The Officer's Promise (Brothers in Blue Book 1)

by K. Langston

  Ryker nodded. “I want to kiss you so bad my chest hurts.”

  “Okay,” I replied, and his large hands cupped my face.

  He tilted his head, pressing his soft lips to mine, and my whole world changed in that moment.

  It got bigger.

  Brighter.

  Expanding beyond anything I’d ever known. A million emotions rushed through me, but I couldn’t name a single one.

  Was this what love felt like?

  His mouth convinced me it was, fitting against my lips so perfectly, kissing me sweet and slow as my knees grew weaker and weaker. My heart fought to hold me upright. I didn’t have any other kisses to compare this one to, except the movies I’d seen, but even those didn’t seem to measure up.

  This had to be the best first kiss ever.

  “Wow,” I whispered into the cool night air.

  He grinned in that way that always made me smile. It was the kind of grin every girl dreamed of being on the other end of. “That good, huh?”

  “It was all right, I guess,” I said with indifference, teasing him.

  He kissed me again but this time with a little more passion and a lot more determination.

  Gosh, he was so good at this.

  I smiled when he pulled away. “Much better.”

  “Smart-ass.”

  “Yeah, well, I learn from the best. Now are you going to give me my birthday present or master your excellent kissing skills all night?”

  “Both.”

  He guided me to sit on the swing then his hand disappeared into his front pocket. Kneeling down in front of me, he presented a small ring between his thumb and forefinger.

  I felt like I was living in a dream. Everything began to move in slow motion, and I found myself never wanting this moment to end.

  The moonlight bounced off the silver band, twisted perfectly to create an infinity knot, showcasing its simple beauty.

  “It’s a promise ring.”

  My throat grew all tight and scratchy. “It’s beautiful.” I was short on words when it came to speaking but there were eleventy billion of them flashing through my mind.

  “Now, I know this is sudden.” He smirked, lifting a finger to shut my gaping mouth. The contact struck like a bolt of electricity shocking my skin. “Don’t worry. I’m not asking for your hand in marriage, yet.” He winked. “We’re only thirteen, and I have to talk to your dad first.”

  A giggle burst from my mouth and Ryker leaned in to capture it. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

  “What?”

  “Kiss your laugh. I just knew it would have a special taste.”

  “Well, does it?”

  “Yep, it tastes just like home.”

  “Gosh, Ryker Cunningham, I never knew you could be so romantic.”

  “I have five older brothers, I’ve picked up a thing or two.”

  “I should say so.”

  “You going to let me finish or what? I’d like to get back to kissing you soon.”

  I’d like to get back to doing that, too.

  “Sorry, please continue.”

  He cleared his throat, his nerves beginning to get the best of him. Ryker was playful by nature, so seeing him so serious was weird yet oddly refreshing.

  I liked that I made him nervous.

  Lifting my hand, he slid the ring onto my finger. “I promise to always be there for you. I promise to make you laugh at least once a day, kiss you every chance I get, and hug you all the time. Oh, and I promise to share my doughnuts with you.”

  “Whoa, that’s a big commitment. You sure you can live with that?”

  “It’ll be hard, but for you, I’ll try.”

  “Promise to stop stealing my hair ties.”

  “Promise to wear your hair down more.”

  I gasped. “Is that why you steal them?”

  “I don’t steal them. I’ve saved them all, and I’ll be more than happy to give them back if you promise not to use them.”

  “Then what’s the point?” I laughed.

  He shrugged. “Exactly.”

  Both hands threaded through my hair, gently tugging the strands. “I love it when it’s down. When the breeze picks it up off your shoulders and whips it across your beautiful face.”

  Tears filled my eyes, my heart on the verge of bursting at the seams. I wrapped my arms around his neck to prevent it from happening. Then I buried my face in his neck, breathing him in.

  “Thank you, Ryker. This has been the best birthday ever.”

  Ryker kissed me for what seemed like hours, mastering his superb kissing skills. Then he gave me a push on the swing before walking me back to my tree house.

  Little did I know, one month later, my world would be turned upside down.

  Again.

  And there wasn’t a promise in the world that could prevent it.

  That month before my parents died was the best month of my life. To this day, I have never felt as strongly for someone as I did for Ryker.

  Not even Trent.

  I still had no idea what I was going to do or where I would go, but I had to do something. I couldn’t keep going on like this.

  Eyeing the suitcase in the hall, another bout of fear consumed me.

  What’s it going to be, MaryAnn? Are you going to be brave and fight or are you going to continue letting him beat you?

  Finally, with a stiff chin and newfound resolve, I answered myself.

  “Fight.”

  Before I could change my mind, I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, but my determination crumbled like shards of broken glass when I heard the front door open and close with a resounding click.

  I stood frozen in place, terror deadening every nerve in my body.

  “And just where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he asked as he made his way into the hall, his voice ominous and deep.

  My mind spun for an excuse, a lie, something that would get me out of this alive, but words eluded me, as did my last remaining hope.

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, I gripped the steering wheel tighter. After seeing MaryAnn at the deli the other day, I had come back to the office and began digging into her past—actually, Trent’s past.

  Trent Deveraux.

  He graduated from Stanford with a degree in business management and was well-known among New York’s elite business professionals. His reputation seemed to be squeaky clean. Apart from uncovering a closed juvenile record from when he was fourteen, I didn’t find much. All that meant was he hadn’t been caught yet. Coming from a wealthy and prominent family in Louisiana helped matters, I was sure. He’d been charged with animal cruelty. Fucker beat the shit out of a dog with a baseball bat. Rage twisted in my gut, filtering in my veins at the thought of him beating her like a helpless animal.

  I had staked out her address after locating it the very next day. Though I didn’t see much. The swanky high-rise had tight security, and while I could flash my badge and gain entry without any problems, I was trying to come up with another way to go about getting her out of there without him knowing. I had looked her up on social media as a way to contact her, but just as I’d suspected, she wasn’t there.

  “Fuck, man, you gonna be like this all day?” Felix asked, irritated with my mood.

  “Probably,” I answered.

  “What do you say we go find some runners, crank up “Eye of the Tiger” and drive by real slow? That always makes you fucking giddy.”

  “Not today, Felix.”

  “Just forget about it, man. She doesn’t want to get out of her shitty situation, so why are you still dwelling on it? Now, Adrianna on the other hand, is perfectly willing to be rescued,” he tossed out with a grin.

  “Shut up. And stop trying to set me up with her. I’m not interested.”

  Shifting in his seat, he pressed his back to the door. “Dude, I’m just trying to help you out. You’re getting all worked up over someone you hardly even know.”

  My heart clenched in my chest.

 
“She was the first girl I ever cared about, man. I made her a promise a long time ago, and I’m keeping it. She has no one. I have to get her out of there.”

  Felix blew out a heavy breath, riding out my words in silence before the radio blared to life, signaling a call.

  “Go ahead, dispatch,” Felix replied.

  “We have a disturbance at 737 Park Avenue, apartment 8G. Security stated he heard a woman screaming for help, but the resident says everything is fine and refuses to give him entry.”

  “Fuck, that’s her apartment number,” I gritted through clenched teeth, gunning the gas.

  We arrived at the address four minutes later and took the elevator to the eighth floor. I pounded on the heavy wood with my fist, announcing ourselves.

  It took everything I had not to kick the motherfucker in.

  “NYPD. Open up!”

  Tucking my fingers in the top of my belt, Felix rested his palm on the hilt of his Glock. We were prepared for whatever was on the other side of this door.

  Or so I thought.

  A few seconds later, the door flung open. He appeared calm and cool, but I could tell he was bristling with anger due to the tight line of his lips and jutted jaw. He was just a little bit shorter than me; I’d say around six one or so, wearing a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dress pants, and shiny black shoes. MaryAnn was five four—if that—and very petite.

  If I weren’t wearing this badge, I would kill him with my bare fucking hands.

  “May I help you, Officer?” he asked politely, despite his rigid appearance.

  “We had a call here about a disturbance.” I tried to get a good look around him but his broad shoulders blocked my view.

  “I think you have the wrong apartment.”

  I double-checked the unit number on the door, but I knew I had the right one. “Nope. The call was for this residence.”

  “Is there anyone else in the apartment with you, sir?” Felix asked calmly.

  I was anything but calm.

  I wanted in this fucking apartment.

  He hesitated, raising my suspicion further. “My wife, but she’s in the shower.”

  “We’d like to speak with her,” I demanded.

  “I just told you she’s in the shower. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  He moved to shut the door, but I wedged my boot inside before he could close it, shoving the door open with enough force to make him stumble.

  “I told you she’s in the fucking shower. You can’t just barge in here like this,” he stated firmly, as I made my way through the foyer and down the hall.

  Nothing seemed out of place until I made it into the living room. A trail of clothes and ladies undergarments led me into the kitchen where I found her lying on her side, face swollen and covered in blood.

  Jesus.

  Felix radioed for an ambulance while I attempted to assess MaryAnn’s injuries. From what I could see so far, she had a decent-sized gash at the temple and a busted lip, both would probably need stitches.

  “MaryAnn, can you hear me?” I asked, pressing my fingers around her mangled ankle.

  She groaned softly.

  Lifting her head from the floor, she blinked several times before she was finally able to focus her defeated blue eyes on mine. The moment they connected, air froze in my lungs.

  They’d once been so bright and full of life, and now they were dulled with sadness and pain.

  It seemed like an eternity before I could fix my mouth to utter her name. “MaryAnn.”

  She shivered.

  Red, puffy lids fell closed on a trembling sigh. Her hands moved to her head, likely pounding due to the blow it had taken. She let out another agonizing groan, and my chest constricted with an ache so deep it hurt to fucking breathe.

  “I need you to lie still for me. We have an ambulance on the way. They should be here any minute. In the meantime, I need you to tell me what happened.” She shook her head, pressing her lips together tight while tears fell from the corners of her eyes. “Look, I know you’re scared, but you have to tell me what happened so I can help you.”

  “I’m telling you, she fucking fell,” the man bellowed from the other side of the room where Felix kept him contained, questioning him about what happened.

  I placed my hand over hers, trying to calm her down despite my own fury. “Tell me what happened,” I said quietly.

  She exhaled a long, tortured breath then shifted her gaze to him, courage setting them on fire. “I tried to leave.” Her voice grew stronger with each word spoken, revealing a piece of the girl I once knew. “He did this to me.”

  “You lying bitch!”

  Every muscle in my body coiled tight, twisting and bunching beneath my skin in a fit of hate. Jumping to my feet, I rushed him. The sound of my thundering heart pounding in my ears was all I could hear, and the bone cracking beneath my fist as I delivered the deliberate blow.

  Felix managed to pull me off but only after MaryAnn’s cry penetrated the red fog blinding me.

  “Ryker!”

  I collected several deep breaths before turning my attention back to her. She looked so small and weak, completely defenseless against him, but still strong.

  So fucking strong.

  My head felt like it was wedged in a vice, the pressure had eased slightly but it still hurt to move. My entire body ached but thankfully, the medicine they’d given me earlier was beginning to serve its purpose.

  However, it didn’t allow me to escape my dark thoughts.

  The scene played over and over in my mind. I still couldn’t believe I did it. That for once, I stood up to him. Who knows what would have happened if Ryker hadn’t shown up.

  My foot was broken and the gash on the side of my head required several stitches. I also had a mild concussion. I was relieved when the doctor told me they would be keeping me overnight. At least I would have a peaceful night of sleep.

  Safe from him.

  For now.

  Ryker had shown up here a short time after I arrived, standing vigil while the doctor and nurses worked on me. My heart clenched, thinking about how protective he was over me. He held my hand the entire time, silently reassuring me with every stroke of his thumb that he was here.

  Which somehow still seemed impossible to me.

  He’d shown up at just the right time. One more kick and who knows where I would be.

  After they finally put me in a room, Ryker and his partner took my statement. It was hard to meet his eyes. I didn’t want him to know how weak I was. I didn’t want him to see the woman I’d become.

  “Get some rest, sweetie. I’ll be back to check on you in a little bit,” the nurse said, removing the blood pressure cuff.

  I nodded, sinking further into the bed as she walked out of the room.

  I’d almost succumbed to my exhaustion when there was a soft knock on the door. My breath froze as it eased open, terror gripping my chest.

  “Can I come in?”

  Relief flooded through me when I heard Ryker’s soothing voice.

  “Hi,” I greeted, my eyes heavy and weak.

  He laid a manila folder down at the foot of my bed before perching one hand on the railing next to my head while the other reached for my hand.

  Long fingers wrapped around mine gently, contradicting the rough pad of his thumb brushing over the tops of my knuckles. I could have sworn there was a special healing power in that thumb.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” I murmured.

  My speech was becoming more sluggish, and so was my heart.

  His thumb made another pass over my skin and the gesture brought on a wave of comfort, one I’d grown to crave over the last few hours. “I spoke with the DA. You don’t even have to be at the arraignment. I have the affidavit here with your statement and an order of protection. All you have to do is sign, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “Then what?” I whispered with shaky breath, terrified of the answer.

/>   “You have two options. When he has his arraignment you can request to stay in the apartment until the trial is over.” I think about his words for a moment. That apartment is just as much mine as it is his, but deep down I know I don’t want to stay there.

  Too many awful memories.

  “I don’t want to stay there. But I do want my suitcase. Everything I love is in there. Is there any way you can get that for me?”

  “I’ll take care of it,” he said, flexing his fingers around mine.

  “What’s option number two?”

  “Stay with me.”

  I opened my mouth to protest but never stood a chance. “Before you say anything, just hear me out. I know you don’t know me. Not the me I am today. But you know me, MaryAnn. At my core, you know who I am. I’ll keep you safe. He’ll never lay another hand on you again. Ever.”

  Tears pricked my eyes.

  Ryker continued. “My place, it’s not…it’s not the nicest, but I have a spare bedroom you can stay in for as long as you want. Oh, and my cat, Bernard, is an asshole, but I want you there. I need you there, where I know you’re safe.”

  A smile cracked my lips before I winced in pain. “Since when do you like cats?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t. But we have a mutual agreement, so it works.”

  I laughed, my body aching from the movement, but the pain was welcomed, because with it came a promise of healing, physically and emotionally.

  “I can’t wait to meet him.”

  I could tell she was still a little uncertain. Her eyes shifted nervously as we made our way up the lift to my apartment. Because of her foot, she was forced to use crutches, and it took every ounce of restraint I possessed not to carry her up here.

  Something told me she needed to do this on her own.

  No matter how badly I wanted to step in and take control, I knew I wouldn’t be doing her any good by doing that.

  MaryAnn was a strong woman, but she’d been broken down by a pathetic excuse for a man, stripped of her own free will and independence, and it was important for her reclaim that, even if it was at the sake of my own damn need.

  I waited for her to exit the lift first, staying close behind as I guided each step to ensure she wouldn’t fall.