Be My Forever Bride

by Martha Kennerson

  “Excellent...” Brice popped to his feet.

  “In about an hour,” the attendant continued.

  Brice’s heart sank while Alexander clapped and laughed. “Thank you, miss,” Brice said as the young woman smiled and left.

  “Man, you popped up like a jack-in-the-box,” Alexander teased.

  “Whatever...” Brice started pacing the room again.

  Alexander stood. “I told you, you’re making me dizzy. Let’s go to the bar across the way for a beer.”

  “Why, when we can have a beer here in the lounge?”

  “Because we both could use the distraction. You from your date and me from how long I’ve been away from my wife. Besides, it’s too quiet in here. We need noise.”

  “We better tell the attendant where we’re going,” Brice recommended. “We don’t want to miss our place in line for takeoff.”

  “Good point. I’ll be right back.”

  Brice thought his connection with Brooke in his office and her response to his request for a date meant there was still something very special between them. Brice had a feeling tonight would change things between him and Brooke forever.

  * * *

  “Did you hear what I said? I was a high-end escort, but I never had sex with any of my clients. No matter how hard they tried or how much money I was offered. I couldn't. I swear.”

  Victoria tilted her head slightly to the right and Brooke could feel her eyes bore into her. “How long were you an escort?”

  “Eighteen months.”

  “I see. There has to be more to this story.”

  “Unfortunately, there is.” Brooke went on to explain her encounter with Shannon that morning and all the threats she’d made. She pulled out everything that Shannon had threatened her with and handed it to Victoria.

  Brooke stood and stared out the window while Victoria silently examined all the material. The pain in Brooke’s lower back had increased as had the tingling in her hand, but Brooke knew she had to fight through it. There was only so much truth she was prepared to share at the moment. Fortunately, her pain was only an annoyance now and she planned to keep it that way. She closed her eyes and took a couple of slow cleansing breaths.

  “My, my. The woman playing you in these photos is very flexible. And non-discriminative in her choice of sexual partners too.”

  Brooke turned and faced Victoria. “I swear that’s not me.”

  “Of course, it’s not. You could never do such things. Not to mention the fact that this woman doesn’t have your birthmark.”

  “My birthmark...”

  Victoria tossed the photos on the table and pointed at Brooke’s left leg. “Unless you had it removed over the last few months, it was there the last time we all hung out at my pool not that long ago.”

  “My birthmark,” Brooke repeated as she looked down at her leg. “I completely forgot about it.”

  Victoria pointed at the photos. “The woman in these pictures doesn’t have your Florida birthmark and I’m sure the fact that you even have one isn’t widely known.”

  “Which is why they couldn’t copy it.”

  “It will be pretty easy to refute these photos. However, that police report is a different issue. What’s the story?” Victoria asked, her lips pressed together.

  Brooke pushed out a quick breath and returned to her seat. “Lisa and I spent a year going to school and working for Shannon. She convinced us it was an easy way to make good money. It was completely legit and she only hired college students.”

  “Completely legit until it wasn’t,” Victoria declared.

  “It started off innocent enough. Just a few college girls offering companionship to a few older, wealthy men. There was never any sex involved. In fact, if Shannon even suspected that one of us was engaging in such activities, we’d be cut loose.”

  “When did that change?”

  Brooke heard her phone ringing but ignored it. She knew she had to get through this conversation without distractions. “After Shannon’s Prince Charming turned out to be a frog.”

  “What?”

  “Shannon met and fell hard for a man she thought was The One. She thought she too had gotten lucky in love.”

  “Like your friend Lisa,” Victoria concluded.

  “Yes, only he lied to her. He was already married and had no intention of leaving his wife. What he did do was make Shannon his mistress and that changed everything.”

  “How?”

  “She had a new vision for her business. Sex became an option for those who were willing. When she didn’t get the response she was hoping for, she started hiring women who were more than willing to provide such services.”

  “Why didn’t you leave then?”

  “I tried to, only Shannon told me about some debt I owed.”

  Victoria shifted in her seat. “What debt?”

  The tingling in Brooke's hand increased. “About a year after we started working for Shannon, things became more upscale. She made arrangements for us to have designer clothes and shoes and we started using a car service, or if the date was rich enough, we took a limo to meet them. At the time she said she’d worked out a deal with an upscale resale shop for our outfits and that the dates paid for the transportation. It was only when anyone tried to leave that we learned about all the money we owed her.”

  “Okay,” Victoria replied, squeezing her hands together. It was one of the things that Victoria did when she was trying to stay calm.

  “If I paid the debt with the money I had already made, I wouldn’t have had enough for school. I agreed to stay and work it off for three more months during the summer.”

  “Where was Lisa at this time?”

  “Lisa was married by then and traveling the world. She thought I’d already left the business too.”

  “Why didn’t you call her for help?” Victoria asked, reaching for her ringing phone.

  Brooke shrugged. “It was my mess to clean up, not hers.”

  “I see.” Her mouth was set in a hard line.

  “Do you need to get that?”

  “No, continue.” She put her phone down on the table.

  “One night, I was sent to a party with a few other girls, none of whom I knew. There were lots of drugs, scantily clad women and a number of powerful men there—judges, politicians, and superstars. Before I could leave, the place was raided. The men were allowed to leave, but the women were arrested and charged with solicitation.”

  “Including Brooke Avery.” Victoria’s eyebrows snapped together.

  Brooke nodded. She could feel the tears roll down her face. “I pled no contest and was offered Deferred Adjudication, did thirty days community service and paid a fine. Once my case was dismissed, I changed my name to Brooke Smith, walked away from my past and never looked back. Until...until.” Brooke couldn’t get the words past the lump in her throat.

  “Until you married my son.”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Let me guess. Shannon came calling.”

  “Y-yes,” she stuttered.

  “So what? Shannon tried to extort money or blackmail you and instead of doing whatever she wanted, or going to your husband for help you decided to handle it yourself...again. And you asked Brice for a divorce and ran.”

  “Basically,” Brooke replied.

  “When will you children learn?”

  Victoria rose from her seat and walked over to Brooke. She pulled her out of the chair and into her arms. Brooke broke down and cried like she’d never cried before. Victoria walked Brooke to the sofa and sat her down, filled two small crystal glasses with ice, then returned to the sofa and placed them on the table. Victoria pulled a pack of Kleenex out of her purse and handed it to Brooke, then took a silver flask out as well. Brooke wiped her eyes and nose as she watched Victoria fill the glasses with
a gold liquid; whiskey, she guessed.

  “You really need something stronger than water for times like these, my dear,” she explained, handing Brooke a drink.

  “Thanks.” Brooke took several sips while Victoria tossed hers back so fast she figured the ice had had no time to do its job.

  Victoria refilled her glass. “How much money do Shannon and her partner want from you?”

  Brooke had left out a few details. “Actually, it’s your money they want, and a lot of it too.” She got up, walked over to her desk and picked up the bank statement she’d printed out. Brooke handed it to Victoria and returned to her seat.

  Victoria read the statement. “How did you find out about this account? This is an old personal bank account that only Elizabeth and I know about. It's not connected with the company.” Her tone turned hard.

  “Shannon gave me the information and I went searching for it. I still have all my old IRS contacts and connection with banks around the world, remember? It wasn't hard, especially since I had all the information I needed to access the account.”

  Before Victoria could respond there was a knock on the door. Brooke opened the door to a security guard holding a large box wrapped in a red bow. “Excuse me, Mrs. Kingsley, these came for you.”

  “Thank you,” she replied as she accepted the box. Brooke closed the door and set the package on the conference table. She stared down at it as Lisa’s warning about Shannon’s tendency to send threatening gifts flashed through her mind. Brooke slowly removed the bow, lifted the top and smiled. A dozen long-stemmed roses lay on a bed of baby’s breath. Brooke picked up a small white envelope and read the card: I can’t wait to see you tonight. Brice.

  “My son has excellent taste.”

  Brooke jumped. She hadn’t heard Victoria approaching. “Yes, he does. About Brice...”

  “You don’t want him to know about any of this.”

  “Not yet. I want to be the one to tell him,” she explained, hoping for her support.

  “We need to figure out what we’re dealing with and what we’re going to do before we tell anybody anything,” Victoria agreed, which overwhelmed Brooke with feelings of love and gratitude. They returned to their seats. “What did you mean, Shannon gave you the account information?”

  “The card with the bank name and account number came with the pictures. This morning she claimed the money in that account belongs to her partner.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, she said you stole it from him a long time ago, and they’re just retrieving what’s rightfully his, plus a little interest. Those were her words.”

  Victoria reached into her purse and pulled out a small tablet. She typed something into it and after a few seconds, she showed her a photo that now appeared on the screen. “Is this Shannon’s partner?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never met him. Who is he?”

  “Evan Perez.”

  Brooke grasped. “That’s the person Lisa found out was Shannon’s partner.”

  “Lisa?”

  “Yes, I asked her to see if she could find out who Shannon was working with and that’s the name she was given. Who is he?”

  “He’s an old nemesis that’s been trying to destroy my family for a very long time now. We just haven’t been able to tie him to anything directly. Not even China’s car accident.”

  “He was behind that too?”

  “Yes, he was.” Victoria stared down at the picture, her jaw tight.

  “Why does he think you stole his money?”

  “Because I did.” Victoria put her tablet away and finished off her drink. “Let’s just say it was a payment for a bad act.”

  “Some bad act.”

  “How do they expect you to move millions of dollars? It’s not like you can carry it in your purse.”

  “Shannon gave me a list of bank accounts to send the money to.”

  Victoria’s face lit up. “Really... Where is it?”

  “I didn’t take it. I told her I couldn’t help her and I called you.”

  Victoria smiled, “No worries. She’ll reach back out to you. There’s no way Perez will walk away from this opportunity. Thanks to you, we just may be able to bring his reign of terror over our family to an end once and for all.”

  “Thanks to me?”

  “Yes. When they contact you again, and they will, I want you to demand a meeting with her partner face-to-face. That way we can get his blackmail on tape.”

  “What if they say no?”

  “Tell them if you’re going to risk everything you need to be reassured that this will be the last time you hear from them and the only way you can be certain is to hear it from the man who's obviously pulling her strings.”

  “Okay. I’ll just have to make it believable, especially after I said I’d never hurt my family.”

  Victoria squeezed Brooke’s hand. “You’re not hurting your family—you’re helping us.” Brooke smiled. “But you know we have to bring Brice and Alexander in on this. They both need to know what we’re dealing with. Especially Alexander, considering what that man almost took from him,” she explained, offering Brooke a sympathetic smile.

  “I know you’re right.” She rose from her chair and walked over to the box of roses. “I just hate...”

  “I understand, but trust me when I say, my son loves you and he won’t care about your past. However, he will be pissed that you didn’t tell him before now.”

  “I know.” And there's still so much more he doesn't know.

  “But he’ll get over it too.” Victoria gathered up her things. “I’m going to go see about getting us some professional help to trap this bastard and get him out of our life once and for all.”

  “Thank you, Victoria.”

  “Oh, sweetie, thank you for finally trusting me enough to help you.” Brooke nodded, fighting off a new wave of tears. “Now, are you sure you’ve told me everything?”

  “Well...”

  Chapter 12

  After Victoria finally left, it was a quarter until eight and Brooke felt like hundred-pound weights had been lifted from her shoulders. Brooke knew telling Victoria about her health issues was the right thing to do. Even though she had a difficult conversation ahead of her with Brice, she just had a feeling that everything was going to be fine. Even the pain in her back was subsiding.

  Brooke put the photos and all the doctored material in the envelope, along with the police report and bank statements, and placed it all in her purse. Brooke smiled at the box of flowers. “I can’t wait to see you too, Brice,” she murmured.

  The car ride back to the hotel seemed to take forever; she was so excited to see Brice. Brooke’s mind flashed back to her last first date with him. Brice had rented out the Houston Museum of National Science so they could have a private tour; he’d heard she had a thing for mummies. Brooke smiled as she remembered how handsome Brice had looked, standing outside the museum, waiting to escort her inside. She loved how ecstatic he had been about all the exhibits.

  The best part about the date had been when Brice took her home and gave her a sexy kiss that overwhelmed all her senses. Brooke invited him in, knowing that if he’d asked to stay she’d have let him. However, Brice had other ideas. He told her what they were experiencing wasn’t casual. Brice gave her one final kiss before whispering in her ear that they had lots of time. Brooke giggled at the thought. She couldn’t wait to find out what Brice had in mind for their date tonight.

  The car came to a stop and she exited. Brooke thanked the driver and hurried inside and upstairs. She was so focused on getting into her hotel suite that she didn’t notice the hall was darker than normal or that her door’s security lock had been dismantled. Brooke entered the dark room and closed the door behind her when suddenly she was hit hard from behind. She flew across the room, sending the contents of her bag and flowers e
verywhere, landing hard on the floor after bouncing off the coffee table and one of the chairs.

  As Brooke cried out in pain, a large hand covered her mouth. The dominating figure, who she assumed was male, stood Brooke up and as she tried to fight back, the back of his hand came down hard across her face, cutting her lip. Brooke dropped to the floor. Her mouth filled with blood, her face stung and Brooke’s eyes flooded with tears. She tried to speak, only the person picked her up by the throat, slammed Brooke’s head against the wall and began choking her. Brooke clawed at the hands, gasping for air as her feet dangled above the floor. All Brooke wanted to do was survive so she could tell Brice how much she loved him and how sorry she was for everything.

  “That’s enough. We need her alive,” the familiar voice instructed. Brooke recognized it instantly.

  The hand loosened and Brooke slid to the floor. Her head was spinning. Coughing, trying to pull air into her lungs, Brooke brought her knees to her chest, lying on the floor curled up in a ball. “Please...stop” was all Brooke could manage between coughs.

  “I think she’s got the message,” Shannon told the dark figure standing at her side. She knelt down and whispered, “You left the bank list at breakfast. I thought I’d bring it to you. It’s on the bar. Do you understand what’s expected of you now?”

  “Yes,” Brooke replied, barely above a whisper.

  “Good. You have seventy-two hours to get it done. Don’t make me have to come back.”

  Brooke lay there quietly as she watched Shannon and her male partner walk out the door. Riddled in pain and feeling like she was losing connection with her body, Brooke tried to get on her feet to no avail. As the room darkened, Brooke used her forearms to drag herself across the room to the desk. She pulled on the phone cord, bringing the wireless receiver crashing down on her. She listened for a dial tone and called the hotel operator.

  “Good evening, Mrs. Kingsley. How many I assist you?”

  “Help...me...” The darkness closed in on her.

  * * *

  Brice pulled his Bentley Continental GT V8 Convertible, one of the few toys he indulged himself with but rarely drove, into the parking lot of Brooke’s hotel. He’d had every intention of stopping at the front door, only it was blocked by a fire truck and an ambulance. Brice parked as close as he could, walked the short distance to the entrance, hoping that whomever the ambulance was there for would be all right.