by Hamel, B. B.
I hung up and tossed the phone into my bag. I pulled on some clothes and looked around the room.
It wasn’t exactly home, though it was at one point, a long time ago. I wasn’t going to miss it. I threw my duffle over my shoulder and walked back over to Bren’s room and watched as she lazily picked through her clothes, tossing her stuff onto the bed.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Packing.”
I laughed then walked over to her closet and pulled out her suitcase. I threw it down on the floor, opened it, and began to fill it with clothes.
“What are you doing?” she said.
“Packing.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Fine, okay. Let’s do this.”
With a laugh, we began to throw her stuff into the suitcase. In less than five minutes, we had it packed to the brim. She had to sit on the lid while I zipped it up.
“Think you got enough stuff in there?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll survive.” She eyed my small duffle. “You are not borrowing my underwear.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She picked up her over-full suitcase and looked at me. “Well, let’s get going.”
I took the suitcase from her and nodded. “Follow me.”
We walked down the front steps together, careful not to step in the glass. I felt the weight of my gun in its holster on my side as we pushed the front door open. Half of me expected to see Fabrizio standing right there, waiting, but there was nothing.
“Wait here for a second,” I said.
She nodded. I slipped down the steps and quickly did a sweep of the block, making sure nobody was around to see us leave. When I was reasonably sure there were no suspicious figures lurking nearby, I found where I parked my car, started the engine, and then pulled it around the front of the house.
We had some driving ahead of us, but in the end, we’d be safe enough in a beautiful farmhouse out in the country.
And I would have Bren all to myself.
Chapter Eighteen: Brenna
When he said “farmhouse,” I expected a quaint but old and crumbling country home. Maybe wicker furniture on the wraparound porch, or maybe some old and peeling red shutters. I assumed there would be at least one tractor. But when we pulled out in front of the building, I was shocked at what I saw.
The place was the definition of modern. It was all sleek lines and smooth planes with glass all over the place. It was set back down an old dirt and gravel road and surrounded by a huge fence. There were enormous maple trees and evergreens all over the place, making it seem like the “farmhouse” was the only building in the whole world. There was no porch and definitely no rusting old equipment, which was a little disappointing.
“Holy shit, Colin.”
He laughed. “Not what you expected?”
“This is like, a multi-million dollar house, isn’t it?”
“Your dad doesn’t do anything half-assed.”
He parked the car out front and climbed out. I followed him, staring.
“Why didn’t I know about this?”
He shrugged. “Not many people do, actually. He felt it was safer to keep it low-key.”
I laughed. “There’s nothing low-key about this.”
“You’re right, but it’s private.”
“Yeah, but still. He must have put a lot of work into this.”
“Knocked down the original structure and put this up.”
“Why call it a farmhouse, then?”
He shrugged and gestured around us. “We’re in Amish country. What else do you call a house out here?”
I laughed. He obviously didn’t have much experience outside of a city. Although I had to admit, neither did I. Still, there was something about Colin that made him seem out of place without concrete and steel.
“So, is like, the door unlocked?”
He shook his head. “Security code.”
We climbed out of the car and I followed him to the front door. He opened a small panel next to the frame, displaying a phone-like row of numbers and letters. He keyed in a string of numbers and suddenly the door unlocked and opened slightly. It was almost like magic.
I laughed again, giddy at how fancy it seemed.
“Where the hell are we?”
“Amish country. Like I said.” He grinned at me.
I pulled the door open all the way and walked inside. The entrance was decorated in a minimalist style, mostly blacks and whites and greys, with industrial-looking furniture and some exposed wood and brick. It was the most expensive-looking place I had ever seen, and it was absolutely beautiful. The foyer opened into a large open room that served as both kitchen and living room, with low walls and shelves and furniture acting as the breaks between areas. It was tastefully and artfully laid out.
I stared as I walked in. The entire back wall was glass and looked out onto an open backyard with a beautiful oak deck. The woods almost touched up against the house in some places. It was like looking out into a picture book. I shook my head, totally entranced. Expensive art hung on the walls, and whoever had picked every one of them out had clearly been some sort of professional. I couldn’t imagine my dad giving much thought to the way a vase would work with an impressionist portrait, but someone clearly had.
It was almost too much. It was almost an insane and useless display of wealth and taste, especially considering the house was empty the vast majority of the time. Then again, it was gorgeous, and I didn’t care about any of that.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“Not my taste,” Colin said.
I looked at him. “You don’t think this place is perfect?”
He shrugged. “It’s okay. I’d take a nice south Philly row home with a roof deck over this place any day, though.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You’re unbelievable. This is probably the nicest house you’ve ever been in.”
“It definitely is.”
“You can’t compare Philly to this place.”
“I can and I am.”
I looked back out the huge glass wall as Colin brought our stuff in. I was entranced by the motion of the trees in the soft breeze, and suddenly I felt more at peace there than I had ever felt before. In that moment, I didn’t know why I had resisted it so hard in the beginning. I missed my friends, or really I missed my one friend, and wished I could reconnect with more of them, but the farmhouse was just too amazing. I wouldn’t have minded staying there for a while.
“What now, Princess?” Colin said.
“Show me to my room.”
“As you wish.” I followed him back toward the front door and through another doorway, up a staircase, and into a large loft area.
It was another hugely open room, with a large canopy bed, a big chest of drawers, and low couches. I sighed, looking around at the beautiful decorations and the plush rug underneath. On the ceiling was a pane of glass looking out through the trees and up at the sky.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Is this the only room?”
He shook his head. “No, but it’s the nicest. Want something different?”
“No, I mean. Where is your room?”
He laughed. “Downstairs. Close by.”
I walked into the room and hopped up on the bed, sinking into its plush comforter and comfortable, fluffy pillows. I laughed as Colin hopped up beside me.
“This place is incredible,” I said.
“I guess it’s pretty cool.”
“We should celebrate.” I sat up, suddenly excited.
“I know how we can do that.” Colin gave me a look.
I shook my head. “No, let’s go somewhere. I haven’t been out in ages.”
“You just got here, and now you want to leave?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Take me dancing somewhere.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure there are any decent clubs around here.”
“I don’t care. Find a bar.”
�
�I’m not exactly the dancing type, Bren.”
“I’ll dance without you, then. You can just sit at a table and look all moody.”
“I can probably handle that, yeah.”
I laughed. “Come on, please? I have all this pent-up energy.”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll find a place.” He rolled off the bed and got up. “But you’re going to owe me.”
I smiled. “Owe you what?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll know when I come to collect.”
––––––––
Colin’s car pulled off of the old pothole-filled road and stopped in front of a dilapidated building. I stared at its old wood façade and the sign that read “Reddy’s Roadside Bar” and sighed. I was wearing the sexiest dress I had brought with me, a skin-tight thing that showed off my curves, and he had brought me to some crappy redneck bar in the middle of nowhere. Then again, I wasn’t sure what I had expected, since we really were in the middle of Amish country. My dad’s house was probably the nicest building for miles in every direction.
And yet I couldn’t imagine sitting at home another night. I had done plenty of that already. Even if my prison was expensive and comfortable, it was still just another prison.
“What’s this?” I asked him.
“Reddy’s Roadside Bar.”
I looked at him. “I can read, thanks. I thought you were bringing me somewhere fun?”
He grinned at me. “Give it a chance.”
“If it’s awful in there, we’re leaving immediately.”
“Fine with me. I’d love to tear that dress off of you back home.”
“Might not happen. I might be too annoyed.”
“I doubt it.”
He killed the engine and stepped out of the car. I followed, frowning at the building in front of me. At least there were a lot of cars in the parking lot, although most of them were pickup trucks.
I had no clue what to expect as I followed him up the steps and in through the front door. Part of me was just happy to get out somewhere, and part of me was terrified that we were about to get attacked by a bunch of crazy hick farmers.
And boy, was I wrong. Inside, a live country band played loudly, and the dance floor was packed with people in cowboy hats and boots. The decorations were rustic but modern and clean, and the wait staff were friendly and professional-looking. Basically, it was the complete opposite of the outside, and I was willing to bet that was on purpose. I had really expected pool tables and toothless men with mullets, but got a pretty nice and fun-looking bar instead.
Colin grinned at me. “Told you.”
I shrugged. “Okay, you were right. For once.”
He laughed then approached the hostess. We were seated right away at a small table toward the back. I could have sworn that the place was packed, but Colin must have said something to her to convince her to give up the last table. I wasn’t sure if I was jealous that other women found him attractive, or if I was proud to be the girl he brought around. Even if I had forced him to.
We sat down and I looked around the place as Colin ordered drinks from the waitress. The crowd was a pretty good mix between young and old, though there were probably more young guys than anyone else. The band was decent, which surprised me, and the dance floor was packed. I looked over at Colin.
“How’d you find this place?”
“The Internet.”
I laughed. “There’s a Yelp page for places in the middle of nowhere?”
“There’s a page for everything if you look hard enough.”
I laughed again as the waitress returned with our drinks. She placed a cranberry-vodka in front of me and a whiskey on the rocks in front of him. I didn’t remember telling Colin my favorite drink. He held up his glass.
“To being free from that piece of shit,” he said.
We tapped glasses and drank.
“Are you hungry?” he asked me, setting down his glass.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I could eat.”
“Okay. We’re having barbecue.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“You don’t come to a place like this and not try their barbecue.”
“I thought you’d never been to a place like this before?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t, but even I know that much.”
“Okay then. I leave myself in your masterful hands.”
He gave me a wicked grin. “I know you do.”
“Not what I meant.”
“You don’t have to say it. I know what you’re thinking.”
“What makes you say that?”
He nodded at me. “That dress screams ‘sex.’ It’s a dress made to be taken off.”
“How do you know I wore it for you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe you think you didn’t. But you did.”
I blushed a little bit. What an arrogant asshole. I had no clue what we were doing, what was going on between us, and his constant flirting and dominant personality weren’t making things easy on me.
“You shouldn’t assume. There are a lot of hot cowboys in here.”
“They can’t give you what I can give you.”
“What’s that?”
He leaned forward. “The best fucking orgasms of your life.”
I blushed and looked away. “Maybe I need more than just orgasms.”
He reached out and took my hand, running his fingers over my skin.
“Excitement. Money. Power. I have those things, but I don’t think any of that matters to you. What you want can’t be defined. You’re a caged animal right now, but when I’m fucking you, I can see what’s underneath your Princess exterior.”
I looked back at him, arching an eyebrow. I felt my heart starting to hammer in my chest. Jesus, this guy.... He was just too much, like he could read me without trying.
“You think you have that thing?”
“I know that I do. The cowboys in here, maybe they’re fun. But you’d get bored of them in a second.”
He leaned back and sipped his drink. I blinked.
And I knew he was right. I knew it deep down inside of me. Regular men were never enough for me, and never had been. That was why I married Vince, why I got involved with him to begin with. For as much as I hated what my dad did, I couldn’t get enough of it. There was something inside of me that lived for the thrill.
Colin could give that to me, and much more. But he was going to be my stepbrother.
“I’ll say one thing for the cowboys,” I said. “They aren’t going to be related to me.”
He nodded and crossed his arms, looking completely at ease. “That’s true.”
“So maybe I really should go out and find me a cowboy tonight.”
He shrugged. “If that’s what you really want. But we both know it isn’t.”
I clenched my jaw. “What makes you so full of yourself?”
“The way you look at me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That first time I saw you, when I walked out of the shower. It was all over your eyes. You wanted what you saw, and you haven’t looked at me any other way since.”
Before I could reply, the waitress appeared. She was busty and young and blonde, and was clearly trying to flirt with Colin. He kept his arms crossed and ordered our food in brusque, clipped tones, basically ignoring everything else. I loved how it deflated her, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down just because he wasn’t flirting with the bar wench.
“I’ve been away for a long time,” I said softly.
He nodded. “That’s true. It’s been awhile.”
“What makes you so sure about all this?”
“I just know, Bren. I just know you.”
I sighed, sipping my drink and letting the warm vodka enter my stomach. The band changed to a faster song, and even more people crammed out onto the dance floor. Colin stayed silent, finishing off his whiskey, and motioning at the waitress for another. I had to admit, for as annoying and frustrating as he was being
, he was completely right. There were plenty of cute cowboys in the building, but none of them had that same aura Colin had. He was confident and controlling and seemed to dominate the place with a smile. It wasn’t out of the ordinary that he got the last table, despite other people waiting, and that he could easily catch the waitress’s attention, because people were constantly staring at him.
I didn’t blame them.
“Let’s dance,” I said suddenly.
He laughed. “I don’t think so.”
I frowned. “Come on. You brought me here and you’re not going to dance with me?”
“Food’s coming and I’m starved. Dance without me. There are plenty of cowboys out there that will be willing.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to dance with a cowboy. But maybe he’d drop the arrogant asshole act and come dance if he saw me getting close to a hunk in a ten-gallon hat.
“Fine, I will.”
He nodded. “Have fun. I’ll be here.”
I got up, finished my drink in two big gulps, and slammed the glass down. I could hear him laugh as I made my way over to the dance floor, butterflies in my stomach.
I hadn’t been dancing in a long while. Vince had stopped taking me out as soon as we got married. Actually, as soon as we got married, he had more or less started to ignore me, except for when he wanted to fuck or when he wanted me to cook him some dinner. He was a piece of shit.
The bodies were pressed close as I waded into the crowd and began to dance. I wasn’t used to country music, but the steps were pretty simple, and the alcohol buzzing through my chest made it easy to lose myself. Soon, I was having a great time, moving in time and in step with everyone else around me.
It didn’t take long for a guy to spot me. He was tall and chiseled, though not as handsome as Colin. Still, he was boyish, and wore a cowboy hat, light blue button down denim shirt tucked into denim jeans, and cowboy boots. He was exactly the kind of guy that could make Colin jealous.
“Hey there, you need a partner, girl?” he said over the music.
I shrugged. “I might.”
“How’s about you dance with me, little lady? I’ll take care of you.”
I laughed. Was this guy for real? Then again, he was cute enough,