Page 22 of Culmination
Fuck. This was just supposed to be another job. The final task to bring down Theo Morningstar once and for all. I wasn’t supposed to find Brie. Or fall in love with her. Fuck, the last thing I should’ve ever done is get her pregnant.
Yet, deep down, part of me wonders if this hasn’t all worked out in some sort of fucked-up cosmic plan. Because from the moment I laid eyes on my woman—vulnerable, tears spilling down her pale cheeks, brown eyes wide, frightened, begging for protection—I’ve been a goner for her. The sight of her sitting on that counter, used, discarded, I knew.
I knew she’d be mine and I’d stop at nothing to make it so.
Planting a baby in her was one hell of a way to do that.
And, now, it’s not just Brie I have to protect. It’s our son. Or daughter. So every second we’re apart is agony.
As I pull up to the Basilica and hop out of the car, anxious to get to her, a sleek, black Mercedes careens past me in the opposite direction. The windows sport an illegal tint, so dark that I can’t see through them, but a feeling of foreboding washes over me and I know, just know, that has to be him. But when I check the screen on my phone, the dot hasn’t moved.
Relief washes over me. Foreboding or not, Brie’s still inside the church. I just pray to God she’s safe and sound—and that I have the patience not to wring her neck the moment I’m assured of the first two.
Not that she’ll be happy with me when I find her. I know she’ll be absolutely livid for this, but I had the tracker enabled on her new phone when we picked it up after leaving the hospital. After what happened with Adrian before, I refuse to risk ever not knowing where she is again. Not while she’s carrying my baby. Not while she’s mine. Since the first won’t change anytime soon and the latterneverwill, she’ll just have to get used to it.
My efforts are futile, because for all the good it does me, my gorgeous, infuriating, intuitive Brie knows me all too fucking well. My boots barely hit the pavement as I jog up the steps to the church and pull the double doors open, the sound of metal springs echoing in the entryway. My footsteps echo across the wooden floor leading me into the sanctuary, and then I stop in my tracks.
Brie’s not here.
Hundreds of candles emit a soft glow that reflects off the colored stained-glass windowpanes, making the eerie silence feel all that more foreboding. I dart my gaze around only to see that the room is entirely empty. Not a soul in sight, not a sound to be heard. With wooden steps, I walk towards the front row, already knowing what I’m going to find. Already cursing her out in my mind for being so damn stubborn, so damn foolish.
And when I find her cell phone on a pew, I nearly lose my mind. I snatch it up and curl a fist around it, barely suppressing the urge to hurl it across the sanctuary.
What the fuck is wrong with her? Did his kidnapping her once before not show her his lunacy?
Fear sets in, so fierce that I nearly stumble back in anguish.
When he took her before, listening to her drown—or so I thought—her life flashed before my eyes.Ourlife together flashed before my eyes. Unfathomable, abject terror twisted inside me like supernatural vines squeezing against my heart, the very breath escaping me as I imagined it was escaping from Brie.
That was before. That was before I let myself picture a future with her. A family with her. That was before she dug in so deep, entwining herself around my heart until I had no chance of escape. Not that I wanted one. But the first time, I hadn’t completely lost myself to her. Not like I have ever since she left the hospital. Ever since I had a glimpse of what life would be like without her.
Now? Knowing she’s gone willingly, that I could not only lose her to him again, but lose her heart? To the one man…the one fucking man who actually has the power to love her as much as I do?
I’ve never been more fucking terrified of anything in my life.
I’m unraveling, and if I don’t find her soon, I may combust.
If Morningstar has hurt one hair on her head, I’ll kill him myself.
Whether he’s my brother or not.
And if he’s wormed his way back into her heart, he better be ready for the fight of his fucking life. Because when it comes to Brie, for the first time in my life, I’ll hang up every inch of moral fiber and sink to the depths of the underground, fighting dirty with fire and fury if I have to.
She’s mine. Nothing—and no one—else fucking matters.
And nothing—and no one—will stand in my way.
TAKING GABRIELLA TO MYsecretly rented apartment in the city is probably a mistake. Still, Matthews is likely hot on our heels and I must have a chance to explain everything to her before he comes bursting in like the knight in shining armor he so desperately wants to be. God, why did my father have to sendhimof all people? Couldn’t he see what was right in front of him? Rafe Matthews has always wanted what’s mine. So for Father to dangle Gabriella right under his nose…
That’s when it hits me.
Of course. This was his plan all along. Just one more way for him to exercise his control. To show me that there’s no way out and he’ll do anything in his power—including taking my woman from me—to keep me in check.
I nearly scoff at the absurdity of it all when Gabriella’s throat clears from just inside the apartment.
I lead her to a couch and gesture for her to sit. When I take a seat on the opposite end, I have the urge to close the distance between us, but I know she needs space.
“You must know the only thing that’s important to me is your safety. That is why I’m here. It’s why I had to see you.”
