The Fireman's Ready-Made Family

by Jules Bennett

  “It’s just a bruise,” she told him. “There’s no need for a photo.”

  Meaning she’d lived through worse, and that thought infuriated him. “It needs to be documented that he was here for a short time and already put his hands on you.”

  Drake clenched his fists at his sides, trying to control his fury. She didn’t need to see that; she needed him strong and thinking rationally. “I need those pictures,” he told her. “I need to show Cameron.”

  Marly nodded and left the room. By the time she’d come back, Drake had almost calmed a tad, but then he took one look at the images and gritted his teeth so hard his jaw popped.

  “I want you to let Cameron handle this,” she told him, placing a hand on his arm. “I don’t want Kevin to ruin your career, which is already teetering on a thin line with the mayor. And I want this to be handled the right way. I need Kevin to stay away from Willow.”

  Drake nodded. “I won’t mess this up, Marly. He will be taken care of properly.”

  “He was so cold to Willow,” she whispered. “No hug, barely a hello. I know he hates me and wants to control me, but she’s his own flesh and blood. How can he be so heartless?”

  “He won’t be a problem again, Marly. I swear.” Drake wrapped her in his arms again. “I’m staying here tonight.”

  This wasn’t up for debate, and he wasn’t asking. No way in hell could he go back home and leave these two on their own.

  Marly gripped his shirt and held on tight. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Finally, he’d fully penetrated that wall of defense. Now if he could just handle Kevin, get his job back and convince Marly they belonged together long-term, he’d be all set.

  One hurdle at a time. The first thing he would take care of was the ex. No way would that man lay another finger on Marly again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Drake convinced Marly to call off work Monday morning, and he personally drove Willow to school, briefly discussed the issues with the principal and alerted him to potential problems with Kevin. Though Drake didn’t think the lowlife would be brazen enough to show up at the school, Drake wasn’t taking any chances at all with the family he’d come to think of as his own.

  Back at Marly’s house, she was a cleaning machine. Apparently she was relieving stress by sweeping, dusting, scrubbing showers and mumbling to herself as she went from room to room.

  Drake ducked out onto the front porch to call Cameron. He figured his brother would be in the midst of either heading to the station or crawling into bed. Quickly dialing the police chief’s cell, Drake took his gaze from one end of the quiet street to the other. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out, but then again he highly doubted a coward like Kevin would show his face with Drake here. Kevin was the type of man who opted to only prey on innocent women and children. No way would he actually want to go up against someone who would put up a fight.

  “Yeah,” Cameron answered.

  “Kevin showed up at Marly’s yesterday.”

  Cameron cursed under his breath. “Did he do anything to her?”

  Images of those fresh bruises marring her skin had that pit in his stomach tightening all over again. Not to mention the pictures she’d brought out to him. He would never get those images out of his mind. Her nightmares were now his, and he planned on taking them away from her for good.

  “He left some bruises,” Drake informed his brother. “She’s fine, but he did try to blackmail her into leaving. He’s using me as the material.”

  “Real powerful man to use a woman as his shield to get through life. Let me call my investigator and I’ll be over there in about an hour. I want to see those pictures and see Marly’s new injuries.”

  “We aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Have you thought about taking her to your house?” Cameron suggested.

  “Apparently the bastard has been in town awhile. He knows where I live, I’m sure. Besides, Willow is used to this being her new home and I don’t want her scared or confused.”

  “Understood,” Cameron replied. “Be there as soon as I can.”

  Drake hung up, knowing his brother was running on empty, but also knowing there was no way Marly and Willow could get through this time alone. The sooner they got the threat of Kevin out of the way, the sooner they could move on with their lives.

  Drake also had the council meeting tonight, but until this issue was resolved with Marly, he refused to leave. He would make calls, write letters or send someone in his place, but he wasn’t leaving his family.

  Yes, they were his. He’d grown to love them, cherish them and would always put their needs first. Starting with tonight and missing the meeting. If he lost his job over protecting his family, then so be it. He’d find other work. As much as he loved firefighting, he loved Marly more.

  He wasn’t going to let another person he loved slip through his fingers when he could save her, build a future with her and love her forever.

  Ready to fight for another chance at love and happiness, Drake vowed to let nothing stand in his way.

  * * *

  Marly was utterly humiliated. She sat on the edge of the ottoman in her living room while Drake and Cameron pored over her pictures and asked her questions.

  This was why she wanted to handle Kevin on her own. For one thing, she hated for anyone to see that side of her. The broken, vulnerable, helpless side.

  For another thing, the look in Drake’s and Cameron’s eyes, the anger and fury that poured off them, scared her. She wasn’t worried for herself, but feared what they would get into if they approached Kevin.

  Kevin certainly wasn’t a man to use violence against other men; he was too much of a coward for that. But he could use his power, his name and his old money to influence nearly anybody.

  “Get that look off your face,” Drake scolded.

  “I was just going to tell you the same thing.” Marly crossed her arms and leaned forward over the tops of her knees. “I don’t care what you do by legal means, but do not start a fight, and please don’t risk your careers. Either one of you.”

  Cameron shook his head. “You aren’t the first battered wife I’ve seen or talked to. But I will say you are the first one that has really hit close to home with me. I won’t risk my career, but I won’t let Kevin continue to threaten you, either. He’ll be dealt with properly.”

  Drake practically fumed, but Marly trusted them both to heed her request.

  “Can I take these?” Cameron tapped the images on the table. “I promise they won’t get away from me and no one who isn’t pertinent to the case will see them.”

  Marly chewed her lip, knowing that this was too big for her to handle on her own. “Okay.”

  Cameron came to his feet. The poor guy looked so worn out and absolutely exhausted. Drake had mentioned that his brother was working some intense undercover case. Marly couldn’t imagine laying your life on the line every day for your job.

  “I need to speak with you outside,” Cameron told Drake. “We’ll just be a minute.”

  Once the guys left, Marly went to get the money bag from the festival. With all the unexpected chaos, she hadn’t been able to get the cash deposited in order to write Shawn and Amy a check.

  She’d counted all of the bills and was separating out the change when Drake came back in. Whatever he and Cameron had discussed had at least relaxed him a bit.

  “Well, you’ve stopped clenching your jaw,” she murmured. “That’s a good sign.”

  He turned a kitchen chair around backward and straddled it. “I totally forgot about counting this. I’m sorry.”

  Shrugging as she stacked quarters into neat piles, she said, “No big deal. I’m almost done.”

  By the time he pitched in and they finished, they had more than either of them had thought in the first place.

  “This will be a nice surprise for them,” Drake told her. “We can bring the check over tomorrow if you’d like. I think Shawn said he would be at the store tomorrow
and Amy would be there on Wednesday.”

  Marly nodded. “Sounds good. I want to get it to them as soon as possible. Why don’t you go ahead and take out the money you put in for supplies?”

  Drake pushed up from his seat. “Absolutely not.”

  Glancing up, Marly sighed. “You put in a good bit of materials for flyers, signs around town and quite a few other things.”

  “I won’t take a dime from this, and I’ll actually be adding to it.”

  Noble to a fault. The man was also stubborn, but how could she not admire and love every part about him?

  “Need I remind you that you’re suspended with no pay right now?”

  Drake offered her a crooked smile as he reached for her hands and pulled her to her feet. “No need to remind me, but I also have a nest egg in savings. I’ll be fine. They need the money way more than I do anyway.”

  Marly reached up, stroked his stubbled jawline and returned his contagious smile. “So what did you and your brother talk about?”

  Drake’s hands came around to her backside; he pulled her flush with his body and nipped at her lips. “Now, why would I want to talk about my brother when I’ve got a beautiful woman in my arms?”

  Marly didn’t miss the way he’d totally dodged the question, but the way he held her, the way he cherished her had her realizing this was so much more important than whatever they’d discussed.

  “I’ll let you skip the question,” she murmured against his lips. “But only because this feels too good.”

  Running his arms up the back of her sweatshirt, Drake’s fingertips expertly flicked her bra open. “Things are about to feel a whole lot better.”

  “But what if—”

  Drake cut her off with a kiss. “Don’t say his name. He’s not coming as long as my truck is here, I’d guarantee it. Right now it’s only me and you. Willow won’t get picked up from school for a couple hours now and I want to be with you, just you, with nothing else getting in our way.”

  Marly wrapped her arms around his neck and arched into him. “Then why are we wasting our time talking?”

  Drake took her words to heart when he stripped her down in record time and hoisted her up onto the kitchen table. To know she had such control over him that his own control snapped sent a quick bolt of arousal through her. Never before had she been so reckless as to have sex on her kitchen table in broad daylight, but Drake didn’t seem to mind as he removed all of his clothes and piled them with hers across the kitchen floor.

  As frenzied as Drake was at the start, when his hands slid up her body and to her face, he was so gentle, so...soft. Those fingertips glided over where she knew those bruises were.

  “Nothing else but us,” she reminded him.

  He captured her lips and pulled her forward until she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Always us,” he murmured as he joined them together. “Always.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Drake had dropped Marly and Willow off at Eli and Nora’s house. He wasn’t comfortable leaving them alone and he had business to attend to.

  Granted, he was on his way to find Kevin, but Drake still didn’t think leaving Marly alone was a good idea. For one thing, she didn’t know he was going to see Kevin and Drake didn’t want her worrying about him. For another, Drake had no clue what minions the creep may have brought with him, so he wanted to cover all his bases.

  Oh, the bastard had no clue Drake was coming, or that his police chief brother was meeting him there. The element of surprise was on his side, and he fully intended to keep the upper hand at all times from here on out.

  Cameron had informed him earlier that morning that Kevin was staying just outside of town in a nicer hotel that was closer to the city. Of course he wouldn’t want to degrade himself and stay at the local hotel that was family owned.

  Drake had also learned quite a bit about the woman who had originally filed assault charges against Kevin...the charges that had suddenly disappeared were surprisingly found once Cameron’s investigator started digging deeper.

  Drake entered the hotel, met Cameron in the lobby and followed him toward the elevators.

  “My investigator said Kevin is staying in Room 801. It’s a suite, of course.”

  Drake clenched his fists, still not sure exactly what he’d say to the man who’d made Marly’s life a living hell for years. Not to mention the fact that he’d utterly ignored Willow...which was probably a good thing, except for the fact he was using the innocent child as a pawn to lure her mother back.

  “You may want to simmer down a bit,” Cameron muttered as they stepped into the elevator. “We’re just presenting him with his options.”

  Drake snorted. “Options? He has one. Leave Marly the hell alone and get out of town.”

  “Why don’t you let me talk?”

  Drake shot his brother a narrowed look as he exited the elevator. No way in hell would he let Cameron fight his battles. Cameron was here as a witness, to make sure Kevin understood all the damning evidence they had uncovered. And to make sure Drake didn’t kill him.

  Cameron tapped on the door and Kevin opened it just enough to peer beyond the chain. “Yes?”

  Cameron flashed his badge. “Stonerock Police. I need to speak with you, Mr. Haskins.”

  Drake loved the authority in his little brother’s voice. Loved how Cameron could put the fear of God in so many people.

  “What can I do for you?” Kevin asked, still not opening the door any wider than the chain would allow.

  “I just have a few questions for you, sir. Would you mind if I came in for just a minute?”

  Drake stayed off to the side; there was no way he wanted Kevin to see him. Although, if the man were smart, he’d already know that Cameron was Drake’s brother, but Drake wasn’t anticipating that Kevin had done a great deal of homework on Marly’s new life. He had tunnel vision, and that tunnel led straight to the election. “I suppose,” Kevin said.

  The door closed while the locks were cleared away, and Cameron shot Drake a look. “Stay calm or I’ll pull you out of here,” he whispered.

  Drake nodded. As much as he wanted to go charging into that room and tear Kevin apart, Drake wouldn’t do anything to put Marly in any danger or jeopardize her case in the custody proceedings.

  When the door swung open, Cameron stepped in first, and just as Kevin was about to close it, Drake slammed his hand on the door and pushed his way through.

  Kevin’s eyes widened. Oh, yeah. The jerk knew exactly who Drake was. Good.

  “Mr. Haskins, come have a seat,” Cameron said, breaking through the tension.

  Kevin’s wide eyes jerked to Cameron. “You said you were with the police.”

  “I said I was,” Cameron corrected. “My brother is the fire chief...but you probably already knew that.”

  Drake closed the door behind him, keeping his eyes on Kevin the entire time. “You’ll want to sit down. We may be a while.”

  Kevin went into the living area and took a seat on the navy sofa. Dressed in black dress pants and a dark gray shirt with the cuffs turned up, Kevin looked like a typical polished businessman. Unfortunately, Drake had seen photos that proved this man was anything but typical or polished.

  Arms crossed over his chest, Drake leaned against the TV stand directly across from Kevin. Cameron took a seat in a wing-back chair and held up a folder.

  “This contains some pretty damning information, Mr. Haskins,” Cameron started. “First of all, I know you visited Marly yesterday.”

  Kevin laughed as he eased back on his cushy sofa. “You’re wasting my time because I visited my wife?”

  “Ex-wife,” Drake quickly corrected, barely managing not to leap across the room and punch the smug smirk off Kevin’s face. “She divorced you when you beat her and didn’t take her for treatment and the wound on her head didn’t heal properly.”

  Kevin narrowed his gaze at Drake. “Is that what she told you? She’s always fabricating stories.”

  Cameron rea
ched into the folder and held up a photo of Marly with a bloody head. “Did she fabricate the pictures, too? That’s a lot of work to go through for one story.”

  Kevin eased forward, his confident demeanor starting to crack. “What do you want?” he asked.

  “It’s not what I want,” Drake chimed in before Cameron could go all cop on him. “It’s what is going to happen. You will leave Marly alone. She isn’t coming back to you. You also will drop this custody battle, because you don’t give a damn about your own daughter.”

  With a laugh, Kevin shook his head and sighed. “Who is going to stop me from taking everything I want? You two? Aren’t you suspended from your job? What power do you hold anyway? And your brother is a small-town cop who can’t do a thing to me for visiting my own wife. Your threats are wasted here.”

  He started to rise and Drake took a step forward. “Sit down.”

  Obviously the tone did the trick because Kevin eased back into place. Drake rested his hands on his hips, continuing to stare the other man down.

  “I have a statement from Janet Days that states you assaulted her when she worked in your office back when you were a lowly commissioner.” Cameron pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here it states exactly what you did to her and her injuries, and she even reported that she feared her accusations would disappear and nothing would come of it.”

  Kevin tensed, and suddenly that cocky smirk was gone, replaced by fear. Drake still wanted to pummel the man.

  “It’s her word against mine,” Kevin defended. “And apparently the police didn’t take her seriously.”

  “Interesting,” Cameron went on, holding up a hand to Drake, who had just pushed away from the TV cabinet. “My investigator also found another woman who was working in your office only two years ago who said the same thing. I have to say, Mr. Haskins, these ladies who don’t know each other at all, both had quite similar stories.”

  Kevin came to his feet. “Get out. You can’t arrest me and I won’t say anything without my attorney anyway.”