Bad Boy Brody

by Tijan

  “—run.”

  “Jen!”

  She turned on my brother, raising her chin in defiance. “I’ve been in that world enough. They’ll destroy her. Brody knows how to handle them. She doesn’t.”

  “Stop, Jen.” He dropped his voice low.

  “I’m supposed to hide?”

  They turned to me again.

  I lifted a shoulder. “You guys are acting as if that’s a novelty to me. It isn’t.” I cracked a half-grin. “Trust me, I have no problem hiding.”

  A tear fell from one of Abby’s eyes. Her lip began to tremble. “But don’t hide from us. That’s what we want. You’re here. You’re in the house again.” She stepped close, her hand trailing down my arm to hold mine. “Please don’t go.”

  I squeezed her hand. She was as much a sister to me as Shiloh. I moved close and rested my forehead against hers.

  Her eyes drifted shut. Her shoulders slumped. “That’s all we want.”

  I lifted my head back.

  Finn was smiling as he reached for me. “We just don’t want to lose you. We don’t want them to chase you away. That’s all.”

  I went into his arms, and he hugged me tight. I hugged him back, but I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. They wanted promises I didn’t know I could keep.

  Jen coughed. “Now, on to more important matters.” She held up a bottle. “Like drinking. I don’t know about you guys, but I could down two of these myself.”

  A few more bottles were brought out, and we moved our small group to the back patio for the rest of the night. I sipped a glass of wine. Jen and Abby both had four. Finn had a bottle just himself, which he told me was only two glasses.

  I laughed. I smiled. I heard how Finn and Jen first started dating, how she thought he was a pansy-ass at first, and how he hit on her the entire night until she finally began laughing with him. I heard about their whirlwind romance and then how he proposed to her.

  Abby, who had been mostly quiet, perked up as soon as we started talking about the wedding. I saw the wistfulness in her eyes when they talked about loving each other, about the wedding, and their hopes for a future.

  Yes. The whole night felt alien to me, as if I had on someone else’s skin or had stepped into someone else’s world, but it was a good world.

  At least for the night.

  Brody

  Two months of meetings, negotiations, and planning passed.

  Not all of it was for Unbroke. Some of those meetings were for the next superhero franchise of movies. They had promised me a role, and the good word from Shanna sealed it. I had gotten the part, and they didn’t care about the leaked stories about Morgan or about my relationship with Morgan. They weren’t told how I fought against the director and some of the producers. That wasn’t the type of publicity Shanna wanted—it was too messy.

  We were also sent new scheduling contracts to finish the shooting for Unbroke, and I’d gone home to start packing.

  My television was on, but I heard my door buzzer over the din of the talking heads.

  “Just in time,” I said to Gayle, who was standing patiently on my doorstep.

  Just as I shut the door, the journalist cut to a new segment, drawing my and Gayle’s attention. “And we have new images of Morgan Kellerman, the rumored new love interest of Brody Asher.” She turned to her co-anchor. “What do you think, Josh? Sizzling or not?”

  “Not just sizzling, Julia.” The guy crooned to the television camera. “But hot, hot, hot sizzling! I have to say, I totally get how this mystery woman trapped our own Brody Asher.”

  “You think Bad Boy Brody is no longer? You think this vixen has tamed our bad boy?”

  “I don’t know, Julia.” The co-anchor laughed.

  I was disgusted, so I tuned out their continued gossip and went to turn off the television.

  Gayle came in, shutting the door.

  She trailed behind me as I returned to the bedroom to finish packing.

  She lingered in the doorway. “You’re leaving?”

  “Are you surprised?” I stopped and turned back. “My next project is lined up. Schedules are booked, and we start shooting next week. Why wouldn’t I go back?”

  She looked at a loss and then sputtered out, crossing her arms over chest. “You run everything by me first.”

  I shook my head. “I run everything work-related by you first. My going back now, going early, isn’t business. It’s personal.”

  “But—”

  I waited for her to finish her thought, and then I waited some more. Eventually, I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  “I don’t think you should be attached to Morgan Kellerman.”

  Ah. There it was.

  Gayle hadn’t said much on the topic in the beginning, but it’d been two months since we left. Finn connected Morgan and I on the phone a few times, but it wasn’t enough. I knew about the bikers who spotted her on the hill. I knew the press had been pushing to get more shots of her. I knew they had to install a gate at the end of the driveway, but I knew the rumors hadn’t gone away. They only intensified. There were reporters, bloggers, and radio hosts all vying to get information. I told myself I should stay away to keep the attention away from her as much as possible, but the fact that I hadn’t been at Morgan’s side these last two months astonished even myself.

  I was supposed to be there, not here.

  I sighed, turning back to my packing. “I’m doing the superhero movie.”

  “That isn’t what this is about.” She came to my side. “Please, Brody. Think about this.”

  “What’s the issue?”

  “It’s her.” She flung a hand toward me. “It’s you. Forget this media storm that you tried to stop. It’s coming. I told you that before we left the estate, and I stand by my feelings. Matthew Kellerman wanted this. I guarantee it.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s happening. I’m going back. I’m doing the movie, we are going to finish shooting, and then I’m going to New Zealand for the next project.”

  “And then to Iceland for the project after that.”

  They hadn’t booked me for just one superhero movie. They hired me for two. It was what every actor dreamed of landing. The franchise was a moneymaker, and it would ensure my career for years.

  I was going to do it. And I was happy about it. But I couldn’t ignore the bittersweetness of it all.

  As if sensing my thoughts, Gayle murmured, “She’ll never go with you. She’ll never leave those horses or those mountains.”

  “I’ll bring her horse.”

  She snorted. “You’ll bring a mustang with you to every place you shoot?” She chided me softly. “It would be traumatic for the horse and the girl, and you know it.”

  “What do you want me to do, Gayle?” I clipped out.

  “I want you to go to Montana. I want you to find her, be with her. I want you to love her because you already do, and when you’re done with Unbroke, I want you to get on that plane for New Zealand, and I want you to forget her.”

  Forget her.

  Forget someone I loved, but I hadn’t said the words to her.

  I’d been apart from her and had been aching every minute of the day because she wasn’t by my side.

  “That’s easy,” I murmured back.

  She looked relieved.

  “It’s just like losing Kyle all over again, only worse.”

  She tensed, her eyes closing.

  “She’s in me already, Gayle. I forget her, and that means I rip a part of myself out when I go.”

  I scanned my room. I was mostly packed. Grabbing the last of my things, I put them in the bag, slung it over my shoulder, and then grabbed a baseball hat and sunglasses. It wasn’t a great camouflage, but I’d be in first class, so I just had to make it through the airport.

  “You’ll send the rest of my stuff? What I’ll need for the movie?”

  She nodded, her head hanging low. “Yeah. I will.”

  She had a key to my home. She used it w
hen I wasn’t there, and I did trust her, but I placed my hand on her shoulder when the doorbell rang again. That was the driver.

  I squeezed her shoulder lightly. “I came back to L.A. to find peace about Kyle’s death. I met with Cheryl, and I did that. I stayed because I knew you needed me here for all of the meetings.” But those were done. I bent and brushed a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll see you in a week.”

  She grabbed for my hand on her shoulder and squeezed it back. “I was there for you after Kyle. I’ll be there for you after . . .” She cleared her throat. “After you finish shooting Unbroke.”

  I put on my hat, pulled it low, and then put on the sunglasses. I had one bag and was wearing jeans that were ripped at the knees and a T-shirt. I had my wallet, my phone, and my keys. If Morgan could live in the woods for weeks with almost nothing, I could fly over a few states with the same.

  I flashed Gayle a grin. “I know you will.” I caught her hand once more and then went to open the door.

  I left Gayle in the house because I trusted her. She was still one of my people.

  The driver was there, the same one I always used. He took my bag for me as we went to the car.

  “Thank you, Conlin.”

  He nodded to me, and I got into the car.

  Morgan

  I was returning from seeing Shiloh and riding with the herd and had decided to take a detour through the now-empty barn. They had sent the horses back to their original ranch once the movie crew left, but I still enjoyed walking through it versus going through the normal gate. I was reaching to open the barn door when I heard cars approaching.

  Finn always wanted me to stay hidden when people arrived. He checked them out first. So, when the door was open just enough for me to slip through, I did and shut it quickly behind me. I remained in the barn, following his wishes and waiting for whoever it was to either leave once they realized no one was home. Minutes ticked by slowly, and eventually I heard Matthew’s voice, which drove me deeper into the shadows.

  “I thought Finley and Abigail were still here.”

  I shrank farther back. That was Peter as well.

  “No. They’re in town for a meeting with a few other developers I had flown in. They think they’re going to start looking for new projects in the area.”

  “Well, you never know. They might be.”

  “True.”

  They laughed together, drawing closer to the barn.

  “Are you sure Morgan isn’t here?”

  “Are you serious? Morgan’s always out there with the herd. I promise.”

  I tried to make out if there were any others with them, but there were only two sets of footsteps. They went to the gate, and I waited to see if they would free the latch.

  “So this was your brain child. The movie people are coming back. Are you ready to pull the trigger?”

  Matthew laughed uneasily. “There was a problem with the initial paperwork Morgan signed.”

  “What?”

  Peter sounded angry and harsh.

  “It’ll be fine. I promise. I’ll get her to sign another. I’ll just say it’s paperwork to allow the movie to finish filming here. It’ll be like an addendum or something. She’ll have no idea.”

  “What if she doesn’t sign?”

  “She will.”

  “What if she sees it as a way to keep the movie from happening? Her lover boy was adamant about that.”

  “I talked to Finn. Asher hasn’t been in contact with Morgan, and we know he’s been in Los Angeles, lining up his next projects. We’re good. And Morgan will sign. I’ll tell her she has to or her lover won’t be coming back.”

  “You underestimate her.”

  “No.” Matthew’s reproach was swift and firm. “You underestimated Karen.”

  “I didn’t know she would put in that clause. The land and inheritance should’ve gone to me.”

  “You’re the one who sent him.”

  “He was supposed to take the kid with him. He wanted Morgan.” Peter’s tone was hard. “I never told him to kill Karen. I’d have time to get her to put me in the will, not leave everything to her kid.”

  I sucked in my breath. My heart was beating too fast.

  No.

  I wasn’t hearing this.

  “I would never want my own wife dead.”

  I heard car tires on the drive, and I wanted to see who was coming home. It could be Matt or Finley, maybe even Abby.

  “But you were okay with him taking Morgan?” Matthew’s voice broke.

  There was silence.

  Then a quiet, “You’re still hung up on the girl? She’s a freak of nature, Matthew. Let her go. She’ll move on. She’ll be fine.”

  My mother knelt before me. She held a finger to her mouth and whispered as tears fell down her face. “We’re going to play hide-and-go-seek, okay? Okay, Morgan?”

  “She’ll have no home. You want to sell this land out from underneath her.”

  “You’re in this too, pup. Don’t stand there all self-righteous. The movie was your goddamn brainchild. Slip an extra piece of paper in with her contracts so she thinks she’s signing her approval for the movie when she’s really signing away her rights to the land.”

  Someone was knocking on the door. This person was knocking harder and harder on the door. They began yelling. It wasn’t Matt or Finley or Abby.

  More silence.

  Then a more subdued Matthew said, “Let’s just take the specs we came to get and go.”

  “Fine with me.” Peter paused a beat. “She will be fine, Matthew. You can take care of her if the actor doesn’t. She’s a survivor.”

  “I love you so much, Morgan. So much.” My mother ran her hands down my head, smoothing my hair and pulling me close to press a kiss to my forehead. “You’re such a good hider. I know you can hide for days if you needed to, right? You can hide so good that it would take me days to find you.”

  I nodded. She knew I was good at that. I’d just go with the horses. Shoal would take care of me. She always did.

  “Okay, Morgan. I need you to hide like that.”

  The man was kicking at the door.

  I began to shake, my hands trembling. I didn’t want to go.

  “Go, honey. Go.” She stood and went to the door.

  I didn’t dare move.

  I feared a piece of straw would crinkle under my foot, and they would know I was there. They would know I knew their plan.

  Peter sent the monster.

  My legs were shaking. My arms were trembling.

  And Matthew—he plotted to take my home from me, my home. It had always been mine. I might not use it as often as a normal person would, but it was mine.

  I heard the thundering of hooves in the distance. The herd was stampeding. Shiloh would be with them. I looked out the barn window, but I couldn’t see them. I could only hear them.

  “Damn horses,” Peter cursed. “They were a plague back then and still are. They’ll get shoved off the land.”

  “Where will they go?”

  “Do you really care?”

  “Where they go, she goes.”

  “They’ll probably be shot if people are smart.” Peter laughed crudely to himself. “The national park isn’t too far for them to travel. Maybe they’ll go there. The rangers can deal with the herd.”

  Tears welled in my eyes and lingered on my eyelashes. They pooled there, growing larger.

  “I care about Morgan. I don’t want you here when I handle all of this and she finds out.”

  Peter grunted, cursing again. “You’re wasting your time on the girl. She’s as much a mustang as those four-legged fucks out there. Let go of your idea of this cozy family. It’ll never happen.”

  I waited to hear Matthew’s response, but it didn’t come.

  They left after that.

  I heard them walking around the land, taking their specs, whatever that meant. When they came into the barn, I moved to the apartment above.

  As they were leaving the prop
erty two hours later, I went to stand in the driveway. If either of them turned, they would see me, but they just climbed back into their car and drove away. I just watched their taillights fade into the distance.

  Run and hide.

  That was what Peter expected me to do.

  “Hide, Morgan. Hide.” I heard my mother’s whisper.

  I lifted my chin in defiance. Not this time, Mom.

  Morgan

  I was on Matthew’s new computer when Finn and Abby returned. They came in, talking like normal. It was an hour before they noticed the light was on in Matthew’s office.

  “Holy shit!”

  Abby screamed.

  “What?” Finn came running.

  But Abby was frozen in the doorway, just staring at me.

  “What?” Finn asked again, sounding cross as he stopped behind her.

  Both gaped at me, blinking like shocked owls.

  “Wha—” Finn raked a hand through his hair, coming inside. “Morgan?”

  I smiled at them over the computer screen. “What? How do you guys think I got my college degree?” I snorted. “You didn’t think I actually went to the college, did you?”

  “You—I—” Abby closed her mouth and sank into one of the chairs across from me. “I forgot.”

  “Me too.” Then Finn narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”

  “Sending people emails and printing out the contract Matthew had me sign before.” I pushed print and waited till the document was done. I pushed it across the desk toward Finn. “According to a conversation I overheard between Matthew and your father, they tried to trick me. Matthew said there was something wrong with the original paperwork and he was going to try to get me to sign something again.” I leaned back in my chair. “They want to sell my lands.”

  “What?” Abby jerked forward.

  Finn cursed under his breath. He reached for the contract and began reading it. Once he was done, he handed it to his sister. “There’s nothing in there about you giving anyone power to sell the lands. There’s only one clause that states the movie has to be filmed on the property, but that’s it.”

  I nodded. “I know. I didn’t read what I signed, and I think he snuck in an extra piece of paper, knowing I didn’t know.”