Leverage (The Brannock Siblings)

by Wilde, Jessica

  "Okay," she whispered and stood from the couch, smoothing her skirt down, then walked over to the stairs. "I guess I'll go change."

  "I'm sorry about all of this. I know you probably wanted to get settled into a job and everything soon. It will just have to wait a bit longer."

  She looked down at him with a resigned look in her eyes and shrugged. "I'll be right back with that list."

  He watched her climb the stairs, grazing over her long legs and her perfect… and remembered the short lecture her father gave him this morning after he smacked him in the back of the head for staring.

  "She needs some time, Luke. Don't force anything. You'll only push her away."

  He had replied with a denial. "I'm not planning on doing anything at all, sir."

  "Well, these things never start with a plan, son."

  The man was always right, he thought. He never planned on seeing her again, never planned on still feeling the same way he did seven years ago, but he did. If anything, the feelings for her had gotten stronger with the distance, something he hadn't realized until he had seen her this morning for the first time. Now that this case had taken a dramatic turn, there was nothing he could completely plan for and there wasn't really time to do anything about those feelings.

  That didn't stop him from wanting her.

  Nothing could stop him from wanting her.

  But he had to keep her safe, keep her father safe. He had to solve this case soon, before he lost something or someone he couldn't live without.

  Chapter 3

  Ash

  "I'll be just fine, Conall. Lucas will be here when Dad can't be. No one knows I'm back, so I really don't think I'm the one everyone should be worrying about. The threat was to Dad."

  Lucas had called my brothers to let them know what was happening and to make sure they kept an eye out for themselves. We didn't know how much these people knew about my family, but you could never be too careful, right?

  I had already spoken to Fergus to calm him down and was now having a very similar conversation with my oldest brother, Conall. He was furious and wanted to catch the next flight out from Denver so he could get here to be with us. Fergus had purchased a ticket to fly in from Detroit while I was still on the phone with him. When I couldn't get him to cancel it, Lucas had taken the phone back and talked him down. Having them here would only complicate things.

  "I don't like the idea of you being anywhere near these guys, Ash. Even if they have no idea you are there. I trust Luke, but still… you gotta look out for yourself, sis."

  It was always good to hear Conall's voice. He was the brother that tried the hardest to keep in touch with me and we spent a lot of late nights on the phone laughing about the stupid things they had done with me. Fergus was always partying, not that he was too busy to talk to his little sister, he was just too crazy for me to really spend a long time talking with without feeling like I had just run a marathon.

  I loved them both - even if they could be total assholes - and they loved me.

  "You know me, Con. I'm always careful. I won't be leaving the house for anything but a run and even then it will be late so no one sees me."

  I heard Lucas clear his throat behind me. We still hadn't come to an agreement on my nightly runs. He told me I could use his treadmill, but I was already going to be inside all day and I knew I would need to get outside at least once or I would end up going crazy.

  "Don't tell me that you sweet talked Luke enough for him to let you do that," Conall said with a chuckle.

  "He doesn't want me to, but I'm 28 years old, and I'm already cooperating more than anybody else would. I'll be careful. Maybe Dad will come with me."

  "Ha! I don't think so. He doesn't run outside remember? Too much pollution in the air."

  "I forgot about that," I said with a smile.

  Dad never liked running outside. Always said he couldn't breathe right because the air wasn't clean enough. Not like Ireland.

  "I'll go with you, Ash," Lucas sighed from behind me, looking exasperated.

  I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah right. No way I could keep up with you. Look at you."

  He smiled and his cheeks turned a faint pink before he held his hand out for the phone.

  "Hear that, Con? Lucas will run with me, I'll be fine. Love you. Here he is."

  I hurried and handed off the phone to him before my brother could protest against my small victory. I had a way out of the house and I was still following the rules.

  His fingers brushed mine as I handed him the phone, sending warmth up my arm from the contact. I caught my breath and all but ran to the kitchen to check on the lasagna in the oven. He had no idea the amount of power he held over me. It was pathetic really.

  My brothers would kick my own ass if they knew that a guy could pretty much ask me to do anything and I totally would do it in a heartbeat. Those were the kinds of girls they spent their time with. They didn't want their little sister to become one of the hoes they yanked around.

  It was already well after six in the evening and I was anxious to see my dad. He had called Lucas several times, checking up on me throughout the day, but it wasn't enough. I needed to hug him and hear him tell me everything would be alright.

  My day had been filled with anxiety. Having Lucas here helped to make me feel safe, but it didn't help with my nerves at all. We didn't talk much unless it was about the rules I needed to follow or him telling me what he and my father expected of me. I had asked about his mother and he hadn't given me much except for "Don't know". He steered clear of me for a while after getting back from the store with the stuff I needed for dinner. Didn't help the nervous flutters constantly going on in my stomach and he moved around the house like a freaking ghost, checking all the windows and doors, making sure that all my father's weapons were hidden. How he knew where they were, I had no idea, but he did.

  Apparently, him and my father had become close over the last few years.

  I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

  By the time I had started making dinner, he had settled himself on one of the stools at the island and watched me. Or at least, I think he watched me. I felt his eyes burning into me the whole time, but being the coward that I am, and completely unprepared to show him how confident I could actually be, I didn't dare look at him.

  When my back was to him, I felt the familiar tingle on the back of my neck that I had spent my whole life feeling when he was nearby. After a moment, it would feel as if he was right behind me, running his fingers down my back and stopping just above my backside. It had to be my imagination. No way were his eyes on my ass.

  My curiosity would get the best of me and when I finally turned around, I found him looking down at the counter in front of him, looking at the day's newspaper.

  Yep, totally my imagination.

  It had been a welcome distraction when we had decided to call my brothers and it gave me a moment to clear my head. I needed to keep my head in the present reality, not in my hopeful imagination.

  "He should be home by now," I said when Lucas walked into the kitchen after finishing up with Conall.

  I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and he took a deep inhale and closed his eyes. "Mmm, that smells incredible, Ash. Don't worry. He should be back any minute. He probably just took a little longer because he had to get everything on the case gathered so he could bring it to me. I need to review everything that happened during the meeting, too."

  "Are you not going to be able to go back in?" I asked, worried that my presence was going to cause problems with him figuring out this case.

  "I will once we get a schedule worked out. Your dad will probably stay with you during the morning while I go in, then we'll switch in the afternoon. He'll be staying later than normal."

  I frowned because I didn't like the sound of that. What if he ended up alone at the station and something happened?

  "Don't worry. Everything will work out," he said softly and leaned against the counter
beside me.

  "I just wish I didn't feel like such a burden. If I hadn't moved back, Dad wouldn't have to worry about me and he could just worry about himself. I don't want anything to happen to him."

  I was starting to get emotional and no matter what I did, I couldn't swallow passed the lump in my throat. My dad was one of the most important people in my life. If anything happened to him…

  "Hey," Lucas grabbed my shoulders, bending down to look straight into my eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to him either, but you are our priority right now, Ash. If anything happened to you…" He squeezed my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

  Before I could think too deeply about what he had just said and before I could really soak up the warmth and strength of his arms, the garage door swung open and Dad walked in with his arms full of paperwork.

  Lucas immediately released me and moved away.

  My dad grinned as he looked back and forth between us. Lucas walked over to help him with the stack of files. "Thanks, Luke. Wow, it smells good, Aislinn. Been a long time since I had a good meal."

  I didn't let him say anything more. The second Lucas had taken the paperwork from him, I was running into my father's arms.

  "Whoa, my beauty. Everything is okay," he murmured in my ear and held me tightly while the anxiety from the day started to melt away.

  "No it's not. Someone has threatened my dad. Everything is totally fucked up," I mumbled against his shoulder.

  "Language, young lady!" he snapped, but I could feel the deep chuckle that he couldn't hide from me. I think he secretly enjoyed my swearing. Probably reminded him of Mom.

  I pulled away so I could look at him. His dark blue eyes looked tired and sad, but they still glimmered with humor. His dark hair was salted with scattered grays and his smile was just as warm as ever, even if the worry lines on his face seemed a little deeper than they had been early that morning.

  "Promise me you will be careful, Dad. Lucas will be stuck with me if you aren't around, so be careful for him, too."

  He chuckled again and glanced at Lucas who was back to sitting at the island. "Oh, I don't think he would mind too much, my beauty."

  I snorted in disbelief, but a piece of me wished I could really believe it. When I turned back to the island to serve dinner, Lucas was watching me. Our eyes met briefly, but the look he gave me didn't seem to contradict my father's words. It was the look he got when he was about to go after something he really wanted, a determined look. It was a shock to my system. He was always so stoic, never letting his emotions seep through the cracks. He was always so serious, too, with the exception of a few memories I had of him laughing with my brothers.

  If he did feel anything for me other than brotherly love, I wouldn't know how to take it. He cared about the people that were important to him, but never let his emotions get in the way. I wasn't sure if he was even capable of love. He had never been serious about anyone.

  As we all sat to eat, I thought about all the times that I felt like I actually annoyed him more than anything. I followed my brothers around a lot, even when we were older, because I had no one else to spend my time with, thanks to them. They didn't mind too much if they weren't doing anything special, but Lucas always seemed like he was avoiding me the whole time. I didn't let it keep me away, though, because it gave me the opportunity to watch him without him noticing.

  I learned a lot about him that way.

  He always seemed like he was a player, especially around Conall and Fergus. They believed he was, too, but what I had observed told me something completely different. Yes, he was experienced, but he wasn't a jerk to any of the girls he spent his time with and he never led them on. In fact, I always thought he was really sweet to the women he dated. He always acted like a gentleman and he never made them feel like they were an object. Not like my brothers did.

  He was never with the same girl, though. Never brought the same one out with us more than once, which got him the player label. I don't know if he slept with every one of them. Part of me felt like he had, but his actions seemed to tell another story. A man who played like that didn't offer to take his friends' little sister home while he was leaving with his date. He always offered and most of the time I would accept, especially when the girl who was on his arm was one that had taken an opportunity to belittle me whenever she saw me.

  I didn't like being around my brothers when they got too crazy and there was no point in hanging around if I had nothing to look forward to at the end of the night, so Lucas would drop me off at home and wait until I got inside before driving off with his date in the passenger seat.

  A guy who wanted in a girl's pants didn't do things like that and delay the fun.

  At least, I didn't think so. But what do I know, right?

  My plan to be over Lucas by dessert didn't work out so well. He kept doing things that reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the first place, like pouring me another glass of wine without me asking for it, telling me how much he missed my cooking while I was gone, or just sitting there looking like he had just stepped out of GQ magazine and didn't even have to try.

  Simple things.

  I knew it would be impossible when he stood to clear the table against my protests and even put all the leftover lasagna away, taking a container for himself with a goofy grin on his face almost allowing those perfect dimples to reveal themselves, but holding them back just barely.

  After I finished up the dishes, I had come to the conclusion that I was pretty much going to die without ever losing my virginity. How could I ever give it up to anyone when none of them measured up to Lucas?

  I was drying my hands after cleaning the dishes and scolding myself for being so pathetic when he walked back into the kitchen with dad after they had chatted in his office for a while.

  "Everything okay?" I asked, my voice a little higher than normal, giving away my unease. Normally, I wouldn't think anything of a secret meeting between my father and one of his detectives. It came with the territory. After this threat, though, I knew they were going to keep some things from me to protect me and I didn't feel entirely comfortable with that.

  Lucas gave me a tight lipped smile while Dad snagged another beer out of the fridge.

  "Everything is fine, sweetheart," Dad reassured me. "Stop your worrying, Lucas won't let anything happen to you and neither will I."

  "How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't me I'm worried about."

  "Well it's you that we are worried about," he stated simply.

  I sighed and threw the towel on the counter before crossing my arms over my chest and propping myself up with my eyes closed.

  Men.

  Honestly, I don't think they had a cell in their body that wasn't completely unreasonable.

  I heard my dad chuckle as he walked back out of the kitchen, but I kept my eyes closed. Lucas was probably leaving and then I could finally breathe. Maybe I would go for a run and clear my head.

  Then I remembered that I couldn't go alone and I groaned as I opened my eyes.

  Lucas was standing in front of me, looking down at me with an amused grin. And when I say he was standing in front of me, I mean he was right in front of me with maybe a foot in between us. It was a miracle I was still on my feet and hadn't mentally checked out completely.

  "You planning on running tonight?" he asked. His breath fanning my face, he was so close.

  I couldn't find my voice so I just shrugged.

  "Stay in tonight, Ash. It's been a big day."

  I nodded in agreement. Okay, I'll stay. He didn't have to tell me twice.

  God, Con and Gus would totally come unglued if they saw me right now.

  His head jerked as if to say, "Okay, good," then he turned away and headed for the front door. I followed him so I could lock up behind him.

  "Goodnight," he said and gave me that infamous wink.

  This time, I was ready for it and I just smiled. "Goodnight, Luca
s."

  He walked down the porch steps and I started to close the door, hoping I would be able to catch up on some much needed sleep tonight so I could be on top of my game the next day while I was with him.

  "Oh, Aislinn?"

  My heart thudded to a stop when I heard him call me by my full name. His voice was rough and made my crazy name sound like the sexiest word that had ever passed my ears.

  "Yeah?" I croaked.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and held my stare. "I wouldn't mind."

  "What?"

  "Being stuck with you," he said. "No one could really mind that."

  Then he turned and disappeared down the street, leaving me breathless and extremely confused.

  "No sleep for Aislinn tonight then," I said to myself as I shut the door and turned the deadbolt.

  "What was that?" Dad asked from behind me.

  I jumped and slammed into the door. "For God's sake, Dad. Wear a damn bell or something! I swear you are like a cat."

  He laughed and made his way up the stairs. "Oh I don't think so, my dear. You just can't pay attention to anything else when that man is around. Never have been able to."

  "Ugh! I told you already. I'm over it… or I will be… I'm on my way. Well on my way and there is nothing that will happen to change my mind."

  "Okay, Ash. Whatever you say," he waved without looking back at me and his voice was distant as he made it to the top of the stairs and started to his room.

  "I'm serious, Daddy."

  "Uh huh. I'm sure you are. Goodnight."

  I stomped my foot in frustration because I knew he still didn't believe me. Hell, I didn't even believe me. Didn't mean I wasn't going to try. Lucas Shade had too much power over me and I was going to take that power back. What better time to do it than when I was forced to be alone with him because my life could be in danger?

  "God, I'm so screwed," I muttered.

  "Yes you are."

  "Aaah!" I screamed as I jumped back with a hand to my racing heart and looked up to see my dad at the top of the stairs smiling down at me. "I'm buying a bell tomorrow!" I yelled, then watched him walk away laughing.