The Strand Brothers Series: Complete Set

by Lora Ann

What in the ever-loving fuck had she been through in the sixteen years I hadn’t seen or heard from her? Something told me I really didn’t want the answers to that question. Again, warring inside me was the need to protect her and the need to walk away from her. Epic clusterfuck if ever there was one. I’d like to say my more noble side could win this battle, but quite frankly, I wasn’t thoroughly convinced of that. However, she needed my help no matter how I felt personally. Furthermore, some young lady out there was in trouble, and that demanded my utmost attention. The rest would just have to wait until I could examine every side to the equation. First thing to do was get a search and rescue going, then, I needed to find out as much as possible about this judge and just how deep his pockets were, along with who all he had in them. Yes, that was where my focus had to be. I adjusted my erection. My dick would just have to deal with it.

  Chapter Seven

  Sofie

  Why had I let Alex help me? Inevitably it wouldn’t keep him close to me. Sure, he’d locate Lilly, but then he would move on. Unless…no, no, no, I couldn’t go there. She had to be okay. Had. To. Be. No other option was acceptable. I paced the corridor of the chilly hospital and questioned my sanity to ever get involved with James, Lilly’s father. I had always known something wasn’t quite right with him, but it kept my father off my back. I would’ve sold my soul for some form of peace from his constant berating. After I had given birth and he’d taken my baby, he hounded me every waking moment. I couldn’t even breathe correctly according to him. I had been a complete failure and a disgrace to the family name. Hence, I used my mother’s maiden name as mine. He’d hated me even more the day I had it legally changed from Howard to Fields. Probably why I did it, my silent up yours for all he had put me through.

  “How’re you holding up?” A deep, raspy voice inquired.

  I pivoted to see Nik standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands. “I’ve been better, thanks.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, stupid question. Alex filled me in on your situation.” He passed me a coffee as I attempted to smile. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Nik.”

  “Thank you for this, Nik.” I raised the cup of much needed caffeine. “I’m Sofie. Nice to finally meet you.” Of course I knew about him and Even. Alex had never kept them a secret. Which reminded me, shouldn’t their mother be around? “Did your mom stay home?”

  As I watched the color leech from Nik’s face, I realized my mistake. He blinked several times rapidly, and I saw the moisture on his lashes when he answered, “Momma passed away about ten years ago.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  He gave me a slight smile. “How could you have known? It’s alright.”

  I took a sip of coffee and then replied, “Aimee seems very kind.” There, hopefully a change in subject would help.

  This time his eyes lit up with so much love and adoration I had to look down at my feet. “She is,” he stated proudly, “and one of the strongest women I know.”

  “Don’t forget sassy,” a female voice chimed in.

  He turned towards Aimee, who had just joined us. “I like that most about you, lille.”

  She giggled as he pulled her against his massive muscles. Nik was handsome, no denying that. As was Even. The Strand men were a work of art, yet Alex was by far the most gorgeous of them all. Wasn’t just me that thought that, either. I watched the reaction of women and even some men when he walked by. If he actually spoke to them, I could visibly observe the reactions: increased breathing, eyes dilating, and a flush to their skin. Confession: even I struggled standing before a god and holding some form of coherent conversation. My attention was drawn back to the couple before me. Nik popped Aimee’s butt with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Her lips were parted and her hooded lids told me all I needed to know: She was as excited to be spanked as he was to deliver. The term, get a room, bounced on my tongue. Aimee broke out of Nik’s embrace with a promise, “I’m all yours…later.”

  He winked at her before taking a drink of his coffee. Wow, what would it feel like to be loved and cherished like that? Of course the question was obsolete, for I knew exactly how it felt. I sighed heavily, fighting back the tears. A warm arm encased my waist as I looked into the green-gray depths of Aimee’s irises. She really was a beauty from another time, with her curves and sweet face that screamed both innocence and sultriness. If I were a man, she would draw me in like a flower does a honey bee, promising her oh-so-sweet nectar for me to devour. For the first time, I recognized just how petite she was. I wasn’t tall by any means, only five-foot-seven. Yet, I had to look down at her. I guessed her to be around five-foot-two, which was why Nik was constantly bending at the knees to look her in the eyes. Or, he had to lean down to hear her speak. Then again, the Strand brothers were all over six-foot tall and naturally had to compensate for their height by leaning down to hear most. The only exception I had seen to that with a woman was Lacey. She was tall, taller than a lot of men I knew. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Aimee smiled. “You’re not alone anymore,” she assured. “We’re family. We stick together—no matter what.”

  I turned into her, hugging hard. Tears that refused to be held at bay flooded. How did she know? Where had I tipped her off that I was so very alone? That my life hadn’t known love, joy, or peace since I had to leave Alex? Yes, I had the Lord. And He did provide all of those, plus so much more. But Alex made me feel complete in a mysterious way I still didn’t understand as a grown woman. “That means so much,” I confided and wiped my face on my sleeve, ruining the silk blouse and refusing to care. As my head rose, I saw Alex leaning against the wall watching me closely. I couldn’t say it was comfortable. More like a fighter sizing up his opponent. Sad reality. I highly doubted Alex would ever trust me again. Which made me want to run away screaming as I pulled my hair out. I wanted to demand he understood what I’d done, that there was no choice in the matter. The day I ripped his heart from his chest was the day mine ceased to beat. I held his intent gaze. “Lilly?”

  He pushed away from the wall and stepped towards us. “Judge Hoffman? What the fuck were you thinking?”

  Join the club there, Alex, I yelled in my head. “I really didn’t have another option,” I conveyed.

  The reaction those words brought about made me wish I had never spoken them. “Stop. Making. Excuses,” he growled.

  “Excuses? What in the hell do you mean by that?” I had my hand on my hip and was beyond incensed at this point. The man had some audacity.

  Nik got right in Alex’s face. “Knock that shit off, Alex.”

  My eyes caught the movement at Alex’s side. His fists were balled with white knuckles. Would he hit his own brother?

  Aimee raised her voice. “I really don’t care what happened between you two.” She looked between Alex and I. “But that was waaaaaaay outta line. Obviously”—she turned towards me—“you both need to have this out.” She returned her attention to Alex. “But this is neither the time nor the place.”

  Alex’s fists relaxed as he bobbed his head once at Aimee. “Agreed,” he affirmed.

  I swallowed hard and queried, “Do you have any clue where Lilly is?”

  He held out his hand. “I need your cell phone.”

  My eyes widened with an oh-shit. What did I have on there that he could see? Nik spoke up, “He’s going to see if he can trace Lilly’s location from that text.”

  I nodded, walking over to place my phone in Alex’s outstretched hand. He surprised me by clasping my hand in his. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, holding my gaze. In the depths of his cornflower blue eyes, I saw his conflict: hurt, anger, betrayal, tenderness, desire, and love. The last one, love, literally took my breath away. I was suddenly tugged into his arms. “Breathe, So. I’ve got you.”

  If only his words meant what I wished they would. Or did they? There was no use lying to myself with what I had just witnessed. Somewhere deep inside of him he still loved me. A glimmer of hope in the pitch
black began to waiver and shimmy like a tiny flame on a candle as the wind attempted to snuff it out. Unclear as to what it all meant, I’d take whatever I could get. I leaned into his strength and took a deep breath, the scent of home enveloping me from head to toe. I’m where I belong, the little voice in my head declared. Trouble was, for how long? Until he was pissed at me again? Decided he didn’t want me after all? Could I survive that kind of rejection? Odds were, no. However, I could no longer live this half-life—a mere existence—a moment longer. He reached out his hand towards Nik. “Can your team do something with that, or do I need to call Shannon?”

  At the mention of the tiny, beautiful detective’s name, I stiffened. “She works with you?”

  “Yes, she does,” he confirmed. “One of my lead investigators.”

  “Oh.” I pulled away from him. “I see.”

  Aimee stood beside Nik. “Let’s go see what we can do.”

  Nik agreed as they strode down the hall hand in hand.

  “What’s with the tone, Sofie?”

  Like always, Alex had my number. Yet, he no longer had any right to know how I felt about things. “Nothing,” I replied petulantly.

  He yanked me into his hard body. “Don’t play me for a fool,” he warned.

  The hidden meaning behind those words cut me deeper than any blade. The cold reality was staring at me front and center. He believed I had hurt him on purpose, chosen myself over him. What the fuck?! I attempted to pull out of his grasp, but he wasn’t having that. Instead, he hauled me up against him so close our breath mingled. “You have some fucking nerve,” I hissed.

  Fully expecting him to release me due to my ire, he shocked me and took my mouth with not a little viciousness. I could taste Alex’s anger as his tongue twined with mine, though I also felt his struggle. He was battling himself as much as he was warring with me. One hand came up to fist my hair, anchoring me, while the other clasped my ass and drew me into his erection with glorious friction. God, I craved this man buried deep inside me. I was playing with a dangerous chemical. He was combustible. Yet, I couldn’t deny myself any longer. “Alex,” I panted, pulling back slightly. “I need you.”

  His ragged, “Fuck, yes,” sealed the deal. He released me and said, “Your place or mine.”

  I couldn’t hold back my chortle. “What’s so funny, Sofie?” He really hadn’t caught on to his cliché.

  I shook my head. “You sound like a bad ‘70s movie.”

  I watched as he finally got it. I swear the light bulb appeared above his head, which made me giggle more. He grabbed my hand in response and began to march down the corridor. “Do you know what I do to women who mock me?” He was attempting to sound fierce but I saw his lips tremble from holding back laughter.

  “Are you planning on spanking me, Mr. Strand?” I teased, but the heat in his eyes quickly sobered me. Holy crap! That was exactly what he’d been hedging at. Desire burned in my womb as I took in the Adonis before me. The fact that the likes of him could even remotely want a plain Jane wasn’t lost on me. Stop that, I chastised myself. Don’t you dare forget this man still has major issues with you. Lest I would’ve ever forgotten such pertinent information, my subconscious decided to be a bitch about it. I halted abruptly, almost causing us to fall.

  “What the hell, Sofie?”

  “I can’t do this with you, Alex.”

  “I’m sorry. You can’t do what?” he inquired perplexedly.

  My gaze rose to his as I confessed, “I still love you.”

  When his eyes widened, I knew I’d made a dire mistake admitting the truth to him. “I see,” he affirmed. “I don’t precisely know what I feel for you, So.” He ran a hand through his shortly cropped hair, making it stand on end.

  How could I think he looked sexier? Yet, I did. I nodded. “I wasn’t expecting you to profess your undying love, Alex.” Would’ve been amazing if he had. “I wanted to be honest with you.”

  “I appreciate that.” He studied me intently. “Let’s go see how our daughter is doing.”

  I gave him a half-smile. He’d always been good at avoiding tough subjects of the emotional kind. Difference now, I had no right to call his bluff. Therefore I acquiesced, “Sounds like a plan.”

  Together we entered Ari’s room. Everything in me needed to hold her, comfort her. But she wasn’t aware that we were her parents yet. I felt it was best to remedy that quickly. Unfortunately Alex disagreed. So I bit my tongue and walked over to her side. Her eyes fluttered open and I could see she was still in the throes of a fever. “Hey,” she greeted. “Why are you here?”

  I smiled, “Checking in on you.”

  At that moment, Ari’s eyes alighted on Alex and her entire demeanor shifted. It was obvious she loved him. And from what I could tell, it was absolutely reciprocated. His smile was huge as he approached her other side. “How’re you feeling, sunshine?”

  “Like I could run a marathon,” she kidded.

  He grabbed an extra blanket and tucked it around her. “Baby steps, sweetheart.”

  She sighed, “When can I get out of here?”

  “As soon as your body cooperates,” he answered.

  “It needs to hurry up,” she huffed.

  She was so young. The fact that she had to be confined to a hospital bed battling sepsis made me angrier with the sick fuck who was responsible for putting her there. If I ever met him, I’d be the one doing time. How Alex could hunt down this madman and not kill him was beyond me. Yet I needed to remember that Alex’s way of handling it was the best course of action. Still didn’t make my feelings of loathing decrease one bit. Alex had pulled up a chair and was animatedly engaged with our daughter. I felt like a stranger. Not to mention an intruder upon what was truly a genuine father/child relationship. As if both had known all along they had a connection. Without any forethought, I blurted out, “You two really love each other.”

  Ari grinned, “He’s the big brother I always wanted.”

  Before Alex’s glower could stop me, I confessed, “Oh honey, he’s more than that. He’s your father.”

  She blinked several times rapidly and then spat out, “That’s not funny.”

  Well…I didn’t expect that, but I recovered, “Wasn’t meant to be. I’m not making it up, Arianna”—I pointed to Alex and then back to myself—“we’re your birth parents.”

  I heard the outrage in Alex’s growl, but it was the gasp of shock Ari gave that caught my attention more. She’d risen off the pillows and was trying to move towards me when she suddenly passed out. Out of the blue, the machines went crazy with loud alarms and then the room was filled with doctors and nurses. I backed away from the fray with my hand over my mouth. Alex spoke what I was thinking. “Look what you’ve just done. Are you proud of yourself, Sofia? This was the very reason I wanted to wait. But noooooooo, you had to be selfish once more and do it your way.” He grabbed my shoulders punishingly. “If anything happens to her, I hold you completely accountable.”

  “Alex,” I appealed. “I didn’t know…”

  “Shut the fuck up, Sofie. I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Please, let me explain,” I requested.

  “NO,” he roared, opening the door. “Go. Now.”

  My head bowed of its own accord as I shuffled out of the room. What the hell had I done? I should’ve listened. I should’ve respected his wishes on this. He had been right, I was self-centered. And now, my daughter might pay the ultimate price. Disgusted with myself, I beelined for the exit. I needed away from it all. It was for the best that I just stayed away. Nothing good could come from my presence any longer.

  As I unlocked the car door, a hand covered my mouth before I could scream. Something tasted strange on my lips. I recognized the voice in my ear. James. “I warned you to stay out of it, Sofie. Lilly is my daughter. But you just wouldn’t listen. You’ve left me no choice.” I felt my body being lifted and carried away. Probably for the best he killed me, I thought before losing consciousness.

&nbs
p; Chapter Eight

  Alex

  All I could do was pace, the sound of my ridiculously expensive Bruno Magli oxfords making a sharp tap against the linoleum floor. What the fuck had Sofie been thinking? God, that woman was beyond selfish. And you’d love nothing more than to bare her ass, spanking it to an enticing shade of pink. Shit! Sure it was the truth, but how could I possibly have such erotic thoughts at a time like this? Disgusted with myself, angry with Sofie, and worried sick about Ari, I hauled back and hit the brick wall. Stupid move. I watched the blood ooze down my knuckles, onto my Canali suit and then the floor.

  A nurse walking by gasped, “Oh, goodness! What have you done to yourself?”

  I couldn’t hold back the slight smile. She sounded so much like my beloved mother in that moment. Shaking my head to clear it, I replied, “Wall won.”

  “Pfft…yes, I see that.” She began to walk with purpose, calling over her shoulder, “Well, come on. You’re making quite a mess and my shift is over in twenty minutes.”

  This time I actually chuckled, “Far be it for me to keep you.”

  She shot me a level glance. “You do realize you may have broken your hand?”

  I shrugged. “If I did, I have only myself to blame.”

  She snorted, “I’d think a man dressed like you would have a little more common sense.”

  While that should’ve pissed me off, it had quite the opposite effect. “Nah, I left it in my car.”

  “Figures,” she stated dryly as we rounded the corner. We had entered a small room with mobile bed against the wall. “Sit,” she directed.

  I did as I was told, watching the full-figured, gray-haired grandmother—I was willing to bet—gather the supplies necessary to tend to my hand. I attempted to flex it, causing a deep hiss to escape. She turned with a knowing look in her eyes. “You should have that x-rayed.”

  “But you know I won’t,” I countered.

  “All that handsomeness,” she shook her head, “and still missing practicality. Shame youth is wasted on the young.”