Billionaire Decoded

by Nella Tyler

  *

  In less than twenty minutes, Brecken and Heather arrived at her apartment building. She knew she would have to move. She couldn't stay here, not after tonight. Not when every time she stepped into her apartment she would see those two bodyguards of his standing at the window. She said as much to Brecken.

  "I can help you find a place-"

  "I don't need anything from you, Brecken," she said. She felt numb, still trying to process everything. "And by the way, I quit."

  Brecken nodded as if he understood. "I'm going to walk you up to your apartment, and then I have a few things I need to explain. If you decide you're through with me after I finish, then I’ll accept your decision. All I ask is that you give me a chance to explain."

  Heather said nothing, but allowed Brecken to walk her up to her apartment. The minute she got inside, she sank down on the couch. She looked up at Brecken, who had moved to stand by the window. "Okay, say your piece."

  It took everything she had not to throw herself at him, to revel in the comfort that she knew his embrace could provide. She was still upset. "Are you going to tell me that all of this happened because Alyson couldn't let you go? Because she's carrying your baby?"

  He turned to her. "I don't think Alyson is telling the truth about that. I've given it a lot of thought. She hasn't shown me any proof that she's pregnant-"

  "Be that as it may, this...whatever it was that happened tonight, is something I never want to go through again. Was Alyson behind all this? How in the world can I even consider a relationship with you when you've got people like that in your life?"

  "Heather, I need to tell you the truth-"

  "That would be a nice change of pace," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  "Look, I'm not a traitor. I haven't been selling and trading information-"

  She interrupted. "Brecken, are you forgetting the article in the New York Times? The innuendo? The accusations? And were you doing in that warehouse, divulging all that information to your former SEAL team, against insurgents?"

  He shook his head. "I've been working undercover, Heather, unofficially. I'm not a part of any government organization, but I've been working with several agencies to uncover the person responsible for a number of terrorist attacks, as well as trying to identify individuals like that Bolivian colonel who've been selling arms, drugs, and dealing in human trafficking."

  She stared at him, not sure whether she believed it. "But all of this… You mean your company is on the up and up? You really are just a computer programmer, and your company doesn't deal with espionage, counterespionage, or any of that other spy stuff?"

  He smiled and shook his head. "One of my old friends, an FBI agent, asked me about a year ago to take on the persona of, well, let's just say somebody like Assange or Snowden. There were rumors that some members of my old SEAL team had gone rogue. I didn't want to believe it at first. I told him I would do what I could. Unfortunately, the whole operation got pretty complex, and the more I dug, the bigger it grew. Before I knew it, I even began to believe that I was a traitor."

  Heather couldn't believe how relieved she was that Brecken wasn't a traitor, that he was indeed a patriot. He hadn't been involved in any underground or illegal activities. Still… "Couldn't you have trusted me, Brecken?" she asked. "How did I manage to get dragged into the middle of it, anyway?" She shook her head. "Wait, don't answer that, I already know. But are you telling me that Alyson was the traitor? Your business partner?"

  "Apparently so," he sighed. "Heather, I know we haven't known each other for long, but I want you to know that I have already developed feelings for you. Strong feelings…" He shook his head. “I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t go for one night stands. I want something more.”

  Heather didn't want to admit it, but she felt the same. There was something about Brecken that pulled her toward him like the old cliché – like a moth to the flame. Still, his background, his history, the thing with Alyson…

  "Brecken, I have feelings for you, too, but I have to be honest with you. I'm not sure I can deal with all of your history-"

  He was about to interrupt when they heard the knock on the door. Thinking it was law enforcement; he went to open it. Heather glanced over her shoulder and then sat upright, her eyes wide. Alyson was walking into the apartment, forcing Brecken to walk into the living room ahead of her. She was holding a gun. How the hell had she gotten away from the police?

  "Alyson, there's no need to hurt Brecken," she said, knowing that it would take very little to tip the crazy woman over the edge. "Your baby needs its father."

  Alyson laughed, a jittery, crazed laugh. "I'm not pregnant, bitch. Never was, but I knew that Brecken wouldn't come back to me for anything else. And, you know what? It might've worked if you hadn't come along."

  Heather saw the look in Alyson’s eyes. It wasn't good. Brecken turned to his ex-fiancée. "Alyson, put the gun down. It's over."

  Heather saw him glance at her, and then back at Alyson. Alyson freaked.

  "I want you to look at me like you look at her!"

  "Alyson," Brecken said calmly. "Give me the gun."

  "You don't want to be with her, Brecken," Alyson said, her voice whiny and shaking with fury. The hand holding the gun shook, but she didn't release her grip on it. "You want to be with me… You want to be with me!"

  Suddenly, Brecken lashed out with his foot. It caught Alyson in the stomach. She doubled over, the gun flying from her hand. Brecken pounced while shouting over his shoulder.

  "Heather! Call 911!"

  Alyson was screaming, shouting epitaphs at both of them. "Your life is over, Brecken! Your company! Your girlfriend!"

  They struggled for possession of the gun. Suddenly, it went off. Heather didn't know what happened, whether Brecken fired, or whether Alyson had grabbed the gun and shot herself. All of a sudden, she was lying still on the floor, blood oozing from the wound in her skull, her eyes glazed and staring unseeing at the ceiling.

  "Shit,” Brecken muttered. He stood, wiping blood spatter off his face.

  Seconds later, they heard the sirens. She hadn’t even had a chance to call the police. One of the neighbors, maybe more than one, had called. Thank God. She stared in horror down at Alyson while the puddle of blood spread under her head. Brecken quickly grabbed her arm and tugged her out of the apartment and into the hallway as two police officers rushed upstairs. Brecken gestured inside the apartment. He told one of the officers his name, asked him to call a man at the local FBI office named Carl Erickson.

  In less than fifteen minutes, Heather and Brecken sat in the rear seat of a police cruiser as they were driven to the local FBI office. "Alyson was a dream in the beginning," Brecken said softly. "But within a relatively short time, she began to behave erratically. She put on a good front for me, but then, the more I found out about her, the more I realized that she was unstable. Her family background, no matter how much money she had, was a disaster from the beginning due to neglectful parents and abuse. She couldn't handle being left alone."

  At the moment, Heather didn't care about Alyson. All she knew was that she couldn't go back to her apartment – not now, not next week, not ever. She wanted to go home. She needed to get away from Boston, reassess what direction she wanted her life to take.

  "What can I do to make it up to you, Heather?" he said quietly as they approached the FBI office. "What can I do?"

  "I want to go home," she said. He gazed down at her with a question in his eyes. "Not to my apartment. I can never go back there. I want to go home, to New Hampshire."

  "Heather-"

  "Brecken," she sighed. "I need to process this. I need to understand and process what's happened. You’ll be busy with all these government officials. When you're finished and when you're ready to tell me everything, and I mean everything, you let me know. You come up and see me, and then we'll talk about any potential future for us. Okay?"

  He stared down at her for several moments and then nodde
d. He leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers, so gentle, so caring, that she felt cherished. Still, it was too soon to make a commitment to him. She needed to know everything, but not now. All she wanted now was to go home, to be with her parents.

  Later, she would deal with Brecken.

  Epilogue

  A month later, Heather received a phone call from Brecken. She was sitting in the sand by the lakeside, enjoying the crisp spring evening air. Her parents enjoyed having her back, and she had to admit that the time away from Boston had done her good. She had talked with Brecken several times over the past few weeks, had learned more about what happened, and why. She had even received a phone call from FBI agent Carl Erickson, confirming everything the Brecken admitted after the horrifying experience of kidnapping and held in the warehouse.

  He told her that Brecken was a good man, a patriot, and a man who had risked his reputation, his company, and even his life to fight corruption inside the US government and out of it. Eventually, she overcame her anger, realizing that Brecken had never meant any of this to happen. Alyson had been behind it all, driven by jealousy.

  "You doing all right, Heather?" Brecken asked.

  She smiled, watching the setting sun glint against the surface of the lake. "Yes," she said. "But only one thing would make me feel even better."

  A pause. "What can I do, Heather? What can I do to make things right between us?"

  Her smile broadened. "You can get your butt up here,” she said. "We can talk. You can meet my parents."

  "I'll be there in a couple of hours," he said.

  She heard the relief, the happiness in his voice.

  "Shall I book a room at Mabel’s Bed and Breakfast?"

  Heather laughed. "No, you'll be staying with us at our house. I think it's about time my parents met you, got to know you a little better."

  And so it was that within a couple of hours, Heather watched as Brecken drove his rental car slowly up the gravel path to her house. Her parents were inside, wanting to give her a moment of privacy with him. When he stepped out of the car and looked up at her, she felt her stomach clench. Her heart skipped a beat. Neither time nor distance had dimmed her feelings for him.

  She smiled as he walked around the car and approached, not saying a word. Then, he stepped upon the porch steps and pulled her into his embrace. His lips touched hers and for several moments, she was lost in his embrace, reveling in the feelings that his kiss evoked within her.

  Only the clearing of the throat behind her broke off the kiss. Laughing, she turned to find her father watching both of them. He was trying to frown, but she saw the twinkle in his eye. "Dad, I’d like you to meet Brecken Shaw."

  Brecken extended his hand. Her father looked at it for a moment, and then took it and shook it firmly.

  "Nice to meet you sir," Brecken said.

  Her father invited him in and he followed her father into the house. When they entered the living room, her mother appeared from the kitchen. She stared at Brecken a moment, and then looked to Heather and nodded. Her mother approved.

  Over dinner, Brecken related the entire story to them. He apologized profusely for putting their daughter in any danger. He told them that the last thing he had ever wanted was for Heather to be in danger.

  "So what you plan on doing now?" her father asked.

  "Well, it's time for my firm to come out into the light. I'm proud that we've exposed government corruption, not only domestically, but abroad. Nevertheless, there will be new problems. Fighting the powerful is best done by other powerful people, and I'm going to be working with some of those people."

  He saw the look on her father's face and lifted a hand. "I guarantee you that your daughter will not be in any danger. Nothing like that will ever happen again. I'll make sure of it."

  "And?" her mother asked.

  Brecken smiled at her. "And, if I have your permission, I'd like to officially date your daughter."

  Heather stared at him in surprise, and then at her parents. Such old-fashioned traditionalism from Brecken Shaw? Her parents seemed just as surprised. He went on to explain.

  "Your daughter is a wonderful, warm, and kind-hearted woman. Together, we can do a lot of good. With my money and her compassion, I have no doubt that we can help people. In all honesty, I want to tell you that your daughter makes me very happy…happier than I can remember being in a long time.” He looked down at her and winked. “Somehow, Heather has managed to hack into my life, bit by bit, no pun intended."

  Heather leaned closer to Brecken, not even caring that her parents were watching. She wrapped her arm around his and looked up into his eyes and smiled. She felt tears puddle in her eyes when he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She glanced at her mother; saw her staring at them with open-mouthed dismay. And then, her mother smiled and glanced at her father.

  "I think this is the one," she heard her mother whisper to her father.

  If Heather had anything to say about it, her mother would be right. Whatever the future would bring, trouble or joy, she knew that with Brecken at her side, they would be able to face it together.

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 Nella Tyler