Wanted: Big Bad Brother: A Billionaire Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance

by Knight, Natalie

  “Maybe,” Lisa said. “I think that her attitude was a part of it. But I also think that she didn't change with the times. She wanted to stick to the old formula of a bakery with the same old goodies. You have to find out what's new and what's selling with young people.”

  “Yeah, she would never have thought to put Chai Crème Frappuccino on the menu,” Brynn said before bursting into laughter.

  “No, it's not exactly her thing,” Lisa said with a loud giggle.

  “Well, can you lock up the back door and ride over to the house with me?” Brynn asked as she put a lid on her cup and headed toward the front door.

  “Sure, what did you forget?”

  “I have all that signage that I need to bring over. You know, the large banner for our grand re-opening, under new management, whatever you want to call it.” She smiled. “It was too much for me to get alone. Besides, you can say hi to Aunt Millie.” She smiled and tilted her head to the side, trying to sell Lisa on the idea that it was a good thing.

  “Oh yeah, I'm just dying to see her. She and I have never been each other’s cups of tea,” Lisa said as Brynn locked the front door before they both headed to the car.

  After the short drive across town, Brynn parked her SUV and asked the one question Lisa didn't want to hear. “Are you ready?”

  “Oh yeah, I'm ready,” Lisa answered. “But just so you know, if that old bat says anything out of the way to me, I'm gonna pop her one.”

  Brynn laughed. “You have my permission,” she said, knowing how difficult her aunt could be at times.

  “Aunt Millie?” she called out as they both walked in the front door. “Aunt Millie, I have Lisa with me.”

  There was silence.

  “Maybe she went somewhere,” Lisa said.

  “No, her car was out there. Hmm. Maybe she went next door to Myrtle's.”

  “Well, let's just get the stuff and be gone,” Lisa said, seemingly in a rush.

  “Alright, come on.”

  The two walked through the mudroom that led to the garage.

  “Wow, what a lot of junk. It's been years since I've been in here.”

  “I know. I think Aunt Millie is a pack rat.”

  “You mean, a hoarder,” Lisa said with a chuckle.

  “Well, I was trying to be nicer,” Brynn said as she put on a cheeky grin.

  They made two trips to the car and back, carrying all of the signs and banners that would be needed to open the “new” bakery the next day.

  “I need some water before we go,” Lisa said as she huffed. “That was heavy.”

  “I know. I didn't realize the banner weighed so much,” Brynn added. “Come on, let's grab a bottle from the fridge.

  Walking into the kitchen first, Lisa screamed when she looked down to see Millie's lifeless body lying on the floor in front of her.

  “Oh, my gosh!” Brynn screamed. “Call 911! NOW!”

  Lisa ran to the phone on the wall and dialed the number. Brynn could hear her giving directions in the background as her head swirled, wondering what to do.

  “I don't know,” Lisa said into the phone. “Brynn, does she have a pulse?”

  Brynn placed her first two fingers gently on her aunt’s neck and waited a couple of seconds before looking up at Lisa and shaking her head.

  “No, she doesn't,” Lisa said calmly to the operator on the other end. “Okay.” She finished the call and placed the receiver back on the box.

  “Oh Aunt Millie,” Brynn whispered as she began to cry.

  Lisa stood over them. “I wonder what happened.”

  “I don't know. A heart attack, maybe?” Brynn said as she stood up and looked around the room.

  “It looks like she was eating something.” Lisa pointed to the crumbs beside Millie's body.

  Brynn stooped down to examine them closer. “Hey, look, there's her coffee mug under the table.” She picked it up and looked up at Lisa. “Poor thing probably just had finished her breakfast and had a heart attack.”

  “Yeah, poor thing,” Lisa muttered.

  Brynn looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Come on. I know you didn't like her, but really? Have a little compassion.”

  “I'm sorry. I hate that it happened.”

  It was all Lisa could muster at the moment. She had stayed behind after Brynn left, and had seen how Millie had treated the others in town who tried to be nice to her. While on the other side of it all, Brynn was living another life in another city and knew nothing of who her aunt had really become.

  Both women were sitting on the couch when they were startled by a loud knock on the front door.

  “OH!” They shouted in unison as they jumped.

  Brynn briskly walked to the door and opened it, expecting to see an EMT or some other kind of medically trained person but instead got quite a surprise.

  “Alec? Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “I got a call about a possible death at this address,” he returned, seemingly surprised by her question.

  “Yeah, my Aunt Millie,” she replied, tripping over her thoughts and words. “She's in the kitchen.” She turned and led the way to the body.

  Both Brynn and Lisa stood in the doorway as Alec checked for a pulse. “Yep, she's dead alright,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Brynn couldn't help her eyes from roaming his tight body in the uniform that seemed to hug every muscle he had. What was it about Alec that attracted her so? Sure, she'd seen hot guys before, but this one had something that none of the others had. He had some kind of charisma. Yeah, there was definitely something different about him.

  “Brynn?” he asked loudly.

  She blinked as if she had been in some kind of trance. “I'm sorry. What?”

  “I asked if this is how you found her.”

  “Um, yes. We haven't moved anything.”

  “Well, there was the cup,” Lisa offered. “You found her coffee cup under the table.”

  “Where is that cup now?” he asked, sounding very professional.

  It was as if Brynn wasn't hearing a word he was saying. She was mesmerized by his strong jaw and tanned face. It didn't matter that her aunt was lying on the floor dead. No, she was checking out the stud in front of her.

  Lisa waved her hand in front of Brynn's face. “Hey, are you in there?” she asked her best friend.

  “I'm sorry,” she said. “I guess I'm just a little shaken up.”

  “Brynn, I'm going to have to ask you some questions if you don't mind.” He looked at Lisa as if to say scram.

  Lisa excused herself and walked out of the room so they could have privacy.

  “Where is the ambulance?” Brynn asked him.

  “They'll be along shortly,” he said as he took her by the elbow. “I need for you to tell me what happened here this morning.”

  The touch of his warm hand on her bare elbow was enough to send a shiver up her spine. She looked up at his blue eyes and felt all her senses go numb. She couldn't move. She stood there staring at him, not speaking at all.

  “Brynn, I'm going to have to ask you to come to the station with me.”

  She snapped back to reality. “What? Why?”

  “Well, you're not answering any of my questions here at the house, and so I'm going to have to take you down to the station.”

  “You can't be serious!” She was suddenly back to reality at the mere mention of being taken downtown.

  Alec

  Could this day get any worse?

  Alec Anders paced the floor in an interrogation room in the Chesapeake Pointe Police Department. He wasn’t accustomed to this feeling. He liked feeling as if he was in control of every situation, but the murder of Brynn’s Aunt Millie had him reeling. He had brought Brynn downtown to ask her some questions and hopefully clear her name.

  “Brynn, who do you know that may want to harm your Aunt Millie?” He sat down across from her in an uncomfortable metal chair that matched the one she occupied.

  She lifted her eyes to meet his and h
e saw they were red-rimmed and puffy from crying. “Alec I honestly can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt her. I just don’t understand what happened.”

  Tears fell down her cheeks and Alec found himself wanting to reach over and wipe them away.

  Get a grip man. She’s a possible suspect in her aunt’s murder and you are acting like a teenage boy who just saw his first crush.

  He pulled himself together and delivered some news that he was sure wouldn’t make Brynn feel any better.

  “I know it’s been a while since you lived here, and I hate to sound disrespectful to the dead but your aunt wasn’t exactly everyone’s favorite person.”

  Brynn looked taken aback at this statement and quickly stood up, causing her metal chair to scrape loudly on the concrete floor.

  “That is a horrible thing to say about Aunt Millie. She was a wonderful person and everyone loved her including me!”

  Her sudden outburst had brought the attention of several officers who quickly came down the hall to assist. Having heard Brynn’s statement in favor of her aunt, one of them commented offhandedly, “Wow she really has been gone a while.”

  “Come on guys, move along now. Everything is fine here. I just need to ask Ms. Monroe a few more questions.” Alec heard them continue their mumbling as they retreated down the hall. “I’m sorry for their comments, Brynn, but they are not entirely wrong. Sit back down and let’s talk a little more about your aunt.”

  She seemed to have run out of steam. She slowly sank back down into the hard metal chair and sat completely silent for a few seconds as she regained her composure.

  “So everyone hated her, huh?” Brynn asked him in a matter-of-fact tone.

  He felt sorry for her and the situation in which she found herself. He tried to soften the blow, “Well, hate is a pretty strong word, so I will just say they strongly disliked her.”

  She frowned a little when she asked. “And her bakery. Did they hate it, too?”

  He nodded slightly. “Again, hate is a very strong word.”

  She sat back in the chair and took a deep breath before she spoke. “I had an idea that people weren’t too fond of the bakery when I saw the books, but I thought it was just because she hadn’t updated in a while. Everyone loves a modern shop with new items.”

  He nodded his head in agreement and waited for her to continue. Brynn seemed to relax a little as she sat back in her seat and crossed her long slender legs.

  Alec found himself following the line of that leg up to her toned body and beautiful face. He shook his head as if to clear the thoughts and tried to get back to the business at hand.

  “So I asked you earlier if you could think of anyone who would want to hurt your Aunt Millie. Do you have anyone in mind now?”

  If she had noticed that he was checking her out, she didn’t let on.

  “Well, not right off the top of my head, but since you did bring up the fact that nobody liked her, it could be anyone.”

  That was the thing that Alec feared the most, too many suspects. He tried to switch up tactics in order to make Brynn a little more comfortable.

  “How are things down at the bakery since the grand re-opening?”

  He knew that under her aunt’s ownership the bakery had slowly began to lose business. He hoped it was due to lack of upgrades and not her aunt not being all that likeable.

  Brynn perked up a bit as she talked about the bakery. “I feel pretty good about it really. Lisa and I have been working extra hard to make sure that all the items we have to offer are fresh and delicious. I just want it to be the way it was when I was a little girl, you know?”

  Alex knew exactly what she meant. He could remember being a young boy and stopping at the bakery when he was out and about in town. Millie had always been so sweet to him and had even slipped free baked goods into his bag. She always seemed to know exactly when he needed a little something extra.

  A feeling of sadness draped over him as he realized that as much as he tried to keep himself impartial about her murder, he was really going to miss that old woman. The sadness began to build when he thought about how much Brynn was going to miss her too.

  This was her family, her flesh and blood. She has to be innocent, right?

  He wanted so badly to believe that Brynn had nothing to do with killing her aunt Millie, but history had shown him that people were not always who they seemed. It had been years since he had really seen Brynn or spent any time with her at all. Who knew what her real motive was for returning to Chesapeake Pointe. Did she kill her aunt so that, if the bakery became successful again, Millie wouldn’t be able to take it back? Was she just putting on a show about how much she loved her aunt when she really just couldn’t take Millie’s meanness any longer? Those were the questions Alec needed answers to before he could eliminate her as a suspect.

  “Brynn, I apologize that I had to bring you in for questioning. It’s just standard procedure on our part.”

  She quickly recovered her sweet smile and said, “I completely understand, Alec. I mean what kind of detective would you be if you didn’t check out all the facts?”

  “I know that you’re just opening up again and I wouldn’t want this to affect your business. We just have to check out all possible leads.”

  Brynn nodded in agreement. “Thank you. If rumors don’t abound that I was here, then it shouldn’t. And I know you wouldn’t intentionally do anything to hurt my business.”

  He had a feeling that the bakery would be thriving again in no time. “I know you have been working hard with getting the bakery remodeling finished and getting opened back again. Have you had a chance to go out much?”

  What was he thinking? Alec couldn’t believe he’d just asked that. He shouldn’t be flirting with a possible murder suspect.

  Brynn’s cheeks reddened as she replied, “Well, thank you for being concerned with my social life, Detective. To answer your question, no, I haven’t had a chance to go out.”

  He found himself strangely relieved to hear it and hoped that his face didn’t show his elation. He stammered when he next spoke. “I – I didn’t mean to pry, Brynn. Honestly, I was just wondering if you had gotten a chance to get reacquainted with the town.”

  She looked like she was having a bit too much fun with him at this point. “Now Alec, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were flirting with me.”

  Now it was Alec’s turn to blush. “Brynn – I – I promise that was not what I was doing.” Pull yourself together, man. She is getting inside your head. You are supposed to be questioning her.

  She simply laughed out loud. “Gosh Alec, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I know you’re just trying to make me feel better about this whole situation and I appreciate that.”

  “Okay, you really got me there. I guess I should let you out of here since there isn’t much more I can ask at this point.”

  Brynn looked both relieved and a little disappointed. He couldn’t be sure if she was guilty of murder, but she sure was guilty of making him sit up and take notice of her.

  “Thank you Alec, I know that you knew Aunt Millie too, and this can’t be easy for you either.”

  He felt that wave of sadness again, “You’re right. I did know her, and, despite what others thought about her, she was always good to me. I just want you to know that if you need anything, day or night, just call me.” He knew that he shouldn’t have thrown that last part in there, but he couldn’t help himself.

  She gave him a genuine smile and replied, “Thank you. I just might take you up on that offer.”

  He watched her leave.

  There goes trouble.

  Brynn

  “Hey, are you alright?” Lisa asked through the closed restroom door of the bakery.

  “Yeah, I'm fine.” Brynn sniffed as she wiped her nose with a tissue.

  Swinging open the door, she walked out. “This is so awful. Poor Aunt Millie was poisoned.” Her tears began to flow heavily as she headed back to the res
troom, leaving Lisa alone in the dining area again.

  “I'm sorry, Brynn. It was a horrible way to die. I can't imagine someone being so cruel.”

  Brynn stepped back out and sniffed loudly. “I can't either.” She sat down at the table in the corner. “And I keep thinking of poor Thunder. He’ll lost without her in that house now.”

  “I'd say he will be. She's had that little dog for quite a while now.” Lisa joined her with a cup of tea. “Here, drink this. It will calm you.”

  “Thanks.” Brynn sipped the warm tea and looked around the bakery. “I never realized when I made plans to move back that this would happen.” She looked around at the display cases and tables. “She poured her heart and soul into this place, you know.”

  “I know,” Lisa said. “It was really all she had in life.”

  “It was,” Brynn agreed. “Well, other than –” She stopped mid-sentence.

  “What?”

  “Oh my god, I had completely forgotten with everything that's been going on.” Brynn put her head on the table and began to cry again.

  “Forgot what?” Lisa sounded confused.

  “Forgot to call Aunt Beulah and tell her.” She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. “I guess I should give her a call sometime today.”

  “Wow, I had totally forgotten about that old, crabby sack of wrinkles, too,” Lisa said.

  Brynn raised her head off her arms, looked at Lisa, and laughed so loud that it echoed through the bakery. “That's one way of putting it.”

  “Well, I'm sorry, Brynn. Your aunts were never really nice to a whole lot of people.”

  Lisa was point blank with everything. If she thought it, she usually said it. Brynn had told her many times in her life it was one of her favorite things about her. With Lisa, people knew where they stood. There was no guessing. If she liked someone, they knew it. And if she disliked someone, well, they usually knew that, too. Her thoughts easily became her words, and she didn't care.

  “I know. Aunt Beulah is lucky she married and moved away or the whole town would have turned on her as well.”