Page 95 of The Fighter who Needed Me
Brooks rushed into the salon and up to Burk’s office.
He heard giggling from inside the room and knocked softly.
The giggling stopped and Burk’s deep voice called out, “Go away!”
“Burk, you ass. I need your help.”
Burk’s footsteps were heard from inside his office and the door was wrenched open.
“Brooks! What are you doing here? I thought you were in the country still.”
Brooks shook his head and Burk pulled him in for a hug and let him go. “I was. Until someone took my wife.”
Lily gasped from behind Burk and pushed past her husband. She hugged Brooks tightly and Burk growled.
“What do you mean they took her? How did they find you?”
Her eyes started to shine with tears and Burk pulled her back into his arms.
“Do you know how they found you? Or where they went? When she went missing the first time, it was impossible to find her. I am terrified it will be that way again.”
Brooks stood, too anxious to sit any longer, “This time I am more afraid. She is with child. We just found out days ago and now she is in their hands. Who knows what is happening to her or if they will hurt her or my child.”
Lily’s soft gasp was loud in the room, “She must have found out right after we left. Oh no. This is horrible. Burk, we have to find her.”
Burk had said nothing, and Brooks was done. He had to find his wife with or without his brother’s help.
Walking from the room, he heard Burk call out to him, but Brooks did not stop.
He could not. He made it to the front door when he was pulled to a stop. “Brooks, stop. We need a plan. And you cannot just go in there expecting to steal her away. It will not work. They will be waiting for that. Just wait and we will figure this out.”
Brooks glared up at his brother and jerked his arm out of Burk’s hold. “A plan? That’s what this needs? Really? You think I haven’t thought of every single scenario since I found out she was taken from me?”
Burk shook his head and started to speak but Brooks cut him off, “Well, then you couldn’t be more wrong. I have thought of every possibility, every plan to get her out of there and then some. All that I know is that her ‘parents’ wanted to marry her off and now that she is back in their clutches it will be happening. Or they will punish her in some way. I know it. I am going to find her and get her back.”
Burk stepped in front of him and Brooks clenched his fists, “Don’t make me punch you Burk. You will not win the match this day. I can guarantee that. Move aside.”
Burk shook his head, “You aren’t in the right frame of mind for this Brooks. How are you going to help anyone if you go in, ready for a fight and get killed instead? Because you were too stubborn to wait for help? To ask for it?”
Brooks looked down at his boots, and Burk said, “I will help you Brooks. You are my brother. You may not have come from the same mother I had, but you and I have been through so much in our lives. Lived through things that most would not be able to. But here we stand. We will get her back Brooks; you just have to be patient. Trust me. Please brother. I need you to trust me.”
Brooks sighed and looked up at Burk. Then he nodded. Burk let out a breath and pulled Brooks in for a hug.
“Come back upstairs. Lily is trying to come up with a plan and she is sending a note to Cole. I assume Aidan already knows?”
Brooks nodded and followed Burk up the stairs and back into Burk’s office.
Lily rushed over and hugged Brooks. “Oh, thank heavens. I cannot imagine the fear that she must be dealing with. I am praying that nothing happens to her.”
Brooks sighed and hugged his sister. “I know. I don’t want anything to happen to her either.”
Lily smiled, “I cannot believe she is with child. She wished for it for so long. She just needed to get healthy and strong. That was all.”
Brooks gave a small smile, “We knew it would shock a lot of you. Her finding out about it this way, but she is over the moon. As am I. She is my world. As is our child.”
Lily smiled again, “Come, I will make some tea and we can try to figure this out. I sent Cole a note.”
Brooks just nodded but said nothing. Sitting in almost a trance, worried about his wife, and hoping that they could save Persephone.
