Still Brazen

by M. Malone

  “Oh, so we’re doing this now?” The words tumbled out before I could even stop them. “You know what? My whole life, I have been begging you to love me, to pay attention, to see that I was doing my best, but it was never good enough. Even now, as I try to make things just right for you, you can’t even care because all you’re thinking about is your next drink. We’ve all tried. Me, Dad, Evan. We’re exhausted.”

  “Don’t you dare tell me about being tired after what your father has put me through.”

  “Mom, I know what he put you through. I mean, the fact that he forced you to raise someone else’s child, yeah, I know.”

  Her eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open. “You know?”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s why Dad and I are currently not on speaking terms.”

  “Oh, then why are you concerned about me not loving you?”

  “Maybe you do love me in your own way. After all, you did agree to raise me. But you’ve always acted like you resented it.”

  “What I resented was your father having an affair and then attempting to blame me and my drinking. What I resented was having his love child foisted upon me.”

  “Then why did you do it? Why did you take care of me? You didn’t have to.”

  She thinned her lips then. “I did my duty. You were just a little girl. I tried to love you the best that I could.”

  “And I appreciate it. I just—I don’t know. I wish things could be different. I wish you would get help Mom.”

  “Yes, well, I wish your father had paid more attention to me over the years, but he didn’t. So we all can’t have what we want.”

  I couldn’t help myself. “I’m sorry he did that to you. It’s not fair. I wish I’d known.”

  She sniffed. “Anyway, I did go to see your father, but there were two men in there, and they were shouting. Security was on their way.”

  “Security?”

  “Yes, a male, quite large. One blond guy. Looks like a Viking. I’ve seen him here guarding you.”

  Oh God, Oskar. What was he doing here? And why hadn’t he called me? What were the two of them fighting about this time?

  “Well, anyway, I wanted to tell you that the perfume was nice.”

  “Nice?”

  “You did a good job. I do love you, Hailey.”

  “Mom, I—" I didn’t know what to say. Hell, I didn’t even know if I still should call her Mom after everything I discovered last week. “Thank you.”

  She looked like she wanted to say something else but honestly, I didn’t know how to talk to her at that point.

  “Well, I’m going to go see your father. Maybe he’s done with those men.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.” As I watched my mother, I eased into my chair, emotions running through me. What in the world had just happened? All my life, I’d wanted her approval. I wanted her to tell me I did a good job. I’d wanted her to love me. But somehow when she said the words, I had no idea what to do with it.

  12

  Oskar

  Jonas took a cab back to headquarters, while I went to check on Evan. If he didn’t tell me the truth, I’d have to drag his ass back to the penthouse. When I stepped out of the elevator, Dylan was taking the trash out. “The piece of shit had you taking out his trash?"

  “If I thought I could trust him, I’d make him do it himself. But I don’t trust him not to try and shove himself down the trash shoot, so I’m doing it.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry kid.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Am I still grounded?”

  “Yeah, for the time being, but it might be easier to move this party to the penthouse. Some new stuff has come to light.”

  Dylan rolled his shoulders. “As long as I can stop watching reruns of Bravo, I’ll be happy.”

  I groaned. “Ugh! He’s watching Bravo?”

  “Oh yeah, my life is a Real Housewives episode right now.”

  “All right, come on. We might as well take him and get something to eat.”

  “Yes, thank God. A couple of days with him and you’d be better off to shoot yourself in the eyeball. Yeah, I’ve gotten to watch sports, but it’s been a challenge keeping him from betting on them. You didn’t say I had to hold on to his laptop, so every time I turn around, they guy is basically dumping money down the drain.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  I found Evan furiously typing on his phone. When he saw me walk in, he tossed the phone down quickly. “Oskar. Is Hailey okay? What are you doing here?”

  I was warmed by the fact that he asked about Hailey first, but that didn’t mean I trusted the fucker. “Get your jacket, we’re getting something to eat.”

  “Oh, thank God. You finally realized I’ve been telling the truth?”

  I shook my head. “I wouldn’t go that far. You’ve told pieces of the truth, but you left a whole swath of things out, so you and I and Dylan are going to have a long chat about it over food. And if you lie or make shit up again, I swear to God I’m going to admit you to holding at the penthouse. That means you’d get three squares, but there’s no TV. We were doing you a service by letting you stay at home. But if you lie again, no more.”

  Evan shifted on his feet and shoved his hands on his pockets. “Okay, yeah, I’ll tell you everything.”

  I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him close. I wasn’t actually going to hit him, but I figured I could scare him a little bit. I’d feel better because the kid was a little fucking liar. “You fuck with me again, and Hailey is not going to be mad when I hurt you. Do you understand?”

  He nodded frantically.

  “Get your shit.”

  Thirty minutes later, we walked into a noodle place six blocks south. We’d still driven because, why ask for trouble? Once we sat down I started grilling him. “So, do you want to explain about the time when you tried to have your sister kidnapped?”

  He slunk down on his seat. “Fuck. I was 18. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. I was probably high all the time.”

  “You tried to have your sister kidnapped.”

  “But it didn’t happen. I just needed my Dad to pay the ransom. He was threatening to cut me off if I didn’t get off the drugs and the booze and stuff, and I was dumb. That was so stupid. I never should have done that.”

  “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock, but you did. So, we’re going to talk about why you did that, who you called, and all those details, because it makes me less inclined to believe that you’re not behind this whole trying-to-kill-her situation.”

  “I thought we covered this. Did you check the ballistics on the bullets? They had to be from a different gun because I didn’t even fire mine.”

  He was right about that. Well, at least the ‘not firing his gun’ part. Matthias had checked the thing over. It never fired. And it had a broken pin. It wouldn’t have fired anyway, so he definitely wasn’t the shooter.

  “Look, I’ve done some fucked up shit. I have. But I swear, I wouldn’t hurt her. She’s my baby sister. All I ever wanted to do was protect her or have her leave me alone. Yeah, she was annoying, and I hated that Dad always took her side and wanted to protect her, but I also hated that Mom treated her like shit, you know? So I was caught between trying to protect her and being jealous of her. I wouldn’t actually have hurt her. And even that guy that I paid to try and kidnap her, honestly, he was just going to keep her in his apartment for two days until Dad paid the ransom. Easy as that. Then I was going to be the one to deliver it. I had a whole plan. It was stupid, and of course, I got caught. But never once was I going to hurt her.”

  “You know, what’s weird? I don’t see any record of this in police reports.”

  “Are you crazy? Dad buried it. The police were never called. The FBI was never involved. He had some private security guy working for him at that time. Basically, a fixer type of asshole I guess, the same one that probably got the adoption set up, but he made it go away as if it never happened, and Hailey never
knew.”

  “Yeah, you’re damn right she didn’t know, because she’d have you strung up by your toes.”

  “I keep telling you, she knows I would never want her actually hurt.”

  “Then you need to stop acting like it.”

  “Look, I know it looks suspicious. I do. I just—" He sighed. “I’m a fuckup.”

  I threw my hands up and leaned back in the seat. “Yeah, no shit.”

  Dylan snorted at that. “Sorry man, but you are a fuckup.”

  “I know it. I’ve been a fuckup my whole life. But I’m trying. I am.”

  He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and I narrowed my gaze at him. “What? What’s going on?”

  “I have to use the head.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Kid, take him.”

  Dylan groaned and glowered at me, but he stood.

  “Get up. Let’s go.”

  The bathroom was in my line of sight, so I could easily keep an eye on them.

  The two of them went in, and I momentarily breathed a sigh of relief. I checked my phone and sent a text to Noah, letting him know where I was and what was up. And then I sent a text to Hailey, letting her know that I’d be home a little bit later. Hell. It wasn’t something I’d really given much thought to before. When Noah had offered me a job and a way out of my old life, I’d thought it would be a temporary situation. Somehow, years later, I was still working for him, and honestly, there was nowhere else I’d rather be. I checked my watch and frowned. Where the hell were they?

  When they finally came back out, Dylan came out first and checked the hallway, and then turned left. But when Evan came out, he checked the darkened hallway and then bolted right. Something in my eyes must have telegraphed a ‘what the fuck’ to Dylan because he spun around and sprinted.

  “Shit.” I slid out of the booth and headed for the front door, intending to double back toward the alley.

  After nearly bowling over a family with small children, one of whom tried to climb me like a tree, I sprang out the front door and hooked right. I turned just in time to see Dylan deliver an elbow straight to Evan’s face. Evan went down like a bag of rocks.

  But then Dylan was fighting someone else. Hands up, feet in boxer stance, constantly moving, ducking, and weaving. Jab. Jab. Hook. Uppercut. Knees, oh solid. Ugh, lots of knees. Another quick punch, another grab, one more knee for good measure. And then, whoever it was that they’d encountered in the alley was down, not moving.

  I ran up to them. “Oh shit. You didn’t leave any for me.”

  Dylan was barely breathing hard. “Well next time, old man, don’t take so fucking long.”

  “Oh, really? What the fuck? I’m only twenty-six.”

  “And yet somehow, you don’t actually get out here quick enough.”

  “I went to the front to cut him off.”

  From the ground, Evan moaned.

  “Jesus Christ, pick him up. Put him in the car. We’ll take him back to the penthouse. I’m tired of this shit.” I decided when we got back to the penthouse, I was going to make him talk, one way or another.

  Hailey

  I wished I’d gotten all the information I needed all at once. Like some big family intervention.

  Hey, baby, by the way, you’re adopted. Your father had an affair, and I’ve been resentful ever since. Oh, and hey, Evan found out about you too. And he’s also resentful. He blames you for everything.

  That would have stripped the Band-Aid off.

  I felt bad for Diana, who’d been the one to drive me back from work. Aside from asking her how she was doing, I’d pretty much ignored her.

  When we arrived back at the penthouse, there was a commotion happening. There were some guys in the conference room, and Jonas was among them. I looked around for Oskar, but I didn’t see him. He’d mentioned being on light duty, so he should have been around, right? Unless something had happened.

  I was almost to the kitchen, when I heard the elevator again, followed by the sound of someone groaning. I backtracked and peered around the corner. That’s when I saw my husband.

  I knew it was silly, but I still got a little rush every time I said the word to myself. He was my husband.

  He hasn’t told you he loves you.

  And yeah, we needed to get to that. Granted he hadn’t brought up getting divorced again, so that was probably a good thing.

  Evan was behind Oskar with Dylan bringing up the rear. “Hey, Evan, are you okay?”

  My brother didn’t meet my gaze. “Yeah, I’m fine.” When I got a good look at him, I saw his lip was bloody and his nose looked crooked.

  I glared at Oskar. “What happened?”

  My husband just shrugged. “Don’t look at me. That was the kid, who by the way, is a total badass.”

  Dylan shifted on his feet sheepishly. “Look, sorry to disappoint you, but he was kind of getting in the way of my real fight. I had to put him down so he’d be out of the way and not get himself hurt.”

  Evan gingerly touched his nose. “Nice job getting me out of the way.”

  Oskar jumped in. “Well, next time don’t try to run.”

  “Yeah well, some guys I owe money to had just walked in to the restaurant, so I figured it was probably best if I made myself scarce.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Evan?”

  My brother just shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I’m a fuckup.” He turned his attention to Dylan. “So, do you guys have a doctor who can fix my face?”

  Dylan groaned. “Fine, come here. I’ll put you in the medical bay. We’ll call the doc to come and set your nose.”

  “Is he good? Because I’m too pretty to trust my face to just anyone.” Evan chuckled at his own joke and then winced and put a tentative finger to his nose.

  Oskar smirked. “Don’t worry, we have Doctor Frankenstein on retainer.”

  Honestly, I could slap my husband sometimes. “Do you want to explain to me what is going on right now?”

  “Someone tried to take him. I don’t think it was anyone he owed money to. As far as I could tell, those guys were still in the restaurant. No one followed me out the front door, and no one followed them, which means that someone was waiting outside for him.”

  “See? I tried to tell you. He didn’t try to hurt me.”

  “I know. But there are some other things that you need to know about Evan, sweetheart.”

  “I get the feeling I’m not going to like this.”

  “You’re not. But you need to know, and I refuse to hide anything from you anymore.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and I sank into his hold. I never wanted to let him go. “You know what? Right now, I just want to hold you. It’s been a hell of a day, and in case you haven’t heard, my husband got shot earlier this week, so I just want to hold him for a minute and not think about anything bad. So, can this wait?”

  I could feel his breath hitch in his chest where my cheek was pressed, but then he exhaled slowly, and his muscles relaxed. “Yeah, this will keep.”

  “Okay. Now, if you don’t mind, just hold me for a minute.”

  “Yup, that I can do.”

  13

  Oskar

  I stepped off the elevator and went directly to the kitchen. Breaking the news to Hailey about what her piece-of-shit brother had once done wasn’t going to be easy. Hell, I needed a drink first.

  When I turned the corner, I stopped short when I saw Hailey sitting at the counter in the kitchen talking to Evan. Rage bubbled right beneath the surface. That fucker had the nerve to sit there next to his sister, shooting the breeze as if he hadn’t once gambled with her life like it was a game of high-stakes poker.

  My breaths were coming so fast I felt lightheaded. Hailey smiled, and it only made it worse. Because she was so trusting, yet this whole time, the Judas in her world was the man she’d assumed meant her no harm.

  If I hadn’t been interrupted right then, Evan would have undoubtedly ended up in an ambulance, but just as I stepped forward a hand clamped
down on my shoulder. I glanced over to see who had a death wish. Anyone who would touch me when I looked like I was ready for battle deserved what they got.

  “Not now, Matthias.”

  “You’re going to want to see this, mate. I’ve got something.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to fuck off when his words finally penetrated.

  “Got something?”

  He glanced around. “I got a facial recognition hit on the shooter.”

  I reared back. “The shooter? But I thought…”

  The hand that was still clamped on my shoulder tightened briefly. “You’re not the only one. But it turns out that we were looking in the wrong direction this whole time.”

  Intrigued, I followed him to his room after giving Evan and Hailey one last look. She was safe from him here surrounded by our guys. Which made me feel better but still didn’t stop the urge to go pound his face a few times just as payback for his past transgressions.

  Matthias’s room was slightly bigger than everyone else’s, probably to accommodate all the computer shit he needed to do his tech magic. The dude had a gift with computers and kept Blake Security and our clients safe from any cyber security threats. He had a particular knack for working his way into government systems and getting access to all kinds of information that no one was supposed to know about.

  I wasn’t going to ask exactly how he’d ID’d the shooter because the answer would probably entail a bunch of stuff he couldn’t admit to anyway. Plus, it didn’t really matter. He’d come through and that was all I needed to know. The exhaustion of being on edge for the past few weeks was starting to catch up with me. This was my job and I was used to the stress involved when protecting a client, but it was entirely different when you were protecting someone you loved.

  Matthias threw himself down into his desk chair, and his fingers flew over the keyboard. Almost instantly, he brought an image up on the screen and then zoomed in. I peered closer.