“And you believed the lying bastard?” I spit out, trying not to laugh. It’s not funny, but maybe laughing at the ridiculousness of this situation is the right way to deal with it. I mean, my birth mother is married to the man who wants to hurt Elle, the very woman who is now a huge part of my very f**king soul. And my birth father, Michael Evans, is corrupt as the day is long and filled Sylvia’s ear with more lies to cover his own ass. That man has balls the size of watermelons, I swear to god.
“Unfortunately, at that time I didn’t have a choice, Brax,” she answers sadly. “He was promising me the world as soon as he could leave his wife. After two years of midnight visits and increasingly absent phone calls, I’d had enough. I told him that I was leaving and that you and I were going to make a better life somewhere away from him. He lost it, threatening to tell everyone about our affair, and that he’d take you away from me. I couldn’t deal with that. I didn’t want him to tar you with his dirty brush, so I did the next best thing I could. I put you into the foster care system without Evan’s knowledge and skipped town.”
I look up at her. Her blue eyes that are full of sadness are also full of love. I know that look anywhere because it’s what I see in Elle’s eyes every time I look at her. And that is when it hits me. Sylvia giving me up was the best thing she could have done for me. I would never have been adopted by Leah and Roger, and I would have ended up in the same predicament as Devon, or worse.
‘I get it now. You did what you thought was the best for me at the time. And I was lucky. Leah & Roger James walking into that foster home turned out to be the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me. Until I met Elle, of course.” I look down at our entwined hands and lift them up, gently kissing the back of her hand as it clutches mine. “Maybe at some stage, I’d love to know how you ended up with an ass**le like Harry Brimstone, but I think we’ve had enough of this girly shit for one day. How about we talk about the pink elephant in the room?”
“And that would be?” Elle says, raising her brow.
“What restaurant we’re going to for dinner,” I reply with a grin, leaning down and kissing her forehead.
I look over at Sylvia and take a deep breath, preparing myself for what I’m about to say.
“Sylvia, I appreciate your honesty, and I know that you’re an important part of Elle’s life. I’d like to find out more eventually, but it needs to be on my terms. One step at a time.”
She smiles back at me through her tears. “I’d like that, Brax. I really would like that,” she nods through her tears.
“Oh, Aunt Sylvie, don’t be sad. He truly is the most thoughtful, protective, and loving man I’ve ever met. I love him more than anything,” Elle says, rising to her feet and leaning over to Sylvia, enveloping her in a hug.
I can’t help but smile. My beautiful Elle, whose life has already been filled with heartache and tragedy, has just helped two of her favorite people in the world take a big step towards closure.
Damn, this girl is the best thing that ever happened to me.
17
It has been five weeks since I was shot in my bed, in my apartment. Five weeks since the safe self-contained bubble I thought I was living in was obliterated. I’ve gone from being in domesticated bliss, to having my heart ripped out, then being shot at. Now I’m back on an even playing field. Brax is back in my life, and he’s made all of the pain and heartache he put me through disappear. Despite the emotional turmoil I’ve been through in the past few weeks, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve come out the other side a better person, albeit with my eyes opened a little wider.
Brax has totally opened himself up to me now. There are no more lies between us, he’s promised me that, and after everything we’ve been through I believe him. We’ve now got Devon added into our little unconventional family mix. Along with Shay, and yes, even Aunt Sylvie, we’re united against whatever threats we still may face.
I woke up this morning, excited to be returning back to school. I’ve been doing work from home just to keep up my GPA, and I have a couple of finals to make up, but overall I’m still on track, amazingly.
Rolling over in bed, I find Brax is not there. I can smell the delicious aroma of coffee filling the apartment. I swing my legs out of bed, put on my silk bath robe, and wander into the kitchen, finding a shirtless Brax pouring two coffees for us.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he says, not turning around. Talk about having a sixth sense.
“Morning,” I reply, still wiping the sleep from my eyes and getting my bearings. Early starts like this are going to take some getting used to, considering I haven’t used my alarm clock for six weeks. I reach my arms around him, giving his bare shoulder a light kiss before grabbing my cup and pulling it around him.
“I think I’ll keep you around,” I say with a grin.
“Is that so? I’ll have you know I have many other uses too,” he says with a smirk.
“I recall you showing me your other uses last night,” I say quietly against my steaming hot coffee cup.
“What was that? You enjoyed the use of my what?”
“Braxton James! I hope you don’t kiss your mother with that mouth! Oh, shit!” I say mortified.
His smile falls. “Hey, it’s okay. Sylvia and I may have a long road ahead of us, but we’ve made the first step, right? And it’s all because of you,” he says, walking towards me and kissing my temple.
“Yeah, you have, and I couldn’t have been more proud of you, babe.”
He smiles that panty dropping smile of his. The one that is huge, cute as hell, and tells you that he wants to devour you.
“Wanna show me how proud?” he asks.
“As much as I’d love that, I have class in an hour, and I need to have a shower. So, save that thought for after class and we’ll discuss the finer points then.” I put my cup down on the counter and put my hands on his shoulders, reaching up on my toes to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “And yes, I’m locking the shower door,” I add with a wink before turning away and heading towards the bedroom.
“Damn door locks,” I hear him mutter behind me.
The end of class can’t come quick enough.
That girl is my undoing every time. I’ve yet to tell her of my plans to follow her to school today. Even though Harry Brimstone has been arrested, we still don’t know what the deal is. Until we know any different, we need to be vigilant and make sure Elle is covered at all times.