Cherishing Brianna [Fate Harbor 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “If you ever saw them together, you would understand.”

  “If I ever saw them, I think I would kill them for what they did to you.” Hearing that said in that English accent was chilling.

  “Amen, brother.” She looked at Charlie, and his face was calm. It was scary. It comforted her.

  “So you stayed with the Hutchins until you graduated from high school?” She pushed back even harder against Zac’s fingers.

  “Enough with the questions. Jesus, Charlie, you got all you needed about my childhood. Quit giving me the third degree.”

  “I don’t understand why you would leave your real family, and they were your real family. Why move so far away?”

  Her grandparents had come to visit when she was sixteen. They had taken her to dinner. “Your father’s disease is hereditary. He’s schizophrenic. My mother was, too.” She had watched as her grandmother’s eyes had filled with tears, as she had gripped her hand across the dinner table at the restaurant.

  “Your father will be taken care of financially for the rest of his life. We have set up a trust. We’ve done the same thing for you, Brianna.” She looked at her grandfather. She had his eyes. She excused herself from the dinner table and went to the ladies’ room. She’d thrown up what little she’d eaten. Eventually she’d made it back to the table. The rest of the evening passed in a blur.

  She’d walked around in a daze for three weeks, and finally Betty had managed to pry it out of her. When she had told her the news, Betty had laughed. “Honey, we’re all predisposed to something. My mom had breast cancer. The best we can do is live our lives in a way to best avoid the things that might bring this on.” That’s when Brianna had begun researching what things she needed to do to help minimize the effects of schizophrenia.

  Living a calm and orderly life could help triggering the disease. If nothing else, having that kind of life would help her to deal with the disease after the onset. She worked out a plan, and part of it was built around living a solitary life. And she’d tried. But after four boring years in Dallas, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She needed to contribute. She had to make a difference, like the Hutchins had.

  She found CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates. She had checked them out. They seemed like the perfect solution. They had beginnings and ends. She shouldn’t have too much of issue. She would mentor a child through the court process. She remembered the CASA workers that had helped her. They had made a difference. Twice she had had Jim Pearson work with her, but other than that, it had been a different person. Each time, they had been caring, competent, and compassionate. They had explained the process and been her advocate.

  She hadn’t been alone. She could do this, and it wouldn’t stress her out. She wouldn’t form too much of a bond to the child. She would probably work with them for no more than a month, and then move on to a new case, but she would make a difference in that child’s life!

  Then there was Danny and his father.

  “Angel.”

  “Brianna! Come back!” Her legs hit the couch with a thud, and once again Zac was carrying her. “She’s freezing.”

  “M’fine.” She couldn’t talk, her teeth were chattering too hard. She pressed harder into the warmth of Zac’s chest, even though the buttons of his shirt hurt her breasts.

  “There have to be more blankets than this damn comforter. For God’s sake, this is Washington.” Charlie sounded wrong. She whimpered as her back hit the cold sheets of her bed.

  “Zac…d–don’t…leave.”

  “He’s not leaving Brianna. He’s stripping.” She opened her eyes just a little, but it was hard. They seemed to be matted shut with tears. Then there was more cold as Charlie pulled the covers over her.

  “Co–cold.”

  “I know, baby. Hang on.” Then she felt him under the comforter with her. But he was taking off her clothes, making her even colder. She tried to push his hands off her, but she didn’t seem to have any strength. He didn’t have shirt on. Then she felt Zac. Soon she was naked and she was sandwiched between two hot bodies.

  “What the fuck happened?” Charlie still sounded wrong. As warmth slowly started to seep back into her body, she was able to figure it out. He sounded scared.

  “She went into shock.” Zac sounded calm. Zen. That should be his name, Zen Zac. Or maybe Zac the Zen. She giggled. “Yep, definitely shock. Come on, Angel, talk to us.”

  “N–nope.” She could barely think. Everything was fuzzy. The only thought that made its way through was she wanted everything to stop. She didn’t want to answer questions. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to think.

  “Damn it, Brianna, you tell me what happened. I don’t give a shit if you don’t want to answer questions or not!” It came out as a fierce whisper. Charlie’s touch was so soft and light as he stroked her collarbone, pulling her back closer to his chest. God he was so warm. It took at least five heartbeats for Brianna to realize she had spoken out loud.

  “Please, no more.” She heard her voice this time. It was slurred. Her nose was pressed into Zac’s chest. The heat of both them was finally beginning to penetrate and she took a deep breath, luxuriating in the warmth.

  “Brianna—”

  “Stop it, Meade!” Zac’s voice was low, but she jerked at his tone. It scared her. She’d never, ever heard him sound scary before. She pushed at him, digging her nails into his chest, desperate to get away from him.

  “No! Don’t hurt me!” Her voice came out high and slurred. She slashed with her nails, knowing that the man in front of her was too big and she was going to lose and there would be pain. She pushed again and the muscled flesh moved easily. She looked up and saw Zac’s face, shocked as he pushed out of the bed, and moved toward the doorway of the bedroom.

  “It’s okay, Brianna. Zac didn’t mean to scare you. Can I hold you?” Brianna looked around and found herself kneeling in the middle of the bed with her hands up, as if to ward off an attack. She was panting hard, and she was cold again. She broke, there was no other word for it. She just collapsed in on herself, sobbing harshly. She could barely lift her head, but she managed it, and she saw Zac through the tears. He looked gut-shot. She’d done that. She cried harder.

  “Go away.” Her voice was slurred. Charlie didn’t listen, he just gently embraced her. “Carmichael, get your ass over here.” Brianna couldn’t stop shuddering or sobbing. “I said get over here. You just took her by surprise. She’s used to my angry voice, you took her by surprise. You want him here, don’t you, baby?” She clutched at Charlie.

  “Yes.” She didn’t know how they could have understood, but they must have, because she immediately felt Zac’s arms around her, his head resting atop hers.

  Eventually her sobs ended as soggy hiccups, and Zac brought a warm cloth to bathe her face. She vaguely remembered asking them to leave, demanding that they both leave and never come back. It was soon after that, they all fell into an exhausted tangle of arms and legs, Brianna firmly ensconced in the center, where she was kept warm and secure.

  Chapter 19

  It was a puzzle. It reminded him of one of the animals under his care who, according to all of the medical books, should be getting better, but was actually getting worse. It was that kind of sick, black tar puzzle, the kind that would eventually kill you by burning you to death, suffocating you or smothering you. It didn’t matter, one way or another, you were going to die a grisly death. That was how he felt with the puzzle surrounding Brianna, that if he didn’t figure it out soon, he was destined to die a grisly death. Life without his Angel would be like life without sunlight. He’d live it, but every day he would just be going through the motions.

  “Fuck all, it’s cold.” It reminded him of home. He’d escaped to the outside, and was sitting on the top stair of Brianna’s apartment. He could look out over the quiet main street. Another way it seemed like the village he grew up in, nobody was out at this time of night. He looked down at the cell phone in his hand and corrected him
self. It was the wee hours of the morning. It’d be 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Dad would be cooking for Mum, and she’d be having tea reading over the newspaper. He needed to hear their voices.

  He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number, the number that connected him to home.

  “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  “You’re scary, Mum. You’re just flat-out scary.” Zac let out a relieved laugh. He missed this woman.

  “You think it’s bad being her child, imagine being married to her.” More muscles unclenched as he heard his dad’s voice.

  “So what has you tied up in knots?” Then there was silence. Zac knew that both of his parents had mastered the art of the pause, and would wait until he responded. It was a technique he used quite often himself.

  “First, I just needed to tell you both how much I love and appreciate you. I was so blessed to have you as parents.” Zac had to clear his throat. He kept picturing the horror house that Brianna grew up in, and he jammed his fingers into his eyes, but it did no good, tears still came.

  “What is it, love?”

  “It’s just that I met someone. She was just so horribly abused by her own parents. I don’t even know how she can possibly function as well as she does. She’s amazing. Absolutely amazing.” His parents waited, but he could feel their love and support coming through the phone.

  When he could speak again, he told them about her inner beauty, about how all the animals loved her. The loyalty she instilled in others. “But she’s still holding something back. All of her adopted family loves her, and she loves them. But she refused to stay near them when she was eighteen, and she refuses to move here now. It makes no sense. You can see that she desperately wants to. I just can’t figure this puzzle out, and I need her to stay.”

  “It sounds like you’re in love with this woman. Is this someone you would want to marry?” Trust his mum to get to the heart of the matter.

  “It’s a little more complicated than that.” Twenty-eight years old, and he actually felt himself blushing.

  “Well, it doesn’t sound like she’s already married, so that’s one complication off the table. Does she have three children that you haven’t mentioned, not that that sounds likely,” his dad chimed in.

  “Um.”

  “Four children?” his mother asked.

  “It’s kind of a Rolf situation. There’s this man named Charlie, he’s the town sheriff.”

  “So you’re in love with him as well?” his dad asked carefully.

  “Don’t be daft, Harold. Not that that wouldn’t be fine, but unless things have really changed, our son isn’t bisexual. Have things really changed, honey?”

  “No mum, things haven’t changed. Charlie and I aren’t crossing swords, as it were. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t said he’s in love with Brianna, but that’s just because he’s not yet realized it. I give it forty-eight more hours.”

  “So how exactly does this work if you’re not lovers? I mean Rolf, Brandon and Sheila make a bit more sense.” God, he loved his father. The man always just said whatever was on his mind, and he didn’t have a judgmental bone in his body, as long as no one was harmed.

  “Dad, it’s the damnedest thing, but I seemed to have moved into the Bermuda Triangle of triad relationships, pardon the pun. Apparently this has been going on since the late 1800s when they didn’t have many women. It’s just become socially acceptable. I’ve personally met eleven triads since moving here. All two men and a woman, and from what I pick up, it seems that the men’s focus is on the woman. Of course you never know what’s going on behind closed doors.”

  “I doubt in this day and age they would hide things if the men were lovers. Look at Rolf and Brandon,” his mother said. “But that’s not the reason you called. You wanted to try to figure out some things about your Brianna.”

  “Yeah, I did. I can’t get her to talk…neither Charlie nor I can get her to talk about why she is so intent on leaving. But I just know that deep in her heart she wants to stay. It makes no sense.”

  “The girl you’ve described is incredibly loyal, and seems to lead from her heart. Did I get that right, Zac?”

  “Exactly, Dad!” Zac shifted on the stairs as the wind blew, trying to huddle closer to the wooden wall of the building.

  “It seems to me she thinks that she is protecting someone. Could she be on the run from someone?”

  “Damn, that’s brilliant! She could totally be in hiding. She left Dallas abruptly. Maybe she has a stalker, and she doesn’t want them to follow her here and hurt the people she loves.” But as he said the words aloud, they didn’t resonate. Still, it was something. And it was something that Charlie could follow up on. He just realized he loved having a partner in law enforcement. Partner. Now that was something that did resonate.

  “We’re going to want to meet your Brianna, and your Charlie.” Zac shuddered.

  “Mum, let’s get one thing straight. I never want you to refer to Charlie as my Charlie again. You can refer to him as my friend or my partner, but never my Charlie.” Zac used the same tone he had used when he had told his mum that she had to knock before entering his bedroom. He’d been eleven.

  His dad laughed. “I promise, she’ll never say it again, son.” They spent the rest of the call catching up on the gossip of Frieth.

  * * * *

  “Zac, you’re freezing!” Brianna complained as he slipped under the covers. But she still cuddled against him, and immediately fell back to sleep.

  “Everything okay?” Zac could see the sharp glint of Charlie’s blue eyes in the moonlight.

  “We’ll talk in the morning. I have an idea.” Charlie nodded, and put his head back down, burrowing his nose into Brianna’s fragrant hair. Zac looked at Brianna’s beautiful face so relaxed in sleep, and was more determined than ever to help this woman. Something was not right, and he was damned if he was going to let her keep punishing herself, trying to protect everyone but herself.

  Chapter 20

  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. It was one of her life’s mottos. It was a boring motto, but she lived a boring life. Last night was a bust. She’d been an absolute basket case. Charlie and Zac had to take care of her…again. She was sick of it. She was going to prove that she was more than fucking capable of being a sane and charming date. Plus she was horny. She’d called both of them and said she was fixing dinner, but both of them had insisted they were taking her out. She’d finally agreed…reluctantly.

  She whipped up the batter for chocolate molten lava cakes and put it into the fridge. They were going to end up here tonight, and end up in her bed. She just finished changing the sheets when the phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, but realized it could be for Josie or one of her sisters so she picked it up.

  “Ciao!”

  “Olivia! What are you doing calling from Boston? Aren’t you going to be home next week? Why call now?”

  Olivia explained she’d just put Ian and Joshua in front of a basketball game.

  “What the hell do you mean you put them in front a basketball game?” Brianna was genuinely perplexed.

  “Look, to tell you the truth, we’ve had too much time together. I love them and all, but I need to dish the dirt with a female, you know? These days all of my girlfriends are in Fate Harbor.”

  “Yeah, but you made it sound like you were putting a five-year-old in front of the TV.”

  “Oh, I guess it did. I didn’t mean it, but in my defense I did go to the store and bring in salty and sweet junk food and beer, so they would be lured away. I guess I was manipulating them, but Joshua knew what I was doing, and he was fine with it. Ian was just happy to have chicken wings, ranch dressing, and sponge cake.”

  Brianna shook her head at her big sister’s antics. “So why are you calling me?”

  “Mama Betty told me that two ferocious men had kidnapped you from her house and practically threw you over their shoulders. I thought I would call and explain the facts of
life.”

  “Thanks, sis, you’re about six years too late for that conversation.” They giggled.

  “I’m not too late to be talking about hot threesome sex. Or am I?” Brianna felt herself flush. Then she realized that there were some things that she would love to talk about, and who better to ask? But as soon as she thought that, she thought about last night’s debacle.

  Brianna felt her bottom lip quiver. “I’m screwing up, Livvie. Charlie is relentless, I actually told them about…well, about stuff from the past.”

  “Honey, that’s a good thing.”

  “No it’s not. I know you want me to stay. I haven’t told you what happened in Dallas, but I had a total meltdown. Olivia, it’s actually happening.” Brianna choked back tears.

  “What’s happening?” It sounded like Olivia knew what she was talking about, but she wanted Brianna to say it. She couldn’t. She wasn’t.

  “Livvie... I’m not going to get into it. But I’m not staying here. I’m not going to be a burden to anyone. You know what I decided when I left California, and that hasn’t changed.”

  “Well it damn well should have. You’re an adult now. You should have researched this, and really grown up. I expected better.” Brianna felt like she had been slapped. She pulled the phone back and looked at it. “Brianna Kay Spencer, I’ve had enough of this nonsense.” Even with the phone a foot away from her ear, she could hear Olivia’s voice clearly. There was dead silence.

  “Oh God, Brianna, I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I just said that.” Brianna continued to look at the phone like it was some kind of snake or weapon that could bite or attack her. “Brianna? Brianna Kay, please answer me.” Even though Olivia was being apologetic, there was still command in her voice, and it helped to cut through the hurt. Olivia was Olivia, at least with her.

  She brought the phone back to her ear. “I guess you’ve been saving that up for quite a while, huh?”

  “Damn, Brianna, I didn’t even know I was feeling so strongly about it, until it came out of my mouth.” Regret, love, determination, and compassion, all of it was clear in Olivia’s voice. How could Brianna be mad or even be hurt by someone who was trying so hard to help?