Chapter 114: Maddox

I rush over to Bryn and wrap my arm protectively around her.

“Take Henry upstairs,” I tell Nolan.

He’s too young to understand but Bryn is scared and she needs to feel safe. If she sees Henry she’ll get even more worried because she will see him as in danger as well. Although those are great motherly instincts, I know Bryn and she won’t take care of herself first. She’s no doubt running everything through her head and is scared like crazy. I want her to have a moment where she can feel vulnerable and afraid like any normal person would. Then I’ll be her rock and hold her tight as she battles those fears.

Once she’s worked through it we can bring Henry to her.

“Come on sweetheart. Let them handle this, you need to sit down.” I usher her into the living room.

Her eyes are still wide and her face is stuck in a combination of fear and shock. There is a vacant look in her eyes that has me worried, but maybe once the shock wears off that look will be gone. I help her to the couch and lower herself down before rushing off to the kitchen to grab her some water.

“No, I’m not leaving. Just have a few uniforms come here and pick this shit up. I can deal with it tomorrow once the lab runs some tests. I need to be here for my girl right now.” I hear Jaxon say into his phone.

He’s standing next to the box looking down at it like he expects it to stand up and run away. Sawyer is holding something in his hand that looks like a letter. I’m curious but I need to get this water to Bryn first. She’s sitting perfectly still and her eyes are looking off at nothing like she’s completely checked out. I can’t say ive witnessed many people experiencing shock, but I’m guessing it looks similar to this.

I decide to see what Sawyer found and give her a moment alone.

Sawyer is standing now and I see him looking at something else now. “What is it?”

He glances up at me and hands it over to me. “It was at the bottom of the box.”

I look down at what he’s handed to me and a chill runs through me. There’s a letter written in a messy way like the person was furious when they wrote it. I can barely make any of it out, but it is obviously some sort of threat. That isn’t what makes me nervous, it’s the photographs included with the letter. They seem to be taken from a distance. There are five or six of them and they’re all of Bryn. In one she’s walking into the bakery around the corner from us with her phone to her ear. She’s smiling and there is a slight pink tint to her cheeks.

A possessive rage flushes through me. Someone was watching her smile and blush while she was most likely talking to one of us. That intimate moment was shattered thanks to some sick asshole who thinks they have the right to see her like that.

The next photo makes me want to commit murder. It’s of Bryn standing by the window that is covered by the trees in our front yard, at least from the street. She’s wearing a pair of white panties and a matching bra under her silk robe. The whole thing was a present from Sawyer for the day she can be intimate with us again. Her hair is pulled back in a messy bun on top of her head and she’s looking out at the view with a small smile on her face and a mug of coffee in hand. She’s breathtaking, but to get this picture the person had to have been on our property.

That asshole watched her in her underwear when she thought she was alone. I sneer in disgust but move on to the next photo. Nausea hits me when I see her walking down the street with Henry wrapped up in his carrier against her chest.

Our son. The bastard not only took pictures of Bryn to threaten us but also our son. I don’t want to see any more, so I push them back toward Sawyer. He barely grabs them before they fall to the ground and shakes his head.

“This is insane. We need to set up even more security here.” He says.

“Yeah, thanks,” Jaxon says before finally ending his phone call. “A few uniforms are going to come and pick everything up. The lab will look for fingerprints or any kind of DNA. Hopefully the bastard was dumb enough to leave something behind that we can use to catch him.” He says with a sigh.

He runs a hand over his buzzed head and shakes it. “This is messed up. I mean anyone could take pictures of any of us, but the ones with Bryn in her room. That shit is not cool. We have to do something.”

I think about it for a second and something comes to mind. “We can replace the windows with one-way glass. Not the mirror kind they use for precincts but a different kind that would work on windows. Can we do something like that?”

“Hell yeah. I might know a guy.” Jaxon pulls his phone out again and walks off.

“This is my fault,” Sawyer says once he’s gone. “I should have left her alone. All those years I had pushed her away…I should never have pushed myself back into her life. All she wanted was to go to college, but I pushed her. I wanted her so badly that I didn’t think. My plan was always to go pro, and that would mean being in the spotlight. I should have thought about what that would mean for her but I didn’t. I was too fucking selfish!”

“Don't do that to yourself, man. You couldn’t have known this sort of thing would happen.” I squeeze him on the shoulder.

He drops his head back and squeezes his eyes shut like he’s in pain.

“I should have left her alone…now all I’m doing is putting her in danger.”

“No.” Both of our heads snap in the direction of the living room.

Bryn is standing there with tears in her eyes and she shakes her head.

“Baby, I’m so sorry.” Sawyer walks over to her and wraps his arms around her.

She closes her eyes and tears start to fall down her cheeks. “Don’t. This isn’t your fault.” She whispers.

He shakes his head. “It is. If I hadn’t-“

She pulls back and covers his mouth with her hand. “Don’t you dare Sawyer Beckett. Don’t talk about the possibility of us not being together. I loved you since we were kids and knew exactly where you would end up one day. Do you think I would marry you and have a family with you if I didn’t want to be here? I have been slammed in the media more than once, but I’ve made it through. We’ve made it through.” She glances my way and gives me a soft smile. “I don't regret any of it. Not if it means we’re together. So don’t do that.”

Sawyer drops his head and his whole body deflates before he pulls her back against his chest again. “Shit baby I’m scared. If anything happened to you it would kill me.”

It would kill me too. I can’t imagine a world where I don’t get to see Bryn’s beautiful face and listen to her soft voice. Not waking up to her wrapped in my arms…it would be a living nightmare.

“Henry’s asleep,” Nolan says as he walks down the stairs.

His eyes fall on Sawyer and Bryn and his brows furrow in concern. “What-“

Sawyer had set the letter and photos down when Bryn appeared so I grab them and hand them over to Nolan. He takes them and looks them over. A dark look crosses his face before he looks at me.

“Who the hell would do this? It can’t just be a crazy fan.” He says and I’m ready to agree with him.

A fan wouldn’t buy a camera that could take photos far enough away that Bryn wouldn’t see them. It doesn’t make sense.

“I don’t think its paparazzi either,” I mumble. “They wouldn’t do anything this elaborate. It would have been posted online.”

“There isn’t a threat of blackmail either. So what the hell are we dealing with?” He asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know, but we need to take care of this. Jaxon says he knows someone who can make the windows one way, but that doesn’t help with the times she’s out of the house.”

“It doesn’t. We need to leave now. She needs to be far away while the police try to find this guy. We’re leaving tonight.” He says before he walks over to Sawyer and Bryn.

She lets Sawyer go and walks into Nolan’s arms.

She looks so small right now, but she’s not weak. We can give her the space she needs to feel safe but I know my girl and she won’t take this lying down.