We sit down at the table, and between Briar and I, we tell Rae everything. Rae reaches for Briar’s hand as we tell her about how we met, and what happened before Briar escaped.
As a trained psychologist who now works as a counselor and therapist, Rae knows all the right things to say that I fumbled my way through when Briar and I met.
She reaches for Briar’s hand and holds it while offering both soothing and pragmatic advice.
It takes Rae a moment to compose her thoughts when we’re done. “I think the two of you should tell all this to Weicker.”
I look at Briar, knowing how she doesn’t want to involve the police. “Briar’s story is hers to tell. And she’s worried about the police connection.” I place my hand on her knee and squeeze it.
Rae nods. “I hear you. I’m not suggesting for a second Briar go to the police. But if Weicker understood why ruining the case for this was so important to you, you might get a much fairer hearing. Otherwise, it looks like you went rogue for no apparent reason. Even if he was the only one who knew, he might be able to provide air cover for you both.”
There is no way in hell I’m dragging Briar to the office to lay bare to a stranger what was done to her. “I’ll tell them Spark and Iris became my friends. And how the woman I met in the lot that night stayed on my mind. It’ll be okay.” I’m not sure I truly believe those words, but I don’t want to put any of this on Briar’s shoulders.
“She’s right.” Briar takes my hand. I see the shift in her eyes. A quiet confidence. “I appreciate you trying to protect me, but Rae is right.”
“We’ll get through this, Briar. It’ll be fine. It—”
“Can I make a police report here in Michigan for a crime that happened in New York?” Briar’s words cut me off at the knees as Rae quietly leaves the kitchen to give us space.
“Briar, babe, we don’t need to do this. It will be enough to—”
She cups my cheeks. “It’s been a month. I packed the dress. It’s in my case. Whatever happens next, we’re protected. Either the police believe us and protect us, and you find a way back to the club because Cillian owes you. Or we move here, buy the lot down the road, change our names. I don’t know. But if this helps you get out of trouble and me being a witness helps women like Iris ... then it’s worth it. Don’t you think?”
Her last words are uttered so softly and sincerely that my heart melts all over again for this special woman. “Have I told you today that I love you?” I ask.
Briar shakes her head. “You didn’t, but your actions just now did. Let me do this for us, Ryker, because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe and whole. To help secure a future for us.”
“You’re willing to do that?”
She strokes my cheek, and I lean into the feeling. I’ve not allowed myself any real peace in the last two days. “You’ll be with me while I give my statement, right?”
I nod. “Of course I will. But I meant all the rest of it. You and me. In this for good, not just for now.”
Briar has the audacity to laugh.
“What?” I ask.
But she can’t stop. And her laughter makes me laugh too, even though I don’t know what the fuck is funny. When she pulls herself together and wipes the tear that’s escaped her long lashes, she takes a deep breath. “How can you sound unsure? We’ve shown how good we can be under pressure. You think a nice home in a quiet spot with jobs we like and kids who keep our lives interesting is going to be harder than this? We have a foundation most people aren’t capable of building, Ryker. It would be utterly foolish to walk away from that.”
I sweep her out of the chair and pick her up, my palms holding her ass. “The universe certainly has an ironic sense of timing.”
“Yeah?” she says, tipping her head to one side so I can kiss the soft skin of her neck. “Why’s that?”
“Because a month ago, I would have thought losing my job, my cover, and my club was the worst thing that could have happened to me.”
“And it isn’t?” she asks as I guide us back into the bedroom and kick the door shut with the heel of my boot.
I throw her down on the bed and tug my T-shirt over my head. “No. Because it led me to you.” She wiggles her hips as I tug her shorts down her legs. “Plus, I’m going to be unemployed shortly and will need you to support me.”
Briar snorts. “You can pay me back in orgasms.”
“I feel like I still benefit from that.” I unzip my jeans and slide them down my legs. I’m naked beneath, and Briar’s eyes go hungrily to my cock.
“That’s it then,” she says. “You can’t ever go back to work.”
34
BRIAR
