by Natalie Ann
“Don’t know,” Brody said, shrugging and looking out the window. He didn’t often like to justify his decisions to anyone. He’d done more in the last several months, but that didn’t mean he had to keep doing it.
“Sure you do. Just tell me. It won’t go any further.”
Brody turned and looked at Cade, at his steady stare, and remembered that Cade was the one he always trusted the most.
“It just called to me. I saw myself there with others. I can’t explain it.” He hoped Cade would drop it.
No such luck. “A family?” Cade asked.
“Yeah,” Brody mumbled. “Someday.”
“It looks to me that that ‘someday’ is here. Do you see yourself with her forever?”
There was no stopping this conversation and he was stuck in the car. Cade would keep pestering if he didn’t answer. “I do. I haven’t told her yet. She’s kind of prickly about things. Planning things out. She just wants to take her time.”
“There are ways around that with women. Guess you just haven’t found out how to handle her yet,” Cade said, laughing again.
“Driving or not, I could still knock you out.”
“You could. I’ll give you that, but instead you could thank me when we’re done. I won’t tell anyone that, either,” Cade said grinning.
“We’ll see how much I thank you on the ride back. You could tell me more of what’s going on though.”
“I could, but I won’t until it’s all done. Let me handle it. Trust me to do that. I don’t need you and your hot head saying something you shouldn’t. Do I have your word?” Cade asked, taking his eyes off the road to look at Brody.
“Fine,” Brody said.
“Say you trust me,” Cade said, rubbing it in.
“I trust you,” Brody growled at him.
Brody was never so happy when Cade pulled into Jackson’s office. “I didn’t want to meet here,” Cade said, “on their home turf, but then I figured they’d think they have the edge when really they don’t. Let them feel confident before I squish them like a bug.”
“Say kick their ass. No one squishes bugs but women,” Brody said.
“You work in a bar. I work with interns. It’s squish them like a bug.”
Brody had to hand it to Cade. He knew what he was talking about, not that he’d ever admit that. When they walked into Jackson’s conference room, the creep—and he’d call him a creep if he wanted to, just not in front of Aimee—looked more confident than he should. At least from what Cade was saying.
“We’re glad you could make it,” Jackson said, standing up and reaching for Cade’s hand, then his. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name. I thought Cade was coming with Aimee.”
“Brody. And no, she’s home right now with her daughter, who isn’t feeling well.” Brody hadn’t wanted to leave Sidney either, but Aimee assured him it was just a summer cold, so he left. He’d planned on coming to this meeting regardless. “Besides, she really didn’t want to see Pick again.”
Brody ignored the dirty look Cade shot his way. Too damn bad, he was going to say what he wanted if he had the chance. It was the truth, at least.
“So what are you looking to get out of this meeting?” Cade asked. “You called us here, so I’m assuming you’ve got some documents or a plan. I don’t see a lawyer for Pick so it can’t have anything to do with potential paternity.”
Jackson just held Cade’s stare, then said, “Pick would like a paternity test. He isn’t positive the child is his. Since Hope’s Breath is all about promoting family values, we’d like to know those results before we proceed.”
“Pick can’t speak for himself?” Cade asked casually.
Brody looked over and saw the little weasel squirming around and doing anything but making eye contact now. “If she’s yours, then what?” he asked. This guy was nowhere near father material.
“Brody,” Cade said. He knew that tone. The one his mother used all the time with the silent undertone telling him to shut the hell up.
But he couldn’t and he wasn’t. “Do you want to be a part of her life? Do you even care?” This was his life and he’d be damned if Cade called all the shots.
Pick looked at Jackson, got his nod, and then turned back to Brody. “We’ll just wait to see what the paternity test says.”
“Unfortunately, you know it’s going to say you’re the father. So answer my question.”
“I don’t know that,” Pick said. “I don’t remember much from those days.”
“Which doesn’t look good for those family values you’re trying to promote for your band, does it?” Cade asked Jackson.
“That’s not your concern. Let’s just take this first step,” Jackson said. “Here are Pick’s legal documents requiring a DNA sample from Sidney Marie Reed.”
Cade reached for it first, but didn’t bother to look at it. “So here is what I think. I think Pick could care less what the results are going to say. I think if he had his way, he’d wish Aimee just went away completely. I think he is hoping it’s not his child, but has a feeling it is and you’re the one pushing this on him when he’d rather keep denying it and never know the answer. Never have to fork over any money for child support.”
Brody looked over and saw Pick pale. Busted.
“All we want to do is take the next step,” Jackson said, standing up, giving every indication the meeting was over.
“Well,” Cade said. “Before we take the next step, I’ve got a few things I want to show you. Starting with these.” Brody watched as Cade pulled out a sheet of paper, halting Jackson from taking a step. “I’m trying to figure out the connection between Jake Nellis, Randy Stevens, and Mitch Miller. You know who they are, don’t you, Jackson?”
Brody looked over and saw Jackson pause for a brief second, then say, “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Really?” Cade asked. “They’re agents, just like yourself. Though they’ve moved around quite a bit. I can’t believe you’ve never crossed paths with them. Maybe their pictures would jog your memory.”
Cade put the sheet on the table between Pick and Jackson.
“Hey,” Pick said. “Dude, they look just like you.”
“They do, don’t they?” Cade said, smiling. “You see, you’re not the only one with contacts. I did a little of my own fishing around and found several people willing to tell me a few things about these three gentleman.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jackson said, turning to leave.
“Sit down,” Cade said sharply. Brody had never heard that tone before. He was impressed. Jackson took his seat just the same. “It won’t take much for me to reach back out to them and let them know where to find you. But of course, I don’t need to do that, do I?”
“What is it that you want?” Jackson asked, his teeth clenched.
“We want this matter dropped,” Brody said. “Pick doesn’t want to claim a child any more than Aimee wants him around her daughter. She didn’t list him as the father and has no reason to seek him out for anything.”
“What’s going to stop her from blackmailing me if I hit it big?” Pick asked. “She’s going to come after me for money, I know she will. I not taking any DNA test then, either.”
Greed was a good motivator, Brody was realizing. “She doesn’t need or want anything you’ve got to offer. She has me. Sidney has me. You’re just a piece of trash on the side of the road.”
“Hey now,” Pick said, running his hand under his nose.
Cade started to speak, but Brody cut him off. “You said you need to stay clean in this band. You said you’ve been clean. You’re not. You never have been. If your manager was a fraction of what he says he is, he’d see that. Of course he probably knows and is just turning a blind eye. That would really soil the band’s image and that big contract that you’re waiting to sign.”
“The way I see it,” Cade said to Pick, “is that you get kicked out of the band for using drugs when they’re claiming their mo
ral values are pure, or the band kicks you out because they think you fathered a child and aren’t claiming her. Or better yet, here’s the best scenario. This is the one I’m laying my money on. The band goes broke because their agent is skimming all their money.”
“What?” Pick said, standing up and facing Jackson. That got the reaction Cade must have been looking for.
“That might conclude our business for the day,” Cade said. “Pick, do you know an Aimee Reed?” Cade held his hand up before Pick could speak. “When I asked her about you, she said she’d never heard of you before.”
Pick stared at him a second, then seemed to focus on what was being said. “Yeah, no, never heard of her,” he said.
“Good to know,” Cade said. “That’s our cue to leave, Brody.”
“Hey, wait,” Jackson said. “Are you going to let those bands know where I am?”
“Why would I do that? I got what I needed today,” Cade said, walking out, Brody following him.
When they were in the car, Brody said, “Why are you letting him off the hook like that?”
“I’m not. We have to stop at the post office before we go home,” Cade said, throwing Brody off.
“What does that have to do with anything that just happened?”
“That thick envelope in the back seat is full of all the evidence and documentation of Jackson’s embezzlement schemes. I’m mailing it to the attorney general’s office. They can take over from there. No need for me to reach out to the other bands again.”
Brody shook his head. “I still don’t understand why he was so concerned about Sidney being Pick’s daughter. Would it really have made a difference on the record contract? I’m sure someone could have spun the story around to make it look like Pick had no clue, which he didn’t.” Brody wasn’t sure why he was defending the scum.
“Jackson didn’t want to risk losing that contract before it could take off. He’s got a gambling problem and has been dipping into his clients’ money. Most aren’t finding out until it’s too late, and then he disappears.”
“What makes you think he won’t disappear now?”
Cade laughed. “Because I paid an investigator to tail him. All that information is in the envelope, too. He won’t get far.”
“Why did you bother?” Brody asked. “All I wanted was Pick out of Aimee’s life. Why go after Jackson?”
“Because I’m a lawyer in the entertainment business. I may only represent Fierce, but agents like that give the rest of them a bad name. If people like Jackson know they’ll get caught, with any luck that’s one less I’ve got to deal with.”
Brody thought for a second. It made sense, he supposed. “Do you wish you didn’t work for Fierce? That you were on your own?”
Cade hesitated, then said, “I don’t know. I never thought much of it before. But in the last month or so dealing with this, the excitement of the hunt and the find, I wonder what I might be missing.”
“No one would hold it against you if you left,” Brody said, surprising himself. He never considered even once that one of them might leave.
“Don’t think anything of it. We’re better together than apart. I’ll never forget it.”
Neither would Brody. “Thanks, Cade.”
“No thanks needed. Now go make an honest woman out of Aimee.”
Epilogue
“Do you really think he will leave me alone?” Aimee asked. “I mean, forget about me and never come after Sidney?”
Cade dropped Brody off at home, then left without coming in. “I don’t think he’ll come after you. I really don’t know if he’ll remember what happened today when he wakes up tomorrow. He’s still using.”
“How do you know?” Aimee asked.
“I saw the evidence of it in his apartment. He thought he was doing a good job hiding it, but he wasn’t. Jackson really didn’t care about any of that. All he was doing was trying to hold on long enough to get a bigger cut.”
That was another thing he and Cade talked about on the ride home. Pick had been good about hiding his drug use, and Jackson had no worries he’d slip since Pick knew what was on the line. But Pick wasn’t good where women were concerned—bragging about who he’d been with—and Jackson was worried Aimee might come forward now.
“Does Cade really think Jackson will be arrested?”
“Don’t know,” Brody said, pulling her across onto his lap. “And I don’t care. I don’t even care what happens to Pick. As far as I’m concerned, if you asked me if I knew the guy, I’d say, ‘No way, never heard of a loser with a name like that.’”
Aimee snuggled under his arm. Sidney was sleeping in the chair across from them where she’d passed out before Brody could come home and play with her. He never thought he’d look forward to spending time with a two-year-old before, but now he couldn’t rush home fast enough to get to them.
“I guess I’ll just have to accept that, and that maybe someday he’ll want to be a part of her life.”
“I don’t think it will happen, but if it does, we’ll deal with it together.”
“You don’t know where we’ll be if that day ever happens,” she said.
He hated that she still felt that way and decided there was only one way to fix it. To do what Cade told him to do. Not that he’d admit he listened to Cade.
“I know where I’ll be,” he said.
“Where’s that?” she asked, her big brown eyes looking up at him. Doe-eyed like Sidney’s that first day he met her.
“Here with you. Or somewhere with you. It doesn’t matter, but it will be with you. With Sidney.”
She smiled. “That’s a nice thought.”
“It’s not a thought. It’s a fact. I want you to marry me,” he said before he lost his nerve.
“What?” she asked, pulling back.
“That came out wrong. Let me start over.” Who would have thought it would be so hard to do this? That he would be messing up again. “I love you, Aimee. I love Sidney.”
“You do?” she asked, tears forming in her eyes.
“I would think it’s pretty obvious. I guess the question is, what do you feel?”
“I feel the same way,” she said. “You have to know that.”
“Then can you say those words? Maybe I need to hear them, too.”
“You always come across as the most confident person I know. Why would you need to hear them?”
“Because when it comes to something this important, this big, I’m not assuming. I’m not guessing. I’m not taking a chance. I want to know. I want you to tell me,” he said.
She ran her hand down his cheek, kissed him softly, then kissed him hard, just like he loved. “Then I’ll say it. I love you, Brody.”
“Then you can marry me,” he said.
She laughed. “Are you asking or telling me?”
He laughed back. “I’m telling you. Because once you marry me, then I can legally make Sidney mine. She’ll be my daughter. But I need you to make me your husband first.”
“I suppose I could. I mean, I know how much you hate being alone.”
He pulled her close, over the top of him and lay on his back, heard her giggle, felt his own heart burst, and wondered if he was finally getting it right.
***
“One down and four to go,” Jolene told Gavin two days later after all five kids had left, Aimee and Sidney included.
“You’re a sneaky one,” Gavin said, pulling his wife in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “But don’t get your hopes up. This one worked out, but I don’t think the next one will. Beginners luck, I tell you.”
“Don’t be throwing a challenge down on me like that.”
“If Brody finds out you set him up, he’ll never let you forget it.”
“He better not. He better be thanking me every single day if he ever figures it out,” she said. “My first born is on the right track. Let’s see, who’s next?”
Gavin shook his head. “I’m staying out of it. But I have to admit, it was fu
n to watch.” He paused, then looked at her eager eyes. “Who’s next?”
“Oh no. You want to stay out of it, then you can sit back.” She started to rub her hands together. “I’ve already got the next one lined up.”
To be continued…for Aiden Fierce
Want to read more books by Natalie Ann?
The Road Series-See where it all started!!
Lucas and Brooke’s Story- Road to Recovery
Jack and Cori’s Story – Road to Redemption
Mac and Beth’s Story- Road to Reality
Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story- Road to Reason
The All Series
William and Isabel’s Story — All for Love
Ben and Presley’s Story – All or Nothing
Phil and Sophia’s Story – All of Me
Alec and Brynn’s Story – All the Way
Sean and Carly’s Story — All I Want
Drew and Jordyn’s Story— All My Love
Finn and Olivia’s Story—All About You
The Lake Placid Series
Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning – Second Chance
Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker – Give Me A Chance
Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire – Our Chance
Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan – Take A Chance
Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon- Deserve A Chance
Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton – Last Chance
The Fierce Five Series
Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed - Brody
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