by Abby Niles
As she lifted her head, a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. “I had no idea. I was so focused on my issues that I didn’t even stop to think there was another reason.”
“Tessa, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“At the cook-out, I told her how much you wanted kids. Made it clear that you’d never be happy without them. Told her if she didn’t plan on kids, she needed to walk away from you.”
Stunned, he could only stare at his sister, his ability to speak completely shut off. That explained Scarlett’s one-eighty change that day, the out-of-the-blue conversation about children, why she had started acting so damn weird.
A flood of emotions hit him at once. “That was none of your business. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. If you’d kept your damn mouth shut, Scarlett and I wouldn’t have even been talking about kids yet. Instead, she felt pressured into ending things prematurely because of you. You fed her insecurities. Goddammit, Tessa.” He waved his hand toward the window. “And I just let her leave. She told me she loved me, and I let her leave.”
“Brody, I’m sorry. I thought I was helping you. I messed it all up instead.” She began to cry again.
Tears. Fucking tears. He hated seeing his sister cry, and took a calming breath, trying to control his rolling fury. He could strangle her right now, but Tessa would never intentionally hurt him. “Yeah. You did. Now I have to fix it.”
…
“I don’t want to talk about it, Scarlett,” Delaney muttered as she shoved the lens into her camera case, getting ready to go out on a shoot.
“That’s what you’ve been saying for two weeks. You need to talk about it.”
Delaney’s head snapped up. The anger pinching her lips took Scarlett aback. “Listen, when you have to tell a virtual stranger that you’re pregnant with his child, then you can tell me what I need. Right now, I need you to back the hell off me.”
She’d watched Delaney go through a wide range of emotions since she’d gotten confirmation from the OB/GYN. Sadness, panic, rage, numbness. She talked about all of those feelings, her worries, her fears, but the one thing she’d neglected to talk about since vowing to tell the father of her baby, was the father of the baby.
“The longer you put this off, the harder it’s going to be,” Scarlett insisted, refusing to back down.
Delaney slung the strap over her shoulder, straightened, then slammed both fists onto her hips. “I bumped into him yesterday at the park while I was taking pictures. He wants to grab coffee or something. So I’m in contact with him. Now back off, okay? You have no idea what’s going on in my head.”
She held up her hands. “All right. I’m backing.”
“Thank you,” Delaney said. “Now I’ve got to go. I’m already running late.”
Without another word, she spun and stormed out of the house. The door slammed shut behind her. Scarlett flinched. The only other time Delaney had been this closed off was when she’d been in that relationship with the dickhead. All Scarlett wanted to do was help.
Seemed like she couldn’t do anything right anymore.
She lowered herself to the couch then looked at her phone lying face up on the coffee table, something she’d been doing a lot of the last five days. It stayed silent. Never rang. Never beeped.
At all.
She had no family and no Brody.
With things so tense between her and Delaney, she felt isolated. She thought she’d felt alone in her marriage, but this was worse, because she had ruined her one true chance at happiness.
Out of fear.
Brody’s silence was slowly killing her inside, but she had to respect his space and the implication of his silence—that he couldn’t forgive her. She’d been the one who’d lied. Her reasoning didn’t matter. She’d hurt him by not believing in him.
Believing in them.
A knock came at the door. She jumped, then hurried to answer it. Her heart clenched tight at Brody standing there, his dark hair combed back. Then her gaze fell on the tiny white puffball cradled in the crook of his tattooed, muscular arm.
She lifted her questioning eyes to his as he held out the kitten.
“This is Prince.”
Mind racing, she took the kitten, smiling at its sweet cries. “Nice to meet you, Prince.”
“I thought I’d introduce him to his mother.”
Her gaze shot from the tiny pointed ears up to his eyes. “His what?”
“He’s yours. But he’s going to want to come play with his sister some, you know, until we figure out the living arrangements.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “I don’t understand.”
“He’s not from the same mom and dad as Princess, but that doesn’t matter. They’ll be family anyway.”
Confused, she stared at him. “So, you want me to bring Prince to play with Princess every so often?”
“I’m botching this horribly.” He grimaced. “The cat is a symbol, Scarlett.”
“A symbol?”
He exhaled roughly. “For families. You know, you don’t have to be blood to be related.” He brushed his hand down his face. “This went so differently in my head.”
Fighting a smile, she asked, “How did it go in your head?”
“I’d give you the cat, tell you that Princess was his sister, and you’d miraculously put two-and-two together and see I was telling you that I don’t care if we never have biological children of our own. I don’t care if it’s a litter of cats we call our kids, we will be parents in some way.”
Tears burned the back of her eyes. “I’m not trying to harp, Brody, but do you truly understand what you’re signing up for? I know we are nowhere near even discussing having kids, but one day, that will be a topic. There’s a lot of heartbreak that comes with it. I’ve experienced it. You haven’t. I don’t want you to regret this moment.”
He stepped forward and took her face between his palms. “I know I love you.” Her heart skipped a beat, but before she could say anything, he continued. “Yes, I want kids one day, and I understand that it’s going to be an uphill fight, but I accept that fight as mine as well.” His thumb caressed her cheek. “You have no idea, but you gave me strength when I was weak. I won that fight by remembering that you believed in me, you stood in my corner. Now I want the chance to stand in yours. Be your strength when you are weak.”
She smiled through her tears. “I love you, too. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather co-parent two gorgeous kitties with.”
“We can face anything as long as it’s together. I believe that.”
She cupped his cheek. “I believe in us.”
Epilogue
She was one lucky woman.
Scarlett’s heart swelled to bursting as Brody took his place beside his comic book hero, Stan Lee, with the biggest grin she’d ever seen on his face. Brody clasped the writer’s hand in an eager handshake, then the photographer and Scarlett snapped a picture. They’d arrived at Dragon*Con last night. Everything about the convention had surpassed her expectations. The mass quantity of people was almost overwhelming, but she couldn’t think of another place she’d rather be than here with the man she loved.
Mr. Lee patted Brody on the shoulder, said something, and then Brody walked over to her all starry-eyed. He placed his hand on his chest and sighed dramatically. “Stan Lee touched me.”
“Shut up,” Scarlett said with a laugh, knowing he was poking fun at her reaction to meeting Norman Reedus a few months ago.
As he came to stand beside her, he dropped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her to his side, placing a hard kiss on the top of her head. “That was fucking awesome, Miss Packard. Thank you.”
Miss Packard.
An immediate grin came to her lips. She loved the sound of her maiden name coming from his mouth. Yesterday, she’d officially and legally won her name back. Finalization of her divorce had been the last loose string from her past that she’d needed to tie off. All the i’s had been dotted, the t’s crossed and everyth
ing was filed with the courts.
Now she was truly free to have a future with Brody.
She leaned her head back and was rewarded with a quick kiss there, too. “I love to make you smile.”
“You do. Every single day.”
He did the same for her. After years of anguish, she was finally truly, deeply, happy.
“So what do you want to get into next?” he asked.
“I saw The Originals cast are here, and they have a panel later. We might want to get in line now.”
An exaggerated pained grimace crossed his face. “The Originals, really?”
“Hey,” she lightly pinched his side. “You get Stan Lee, I get Elijah Mikaelson.”
He laughed. “I don’t care where I go as long as I’m with you.”
That sentence summed up their relationship perfectly. Obstacles would definitely pop up in the future, but with Brody by her side, it didn’t matter where the road led them, they’d face it together.
Brody had become her best friend, her confidante, her support.
Her heart had been healed by this man’s love. And she had a life full of hope to look forward to.
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Acknowledgments
A part of me fell in love with Brody “The Iron” Minton the moment he showed up at the veterinary clinic holding a white puffball kitty named Princess, in Fighting Love. And I kept falling deeper in love as the story progressed. Who couldn’t fall for kid-loving, kitty-owning, confident-as-hell MMA fighter alpha male?
Readers felt the same. We loved Brody Minton.
After finishing Fighting Love, I never had any doubt that I would eventually write Brody’s story. It just took me a while to get to it.
Thank you to the readers for loving Brody as much as I did.
I also want to thank Entangled Publishing for taking on three more “Love to the Extreme” books, so Brody could be brought to life.
Thank you to Liz Pelletier and Robin Haseltine for their superb editing. You guys know exactly what need to be added to bring my books to the next level. I love working with you two.
On the personal side…
I want to thank my partner in life, Ron, for lending me his ear as I go into freak-out mode when I’m stuck in a corner. This man not only listens, but he provides awesome ideas that spark my creativity. I’m giving him credit for helping me with the ending of this book and the motorcycle scene. Of course, he didn’t suggest what transpired on that bike, but that’s where I come in. We’re a great team. I love you, babe.
Finally, to my unique and wonderful children, who are growing up way too fast. To the girl—thank you for the inspiring Post-it notes you leave for me to find around the house. They keep me strong. To the boy—those amazing hugs. You, sir, give one hell of a hug. Don’t ever stop.
About the Author
Abby Niles is the author of the contemporary MMA series, Love to the Extreme, and the paranormal series, The Awakening. She is also the author to the geeky romantic comedy, Defying Convention, where Live Action Role Players (LARPers) set out to teach their favorite author a lesson, but end up playing matchmaker instead.
Abby lives in North Carolina with the love of her life and their combined gaggle of kids. When she’s not writing, she’s trying to catch up on an endless pile of laundry and find time to get some much needed reading in.
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