by Peak, Renna
“You can’t let me?” The memory of tearing a shirt almost identical to the one he was buttoning flashed into my mind for a brief second. “I don’t remember asking permission.” I blew out a noisy breath.
He turned to face me for a moment, flicking his head to the side to remove a stray curl from his eyes. His eyes narrowed and he turned back around to pull on his shoes. “It isn’t safe. You aren’t taking it.”
I tightened my arms against my chest. My stomach hardened and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. “Brandon, I didn’t ask. I was telling you because I thought you should know.” I shrugged a little and angled my body away from him. “You can’t stop me. I’m taking the job. It’s a great opportunity…”
He stood up and turned to face me, cutting me off. His jaw clenched and there was something dark in his eyes. Anger. “You may not have asked, but I’m telling you. You will not be taking that job. It isn’t up for discussion.”
I sat, stunned, not believing what I was hearing. “Are you daring me? Because I’m telling you…”
“Jen, no. No political jobs. Not now.” His face softened just a little. “It isn’t safe.”
I pulled my knees up to my chest and arranged the covers around myself. I wished that I had even a stitch of clothing on, because there was a part of me—a huge part of me—that wanted to stomp off and punch something. Brandon, preferably. I pressed my lips into a line and tried to swallow the dry lump in my throat. “Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t my father. Or my husband. Or any other blood relative that has a right to tell me what I can or can’t do. I’m taking the job. And I’m not discussing it…”
“Jenna. I said no.” It was more than anger in his eyes this time. The fact that he had called me Jenna signaled he was more furious with me than just angry.
The edge in his voice sent a cold shiver down my spine. My breath caught in my throat and my jaw dropped open again. I had never seen him like this before, not with me. He had been so gentle before, caring. This wasn’t him. There had to be something else going on, but my gut was now screaming at me to run. The dangerous man everyone had warned me about was now standing in front of me. And I was naked and vulnerable in front of him.
I considered my words carefully. I took a deep breath and sat up straight, squaring my shoulders. I held the covers tightly against my chest to give myself some barrier, some amount of protection. “I think I deserve more than a ‘because I said so,’ Brandon. I’m not a child. If you know something, you need to tell me.” All this over a job? Something wasn’t adding up.
The edge of his mouth twitched, his eyes narrowing to slits. He paused, glaring at me for a long moment. “I’ll be back in a few days. A week at most. I have some business I need to take care of.”
“Business? That’s who was on the phone? Business?” I shook my head again. I felt my cheeks and ears burn. “Right. We’re back to that, are we?” Business. Just thinking about his “business” made me want to stab hot pokers in my eyes. His “business” was what had brought on all the trouble. And what had led him to me, not that it mattered now. His business was manipulating people. Maybe that was all our relationship had been. One big, fat, ugly manipulation. “You told me you were done with that. Were you lying about that, too?”
He gritted his teeth, and pulled his matching suit jacket with the phone in the pocket from its hanger in the closet. He turned and walked to the bedroom doorway. The door frame looked like it might snap, he was clenching it so tightly with his hand. He kept his back turned to me as he spoke. “I love you. I’ll see you in a few days. Make the call, Jen.”
I glared daggers into his back. “I’m not making any calls. I start work on Monday. And I’m going to that meeting today.”
He turned back to face me, his grip on the doorway, his knuckles white. His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened. “Then I’ll make the call myself.”
I turned my lips up into that same tiny smile. “How about I call and let the governor know not to take my resignation from anyone but me? That’s the only call I’ll be making today, Brandon.” I let the smile fall from my face. “Have a safe trip. Good luck with your business.”
“You don’t need to be so god-damned stubborn about everything, you know? You can’t just take my word for it?”
My jaw dropped again. “Take your word? About what? You haven’t told me anything.”
“I’m not lying. I’ve never lied to you.”
I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling and shook my head, pounding a fist against my thigh. “Lies of omission are still lies. By that definition, you are lying now, Brandon. Either tell me…”
“Fine, I’m lying now. But you aren’t taking that job. I’ll make sure that the offer is rescinded, Jen. It’s your choice…”
“Fuck you.” I waved my hands, shooing him out of my bedroom. “Go, do your business. Whatever the hell that means, anyway.”
His jaw tightened again and he closed his eyes. He let go of the doorway and balled his hands.
I jumped at the crack of his fist hitting the wall.
He shook his hand out and cocked his head to the side. “Just believe me, Jen. Can you do that? I’m already having my arm twisted here. I don’t need you twisting the other one.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? You’re telling me what I can and can’t do and I’m the one twisting your arm?” I pulled the platinum ring from my right hand, the one he had given me only a few weeks ago. What the hell had I been thinking when I took it, anyway? A promise ring. The only thing he could promise was that he would always be a liar. A lying asshole who did god-knows-what on these all too frequent business trips. How stupid was I, allowing myself to trust that he had changed? “Twist this, Brandon. And get the hell out of my apartment.” I threw the ring at him with every bit of strength I could muster.
He caught it with his uninjured hand and shoved it into his jacket pocket. “You know, you don’t need to make this more difficult than it already is, Jenna.”
I clenched my teeth. “Get out.” If I had even been wearing underwear, I would have run over to hit him. “Get. Out.”
He shook his head and turned his back to me, walking through the doorway. A moment later, the front door slammed.
At least we were in my apartment. I buried my head in my knees, still not sure that the past few minutes had really happened.
* * *
She had no idea what was going on. How could she? Not knowing was safer for her. Safer for both of us. If she didn’t know, she wouldn’t insist on being in the middle of it. I knew she hated it when I brought up my business. And God, I hated treating her like that, like a child. I knew it drove her crazy and I knew that she deserved better. More. She needed someone to be gentle with her, someone to show her how much he loved her, every single day.
I wanted nothing more than to be that man for her. I needed her, but not in the same way she thought she needed me. There was something about her that did things to me that I couldn’t even describe. She made me feel things I never thought were possible to feel. I felt alive with her, something I didn’t ever remember feeling before. How was it possible to go through a third of your life without ever having felt alive? It didn’t matter, though. None of it mattered. I should have given her up when I realized who she was. I should have let her go back to her old life, should have insisted on it. I had been so selfish because of how she made me feel.
I had been an idiot, and I knew I was going to have to answer for it.
I’d be paying for my past, for my choices, for the rest of my life. I never should have dragged her into this, not when she was already so much a part of it without even knowing. It was my fault that she was now entwined in something that I didn’t even really understand. It had been my vendetta, my anger that had gotten me in the middle of it. And now my love for her was endangering us both.
I fingered the ring I had just shoved into my pocket. I should never have given it to her. Not when I couldn’t really promise
her anything. I didn’t even know if I’d be alive after this weekend. And I knew somewhere inside myself that it might be better for her if I wasn’t.
I looked up at her apartment from the driver’s seat of my car and forced down all the feelings that came up. The damned feelings that had already gotten me into a world of hurt. I knew her; she would be watching to see if I took off without apologizing. Without trying to give her back the ring. All that relationship bullshit was going to have to wait—dealing with feelings was definitely going to have to wait. I didn’t have time for any of it.
I drove a few blocks to a mini-mart and pulled into a parking spot. I took my phone from my pocket. I couldn’t have her watching me make the call I knew I had to make, the one that had caused all the fighting that morning. She might hate me for it for a little while, but it would keep her safe in the long run. It would save her life, and that was all that really mattered to me.
“Fuck it.” I pushed a few buttons on my phone. “Ben Talbot, please.” I waited until the man answered the call. “Ben, it’s me. I need a favor…”
* * *
BROKEN #1, the first episode of the second season of The MISTAKEN Series is available now.
A Box Set version of BROKEN, the Second Season of The MISTAKEN Series is also available.
The MISTAKEN Series
This story unfolds over the course of a series of short novels. Each follows the continuing story of Brandon Richardson and Jenna Davis.
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To purchase the next installment of MISTAKEN, visit http://www.rennapeak.com/broken-1/
A Box Set version of BROKEN, the Second Season of The MISTAKEN Series is also available.
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Other Books by Renna Peak
AVAILABLE NOW:
BROKEN 1
BROKEN 2
BROKEN Box Set, Second Season
TAKEN Box Set, Third Season
NO QUESTIONS ASKED
ALL I WANT, Part One (free in most areas)
ALL I WANT, Part Two
ALL I WANT, Part Three
Coming Soon:
All I Need – Part One
Forgiven #1
Finding Her - a new series of standalone, full-length novels
Scarred - A stand-alone, full-length New Adult novel
To see a full book list, please visit:
www.RennaPeak.com/books
About the Author
I’m Renna Peak, author of new adult and contemporary romances. I live in Washington State with my husband, four children and three cats. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me at volleyball tournaments (watching my two youngest daughters play), at one of my son’s violin performances or out in my garden. I love reading, especially good romances, but I also pick up fantasy and sci-fi from time to time.
I’ve been writing fiction since I was a young child and began writing romance as a teenager. I’ve worked as a freelance author and medical writer for the past seventeen years. I am also a registered nurse and in training to be a Certified Nurse Midwife/Nurse Practitioner. Sometimes my medical background bleeds into my writing, no pun intended.
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