“You loved him?”
Braelyn looks me in the eyes for the first time since we were alone in the storage closet earlier. “I thought I did. I thought he loved me, too. I was wrong.”
“Who is he? How do you know him?”
Braelyn tries to adjust her position, but her restraints are too tight, and she can only shift an inch. I make a decision and hope Burke will back me up. I have to win her over with the one thing she never showed me—compassion.
I look toward Callen to direct my orders. “Take the cuffs off and recuff her with her arms in front.” I turn toward Burke. “Is there water or something here?”
Burke looks hesitant.
Callen is the one who answers, “No fucking way. She’s crafty. She’s already escaped you guys once. It’d be way too easy for her to get loose with her hands in front.”
“She’s clearly not in any shape to escape, and if the two of you can’t handle her if she tries, then we have bigger fucking problems. She’s sitting right in front of us. Nothing is going to happen if we show her a little fucking kindness.”
Callen and Burke share a long look, and then finally, after what feels like forever, Burke holds out his hand to him.
“Do as she says, Callen. Paisley, there’s a small kitchen through the back where you can grab a bottle of water.”
I head toward the door on the far side of the warehouse, leaving the boys to argue among themselves. Braelyn is vulnerable. We need to use that to our advantage. She won’t respond to an iron fist or harsh words. I can get her to talk to me.
I head back into the center of the warehouse with two bottles of water and some crackers I found in a cabinet. I’m relieved to see Braelyn sitting up with her arms no longer pinned behind her back. I open one of the waters and hand it to her before opening the crackers and passing them her way. As I suspected, Braelyn swallows the water like she hasn’t had a drink in days, which is probably true. She soon turns to the crackers and shoves them in her face, as if she’s never eaten before.
“How do you know Tate, Braelyn?”
Braelyn looks to me with a mouthful of crackers, and I hand her the second bottle of water, so she can wash them down.
“Tate came to me about a month or so before the first time you saw Kai at the apartment. He had a job for me. Said it would be easy money and simple as long as I did what I was told. At first, I thought he was into some kind of kinky BDSM business arrangement, but that wasn’t what he had in mind. That was the day I became involved.”
“You had a relationship outside of your business arrangement?”
Braelyn drains the last of the second water bottle before she glances to Tate. She brings her eyes back toward mine quickly. “We had a lot of contact with one another. He gave me all my jobs. He was the one I reported my information to. So, we spent a lot of time together. He was paying me for sex, but after a few weeks, without discussion, we stopped any payments concerning sex. I assumed he felt the same way as I did for him. He was a smooth talker. Good with words and could really read people. I honestly didn’t expect him to follow orders to come for me, no matter what the price on my head was.”
Did she really say that? She’s so wrapped up in her own world, she can’t see she did the exact same thing to me. I remain outwardly calm, but fuck her.
“What sort of jobs did he give you?”
She appears lost in thought as I ask my question. I wonder if she even heard me.
But then her focus comes back to me, and she answers, “Just getting close to Kai at first. My objective was to make him one of my clients. That part was easy enough. Once I gained access to Kai, my jobs became a little more difficult. Snooping around the house and looking for personal information or attempting to sniff out weaknesses. I planted some device on Kai’s computer that gave them direct access to his files. I drugged Kai in order to get some alone time with his things the night of the party. That was how they had access to the security codes to the warehouse and were able to turn off the surveillance cameras for the break-in. I delivered the package for the gambling debt dude. Then, I asked to be the one to kill Burke, but I screwed up. Now, I’m here. On the run and desperate enough to seek help from someone I thought would always have my back. I guess I was wrong about two people.”
“Call Kai. Tell him our security has been compromised, and there is a bug on his computer,” Burke says.
I’m thankful that he’s keeping calm because I’m not. I’m fucking livid.
“Can you even freaking hear yourself? You’ve betrayed so many people. Innocent people who never did anything to you, all for a payday you’ll never even fully see. You had no idea what you were stepping into, and you blindly agreed and signed a deal with the devil. You used Kai. You hurt Teagan. You tried to kill Burke. And what about me? You let them have me!”
“I tried to keep you away!”
“You don’t get it! You didn’t try anything. You threw some attitude, kicked me out, and then assaulted me! Never once did you say, Hey, Paisley, I’m involved in some dangerous shit that could get you kidnapped or killed, or, Hey, Paisley, I’m in trouble, and I need help.”
“You wouldn’t have listened.”
“Damn straight I wouldn’t have listened. Burke and Kai and Teagan are good fucking people, Braelyn. They may not be straight and narrow, but they would never have turned their backs on each other. They’ve been protecting me from the mess you got yourself into. The mess you put me in.”
“I tried—”
“You tried what? To save me? To help me? No. You came to that farmhouse, and you threw it in my face. You came to try to make me believe Burke was behind this. You left me trapped in a room to come face-to-face with people who wanted me dead.”
“I don’t think he’d have killed you.”
“So, that makes it okay?” I scoff and lean forward, needing her to really hear what I am about to say. “You say that I don’t have your back? You think that you were wrong about me? I’d have done anything for you before all this. You were my fucking sister. Now, I don’t know what to even do with you.” I stand and turn away from her as I gulp for air and try to calm down.
“I thought you were safe with him.”
My head snaps back to Braelyn. An eerily quiet Burke tenses up behind me.
“Who? Who’s responsible for all this? Do you know?”
“No. I don’t know. Not much more than you do at least.”
“Did Tate know?”
“I’m not sure. He always said he knew. He liked me to think so. I think convincing me made him feel powerful. Looking back, I don’t think he did. I think he wanted me to believe he was more than just another henchman.”
“Why do you think he wouldn’t have killed me then?”
“This Sonnelion guy always had a fascination with you. Even before you were mixed up with Burke. When Tate first met with me, he asked a lot of questions about you. He said he was following orders. I assumed they wanted some background on you to see if you’d cause any trouble if you caught wind of anything since we lived together and all. Now, I think it was more than standard curiosity.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There was a burner phone he contacted me from for progress updates and such. He’d continue to ask a lot of questions about you when he messaged me. He had people watching you before you started seeing Burke, which seemed to piss him off. He’d ask about the relationship between you two. He even asked me once what your life was like in foster care. It never sat well with me. Then, when you and Teagan were kidnapped, you both were treated so differently. The guys were given orders to take Teagan by any means necessary. He preferred to have her delivered alive but had no hesitation for them to kill her if there were any problems.”
Burke blows his lid. He grabs her by the shirt, and her body sways from his sudden attack. His other hand shoots to her face and squeezes, holding her jaw with a crushing force. “My sister won’t be made a target again. Do you hear me, you little cunt?
”
She squeaks as he lifts her up by his grip on her cheeks. “Paisley, will you control your Neanderthal?” Her voice is distorted from the pain and the obstruction to her jaw.
“You deserve a lot more than him being in your face, bitch.” I face my very angry man. “Teagan’s safe, Burke. Back down.”
He lets go and then spits on the ground near her feet before backing away. Her hands go to her face, and she flexes her jaw, avoiding eye contact with Burke.
I give her a second before getting back on track. “Braelyn, what about his orders for me?”
“He ordered you to be delivered alive or not at all. No one was allowed to harm a hair on your head. The orders were strict. Tate handled your abduction. He’s the one who killed the man who tried to rape you. He told me all about the care instructions he’d received. You were to be put in the room with the flowers drawn all over the wall, free to roam. It still doesn’t make much sense to me. What is so special about you that the boss would treat you with kid gloves?”
“I was hoping you had that answer.”
“I have no idea. You came from the same trash I did. So, what’s the difference? Why do you have everything I want?”
“Hold on just a fucking second.” Burke comes to my side. “What are you talking about? You told me no one hurt you. Someone tried to rape you? In my house?” He takes my hand with anger swirling in his eyes.
“I didn’t want to bring it up. It didn’t happen, Burke. He tried. He tried, but he failed. He didn’t get much further than pulling his dick out. I’m okay. He didn’t hurt me.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Paisley.” His lips touch mine. “I’m sorry.”
“There is no reason for you to apologize for the sins of another man.”
“Fuck! Teagan.” He pulls away from me. “If one of these guys tried to fucking rape you after being ordered not to harm you, what the hell did they do to Teagan? I can’t even think about it.”
His realization is something I’ve already thought about. Bad things happened to her in that farmhouse. I’m positive of that.
“Teagan will survive this, and we’ll make sure anyone who hurt her doesn’t.”
Burke pinches the bridge of his nose and scowls at the ceiling. I attempt to soothe his pain by wrapping my arms around his waist. I hold him, hoping to give him even a fraction of the strength his touch gives me. His lips find mine. His mouth is gentle but needy for reassurance. I give with each kiss, and he openly takes.
Braelyn clears her throat, ruining our reprieve from the current situation, and after one more final kiss, Burke pulls back from me and collects his emotions. My safety and the well-being of his sister are easily the fastest ways to turn this man of stone upside down.
I turn back to Braelyn after she interrupts us and return to my questioning. “Is there anything else you can tell us about all this mess? There has to be something you know that would be helpful. What about Kai’s dad? He’s involved with this somehow. Do you know how?”
“I don’t know anything about his dad.”
Her answer this time is different from the ones before. I know that she’s lying. It’s in the way her eyelids lower just a bit, and she can’t quite seem to look right at me. I sit down in a nearby chair and just watch her for a second, waiting for her to come clean. She doesn’t.
“How convenient that you’ve forgotten that you came to me for help. I would have been fine to never see you again. I’m not stupid though. I know you know something. You’re being hunted. We’re being targeted. If you can’t see why you should help us, then I can’t help you either. It’s common sense here, Braelyn. Whoever this is will find you eventually, and my guess is sooner rather than later. Heck, maybe he already has more guys on the way. If you help us, then maybe we can stop him before that happens.”
Braelyn looks past me to Burke. Her eyes then travel to Callen before she stares down at the shiny metal cuffs that bind her. “I might as well be honest since I’ve been caught. I didn’t come here for help. I lied. I came here to use you as a bargaining chip. I thought, if I could deliver you, then Sonnelion would take the hit off my head. I’ve told you everything I know. There’s nothing else. Besides, even if I could help, I wouldn’t. Going against the man behind this would be a suicide mission, and those two will never let me out of here alive.” Her chin jerks toward where Burke and Callen are standing. “I’m not stupid enough to believe Burke will just release me. I’m fucked either way.”
The vibrations of Burke’s demanding voice from over my shoulder startles me. “You’re a fucking piece of work, and you’re damn right you won’t be making it out alive. So, if you have nothing else useful to tell us, we can get it over with. I’m tired of listening to your voice.”
I turn to face Burke. “No. We can use her. She’ll be more helpful to us alive.”
“When Sonnelion wins, he’s going to kill you all. Then, when he comes for me, I’ll join you in hell. None of us will survive him.”
Burke’s posture tells me that he wants to end Braelyn himself. He wants her dead. I have other ideas.
He responds to Braelyn, seething about the lack of answers she’s given, “Who is Sonnelion? Why is he hiding behind an alias? What does he want? Answer those questions for me, and I won’t kill you now.” Burke pulls his gun and aims it at her.
“Fuck you,” she says the brave words, but when she turns her eyes back to me, I see the fear. She’s begging me to save her from Burke’s bullet.
He will kill her without blinking an eye. I do something I never in my life thought I would do after she left me in that house.
I save her life. “We can’t kill her. If nothing else, she’s useful as bait.”
“What’s your idea?” Burke doesn’t lower his gun, but her eyes stay locked on mine.
There is a smug satisfaction that I have one-upped her but it’s mixed with disgust because I’ve just dropped to her level, but it’s the most logical thing to do.
“Sonnelion wants her, and we have her. We finally have some leverage here. Let’s use it.”
Burke contemplates what I said, and Braelyn screams. Once again, her personality changes. Her words are vulgar while she tells us she’ll never help. She repeats refusal after blunt refusal. Burke weighs my words and then nods his head at me. He lowers his gun and secures it back into its hiding spot.
I hoped Braelyn would be helpful and answer some of our questions. It’s okay that she wasn’t. I won’t need Braelyn’s cooperation for what I have planned.
Burke
Callen’s keeping an eye on Braelyn until the arrival of the extra security team J. is sending over. Braelyn is a thorn in my side, and I’d have liked nothing better than to end her miserable existence the second she had nothing else to tell us. But Paisley convinced me that was a bad idea and that we could use her to our advantage, so Braelyn will remain at the warehouse, restrained like an animal.
There’s a chance we can use Braelyn to our advantage. I hate it, but I can’t ignore it. Braelyn is the only piece of leverage we have. The plus side is that another one of the bad guys is dead, and Braelyn is no longer loose to cause chaos wherever she sees fit. We have to appreciate every win we get.
“What’s going on inside the head of my beautiful girl?” I ask Paisley as we step outside and into the bright sunlight.
She’s been quiet since I agreed to let Braelyn live.
Her eyes rise to mine, and I’m rewarded with the first smile from her in hours. I look at her, and I can’t even begin to grasp how Braelyn could ever think to compare herself to Paisley. Braelyn is cold, manipulative, and delusional. Paisley doesn’t have an ounce of any of those qualities.
“Your beautiful girl?”
“Yeah. You’re beautiful, and you’re mine.”
She closes the distance between us and wraps her arms around my neck. My hands automatically seek contact with her. I brush my fingers over her shoulders and down her back. They land on her waist, so I can pull her closer
to me.
“And are you mine?”
“Completely.”
I can feel her smile against my lips as she presses her mouth to mine. My tongue sneaks out, so I can get a quick taste. Slowly, her mouth moves with mine, and we pause the chaos for a minute to enjoy what we have between us. It’s easy to see through the woods when she’s by my side. Her lips taste like that fruity lip balm she loves. I reluctantly pull away from her lips.
The sun beats down on her face while I question her again, “You all right?”
“Yeah, I think I am. I came to terms with this weeks ago. My relationship with Braelyn wasn’t something that could be saved. But seeing her and talking to her is difficult. The second I saw the way you, Teagan, and Kai are with each other, I knew there was something off with my relationship with Braelyn. In all the years we were together, we never bonded. We weren’t a family like you all are. But we went through a lot together, and it’s hard to physically witness her showing her true colors. I wonder how I missed it for so long when I hear her talk, make excuses, and observe her clear disconnect from reality. Honestly, I feel a little stupid, looking back.”
“You shouldn’t feel stupid. You were loyal to someone who you thought deserved your loyalty. You two did go through a lot together. You thought that meant something. You can’t beat yourself up because she’s a sociopath. You have Kai and Teagan. They’ll always have your back. You have me, and I’m so fucking happy I have you.”
Paisley’s hand moves down to my waist. She circles her arms around me and smashes her face into my chest. Her grip is tight, which causes her body to mold against mine. I kiss her forehead and hold her a little tighter. She sniffles against me.
“You ready to learn how to shoot?”
She reluctantly breaks her hold of me and nods her head, and wipes the tears off her cheeks. I grab her hand, and we head out to the field to where Kai and I practice. Paisley nervously listens while I go over the basics. The gun isn’t even loaded while I show her how it works, but she bites her bottom lip, as if it could spontaneously go off at any second. I take time to explain each part and what it does. Then, I let her hold it, so she can get a feel for its weight. I load and unload the bullets a couple of times to show her and then let her try. She fumbles at first, but she eventually gets the hang of the pressure she needs to use so that the bullets don’t slip. I show her how to insert the magazine and chamber a bullet.
Vengeance in Bloom (The Love Unauthorized Series Book 2) Page 12