Needing Nevaeh

by Terri Anne Browning

  “Baby, we can work this out. Just give me a chance. I’ll fix this. P-please, Kitten.”

  When his voice cracked, my heart shattered a little more. I wanted to hug him, tell him it was all going to be okay, but we both knew that was a lie. It wasn’t okay. Nothing between us was now, and it never would be again.

  Chapter 21

  Braxton

  My eyes burned with unshed tears as I watched the love of my life stumble back and then take off running.

  Away from me.

  Unsteady on my feet, somehow I made it back to the table and slumped into a chair before putting my head in my hands and letting the tears fall.

  I was losing her.

  She was right. This was all on me. I’d fucked up royally, and now I had no clue how to fix it. But I needed the chance to try. Because I couldn’t live without her. I didn’t even want to consider the possibility.

  The tears kept falling, but I didn’t wipe them away. I couldn’t even move, frozen in place by the fear that I’d lost the only truly good thing I’d ever gotten to call mine. I sat there for a long time, just crying and trying to come up with a solution to fix what I had broken.

  The timer on the stove finally stirred me, and I got up on autopilot to turn off the alarm. Behind me, I heard someone coming into the kitchen at the same time my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket as I turned to watch Nevaeh cross toward me.

  “This is Braxton.” I answered the phone without checking to see who it was first.

  “Brax.” Lyla’s strained voice filled my ear, and I immediately went on alert. A look at the digital clock on the stove said it was after five in the morning Pacific time, which meant it was after eight in Virginia.

  “Lyla?” I strained to hear anything in the background, worried about my cousin. Then I realized she would have called Howler before me if she were in danger since she knew both Barrick and I were on the West Coast. “What’s wrong?”

  “The tail you put on Darcy just dropped off a file since Barrick told him you were unavailable. I looked at it… I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop myself. And I kind of wish I hadn’t. I can’t unsee what I just saw.” She was rambling, and that was completely unlike her, so I knew it must be something that had really upset her. “Ah fuck, I wish I could unsee that shit.”

  I felt Nevaeh’s gaze and looked at her. Her face was pale, her blue-gray eyes swollen and red-rimmed, telling me she’d been crying for a while. Yet her brows were lifted, concern on her face for my cousin.

  Clenching my free hand into a fist to keep myself from reaching for Neveah, I tried to focus on Lyla. “Ly, maybe you should just tell me what you can’t unsee, sweetheart. You’re kind of rambling right now and not making much sense.”

  “Yeah, okay.” She sucked in a deep breath then released it slowly. “Okay,” she said again. “So, the guy tailed Darcy for the past two weeks and finally caught her meeting up with the man I’m assuming is her baby daddy. Ugh. It’s so gross, Brax. Like, I seriously want to vomit right now.”

  “Lyla!” I snapped. “Just fucking tell me.”

  “She met up with your dad, Braxton. There are pictures, lots and lots of pictures of them in compromising positions—although he’s kind of agile for such an old man. Still, gross.”

  “Wait…” I muttered, trying to keep up with her. “My dad? As in, Darcy is fucking my father?”

  “Fucking. Dominating. Making him her bitch. Whatever you want to call it, it looks like that’s what is happening in these sick pictures.” She made a gagging noise, but I was too stunned to tell her to chill.

  Darcy and my father.

  Which meant Darcy was pregnant with my little brother or sister.

  That was so fucked up.

  If Darcy had gotten her way, she could have pretended her lover’s child was mine since my dad and I looked similar. We could have the same blood type, share DNA.

  And they were both trying to pass it off as mine. Trying to fuck up my life because they’d screwed around and now Darcy was knocked up.

  “Brax? You still there?” Lyla’s voice finally penetrated my rage-filled fog.

  “Yeah, Ly. I’m here.” I scrubbed my hands over my face, the lack of sleep and my aching leg finally weighing down on me.

  “What do you want me to do with this intel? I can have it overnighted to you, but honestly, you don’t want to see your dad being that flexible.”

  I looked at Nevaeh again, and everything inside me just turned off. I didn’t care that my dad was fucking my ex. I didn’t care what they did or how they figured this shit out. Let them deal with their own problems, because the only thing that mattered to me was holding on to Nevaeh. “Burn it. Use it as wallpaper. Do whatever the hell you want with it. I don’t care anymore, Ly. I’m done with this shit. It’s not worth it.”

  “Worth what?” she asked curiously. “You sound weird. Is everything okay? Fuck, I just realized the time difference. Did I wake you up?”

  “No, I was already awake.” I blew out an exhausted sigh. “Do what you want with the intel, Lyla. I’ve got more important things to deal with.”

  “Are you sure I can do anything with this?”

  I grimaced. “Yeah. Whatever you want. Just don’t involve me, because I’m done with it all.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing at fuck-early in the morning on the West Coast. And if you need anything, Brax, anything at all, just call.”

  “Thanks. Later, Lyla.”

  “Bye, cuz.”

  Dropping the phone on the counter, I leaned back and watched Nevaeh as she took the carrots and chicken from the pot. The chicken was left to cool while she put the carrots in a pan and added a little butter to sauté them with some chopped onion.

  “Everything okay with Lyla?” she asked over her shoulder as she turned the burner to low heat before starting to shred the chicken. All while not looking at me once.

  “I had a tail on Darcy to find out who her baby’s father is,” I told her, and I saw her shoulders stiffen. “Turns out, it

  ’s my dad.”

  She turned so suddenly, the forks she was using to shred the chicken fell at her feet. “Shit.” I bent to pick them up at the same time she did, our fingers grazing each other. She swallowed hard and snatched them both up before straightening. “I… What? Your dad?”

  I was slower to straighten and shrugged. “It makes sense, I guess. Darcy would call me Collins sometimes when we dated. I guess she calls him that too, and her mom just assumed she meant me.”

  It was more fucked up than I’d first thought when I realized Darcy was pregnant and trying to play her kid off as mine, but I didn’t give a single fuck what her plan was now. Nevaeh was more important than dealing with Darcy and my father’s freaky relationship.

  “That’s kind of disgusting,” she said, making a face. “I mean, yeah, okay, my parents have a large age gap and all, but it’s not big enough that people think he’s her father.”

  “Lyla apparently agrees with you,” I told her tiredly.

  Nevaeh tossed the forks into the sink and pulled two more from a drawer before glancing at me. “What do you think about all of it? I mean, I know it’s got to be weird for you. Finding out the girl you used to have sex with is now doing your father has to be a total mindfuck.”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t given that much thought. I’m more pissed that she was trying to pass my baby brother or sister off as my kid and thought I would just roll over and let her do whatever the hell she wanted.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that. I mean, you’re not exactly a timid or meek kind of guy. If anything, you sometimes border on Neanderthal. A few times over the years, I actually thought I heard you growling ‘mine’ at people.”

  “That’s because I did,” I told her as I stepped up behind her. Inhaling deeply, I breathed in her subtle, sweet floral scent and closed my eyes to savor my favorite smell. “You were always mine, Kitten.”


  I felt her shiver, and I pressed against her harder. “Brax…” she breathed, but she didn’t shy away from my touch when I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back against my front.

  “I love you, Nevaeh. I love you so fucking much. My life is worthless without you in it. Please, baby. Please don’t give up on us. Give me another chance.”

  “Mmm, it smells so good in here,” Arella said as she came into the kitchen behind us. “Nev… Oh shit. Sorry, didn’t realize you had company.”

  I turned my head to look at her over my shoulder. “Go back to bed,” I told her without releasing her sister.

  “Yeah, no.” Arella walked to the fridge and pulled out a carafe of orange juice. “I’m wide awake, and I’m not leaving my sister all alone with you when she just spent the last few hours crying her eyes out over your ass.”

  My heart clenched painfully at the thought of my kitten crying because of me, and I instinctively tightened my arms around Nevaeh, afraid she would pull away from me. “I’m not going to make her cry ever again,” I vowed to Arella.

  She snorted. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Arella,” Nevaeh said warningly. “Stop.”

  She grumbled something under her breath and replaced the carafe in the fridge. “You need to get some sleep, Nevi. You look like a fucking ghost right now. Daddy will only worry about you if he sees you like this later.”

  “I’m fine,” she muttered, stepping out of my arms.

  “You’re not fine. When did you last sleep? I bet it wasn’t during this week while you studied your ass off for finals.” Arella looked at me to back her up. “Am I right? How much sleep did she get all week?”

  She was right. Nevaeh had gotten maybe a few hours of sleep every night that week because she’d been studying hard for her finals. Not that she really needed to. She knew everything her professors tried to teach her already, and I had no doubt she could have easily aced those tests without having studied a single minute during the entire semester. Nevaeh was a perfectionist when it came to her education, something everyone on campus knew. More than one professor had groaned over the last two years when they realized they had her in their classes.

  My lack of answer had Arella smirking. “Thought so.” The smirk dropped from her face when she faced her sister again. “When you have the veggies sautéed, you take your cute ass upstairs and sleep. There will be no going to the hospital for you if you don’t get at least five hours of rest. You will not see Daddy looking like a wraith because I refuse to have you stressing him out.”

  My kitten’s shoulders slumped, and she gave a single nod. “You’re right. I don’t want to worry him or Mom. They’ve had enough to deal with lately.”

  “Good girl.” Arella lifted her juice to her lips and took a swallow before walking over and taking the spoon from Nevaeh. “Actually, you go on up to bed. I’ll finish the soup. That way, I can take a little credit for it.”

  Nevaeh gave a small laugh, earning her a wink from her younger sister.

  “And, you.” Arella pointed the wooden spoon at me. “Go with her. Sleep in my bed.” Nevaeh started to protest, but Arella shook her head, waving her out of the room. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. You’re pissed at him and blah, blah, blah. Trust me on this, big sis. It might have been from a distance, but I’ve still been watching you two. We all have. And the way this guy looks at you… That is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what Mom and Daddy have. Which means I seriously doubt either of you could sleep without the other.”

  “Not two minutes ago, you were ready to kick his ass. Now you want me to sleep beside him?” Nevaeh huffed angrily.

  “You were crying then. And he just promised not to make you cry ever again.”

  “Which you were all derisive about,” she reminded the younger girl.

  “I hate when you use words like that. Can’t you just say I was being snarky and thought he was full of shit?” Sighing dramatically, she stirred the vegetables still sautéing in the pan on the stove. “The truth is, I believe him. And so should you. Now go upstairs and get some sleep. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go back to the hospital.”

  Not wanting to argue with Arella when I was getting exactly what I wanted, I scooped Nevaeh into my arms and carried her out of the kitchen. I carefully climbed the stairs to the second floor and glanced at her bedroom then at the other closed doors, unsure which was her sister’s room.

  With a heavy sigh, she directed me to Arella’s bedroom, and I kicked the door open. Using my elbow, I turned on the overhead light so I could see where I was going on my way to the bed. Once she was safely in the middle of the mattress, I went back to shut and lock the door before switching off the light. On my way back, I kicked off my shoes and pulled my shirt over my head.

  As I dropped down onto the bed beside her, I caught the sound of her soft gasp, and I pulled her into my arms.

  “Brax—”

  “Sleep,” I told her in a gruff voice, pressing my nose to the top of her sweet-smelling head. Closing my eyes, I inhaled slowly and forced all my muscles to relax so I could enjoy this. My sinuses stung with unshed tears, and I prayed this wasn’t the last time she let me do this. “Let me hold you. That’s all I want right now, Kitten. You can yell at me later. Just please, let me hold you.”

  Chapter 22

  Nevaeh

  I didn’t think I would sleep with all the noise in my head, but everything seemed to catch up with me all at once. I closed my eyes, letting myself relax against Braxton, telling myself I was just going to lie there and rest, thinking I wouldn’t get a single moment of sleep.

  The next thing I knew, sunlight was filtering in through the window and Arella was standing over me, gently shaking my shoulder. “Nevi,” she whispered. “Hey, if you want to go to the hospital with us, you need to get up.”

  I frowned up at her for a moment, my brain racing to catch up, then reality flooded back in through the sleep fog, and I jerked upright in bed. The arm that was wrapped around me tightened, and Braxton lifted his head, glancing around, assessing.

  “What’s wrong?” he growled, his eyes narrowed menacingly as he tried to figure out the danger that had made me rush to sit up.

  “I was going to let you sleep since you seemed to need it, but I knew you would wake up and be mad if I just left you.” Arella gave me a grim smile. “And Mom has already called saying Daddy is wide awake, up out of bed, and moving around. I figured you would definitely want to go with us to see him.”

  Pushing my hair back from my face, I nodded and tossed back the covers. “Thanks. Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll be ready.”

  “Okay. We’ll be waiting downstairs for you.” She shot a look at Braxton then walked to the door and closed it behind her on her way out.

  I started to get up, but Braxton only tightened his hold on me. “Brax—”

  “Come here,” he commanded. He moved so quickly, I didn’t even have time to blink as he rolled onto his back and pulled me down on top of him. He twisted his hand in my hair and brought my head down so he could kiss me.

  For a moment, I let him, and I found myself kissing him back. It wasn’t a demanding kiss, but one that tried to impress on me how much he cared about me. Swallowing hard, I finally lifted my head and quickly pressed against his chest until he released me.

  Getting to my feet, I was about to make a run for my bedroom when his voice hit me dead center. “I love you, Nevaeh.”

  I clenched my eyes closed for a moment, letting his words wash over me for only a second before forcing my feet to move without returning the words that bubbled up and begged to be released.

  When I walked downstairs a short while later, Braxton was waiting in the living room with my sisters and Damien. The keys to Mom’s vehicle hung from Arella’s fingers, but when I went to take them from her, she grinned and shook her head. “Nope. Someone else is driving us.”

  Humming to herself, she practically bounced out of the living room, leaving the rest of us to follow. Mutter
ing a curse because I already suspected who was driving, I grabbed the tote full of tightly sealed containers of soup and freshly baked French bread that was sitting on the coffee table and exited the house behind my brother.

  Sure enough, Jordan was just pulling his vehicle into the driveway. As I turned to close the front door, making sure it was locked, Braxton took the tote from me and then clasped my hand in his.

  Looking down at our entwined hands, I was overcome with how perfect my smaller one looked in his much larger one, and my heart broke a little more. As I sucked in a shuddering breath, we moved toward Mom’s vehicle together, and he opened the back door for me.

  “Morning,” Jordan greeted as he accepted the keys from Arella and gave me a grin. “I’d ask how you slept, but you look like you’re all kinds of hungover.”

  I flipped him off and got into the second row with Damien and Braxton since Bliss and Heavenleigh were already taking up the third.

  “You wound me, Nevaeh. Truly.” With a laugh, he got behind the wheel. “We ready?”

  “We’re good to go,” Braxton told him as he shifted his long legs into a more comfortable position.

  Jordan cocked a brow at him as he glanced over his shoulder to back out. “Thought you went home with Mia last night.”

  “Nevaeh was here,” he said, as if that explained everything. From the look on the other man’s face, it seemed to do just that, and he gave a single nod before concentrating fully on driving.

  Rolling my eyes at the two of them, I shifted away from Braxton as much as the small space would allow and busied myself fixing Damien’s unkempt hair. He wanted to let it grow out like Daddy’s, but Mom wasn’t a big fan of his having long hair and tried to keep it short. But it looked like she was losing that war, and he was as shaggy as ever.

  Braxton dropped his arm across the back of the seat, his fingers playing with the ends of the ponytail I’d put my hair up in so I didn’t have to wash it. He skimmed them over my shoulder every so often, and I tried to ignore the fact that my skin seemed to burn and tingle where they grazed.