Chapter Forty-nine

Bram leaned against the counter, feeling awful. He didn’t want to scare her, and was afraid that now that he did, he would only make it worse by asking the questions he needed to ask. He felt completely out of it. Even Tyler had never had this kind of effect on him. He actually didn’t know what to do or how to act.

“Bram? May I ask you a personal question?” Izabella looked up at him with those innocent eyes of hers.

“Um, yes. You may ask, but I may decline to answer.” At least he had enough sense in him to be diplomatic.

She turned back around, sticking her hands back in the water and continued to wash the dishes. “Are you and Tyler in a relationship?” Bram choaked on his coffee, and she turned to look at him calmly. “I mean, you were both practically naked in bed. He was. I don’t care, I just feel like maybe that would have been something to mention before you kissed me and let me cry all over you two nights ago. I won’t be a home wrecker.”

“No.” Bram put his coffee down. “We do have a complicated past, and have been in a relationship before, but it wasn’t good for either of us. So, we let it go. We’re probably more open with each other than most because we stayed best friends and business partners. The only reason he was completely naked was because I couldn’t get any boxers on him without hurting him last night.” It was the truth, yet he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. He sighed, twisting his cup on the counter. “I’m more over it than he is. That home could never have happened.”

“What are you looking for then?” She asked, cocking her chin to the side.

Looking away, he shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

“May I be honest and tell you what I want?” She asked.

How could he do anything but nod. Honesty wasn’t something that happened often in his life. Her eyes carried a smile in them he couldn’t resist.

“I want to be happy. I want to see those around me happy. There is something dark in this city, and I don’t want to see those I care about getting stolen into the shadows. You have a lot of influence over the future. I just want this to be a place I’m happy raising my children.” She looked toward the stove. “I want Devon to be happy too. There’s something that bothers him, and he won’t talk about it. I’m sure you probably already know what it is… but he’s afraid sometimes.”

Bram tensed. Why would Devon be afraid? No. That wasn’t the question he should ask himself. Why would Devon not be afraid? He lived with a monster and knew it.

“Bram?” He looked up at her, unsure of how to answer. “I want to help.” As she opened her arms to him, he nearly dove in.

“You see it too then? He is afraid of me.” Bram sighed, lifting his coffee cup to his lips. More for something to do than actually wanting a drink. If it weren’t so early, he would consider pouring himself a whiskey. But she gave him a hard time about that yesterday already. “Will you come sit with me in the living room while Devon is busy? I’d like to talk about something if you don’t mind.”

Nodding, she poured herself another cup of coffee and followed him. Each of them took a seat on the couch. Bram rested his arm on the back, stretching his legs out in front of him. Izabella sat on the other side, curling her feet up and under her. “Should I be concerned about anything? I mean, a lot has happened over the course of the few days I’ve been with you.” Bram frowned. He didn’t know how to answer that question. She was right, a lot had happened.

“Izabella, how much do you know about DAS?” He looked at her seriously.

She bit at her lip nervously. “Did you know that orphans have been a major target for many years. People buy them for their own perverse and terrifying reasons. And it isn’t limited to sex trafficking either. I was a victim of it. I know you are at least a little aware, as Devon was a victim of it also.” When her eyes met his again, there were tears shining in them. He said nothing in response. Waiting for her to continue. “A year ago, the list of missing children from the orphanages actual increased by twenty percent. I think it ended up having a lot to do with a foundation that had recently been created. At face value, they look like they’re doing everything they can to help, but their numbers don’t add up. I’ve been watching them, and nothing they do seems to be for the children. The money they take in doesn’t get distributed to the orphanages. Just a month or two ago, I was volunteering at St. Mary’s orphanage, and stayed there with them for a few weeks. Do you know they didn’t have milk for the children to drink? They lived off water, and if they wanted cereal, they mixed dehydrated milk with water. Considering there’s a huge foundation that has taken in millions this year, can you tell me why this happening?”

“I can’t. I may have started the foundation, but I haven’t delt with it a lot. I hired people to take care of it, but clearly they’re not doing what they were supposed to. I’ll have to start paying more attention to what they’re up to.” Bram looked away. He had wanted to help, and only made everything worse for the poor kids. He gave them a legal way to clean the cash and wrap it back into the system. Just not the one they were supposed to wrap it back into.

She moved closer until her knees were nearly touching his leg and whispered. “I think your organization is doing something very dangerous. After these last few days, I don’t believe you’ve had a hand in it. You’ve just been turning a blind eye instead. And I almost understand. It’s not easy to admit when something like that is happening, and you clearly have a lot on your plate. But I can’t believe that you had no idea. I have some proof of what has been going on. They’re selling children, but I don’t know to whom or why, I just can’t believe it’s for anything good.”

“I just found that out yesterday.”

“When Tyler was attacked.” She stared at him. “I had so many questions. Tyler was clearly in a bad state when you brought him back. And though you didn’t tell me what you had been doing, you were clearly covered in blood. I could smell it. I kept trying to understand what happened, and why you wouldn’t have brought him to the hospital. But he looked a million times better this morning. Though I only saw him for a moment. The two of you are clearly keeping some major secrets. And, as I promised, I’m not going to ask you questions about it, but I want you to know, that I am watching. I want to help you. But I can’t do that unless you decide you’re going to be honest with me.”

Bram’s hand reached out, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “I want to. I know you have a lot of questions, but I can’t really share those secrets with you.” His hand paused before caressing her cheek. “Have you actually talked with people at the foundation?”

“I have.” Her fingers touched his hand, sliding down. “I went there and made a bit of a scene. It happened right after I learned that there were major sales going through. I wanted to try to make a difference, but I was tossed out really fast.” Bram’s other hand reached out, touching her waist. “That’s why I got nervous when you said that we could shadow people there. I’m pretty sure they aren’t fond of me.”

“We might still do that.” He smiled, putting a little presser on her to come closer. “The president of the foundation had an accident last night, so I’m going to have to focus on replacing her soon. So, I’m going to have to spend a good chuck of time there. I just want to get through Devon’s birthday first.”

“You are a really great dad.” Her hand touched his jaw line, both of them leaning in further. “May I kiss you?”