Chapter Seventy
Jackson
Teddy’s grin stays stretched across his face like it’s pulled too tight. I watch him close the lock on the door with hands that keep jerking like he’s fighting invisible static running under his skin. Every instinct in me goes sharp because something in this room just shifted and Brooklyn feels it too since she’s still standing frozen beside the couch with her fingers curled like she’s trying not to show the shake she can’t hide from me.
I stand up slowly, keeping my cover tightly in place even though my pulse kicks up hard, and I look Teddy over because he looks like somebody wound him up too far and then let go.
“Good news,” Teddy says, breathless and pleased, and there’s something so wrong in the way he says it that the back of my neck prickles.
Brooklyn whispers “Oh God” so quietly I’m not sure anyone but me hears it, and I feel her fear slide right under my ribs.
I keep a lazy half-grin on my mouth as I ask, “What kind of news, man?”
Teddy doesn’t answer because someone knocks on the door again, and this time the sound is slow and heavy and full. Teddy’s grin snaps wider like he’s been waiting for it and his whole body lights up with the kind of excitement that only comes from fear mixed with relief, and when he opens the door, every thought in my head goes quiet for a second.
Because Grant Holloway walks inside.
Not just one of his men.
Grant.
He steps over the threshold like the room belongs to him and the air changes the moment his boots hit the floor because Grant carries the kind of presence that fills every corner without trying, and Brooklyn stops breathing when she sees him, her spine locking straight, her eyes going wide and hollow like she’s staring through a nightmare she thought she outran.
He looks at her first.
Of course he does.
His mouth curls slowly, amused and cruel, like he’s looking at a pet that wandered too far from home, and he tilts his head while his eyes run over her face.
“Well,” Grant says, voice warm like poison. “There’s my little bird.”
Brooklyn flinches so hard I feel it from across the room.
Teddy stands stiff beside him, rubbing his hands together like he can’t decide whether he’s proud or terrified, and when Grant steps toward Brooklyn, she backs up instinctively, not far, just an inch, but Grant sees it and smiles like she just gave him a gift.
He reaches her in two slow steps, then grabs her face in one hand, not gentle, not rough enough to bruise immediately, but tight enough to tell everyone in the room that this girl belongs to him in ways that make my blood boil.
She gasps quietly, her fingers wrapping around his wrist without pulling because she can’t pull, not from him, not with the memories clawing up her throat, and I move one step forward before I catch myself and force my cover back into place, Monroe taking over my body like a second skin.
Grant angles her face up, studying every inch of her like he’s checking that she’s real.
“I’ve missed this one,” he murmurs. “Always trying to run, always trying to pretend she isn’t mine, always thinking she could disappear.”
Brooklyn’s eyes start watering, not from pain but from memory, and she whispers, “Let go,” even though she knows he won’t.
Grant laughs, low and warm. “You’re shaking, little bird.”
I feel my hands curl into fists before I force them loose again because I can’t break character, not yet.
Grant finally turns toward Teddy. “You didn’t tell me you had her here.”
Teddy looks panicked and proud at the same time. “She showed up, man, I swear, I didn’t know she was gonna be here, I didn’t call her, she walked in on her own.”
Grant’s eyes narrow like he doesn’t believe a word of it, then he turns to me and looks me up and down.
“And who’s this?”
Teddy jumps in fast, desperate. “That’s Monroe, boss, he’s solid, he’s handled work for me before, he’s good money, dependable.”
Grant doesn’t take his eyes off me. “You vouch for him.”
Teddy nods so hard he almost loses balance. “Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent.”
Grant steps toward me slowly, looking at me the way a man looks at an animal he might want to buy or kill, and I settle fully into my cover, even though under the act my heart is pounding because this is the man who hurt Brooklyn for years and hunted her across a mountain.
“What kind of work,” Grant asks, voice smooth.
I shrug casually. “Depends on what you need.”
Grant’s eyes flick to Brooklyn. “You ever handled product like her?”
Brooklyn stiffens.
Teddy watches me nervously, but I just smirk not giving anything away.
“Yeah,” I say easily, “the last one was a wild one, man, and I’m always open to seeing what else is on offer, if the price is right.”
Grant studies me harder, trying to decide if I’m worth his time, and I can feel Brooklyn’s panic rising because she thinks I’m giving him ideas when really I’m trying to keep his attention off the fact that I’m here for her.
Grant moves closer, so close I can smell the cold on his jacket. “If you lie to me, I’ll know.”
I nod once. “Wouldn’t waste your time.”
Grant glances at Teddy. “He better be what you say he is.”
Teddy nods fast again. “He is, boss, he’s solid.”
I’m honestly surprised that Teddy is vouching for me, but I guess for him the alternative could be worse.
And Grant doesn’t care because he’s already made up his mind.
He looks back at Brooklyn, all the warmth draining out of his face, leaving something flat and dangerous as he spits, “You’re coming with me.”
She chokes on a small sound that breaks something inside me.
She violently shakes her head back and forth, her eyes flicking around all over the place, looking for someone to step in.
I want to, desperately, but so know that now is not the time.
She must realize this too because I watch as she steels her spine and lifts her chin in defiance, ignoring his hand on her as she growls, “I’m not,” in return.
Grant’s grip tightens on her face until pain flashes across her features. “You are.”
Before I can move, he yanks her toward him like she weighs nothing, her feet stumbling over the floor as she tries to catch her balance, and I take a step forward without thinking.
Grant snaps his head toward me, fire in his eyes as he snarls, “You got a problem with that?”
I force my cover back over my bones like armor and give him a shake of my head. “Nah,” I say lightly. “If you’re taking her, I’m coming. I want to see the rest of what you’ve got.”
Grant watches me for a long moment, his distrust evident and I think he’s going to deny me but then he gives me a slow nod, his voice low and cold as he barks, “Fine. You ride with us and if you try anything stupid, you’ll die first.”
“I’ll keep my hands to myself unless you say different,” I answer.
Grant drags Brooklyn toward the door, his hand wrapped around her arm now, not her face, but the grip isn’t any kinder and she stumbles again because she’s shaking so hard her knees barely hold, her earlier resolve having crumbled under his harshness.
I follow them down the hall, my steps slow and steady, while inside my real thoughts are drenched in fury because her breathing sounds wet and broken, and she keeps her free hand near her stomach instinctively, hiding her pregnancy even though Grant isn’t looking there yet.
The stairwell smells like cold concrete and there are three or Grant’s men waiting at the bottom. They all stare, watching Brooklyn like she’s a prize wrapped in fear. One opens the back door of the black SUV without being told, his eyes not once leaving her.
Grant shoves Brooklyn inside first and she hits the seat and curls slightly, her arms wrapping around herself.
I climb in right after her, taking the space beside her so Grant can’t, and one of his men slides in on her other side.
Grant sits in the front passenger seat.
Teddy doesn’t come with us, Grant didn’t invite him.
The doors close with heavy thuds and the engine starts just and I feel the steady movement of the tires rolling over asphalt as the SUV pulls into the night.
Brooklyn’s breath shakes so hard she can’t steady it, and I sit close enough that she can feel my body heat without me having to touch her. I keep a bored expression on my face, even though inside I’m already planning every possible way to get her out of this vehicle alive.
She keeps her eyes on me, wide and terrified, silently asking if I’m really here, if I’m really staying, if I’m really going wherever Grant takes her.
I give her one slow nod and her breath hitches again.
The city lights blur past the windows as we drive farther into the dark, and the whole car feels like it’s closing in. I can feel the danger locking around us from every direction, but I’m right beside her, and I’m not leaving this vehicle without her.
Not tonight.
Not ever.
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