Nightclub Sins: A Billionaire Romance Series

by Michelle Love

  Both of them deserved that. And so did I.

  Chapter 27

  Brooke

  After not sleeping well at all, I finally gave up on the dozing and pulled my eyes open. When I did, I found Gannon was also awake. Wide awake and sitting up in bed, looking at something on his cell.

  “Morning,” I croaked out in a whisper.

  He looked at me and smiled, then handed me a bottle of water. “Morning, beautiful.”

  After taking the bottle from him, I sat up and took a long drink while running my hand through my tangled hair.

  God, I must look awful.

  My first time waking up with the man, and it had to be after a night like last night.

  Looking at Braiden, I was glad to see he was still fast asleep, making little snoring sounds.

  I laid back down and tried not to feel so depressed about the situation, but it wasn’t going to be an easy task to just act like nothing terrible had happened. Gunshots into my bedroom and Braiden’s couldn’t be ignored.

  Thanksgiving and my birthday were mere days away. With some madman on the loose, there was no way we could go to my family’s home and put them all in danger.

  “I suppose we should tell Consuela to make plans to make Thanksgiving dinner here, Gannon.” I rolled off the bed to get up and go pee.

  As I passed by him, he caught my hand. Our eyes met, and his were chock full of guilt. “Baby, I’m so sorry I got you in the middle of this. I swear I’ll make it up to you. I never intended to make you miss the holidays with your family or your birthday. I really am …”

  I couldn’t let him go on, and leaned in to kiss him. When our lips parted, I said, “I know, babe. Don’t worry about that at all. There are so many more important things to worry about. Let that crap go.”

  He let my hand go, and I went into the bathroom. My hair was a wreck. It was absolutely everywhere, and I groaned at my reflection. And I marveled at Gannon’s ability not to laugh or grimace at me. Hell, he’d even accepted a kiss from my dry lips and disastrous appearance.

  He must really love me!

  I needed to go across the hall to my room to shower and get dressed, but I was afraid to go in there. Shaking my head, I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a pep-talk. “You cannot be a chicken, Brooke. Go into that room and do what you have to do. Then go into Braiden’s room and get him some clothes.”

  With a bit of courage settling in, I did my business and then went back out to Gannon’s bedroom. I found Braiden had woken up and he’d crawled into his father’s lap and was watching a cartoon on the cell. “Morning, pumpkin.” I headed over and gave him a little kiss on top of his head. “I need a shower. Do you have him for a little bit?”

  “I do.” Gannon reached out and took my hand again. “Go grab both of you something to wear, then come in here to take a shower. I’ll feel much better with you guys close to me.”

  So he was feeling the same way I was. Like we’d somehow gotten ourselves right in the middle of a warzone. With a nod, I left the room.

  As soon as I got into the hallway, I noticed both Braiden’s door and mine had been left open. I went into my room and found bits of glass sparkling on the beige carpet when I turned the light on.

  It was dark in there even though I knew the sun had to be up already. Looking toward the windows, I found boards had been placed over them. The sounds of the bullets that had ripped through the room came back to me.

  I looked from the window to the other side of my room and found holes in the wall where the bullets had lodged. Thankfully, none had lodged in any of us. I went to my dresser and pulled out some underclothes then got a dress out of my closet and a pair of heels.

  Being careful not to step on any shards of glass, I went to Braiden’s room and gathered him some clothes too. His windows were boarded up too, and I found a lump form in my throat.

  We could’ve lost him.

  I shook my head to get rid of the thought.

  We hadn’t lost him or anyone else. I had to be thankful for that and be aware of the fact that we were also very lucky that no one had gotten hurt.

  Well, except the gunman. Or gunwoman.

  Who was to say that it wasn’t a woman? Maybe some woman from Gannon’s past who wanted revenge for being just another notch on his bedpost.

  I headed out of the bedroom with my arms filled with our things and went back into Gannon’s room, finding him playing with Braiden, wrestling around on his big bed.

  “I’ll take a quick shower then bathe him.” I placed Braiden’s clothes on top of the dresser. “Oh, does he need his diaper to be changed before I do that?”

  Gannon was all smiles as he nodded toward the balled up white diaper next to him on the nightstand. “I did it already.”

  I was a little stunned. He’d never changed a diaper before. “Oh. Wow.”

  “Yeah, I know. It was a little bit of an ordeal, but I figured it out. But honestly, he needs a bath, so changing him was slightly pointless.” He chuckled as Braiden crawled over the bed to get to me. Gannon grabbed him by the ankle, pulling him back to him as the boy giggled with delight. “Hey you, stinky man. She has to get into the shower. You’re staying here with me.”

  “I’ll hurry.” I turned to go into the bathroom.

  “No, you take your time. He’s fine with me.”

  Heading into the bathroom, his bathroom, I noticed all the things that were uniquely Gannon inside it. The shampoo was crisp and clean smelling. The soap was spicy-scented. And I ended up smelling just like the man once I was done.

  I pulled his brush through my hair, put his toothpaste on my toothbrush, then used his mouthwash too. Nothing was the same as the stuff I used.

  At first I felt out of sorts with the tastes and smells being so different from my normal morning rituals. But then I felt just the opposite. I felt like I’d immersed myself in the man.

  And I felt sexy as hell too.

  Before leaving the bathroom to get Braiden, I started a bath for him. When I went out to get him, I found him cuddled up on Gannon’s broad chest, listening to his daddy tell him a story he’d made up.

  I couldn’t stop the smile that spread all over my face. Gannon was fast becoming the best daddy in the history of daddies. “How cute.”

  Neither Braiden nor Gannon had even noticed me until I spoke. But when both of their heads turned to look at me, and nearly identical smiles curved their lips, my heart raced.

  I had two of the best-looking males on the planet giving me heartbreakingly gorgeous smiles. What had I done to deserve all of this?

  Braiden was intent on getting to me this time and made a mad dash off his father’s chest to do it. I had to run to catch him before he careened off the side of the bed. Between Gannon and I, we managed to catch the little bugger.

  I scooped him up in my arms and shook my head at him. “Braiden! You silly boy. You could’ve fallen off the bed and broken your neck. You have to be careful with yourself.”

  Despite my scolding, the boy hugged me, kissed my cheek, and squealed in delight. Gannon chuckled as he watched his son go gaga over me. “Damn, girl. Looks like you have all the Forester men head over heels for you.”

  I felt the heat in my cheeks as I blushed. “Oh, you sweet talker.” I turned away, heading to the bathroom to bathe his son.

  The sound of the blankets whooshing let me know Gannon was getting out of bed. Then his hands were on either side of my waist, and his bare chest was against my back. His lips were on my neck, and I heard him taking a big sniff. “Um, you smell like me. I kind of like that.”

  “Do you now?” I had to giggle as his whiskered cheek brushed mine as he kissed my cheek.

  Braiden chided his father for kissing my cheek and placed his hand on his daddy’s face, pushing him away. Then he kissed the same place his father had, marking me as his own.

  I laughed and put him down to undress him as Gannon went to brush his teeth.

  As I pulled off the little boy’s
clothes and picked him up, putting him into the bathtub that I’d filled with warm water and his favorite bath bubbles, I thought about how domestic this was.

  Daddy brushing his teeth, Momma bathing the child. So damn domestic.

  But I wasn’t Braiden’s mother. No, his mother was a horrible creature.

  The child wasn’t any trouble at all. He was loving, funny, a joy to be around. How could she just have thrown him away?

  Or had she actually been throwing him away at all …

  It occurred to me that the first shots hadn’t gone into Braiden’s room. They had gone into mine. Now, why would someone threaten the boy but take a shot at me?

  “Gannon, has anyone talked to Braiden’s mother about this?” I looked back to find him staring back at me through the mirror.

  “Hmm. No. I mean, I didn’t give the police any information on her. Why? Do you think she might have something to do with this? And why would she? She only wanted to get rid of what she called a burden. Why make this threat?” He shook his head. “I can’t see her being involved.”

  “I have this little nagging thing in the back of my mind that says to tell your investigators to check the woman out, Gannon.” I turned back to Braiden, and my heart hurt even more for the kid.

  It was bad enough what she’d already done to both Braiden and Gannon. Could she have a plan that was even worse than what she’d already done?

  Chapter 28

  Gannon

  We came down for breakfast only to find Samson had cleared out my staff and there was no breakfast. Only he and Josh stood in my kitchen, talking quietly.

  I cleared my throat, making them stop talking and turn their attention us. “And my chef and her staff are where exactly?”

  Samson picked up a brown paper bag off the countertop and headed our way. “We’ve turned everyone around at the gate. I think it’s best not to have too many people around here until we catch this guy.” He placed the bag on the table as I put Braiden in his highchair. “I stopped while I was out and got you guys some bagels and lox. You like that. I’ve seen you eat it a ton of times.”

  “Yeah, that’s great. Thanks, Samson.” Brooke pulled the things out of the bag and looked at me as she put the packaged food on the table. “I can make us something. Don’t worry.”

  She hurried to the kitchen and looked at the coffee machine. I knew it was way out of her league. “Don’t worry about that.”

  With a shake of her head, she looked around until she found something in the drawer underneath it. “The instructions are right there. I’ll figure this all out. Don’t worry. Just help Braiden eat a bit of that until I get his oatmeal and fresh fruit please.” She busied herself with preparing Braiden’s nutritious meal as she made sure he always ate things that were good for him. Bagels and lox were not going to cut it for his morning meal. Not by Brooke’s standards.

  I waved my bodyguards over while she moved about in the big gourmet kitchen with state of the art appliances. I’d written down Cassandra Harrington’s address and phone number on a piece of paper. Taking it out of the pocket of my blue jeans, I pushed it across the table to Samson. “That’s someone I want you to check out.”

  I looked around Samson to make sure Brooke wasn’t listening to me and found she was so wrapped up in what she was doing that she wasn’t paying any attention to us at all. “That’s the boy’s mother. I doubt she has anything to do with this, but I think she should be checked out all the same.”

  Samson nodded. “Yeah, that would be best. Leave no stone unturned.” He hitched a thumb back at Brooke. “You know it’s best for her not to leave, right?”

  “Of course.” I nodded, and felt tremendous guilt about that fact. All the rest of the staff had been allowed to stay away from the danger, but not her. And all because she and I had fallen in love. It wasn’t fair to her, and I knew that.

  My cell rang, and I looked at it, finding Brad’s name there. “Shit!”

  Then Josh’s walkie-talkie went off. One of the outside guards said, “We have a Brad Moore here. He’s demanding he be let inside.”

  I swiped the phone to answer Brad’s call. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “Hey, what the hell is up?” Brad asked me with a terse tone.

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I got ready to hear a stream of curse words after I said what I had to say. “We’re fine. Your sister is fine. She’s safe. That’s what’s really important here.”

  “What the fuck happened, Gannon?” I’d never heard him sound like that. It was as if he was deflated.

  “Someone shot at the house last night.” I held my breath, waiting for the explosion.

  But all I got was a low groan. “God, Gannon. My God. Are you guys all right?”

  “We are.” I took a deep breath, knowing I had to tell him more. “The first bullets came through your sister’s window. The next ones came through Braiden’s.”

  “Fuck!” His one sharply said word echoed in my ear. “Why her, Gannon? The threat was against the kid. So why her window?”

  “I wish I knew. I do know this; my bodyguard got in a shot that caught the gunman in the arm. That’s at least something for the investigators to look for. I’m not relying solely on the police. I have a team of private investigators on this as well. And your sister, my son, and I are staying put in this house until the suspect is found and put into custody. I won’t be leaving them alone at all.”

  “Gannon?” Brad stopped, and I knew he was hesitating to say what he had to say. “Fuck. Goddamn. I can’t believe I’m fucking saying this to you. I want you to keep my sister right with you at all times. Don’t let her be away from you at any time. Even when you guys go to sleep. And don’t you dare fucking touch her. You hear me?”

  “Loud and clear.” How badly I wanted to let him know that I loved his sister and I’d die before I let her get hurt. I did the second-best thing. “She means more to me than you know. I’d never let anything happen to her. I swear that to you, Brad. I’d take a bullet for the girl. The same way I would for my son.”

  “You better.” He sighed heavily. “Fuck this shit, man. All right. I’m leaving. But you keep me posted about what’s happening. And you take care of my baby sister, Gannon Forester.”

  I gulped as I could hear the cracks in his voice. This was killing him. “I will, and I’m so damn sorry, Brad. You can’t imagine how sorry I am.”

  “I know, buddy. I do. I can hear it in your voice. Just take care of her. Please.” The desperation that etched his voice was evident.

  “You got it.”

  After ending the call, I saw Brooke coming to the table with coffee in one hand and the bowl of oatmeal in the other, a bottle of apple juice tucked under her arm. “So how’s my brother taking this?” She put everything down then took a seat.

  I noticed she hadn’t brought one thing for herself. And I also noticed Josh had taken off and Samson was on his cell, talking to someone. I hoped like hell they’d find something out today. I was damn tired of the situation and just wanted it over with.

  She went straight to giving Braiden a drink of juice then spooned oatmeal into his waiting mouth. “Is my big boy hungry?”

  She was so wrapped up in feeding Braiden that she didn’t notice me. I didn’t know how to cook, not even a little bit. But I knew Consuela kept frozen meals she prepared in advance. She wanted me to have access to food even when she wasn’t available to cook for me. Like at night, after she’d left for the day.

  I had no live-in staff. My parents had had some of their staff live with them, but I preferred to be alone inside my house at night. Samson was on guard in his house, so I wasn’t completely alone.

  After heating up a meal of a cheese omelet and some bacon, I plated it and took that, along with a cup of coffee and some apple juice, to her. She’d just about finished feeding Braiden and turned to look at me as I placed everything in front of her. “Here you are, my queen.”

  Her smile lit me up inside. “Gannon, you didn’
t have to do that.” Then she looked at the meal a bit more closely. “Wait, how did you make this?”

  With a chuckle, I shook my head. “I’m not telling you.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I’m magic. Now eat. I’ll finish up with Braiden.”

  She looked at me with a wide smile on her beautiful face. “What did I do to deserve you?”

  I walked around the table to take the seat on the other side of my son. “You’re an angel. I’m the one who has to wonder what I did to deserve you, baby.”

  She took a bite, then a drink of the coffee. Pointing her fork that had another chunk of cheesy egg on it at me, she said, “You know what, Gannon? I just keep thinking that woman has to have something to do with this. So tell me what kind of a custody agreement you two have.”

  “I have it; she doesn’t.” I cut a blueberry in half then gave Braiden a bite of it.

  “Okay. In the case of your demise, who gets custody then?” She ate the bite off the end of her fork as she looked at me.

  My head swam a bit as I thought about that. I’d read the legal agreement and recalled that it said that in the event of my death, custody would revert to her.

  “Brooke, she’d get him. I can’t let that happen.” I looked at my son and knew I couldn’t ever let her get her hands back on him. Then I looked at Brooke. “I have to get that changed. But there’s only one person I’d want to leave him with. And that’s you.”

  She looked grim as she said, “That’s not what I’m thinking about, Gannon. I’m thinking she orchestrated everything. The fact that she was going to dump him. The fact that she didn’t want anything from you. She never wanted just child support. She wants it all. Every last bit of it. With you out of the way, she gets her son back and all of your wealth, as he’s your only heir.”

  My blood ran cold in my veins as I knew she was right.

  Chapter 29

  Brooke

  As the day dragged on from morning until noon, I wasn’t exactly happy with the results Gannon’s investigators had come back with.