Until Brew

by CC Monroe

  I release a deep breath, thankful it’s not Evan nor June’s safety.

  “Oh, girl! That’s amazing! Why do you sound so scared?”

  “I’m not. I’m just so overwhelmed. After everything….” She stops, and I touch her arm again.

  “You don’t have to say it. I know.”

  “It just seems so surreal, and it’s like our miracle, the blessing that pushed us through such a scary and hard time.”

  “Aw, sweets.” I hesitate for a moment, deciding if now is the best time to tell her. I won’t be able to hide under looser shirts for long.

  “Me and Brew… we’re pregnant,” I say softly. June’s eyes widen, and she looks as though she thinks I’m mocking her. “No, I’m not being a smartass, or as Evan like to call me, nuts. I’m serious.”

  “Oh my God! JJ! That’s amazing! How far along?”

  “That’s not the point. This is about you. I just wanted you to know, so we could share that together. I want to hear about you! How long have you known? How did Evan react?”

  She blushes. “Good… really, really good.”

  “Oh! You little slut!” I tease, knowing exactly what she means.

  “And he’s been so attentive, sometimes over the top and a bit much, but he just can’t leave my side.”

  I clap my hands, truly so excited they are finally getting their happily ever after. The amount of shit I’ve seen these two go through together is truly a test of faith, and they made it through, together, stronger, and happier. I tease them a lot, but honestly, I love how happy Evan makes June and how she has let go of the past they shared that nearly broke them and gave into her heart.

  “My hell. Intruders, shootings, engagement, and a baby. You two need a TV show. You know that? I would produce it.”

  “Oh really?” She laughs. “And what would you call that show?”

  “Easy. Welcome to the Actual Shitshow—for twist, turns, and happily ever afters.”

  She lightly shoves at my shoulder, rolling her eyes at me. “Wait! You nearly ripped my head off for being engaged and Brew finding out first, then said we would talk over tequila. But you were pregnant!”

  Giving a guilty-as-charged face, I laugh. “Evan was there, and I didn’t want him to sense anything was off, so I led with what I always do, sarcasm and tequila. I was really just planning on telling you then and actually bringing straight strawberry milk this time.” I remind her of our first night drinking together, and we laugh. God, it feels so good to laugh.

  “This world sure has a funny way of kicking us in the ass, doesn’t it?” she asks, shaking her head. I agree and see we are approaching the destination on my phone. Just then, June’s phone rings, and she answers on the Bluetooth. “Hey, baby.”

  “Gorgeous, what are you doing?”

  “Nothing, just about to drop JJ off at a possible rental for her new office. What’s up?”

  “I was hoping you could bring me my wallet. I left it at home and don’t want to be caught driving without it. And yes, I get your uncle would help bail me out of trouble, but no thanks. Can you do that for me?”

  “What’s in it for me? Foot rubs?” she teases.

  “Of course, we all know foot rubs lead to me fucking your—”

  “Bluetooth, Evan!” she hollers, and I bust out laughing.

  “Oh, come on. JJ, ain’t a prude. She knows the deal.”

  I tilt my head in agreement, though he can’t see me, and we roll to a stop.

  “I will go get it and bring it to you. I’ll call when I’m close.”

  “Love you. Drive safe.”

  “Yes, sir,” she mocks.

  “I like that. Save that dirty talk for later, baby,” he adds, and she gawks, ending the call.

  “Men.”

  I shrug. “Can’t live with them, and can’t live without them.” Opening the door, I look up at the space and see it’s abandoned, but the exterior is fairly new like Greg, the agent, told me.

  “I will be back as soon as possible. If I’m not here before the end of the meeting, call me and just wait outside.”

  I nod, shutting the door, and wave her off. Walking around the side, I find the front door and enter. I expect to see him waiting, but the door shuts, and it’s pitch-black. Something feels wrong, completely unsettling. I listen to my gut and turn to open the door to leave, but the second my hand touches the door handle, my hair is yanked back, and I scream out from the brute force and stinging pain.

  “Miss me, baby?”

  My stomach turns, instantly making me want to vomit. “P—Parker?”

  “That’s right, bitch.” He throws me to the ground, and I expect a kick, but the door opens. The glare of the sun blocks my sight, but I know it’s a woman, because the door shuts and she speaks.

  “Glad to see the bitch is as dumb as you say. Let’s get this over with so you can get your revenge, and I can get Brew back.”

  Lacey? Oh my God. It was both of them? This whole time. Together.

  “Parker, please, let me go. You don’t want to do this.” He laughs, and it’s the sound of the devil greeting you at the gates.

  “No, you see, I do. I lost it all because of you. The company, the inheritance, and my job. You had to turn me down and then burn my reputation to the ground.” They flip on a light, and I see them both. They look vengeful, angry, and with so much malice in their eyes they could take down an army with just that.

  “Please.”

  “Aw, listen to the whore beg,” Lacey adds.

  Turning my attention to her, I shake my head. “Lacey, help. Let me go, and I will leave without a word. You can have Brew.” It’s a lie, but I need to find a way to get out, and all I can think of is giving them what they want. “And Parker, I will call you father and tell him it was all a lie and that I did it to sabotage you. You’ll both then get what you want,” I beg, and not just for me but for my child. How could I be so dumb to have fallen for a fake email and not done my research? I fell right into their trap and had no idea it was coming. Not a single damn clue.

  “You think I’m dumb!” He spits on the ground next to me, and just to add a jab, Lacey steps on my calf with her high heel, and I yelp in pain.

  “Please! Please, I will do anything!”

  “Yes, yes, you will, and at our mercy. And man, do I have a lot of rage that I want to take out on you,” Parker seethes. He grabs me by my hair and drags me across the floor and down the hall to a room with a chair and a table filled with a bunch of knives. My stomach churns again, and this time, I do throw up a little bile. This is it, and June is gone. Brew thinks I’m safe and most likely won’t check my location for at least an hour. But it will be too late then.

  “Search her, take her phone, and turn off any way for anyone to find her,” Parker barks at Lacey, and she moves fast, searching every bit of me. Imagine both our surprise when she can’t find it.

  “It’s not here. She must have left it with that bitch who dropped her off.”

  Damn it, I set the phone down when comforting June for her news.

  “Check the bag she dropped at the door.”

  Lacey follows orders like his little puppet and rushes out to grab my bag. Moments later, she returns with it. Dumping it on the floor, she sees its not there, and they both rejoice.

  Sick bastards.

  “And to think you thought you were smarter than me.” Walking behind me, he grabs my arm and lifts me, throwing me on a chair and tying me to it. I wait for him to cover my mouth, but he doesn’t, meaning he knows that no one will hear me out there. They did their research; they’ve had weeks to plan this. They have the upper hand, and I’ve already lost the war.

  “Now.” He walks around me like I'm prey and at his mercy, which I am. “What should we do first? I always loved the idea of marking your pretty skin with scars for each time you turned me down, you dumb bitch.” This time, he spits in my face. “You really think you’re hot shit and better than me? You really think you are that much better, don’
t you?”

  “Parker, I never said that. Please, I’m so sorry.” It’s below me to be weak, but this is different. This is our child’s life, my life. It’s Brew losing us both.

  “Too late. You should have—” There’s a sudden noise, and they stop, and I scream, praying it’s June or someone who can help. Parker slaps his hand over my mouth and hushes me. We wait a good ten seconds or more, who knows at this point, before he yells at Lacey to check inside, then outside. She takes off, and I’m left alone with the one I’m most afraid of. I have to stop him, distract him, until June comes back or someone helps me.

  But then it hits me. I can’t have June come back. He can subdue us both, then she will be at risk. June has been through enough, and I can’t put her, Evan, and their child through this. This is my fate, my problem, and I can’t do anything but pray at this point, and I’m not one to pray to God. But in that moment, I’m desperate for anything. Any sort of mercy on me and my soul. If God can’t spare me, maybe he’ll at least spare my baby.

  He walks to the table of knives. I feel my heartbeat in every place of my body, my temples, my neck, my chest, all the way to my fingertips and toes. The sound of the knives clinks, and he holds each one up to the light, examining them thoroughly, dragging out the torture. I look around the room, looking for any way to escape, but there is nothing.

  “You know, I thought about how I would do this for so long now that it almost seems unreal. This feels like a dream. The chance at revenge. To take back what you stole.”

  “Parker, I can get it all back for you, and you don’t have to do this! Please, I can call your father and take all the blame.”

  “And what, give me a glorifying five-star review? This isn’t a fucking movie; this is my life, and you fucking stole it from me! Even if you could bring it back, I wouldn’t care! I want you to hurt, to feel pain and shame and regret for your actions. I want to embarrass you and come out knowing that in the end, I was really the winner, and you were nothing. I was better than you, and you were and always will be below me, bitch!” Spits flies out of his mouth with each word.

  He picks his knife of choice, and I try to stall. For what? I don’t know. Hope? A miracle? Something. “Lacey’s been gone a while. You might want to check on her and make sure someone isn’t out there.”

  He laughs. “She’s a junkie. Probably got lost in this big, empty space. Besides, she was just my gofer, to do the damage and leave you far off my scent. That way, when they find you, her name is all over it. Druggies. So fucking pathetic.” He rounds me again, standing behind me. Harshly, he grabs my neck and pulls it back, and I cry out, tears falling from the corners of my eyes and into my hair as I peer into the single fluorescent light above me. I refuse to look at him as he takes my life. I won’t give him that.

  In these last moments, I think of Brew. My family. Our child. And back to Brew. He and our unborn child are my most prevalent thought. If I’m going to die, it’s going to be with them in my mind. The last bit of peace before my demise. Placing the knife to my neck, he says with malice, “Have you ever tasted your own blood before, JJ?”

  Opening my mouth to curse him to hell on my last breath, I’m interrupted.

  “No, but have you?” comes a voice from the doorway, and then two shots ring out, and the next thing I know, my neck is released, and Parker’s body falls to the floor with a thud. He groans in pain, and when I look up, I see Brew. He has Lacey’s back against his front with his hand around her neck, and Evan comes up behind and around him, running to make sure that Parker doesn’t get up or pull anything. Then Dom and Deacon enter, grabbing Lacey so Brew can get to me.

  My entire body shakes, and I let out gut-wrenching sobs. “Brew!” I scream and cry for him, begging for him to release me.

  “It’s okay, baby. I’m here. I will always be here.” He unties me in record time, and the sound of a faint siren approaches, closing in and getting louder with each second, but all I care about is being in Brew’s arms. He lifts me up, cradling me and carrying me out. The second we are out of the building, cops descend on us. Brew tells them the perps are inside, and he takes me straight to the EMT.

  “You’re okay, baby. I’m here, but I need you to tell me anywhere they hurt you.” He tries to let me go, but I don’t let him.

  “Nowhere, they didn’t get the chance. Please don’t let me go. Please don’t leave,” I beg, clinging to the hope that this is real and that I didn’t just black out or that Parker didn’t already slit my throat and I’m fading away from this life with the wish that Brew really did save me.

  “Look at me, JJ. It’s me, and I am here. He cups my face and makes sure to keep our eyes locked on one another’s. I need you to tell them what they did and if you’re hurt.”

  I shake my head, trying to control my breathing. “Um, they uh… nothing really. Just pulled my hair and stepped on my leg. It’s a little sore, but nothing too bad. I think… I think the baby is okay.” I rub my stomach, and he tells the EMT to take me to the hospital.

  “But I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You aren’t. I will ride with you, but we need to check on you and our baby. I’m here, JJ,” he affirms, and I relax into the reality that it’s over and I’m safe.

  I’m alive. I’m safe.

  Alive.

  Safe.

  Brew.

  I black out the second they lay me in the back of the ambulance, the adrenaline dying, leaving me with no more energy.

  I wake to the sound of Brew speaking. Opening my eyes slowly, I see I’m in our bedroom. I’m not really sure when we got home, just vaguely remember a few in and out moments at the hospital. But my body kept giving in to the come-down. Listening, I hear Clara, Dennis, and… my parents?

  Standing, I make my way slowly to the voices, finding everyone in the kitchen.

  “Hey, what are you all doing here?” My throat is dry, and it hurts.

  “Baby, you aren’t supposed to be up and moving. You need to be resting.” Brew is across the living room and on me in seconds. I take his hand as he guides me to the couch. Everyone is watching me with worried eyes, and the only words I can mumble out after my mother brings me a water are “How did you find me?”

  That is the only thing I need to know. That I want to know. Brew lifts me into his lap and holds me close to his chest.

  “June. She saved you.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brew

  When June called and told me that JJ was in danger, I had never seen the end of my life flash in front of me before that moment. It was like everything I’ve ever known was about to be stripped away from me. I told June to run when she said she went to take JJ her phone and found her with Parker and Lacey, who hadn’t heard or seen June. I said to call the police and then call for Evan. I knew he would know to call Dom and Deacon and be there before any officer could.

  Running into the warehouse, I bumped into Lacey and grabbed her throat, silencing her from making any noise. Through gritted teeth and a gun pointed at her, I told her to lead the way. Without hesitation, she did just that. She led me to the room where JJ was about to be killed by Parker. Had I showed up seconds later, she would be gone.

  My world would have been robbed from me. The love of my life and my child would have slipped through my fingers. I try not to think about this as I tell JJ what happened like she asked.

  “I—I don’t even know what to say. I heard the doctor say our baby was safe. Was that a dream?” she asks, touching her stomach, where my hand is already resting.

  “No dream, that was real. She’s safe.”

  “She?” JJ’s voice cracks, the tears that welled falling from her beautiful eyes.

  “Yes, it’s a girl. She is safe, and so are you, and that’s what matters.”

  She doesn’t ask about Lacey and Parker and there are two things that make that best. One, I can’t hear their names without thinking about giving them the real justice I felt they deserved, but also because they are both
no longer a threat. Parker survived but will be facing charges; as will Lacey.

  “Mom? Dad? Are you okay?” she asks, looking over at her distraught parents, and her mother nods.

  “We are just glad our little girl and grandbaby are safe. That’s all that matters to us,” her father replies.

  “Yes, we are all so happy you are safe and that our granddaughter is as well,” my mom adds, my dad nodding in agreement, pulling her in close.

  “Knock, knock?” The front door opens, and Chrystal and June walk in first, Dom and Evan in tow. “Is she awake?” Chrystal asks before spotting JJ.

  “I am,” she responds, her voice still hoarse and dry. “Can I go to them?” she asks. I want to say no, but I know that’s not what she needs to hear right now.

  “Of course, careful.” She stands, and in a few steps, they are wrapped in a group hug as they all share tears. I hear the faint sound of JJ thanking June for coming back and saving her. Chrystal adding a “Same.”

  I watch her for the rest of the day, surrounded by so many who love her and need her. Holding her hand and giving her comfort. When night falls and everyone leaves, I carry her to the room, and she lets me without a fight. Knowing both she and I need it. I undress us down to nothing, skin on skin, a sheet the only thing covering us.

  “Thank you for finding me.”

  “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.” I kiss her temple.

  “I’m not talking about what happened, Brew.” She sits up slowly, laying her head on my chest and looking at me.

  “Thank you for finding me all those months ago. Thank you for being the one to pick me up. Thank you for being the one to make me fall in love with you,” she whispers, kissing my chest. Her words hit me right where her lips land—my heart.

  “I would do it all over again, but it’s you who found me,” I admit to her, kissing her head and playing with her hair.

  “I know you would do anything for me. You could have died for me,” she whispers, and I shake my head.

  “Not a chance. My love for you could fight all forces, and I would come out the winner each time, JJ.”