Men In Control (Smith Brothers Complete Series)

by Brenda Ford

  Someone is bashing on the door, I’m sure of it. The sound is so loud, it’s absolutely deafening. As I prop up on to my elbows, I can see that Seth has his hands over his ears, but I want to hear every part of it. To me, this is a good sign. This is someone else from the outside world getting in and ending this nightmare at long last. A happy tear rolls down my cheek. This time I want to scream, but it’s a sound of joy.

  “Police!” Finally, the door comes off its hinges and armed police officers burst into the room. “Freeze.”

  Relief floods me and I tumble to the ground, my knees hitting it hard, and I hold my hands up high in a surrendering gesture. I assume they don’t think that I’m the one causing issues, but I need to be safe. I dart my eyes backwards to see Seth slowly uncurling and following my lead which calms me down a lot. At least he isn’t catatonic. This could be really affecting him more than I could even think of.

  “What the fuck?” Dad yells as one of the officers wrestles him to the ground, knocking the knife out of his hand. Another couple of pouches of the same white powder scatter across the floor. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve just come here to get what’s mine. That bitch has money belonging to me.”

  I don’t care what’s going on with Dad now. He can say whatever he wants about me, the cops will soon know the truth about everything once I give my statement. I don’t know what it will do, but I’m hoping that my father ends up in jail for it. He should get some time for torturing us like he has.

  But right now, I need to get to Seth. My poor little tormented brother needs me, and I need him as well. We have a shared trauma now that will connect us deeply forever. Only he will understand this like I do.

  “Oh my God, Seth.” I pull him in to my arms and hold him. “Are you okay? Stupid question. Of course you aren’t okay. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want you to ever end up in danger.”

  “Why…” He’s sobbing now. The flood gates of tears have finally opened. “Why is Dad like that?”

  “I wish that I could answer that for you,” I reply sadly. “But I have no idea. Some people are just bad.”

  “Like those girls were to you?” He tilts his little eyes up to look at me. “They were bad, weren’t they?”

  “You… you aren’t supposed to know about that.” I feel sick to my stomach. “But yes, they were bad too.”

  “You cried all the time,” he replies. The emotion thick on his tongue. “I wanted to know why, so I listened in while you were talking to Mom about them bullying you. And Dad is a bully too.”

  We hold one another and both weep as the police take Dad away. A couple of officers stay behind for us to give our statement, which is when they bring in Auntie Amelia, Rosie, and Oliver too. It’s hard not to crumble in to a puddle of mess when I see them all, but I need to keep myself stitched up for a little while longer, because I need my statement to cover everything that happened, including me nearly losing my life.

  I avoid everyone’s eyes as I talk, focusing solely on my words instead. I make sure they know all about everything. The drugs, the weapon, the threats, the need for Mom’s money… The officers feel bad for me, I can tell, but I don’t need sympathy now. I just need some kind of justice to help me out.

  Afterwards, a paramedic checks me over as well. He would prefer me to go to the hospital, but I decline. I feel okay and I don’t want to be seen by doctors, I want to remain here where I feel safe. I simply have to promise him that I will go to the hospital if I notice anything different because it might be a sign of internal damage. But I don’t think there is going to be. Through everything I experience, all was surface stuff.

  “Okay, well that is great for an initial statement,” Finally, they stand up to leave. “And the crime scene photographers have got images of everything they need to. I don’t think we need anything else from you right now, but we will be back in touch if that changes. Thank you very much, Ellie.”

  As soon as they head for the door, Auntie Amelia embraces me. I can tell by the way that her shoulders are shaking that she’s weeping. She’s sad that she couldn’t help more, I can feel it. I know what she’s like. She will blame herself for a long time to come. I won’t though. This is no one’s fault but his. He did all of it.

  “Thank you for saving me,” I whisper to her. “Thank you for coming here. I appreciate it. All of it.”

  “Oliver brought me and Rosie here. He’s the one who saved you really. If it wasn’t for him…”

  “I don’t want to think about it,” I jump in quickly. “It’s unbearable. I can’t believe that happened.”

  “He’s such a scum bag. I can’t believe how low he has sunk. He has always been a bad person but that is on another level. Coming to you for money. Thinking of the money after your mother died. He’s disgusting. An absolute pig. I want to tear his head off his neck… he’s just lucky to be in jail right now.”

  I open my mouth, almost about to ask her about all of the things that Dad said about Mom. The drugs stuff mostly, but then I shut my mouth rapidly. I make the decision that it doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant. I don’t need to know every side of her. I can just be happy with knowing what I did know. I don’t want her memory tainted.

  “Oh God, Ellie.” Rosie takes me from her mom, so Auntie Amelia head straight for Seth. “That was horrible. We were outside that door and I had no idea what was going on. We could sort of hear things but not much and we were so scared. We didn’t know if you were sick or whatever. It was horrible.”

  “It wasn’t too great in here either,” I reply in a teasing tone. “But I’m sorry about it all.”

  “Don’t you apologize! He was the one who did something wrong. That man… I have no words.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper, growing all emotional all over again. “For everything.”

  “Don’t thank me, thank Oliver. He’s the hero here.” Wow, she really doesn’t look mad as she says this. Was she serious about all the stuff that she said before? Is she really letting Oliver go romantically? “He really cares about you, more than you know. Which is why I told him to be with you.”

  “No, I already said that I can’t,” I shoot back, trying to forget the fact that we slept together after I made this decision. “Because I can’t hurt you. You are my family and I need you. If today hasn’t shown me that…”

  “I don’t like Oliver in that way.” She shakes her head to highlight her point, but I don’t know if she’s telling the whole truth or not. “I don’t think that I ever did really. I just projected feelings on to him because of me and Tristan ending and Oliver being such a nice guy… but he isn’t the one for me. You two suit much better.”

  “I’m too young for him. You said it yourself, Rosie, and you’re right. I should have listened.”

  “Who cares about age? No one does when it comes to love. Stop making excuses and just be happy already.”

  She gives me a genuine smile which fills me with joy. She really does mean this. Rosie is finally giving me and Oliver the green light which is awesome because it means that if I want to, I can have him and my family at the same time. I have already lost too many people; I don’t want to lose anymore.

  “Look at him.” Rosie spins me around and rests her hands on my shoulders. “Standing in the corner by himself, waiting for you. He’s the hero, the man that you are supposed to be with, so go get him already.”

  She shoves me forwards slightly forcing me to make the decision for me, but that’s okay because I want to go anyway. I continue moving until I end up standing by his side, giving him a coy smile.

  “You’re my hero,” I whisper. “You saved me. Thank you so much.”

  “Why are you thanking me?” He embraces me right away. “You saved yourself by sending me that message, letting me know that you were in danger. If you hadn’t been so brave, then I might not have guessed.”

  I slip my fingers through his and hold his hands. We stare at one another with our hands hanging loosely between us, just sm
iling. His grin is soft and sweet. It makes me fall for him all over again. Having Rosie completely okay with me and him makes it even more exciting to be standing with him now. I have gone from such shock and terror all the way to sheer happiness in such a short space of time. Because of him.

  “You were so brave, Ellie,” he says quietly. “I can’t believe you went through all of that. I was listening to your statement. It was just harrowing. I feel so bad for you. But you seem okay.”

  “Me and Seth made it out the other side, it’s fine. We’re fine. To be honest, we probably should have expected something like this to happen. That’s the sort of man my father is. So, let’s hope he gets locked up.”

  “Oh, we will make sure of it!” he insists. “Don’t you worry about that. I have fallen head over heels in love with you which makes it my duty to take care of you, no matter what happens.”

  “You… you love me?” I gasp out. “Are you serious?” He wiggles his eyebrows playfully. “Because I love you too. I know I do. I just can’t believe that you feel the same way. That’s so crazy and amazing.”

  “Well, I do.” His hands tighten around my waist. “And I’m sorry for not saying it sooner and acting like a complete idiot instead. But if you can forgive me, then I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

  “The rest of your life, huh? Wow… I love the sound of that. It’s a long time though.”

  He dips his head down and gently presses his lips to mine, sealing my future with the tingling graze of his mouth. I press up on to my tip toes so I can kiss him back, deepening our connection. Finally, it’s going to be me and him forever. We’ve tried fighting it and that hasn’t exactly worked out, so now it’s time to embrace it instead. Really feel our love and to just explore one another. I have gone from the worst day of my life to the best, which just shows how much of a roller coaster love can be. Now, it’s time for me to start enjoying the ride.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Oliver

  Waking up in Ellie’s bed always feels so incredible. Even though it’s smaller than the bed that I have at home and the mattress is slightly less comfortable, none of that matters because I have her in my arms. I stayed here the night after she had all that drama with her father, and I haven’t left yet. She doesn’t want to be alone; she doesn’t quite feel safe yet despite her father being locked away, and I’m more than happy to comply.

  But this morning, it doesn’t feel as great and it takes me a couple of moments to work out why. As I stretch my arms across the bed, I realize that I am alone. The other side of the bed is cold too which means that she has been gone for a while. As far as I know she isn’t working today and Marie isn’t coming around, so why isn’t she having a lie in with me? We love waking up in one another’s arms, it’s absolutely everything I want.

  Ah, unless Seth got up early and woke her up. Sometimes, she gets up with him and lets me sleep in. Occasionally, if Seth comes to me first, I do the same for her. Obviously, he tends to go for her first, but we have a good bond here. He’s warming to me more than I ever thought possible. I assumed that after his father ruined him, sending him to endless therapy sessions, he wouldn’t warm to another person, but thankfully I was wrong.

  I sigh and smile to myself, so grateful with the way that things have worked out. Everything inside of me is so much better now. Having Ellie by my side makes me brighter and happier, more open and willing to do new things. I’m more productive at work, which makes Brad a lot more proud of me as well, and everything is brighter. She really is good for me; I can’t believe that I almost turned my back on the best thing to ever happen to me. Just because of her age as well. How stupid would that have been? It’s more simple knowing that Rosie is on our side too, and she’s really kept to her promise. She’s kept her distance but been around us whenever we have needed her. She’s still single at the moment and working on herself, loving herself so that she will make better choices in the future. I’m happy for my friend, glad that she’s finally in a good mind set. Moving forwards in a positive direction. I’m sure that wherever she goes next, life will be good to her.

  Everything is absolutely perfect. It would be a million times better if Ellie was still in bed right now, but I can’t have everything I suppose. She has gotten up for a reason which means it’s time for me to do the same. I pull my aching body off the mattress, stretching and fully waking up as I do.

  “Ellie?” I call out as I pad slowly across the apartment. “Seth? Where is everyone?”

  I find Seth in the living room with the cartoons playing loudly on the TV. He turns and half nods at me before returning to his bowl of cereal. It doesn’t matter what Seth is doing, I always make an effort to speak to him. Just in case there is anything he wants to discuss that he can’t do with family. It hasn’t happened yet, but it might.

  “How are you doing, buddy?” I ask him while resting a hand on his shoulder. “Good night of sleep?”

  “Mhmm.” He barely bothers to drag his eyes off the screen. “You?”

  “Yes, I did, thank you for asking. Are you looking forward to school today?”

  “I can’t wait to see my friend, Josh.” All of a sudden, he becomes incredibly animated. “He got a new space ship for his birthday, and he’s going to bring it in to school to show me which will be very exciting.”

  “Oh wow, that sounds amazing, buddy. I like a good space ship as well. Maybe over the weekend we can go to the science museum and see what space things they have there. They might have a really cool collection.”

  “I would like that. Thank you, Oliver. I love space ships and the moon!”

  When he gives me a grateful smile, my heart swells with joy. He is such a delightful kid and he honestly deserves the best out of life. Thankfully now he has me, Ellie, Rosie, and Amelia all working to make that happen.

  “Where is Ellie?” I ask him, wondering why she hasn’t made her presence known yet. “Has she gone out?”

  “She’s in the bathroom,” he replies without much weight. “She’s been there for a while.”

  My instinctive reaction is that she’s sick which of course worries me. I can’t help panicking and being over protective of her. After everything, it’s a natural reaction, right? At least, I hope so.

  “I’m just going to check on her.” I leap up quickly. “I will see you in a moment.”

  Seth has turned off to me now, he’s lost in the cartoon all over again, so I hurry myself towards the bathroom and I bang on the door. Every time that I’m on the other side of the door to Ellie, it brings back that horrible terrifying sensation I felt when she was locked inside this very apartment. Sometimes I wonder how she stays here with all those horrible memories clinging to the walls, but she says that she is okay, and I believe her. I hope that she can open up to me enough to tell me if that isn’t the case. I would think so by now.

  “Ellie?” I call out to her, shaking all over. “Are you okay? Are you sick or something? Can I help?”

  “Yeah, I’m good, come in,” she croaks back. “Sorry I should have yelled you.”

  I shove the door open and find her inside on the floor, resting her palms on the cold tiles. She’s pale as all hell and looks ill. She must have been throwing up because there is a green tinge to her face.

  “Oh my God.” I collapse on the floor next to her. “What’s going on? You are ill!”

  “No, no, I’m not.” She shakes her head fast. “Not sick. Don’t worry. You don’t need to panic.”

  She reaches out and softly drags her fingers down my cheeks. I shiver under the magical power of her touch, even now after all this time together she has the ability to make me tingle and send me wild. That intense chemistry still rockets between us, only growing rather than depleting over time.

  “Oh, Oliver, you wonderful man. What would I do without you?”

  I don’t quite know what’s going on here, I’m not sure if this is the sickness talking or if she’s over the moon, but it feels nice to hea
r her saying these sweet words to me. She’s making me feel very special.

  “You don’t ever have to find out,” I insist. “I hope I have proven to you that I’m always here.”

  “I’m glad you said that.” She reaches behind herself and pulls out a strange white plastic stick thing that she hands over to me. “Because the reason I’m hanging out in the bathroom is because I just got some news. I kinda suspected for a while because… well, you know, the usual signs. I was late, feeling nauseous, dizzy all the time… just not like me. I figured that I would do a test to block out the idea really, to prove myself wrong, but that didn’t quite happen.” She pauses and sucks in a deep breath. “So yeah, here we are. What do you think…?”

  “What are you talking about?” I plead. “What’s going on here? Should I be worried?”

  “Can’t you see that?” She takes the stick and twists it around to show it to me. “The blue cross.”

  “Am I supposed to know what that means?” I stare at her. “Am I being totally naïve here?”

  “Oh God,” she groans. “That isn’t a good sign. It means I’m pregnant, Oliver. We’re having a baby.”

  Pregnant… baby… Those words swim around in my brain, but they take a little moment to settle in and make sense. I obviously know what they all mean but fitting in the jigsaw pieces and connecting them with me is the hard part. “Are… are you for real?” I gasp, slowly building the excitement. “We’re going to have a baby?”

  She giggles and nods, but I can clearly see the emotional tears in her eyes which I can feel welling up in me at the same time. This is amazing news; I absolutely love it. I haven’t ever thought about having kids with anyone else, but with Ellie it’s perfect. The idea of growing our family is everything to me.

  “Are you scared?” she asks me. “Or excited by the idea? I’m a bit of both.”

  “A bit of both too, but mostly I’m over the moon.”