Fierce- Drake (Fierce Family Series Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

“We’ll get your car and then we are going to have it out and Tyson and I are going back to my place.”

  “Why?” he asked. “I don’t understand why you are so mad.”

  “Are you crazy?” Now it was tremors from the aftershocks. Instead of going to his mother’s for his car, she went to his house, needing to pace.

  “Come in and let’s talk about this.”

  “I’m talking. Not you,” she said. “I’m getting my stuff and going home too. There is no threat now and you know it.”

  “That’s right. If it wasn’t for me then you wouldn’t have known who did it,” he argued.

  “I figured it was him. I’m not stupid. But I also knew he’d be gone by now.”

  “But he wasn’t. He was still here. He was waiting for you. He was watching where you worked. He knew who I was. He figured out we were dating.”

  She hadn’t realized the extent her father would go to. Or that he’d be able to stay as long as he had. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing?”

  “Because you would have stopped me.”

  “You don’t know that,” she said. “You didn’t even give me a chance to decide.”

  She didn’t know if she would have or not. Part of her never wanted to see her father again. She didn’t even go inside the police station to see him. He got what he deserved in her eyes.

  “That was wrong of me. I know that now.”

  “You can’t just take everything on yourself and make decisions. That’s what you’ve been doing all along. Think about it, Drake. You pushed for us to start dating.”

  “Oh, please,” he said. “You felt the same for me or you would have said no.”

  That was beside the point. “You manipulated me a lot of times.”

  “When?” he asked.

  “Asking me to go to Ella’s wedding in front of your family so I’d be put on the spot. Guilting me to stay at your place. Having your parents come see me and add to that guilt. Jade distracting me today for something.”

  She wasn’t stupid. She’d known for days something was going on, she just didn’t know what.

  “What is wrong with wanting you with me? Or wanting to protect you?”

  “I don’t need someone to protect me. Especially someone that is sneaky about it.”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “Fine. I get that. I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. I had my reason though.”

  “And what reason is that?” she asked, knowing there were tears in her eyes that she was battling back. This was the day from hell in her mind. The embarrassment and mortification that Drake’s family would know what she came from was just too much for her.

  Tyson had come up to her and she picked her cat up, getting ready to leave.

  “That I love you,” he said.

  “Then you fell in love with the wrong person,” she said, walking out the door. She needed to get out of there. She needed air. She couldn’t let him know she felt the same way. His family would hate her now for what she brought into his life.

  Appearances meant everything to Drake and when word got out about her, he’d want nothing to do with her.

  Knew Everything

  Drake watched Kara leave his house, wondering how the hell his day had turned into this.

  He’d thought he was doing the right thing. He’d thought he was protecting her.

  Yet he was pretty sure he’d just lost her.

  He called Noah to come get him and bring him to get his car at his parents’ house.

  He fully expected Noah to lecture him on the ride over, but he didn’t. He’d told Noah what went down today and that he was pretty sure he’d just lost Kara.

  How the hell was he going to work in the office every day and see her knowing he couldn’t have her?

  The minute he walked into the front door of his parents’ house, his mother walked over and slapped his arm. “I told you to let Travis do everything. What is wrong with you?”

  The same words Kara said to him. “Seems like a lot,” he said, his shoulders dropping. “Sorry about this. I know it’s getting late. It’s been a long day.” There was no use asking how she knew about what happened today. His family always knew everything.

  “Where is Kara?” his mother asked.

  “Back at her place. She left. Probably left for good.”

  His mother slapped his arm again. “You, out of all of my kids, were the last one I thought would blow things like this.”

  “I thought what I was doing was the right thing.”

  “We always think that,” his father said, “and most times we are wrong. You’ve always been the mildest mannered of the group. Only a few times have you really lost your cool. And only twice have you thrown a punch over a woman. Neither time worked for you so maybe you’ll keep your fists at your sides going forward.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  “You think your uncle Gavin wouldn’t have told us about that bar fight when you were twenty-two?”

  “What bar fight?” Noah asked. “What the hell? I thought we knew everything about each other.”

  Great, now he’d have his twin mad at him. “Another time,” he told Noah. “When did Uncle Gavin tell you?” he asked his parents.

  “The night it happened,” his mother said.

  “Then why haven’t you said anything in all this time?”

  “Because we knew you learned your lesson,” his father said. “And Gavin took care of it there. The guy wanted to press charges against you back then, but Gavin talked him out of it. Seems he was in there hitting on women all the time and drunk on top of it. It’s not the first time he’d gotten in someone’s face.”

  “I never knew,” Drake said. Seemed like his family always had his back.

  “You didn’t need to know. You never did anything like that again. If you had, we would have let you know what we thought of it all. But you were young and thought you were in love with Tami.”

  “She didn’t want me, only what I could give her.”

  “I never liked her,” his mother said. “It was a hard lesson to learn and I’m sorry you did that way.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t learn enough obviously.”

  “You need to go apologize to Kara. You were wrong to not let her know what you were doing,” his father said. “You were wrong to go after her father.”

  “Travis said he’d do that same thing.”

  He knew those words were going to fall on deaf ears and wished he didn’t say them when his parents both laughed at him. “You aren’t Travis. Don’t put yourself in anyone else’s shoes,” his father said.

  “There is one person’s shoes he needs to put himself in. Kara’s,” his mother said. “And if you were smart, you’d get your butt over there right now and tell her how sorry you are. That if you love her like we all think you do, you will do what it takes to keep her.”

  “How did you get to be so smart?” he asked his mother.

  “When you have a kid someday, you’ll understand.”

  ***

  Kara was finally calmed down enough to try to get some sleep when she heard a knock at the door. She walked over and looked through the peephole to see Drake standing there. He wouldn’t dare.

  Except he did dare.

  She opened the door and stood there tapping her foot. “What do you want?”

  “To talk. To get down on my knees and beg you to forgive me. To apologize. You name it, I need to do it.”

  She opened the door wider. “I’m not sure we have much to say to each other,” she said.

  She thought she cried her eyes dry over having to give him up and here he was standing in her doorway wanting to hold on to her.

  “We have a lot to say to each other. You know I love you. I know you love me. I just don’t know why you won’t say it.”

  “Maybe because I don’t feel it.”

  “Your red eyes say differently. Don’t lie to me,” he said, his voice harsher than ever before. “Don’t lie to y
ourself either. I thought better of you.”

  Those words hurt more than she thought they would. Like salt on an open wound. “It doesn’t matter, Drake. We aren’t right for each other. Tonight just proved it.”

  “All tonight proved was what an idiot I was. Nothing more than that. Can I come in so we aren’t having this conversation in the hallway?”

  “You’re not staying.”

  “So I guess asking for coffee is out of the question.”

  “Don’t be cute,” she said, crossing her arms. “You got a glimpse of my family tonight. I told you about them, but you didn’t have to witness it. I thought it was behind me, but it’s not. It’s nothing but an embarrassment to you and your family.”

  “That’s what this is about?” he said. “Wow. I never expected you to use an excuse like that.”

  “What are you talking about?” There was no way he could have figured this out.

  “You are pushing me away because you think I’m embarrassed over this. That I wouldn’t want anyone to know about your past. That it would look bad for me and my family? How close am I?”

  “You’re crazy,” she said.

  “Crazy in love with you,” he said back and put his hands on her arms, forcing her to look in his eyes. “Say it. Tell me I’m right.”

  “I knew this would never work out. It’s true what they say, that you can pick your friends, but not your family.”

  He shook his head. “I thought you were stronger than that too. I don’t give two shits about your family. If you have any or not. What they are like or what they did. All I care about is you.”

  “Look at what I brought into your life,” she said.

  “You didn’t bring anything into my life. That was brought into yours and I happened to be there to help you. Maybe save you.”

  She snorted. “You didn’t save me.”

  “What if you were home that night he came?”

  “He wouldn’t have done that damage if I was,” she said.

  “You don’t know that. You don’t tell me anything about your childhood, but I know for a fact there was more to it than you’ll ever say. I get it, you want to keep it locked away, but don’t lie to yourself about desperate people, Kara. You have no idea what would have happened if you were home alone.”

  She knew he was right. “What do you want me to say?” she said, the tears coming out of her eyes.

  “I want you to tell me you love me. That you’ll forgive me. That you don’t give a shit about your family and will accept me and my family into your life now.”

  “It’s not about what I’ll accept, it’s about what they will,” she said back.

  “My family loves you. They were concerned about you this entire time. My mother told me if I was smart I’d get my butt over here tonight and do whatever I had to to win you back. If that’s not accepting you, I don’t know what is.”

  “She really said that?”

  “She did. They love you just like I love you. Just as much. Are you going to make me beg you all night to say it back?”

  She couldn’t hold it back anymore. Especially when Tyson came in and started to weave his way around Drake’s feet, purring loudly. “No. I love you too, Drake.”

  “Enough that you were going to leave me to protect me, weren’t you?”

  “Maybe?”

  “So why can’t I love you enough to want to protect you too?”

  “It’s not the same thing,” she said back.

  “Good Lord. Am I ever going to win an argument with you?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “No. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Then she kissed him and whispered, “Thanks for not letting me go.”

  “Never,” he said back.

  Epilogue

  “Bet you’ve never had a Christmas like you are about to experience at my parents’ house,” Drake said.

  “I’m sure I haven’t,” she said back. Who would have thought things would be going so well between her and Drake now? They’d been dating for six months and it was still going strong.

  The lease was running up on her apartment in a few months and Drake had been on her case to move in with him.

  She was fighting him on it and didn’t know why. Especially since everyone in the office knew about her and Drake’s relationship now.

  And when the news finally broke, no one seemed surprised. And no one said a word to her about it either.

  Guess it was just another thing she got worked up over nothing for.

  “It’s a little nuts so I want to exchange our gifts here this morning,” he said.

  They’d gotten up early like normal. Drake’s house was all decorated, he’d said a first for him though he always had a tree. She’d spent the night last night, her and Tyson.

  “That’s fine,” she said. “You’ve got enough stuff to bring anyway.” She didn’t realize he bought for all his cousins too. She’d always thought he was wasteful, but now she started to think he was more thoughtful.

  “I want to give you my gift first. I can’t wait much longer.”

  He’d been wound up since he pulled her against his bare chest this morning, his hands wandering over her body. She loved waking up next to him but had kept that confession from leaving her lips. He’d just push even more for her to never leave.

  “Okay. You can go first.”

  He pulled a little stocking off the tree that she’d thought was an ornament. But now it looked like there was something in it. When he turned it upside down a ring box came out and her jaw dropped.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “What do you think it is?”

  She was afraid to say it. What if she was wrong? Then would he feel bad?

  “I’m assuming it’s jewelry.”

  “Easy guess,” he said. “What kind of jewelry? Do you want it to be something special? Be honest with me.” He was smirking at her.

  For once she took a risk. “I’m sure it’s something special. I guess I think it’s a ring.”

  “Do you want it to be a ring?”

  “Now you’re just teasing me,” she said, laughing.

  “Yeah, I am.” He flipped the top and showed her a princess cut diamond that was bigger than anything she’d ever seen in person before. “Tell me you’ll be my wife. And don’t yell at me about the size of the ring.”

  “How did you know I was going to?”

  “It’s who you are. But you aren’t getting this receipt,” he said with a grin. “Tell me yes.”

  “Yes, Drake. I’ll be your wife!”

  ***

  “One down and three to go,” Carolyn told Garrett after the family had left for the day. “It all worked out just fine. Now I know how Grant and Diane felt when Sam and Bryce got engaged. We are only one behind them now.”

  “It did work out well. Kara fits in so well with our family too.”

  “She does.”

  “So are we ready to move a bit more with Noah? How is that going?”

  “I’m working on it,” she said. “I haven’t wanted to push too much. He brought Paige’s younger brother up last week, so I know he has been working with him. After the holidays I’ll see how it’s going.”

  “I’m not sure about that one. Do you think it will work?”

  “Noah is used to kids. He handles them well. This one is troubled and Paige is in over her head with him. Trust me, I’ve got a good feeling on this one.”

  “If you say so,” Garrett said. “Merry Christmas to us and a year of planning the rest of the family.”

  She laughed. “Merry Christmas to us. Our kids have no clue and I’d like to keep it that way!”

  To be continued for...Noah Fierce.

  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

  Landon Barber and Kristen Reid- All Of Us

  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

  Matt Winters and Dena Hall- Another Chance

  Logan Taylor and Kennedy Miles- It’s My Chance

  The Fierce Five Series

  Gavin Fierce and Jolene O’Malley- How Gavin Stole Christmas

  Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed - Brody

  Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti- Aiden

  Mason Fierce and Jessica Corning- Mason

  Cade Fierce and Alex Marshall - Cade

  Ella Fierce and Travis McKinley- Ella

  Fierce Family

  Sam Fierce and Dani Rhodes- Sam

  Bryce Fierce and Payton Davies - Bryce

  Drake Fierce and Kara Winslow – Drake

  Noah Fierce and Paige Parker - Noah

  Love Collection

  Vin Steele and Piper Fielding – Secret Love

  Jared Hawk and Shelby McDonald – True Love

  Erik McMann and Sheldon Case – Finding Love

  Connor Landers and Melissa Mahoney- Beach Love

  Ian Price and Cam Mason- Intense Love

  Liam Sullivan and Ali Rogers - Autumn Love

  Owen Taylor and Jill Duncan - Holiday Love

  Chase Martin and Noelle Bennett - Christmas Love

  Zeke Collins and Kendall Hendricks - Winter Love