Page 33 of Forgotten Desires

“I never said I would.”

There is no fair in this, there is only my daughter’s future.

Brynn paces around the room. “This is crazy, you know that, right?”

“I know it’s extreme,” I admit. “I know that when these photos leak tomorrow, if we’re not announcing an engagement, the picture that Jacqueline is going to paint will only make things worse. I know that Layla is being hurt and I can’t fucking stop it. You saw the tears, Brynn. You were there.”

Her hand rests on the base of her throat, gripping the necklace pendant. “There’s no guarantee that this will work.”

She’s right. It could all end up where I lose anyway. But I need to keep this about Layla with Brynn. It’s Layla that she’s going to want to do this for. I hate using it. I hate using her, but there are choices about who to protect and my daughter will always come first. “It’s her best chance.”

“I need to think,” she says.

I shake my head. “I need an answer now. If we’re going to beat the story, it has to be tonight.”

“Tonight?” Her voice rises. “You’re asking something impossible!”

“Am I? I’m asking you to marry me. To be my wife and help me take a little girl who is innocent away from her horrible mother. I’m asking you to let me take care of you, give you whatever you want.”

Brynn moves her hand back and forth. “What I want? I want love. I want a husband, not a business arrangement. You talked about how horrible it was being married to her when there was nothing between you. Now you’re asking me to enter into the same thing?”

Maybe I’m tainted. Maybe because of the fucked-up relationships I’ve had my whole life, marriage never meant a damn thing to me. Most are a business arrangement in my circles, but Brynn isn’t from that world.

“You want the fairytale.”

Her brown eyes move to mine. “I’m not a little girl. I’ve met the Big Bad Wolf, and I thought I found a real boy once.” The sting hurts. I know I broke a part of her and I’ve never forgiven myself for that. “I also know true love, Crew. I’ve seen it on my brothers’ faces and I want it.”

“I won’t stop you from having it. We’ll get married and you give me a year to get Layla settled and get you back on your feet. And then I won’t stand in your way.”

“A year?” she asks.

“I figure it will be enough time that you’ll be recovered and I’ll have Layla fully established at home. A year will hopefully be enough to keep Jacqueline from trying to fight me again. I’m not tied to the timeline as much as the circumstances.” I could lie, put a contract in place where there is a firm timeline, but that seems unfair. If Brynn is willing to help, I won’t push it.

“So if it goes over a year, then what?”

I shrug. “Name your price.”

She lets out a soft laugh. “I wouldn’t be doing this for money, I’ve made that clear. It would be for Layla.”

“I understand that, but my money is yours, Brynlee. I won’t ask for a prenup. You can have it all if I have Layla.”

Her eyes widen. “Are you nuts?Of course we’ll have a prenup! I don’t want your money.”

The fact that she just said those words tells me she’s going to do it. I step toward her. “You’ll do it?”

Brynlee looks torn. “This may not work.”

“I know.”

“If you don’t get custody of Layla, then what?”

“I try again. I just ask that you stay with me until we have her.”

I wait, letting her think through whatever it is she needs to. I know Brynlee, maybe not as much now, but at the heart of her, she is selfless. She has a deep desire to help others, always sacrificing to make things better for another. Look at what she’s willing to do for a man who hurt her as a child, who hurt her mother and family. Even after all her father did, she’s willing to literally give him a part of herself. To put her own wants, hopes, and dreams to the side for someone who wouldn’t do the same for her.

Brynlee saves the people and things around her. It’s who she is, and it was a gamble to think she’d do this, but deep down, I knew she couldn’t let Layla hurt.

She sighs heavily, rubbing her temples. “I don’t want my brothers to know why.”

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