let him win, Brook. Please!”
“But I’m scared,” she sobbed. “I just feel like this will never end.”
“It will,” Liam said, suddenly from the doorway. “Dylan is right. You can’t let him win. I will make him pay for this. I will make sure they all pay, but I can’t do that without you. This is your chance to take the power back from this asshole. Please! Don’t walk away now!”
“You need to promise me that Dylan won’t get hurt,” Brook pleaded as she lifted her head and looked at Liam.
“I give you my word that I will make him pay,” Liam said, and Dylan could tell that his brother was just as scared as Brook was. “And I will do whatever it takes to keep you all safe. This is nearly over. Please don’t give up now.”
Brook looked up at Dylan, the fear in her eyes almost destroying him.
“I will stay,” she said, her eyes not leaving him. “I will not let him win anymore.”
“Thank you,” Dylan said, as he wrapped his arms around her once more, holding her so tight he could barely catch his breath. “Thank you for not giving up on us.”
Chapter 25
Brook
“I think you need different earrings,” Lexi said from where she was sitting on the bed. “Do you have something a little longer?”
Brook was getting ready for a night out with Dylan. Something that she was both nervous and excited about. Even though they had been out several times before, there was something special about tonight and Brook knew it. She knew Dylan was nervous about tonight too. She could see it in his eyes all day. Brook just didn’t know why. Nor did she know what he was planning, but she was excited about what the night would bring.
That’s why she wanted everything to be perfect, which was why she’d asked Lexi to help her get ready when she and Liam arrived for dinner with Dylan’s parents a short while earlier.
Brook had selected a beautiful little black dress that Dylan had insisted she bought when they went shopping a couple of weeks earlier. It had caught her eye, but it was a dress Warren would have never allowed her to wear, so instinctively she put it back on the rack. When Dylan asked her why she’d put it back if she liked it, she told him that it just wasn’t something that she was used to wearing.
Of course, Dylan had seen right through her excuse and insisted that she buy the dress.
Now she was wearing it; she thought it was probably the most beautiful dress she’d ever seen. Part of her was completely in love with it, but there was part of her that wondered if maybe wearing it was such a good idea. She hated that Warren still consumed her thoughts.
“No,” Brook sighed staring at her reflection. “Well I do, but they are in my jewellery box on my dressing table in New York.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to do about that?” Lexi asked as she gave Brook a questioning look, surprising her with her comment. “I’m sorry, Liam said that Dylan asked you to stay here in San Francisco. He also said you hadn’t given him a definite answer.”
“He told Liam that?” Brook asked as she turned and looked at Lexi.
Of all the girls that were in the Murphy family, Brook liked Lexi the most. Which was probably a good thing as Liam and Dylan hung out more than they did with the other brothers, and given that Lexi was Liam’s wife, it was a good thing Brook liked her so much, and that they got along.
Still, she was surprised that Dylan would have talked to Liam about this, and that Liam would have told Lexi.
“I’m sorry,” Lexi said, clearly sensing she had overstepped a little. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, it’s fine,” Brook shook her head, forcing a smile on her face. “I’m just surprised that he would have told Liam. That’s all.”
“You’re kidding right,” Lexi smiled too. “Those two are so close, that sometimes it’s like they even know what the other one is thinking before they do. But I get it, I do. I totally understand your worries about coming back here on a permanent basis. I really do. It’s just, Dylan is so sweet, and I know he loves you so much. It’s written all over his face every time he looks at you.”
“I love him too,” Brook said, feeling she needed to say it out loud.
“I know you do, Sweetie,” Lexi said, as she climbed up from the bed, making her way across the room to where Brook was standing. “I don’t doubt that. It’s just… I nearly missed out on spending the rest of my life with the man I was meant to love forever because of stupid fear. And while I understand why you’re frightened, don’t let fear rob you of your happiness.”
“I won’t,” Brook said as she turned to Lexi and gave her a grateful smile. “I promise.”
“Good,” Lexi replied, giving her a broad smile.
Before Brook could say another word, there was a soft tap on the bedroom door.
“Come in!” Brook called out, smiling at Lexi once more before they both turned towards the door expectantly. Moments later Liam popped his head around the door, giving both girls one of his name famous cheeky grins, and Brook couldn’t help but smile too.
Despite the initial reservations she had about Liam when she was back in the hospital, he had become someone that Brook loved a great deal too. He was sweet, caring and very funny. As a police officer, he couldn’t have been less like Warren if he tried. He was honest and honourable, something Warren could never be.
But what she loved about Liam the most was just how much he loved his family; especially Dylan. Brook could tell that he was fiercely protective of him. There was nothing Liam wouldn’t do to keep his brother safe. Brook knew this and that sometimes made her wonder if he really thought her being with Dylan was such a good idea.
Not that Liam had ever been anything but nice to her. It was just a feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Brook wasn’t sure if it were something she was picking up on, or if it was just her own fears and insecurities making her doubt herself once more.
“Wow!” Liam exclaimed as he stepped further into the room. “Brook! You look… sensational!”
“Thank you, Liam,” Brook blushed as she walked to the bed to collect her clutch.
“I just came to tell Lexi that dinner was ready,” Liam said, giving his wife a loving smile before he turned back to Brook. “Also, to let you know, Brook, Boy Wonder is waiting downstairs for you.”
“Thank you, Liam,” she nodded, giving him a warm smile before she and Lexi followed Liam out of the room and down th
e stairs.
She was halfway down the stairs when Dylan appeared at the bottom of them, his eyes instantly meeting Brook’s. The moment he saw her, he gave her the biggest smile she’d ever seen.
“You’re a lucky man, Baby Brother,” Liam said as he reached the bottom of the stairs before he turned and reached out for Lexi’s hand. “Enjoy your evening and be careful.”
“We will,” Dylan replied without taking his eyes from Brook. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Dylan’s smile widened as he stepped closer to her. “Wow!”
“You like?” She asked, giving him a twirl, ignoring the uncertainty she felt in the pit of her stomach.
“I love,” Dylan replied as he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. “You are stunning.”
“You don’t think it’s a little…” She began to say, but Dylan quickly kissed her, stopping her mid-sentence.
“You are stunning,” he repeated finally, giving her another smile. “Please don’t overthink this.”
“I won’t,” she assured him with a grateful smile. “I promise.”
“Good,” he said as he offered her his arm “Your chariot awaits, Ma’am.”
Brook giggled as she took his arm, then allowed him to lead her to the door. As nervous as she was about this evening, she was so excited too. As they stepped out through the door, she was surprised to find a strange Range Rover parked at the bottom of the steps. Dylan quickly led her down the steps and reached for the passenger door.
“Whose car is this?” Brook asked, stopping before she got to it.
“It’s mine,” Dylan replied with a smile. “I decided not to have the bike repaired. I figure that maybe my mom was right. Those stupid things are dangerous, and besides, I want to drive the woman I love around in comfort and safety so it seemed like the right time.”
“You got rid of your bike?” Brook asked, surprised by what he said. If she knew one thing about Dylan was how much he adored his bike. “But you love your motorbike!”
Dylan (The Murphy Series Book 5) Page 24