Branded (Strand Brothers Series Book 1) (7 page)

WTF?
Was he joking? There was no way I could spend another night in the same space as Nik Strand! I just stared at him while Alex showed the detectives out. As soon as they were gone, I responded, “No. I’ll go call Renée. I will not stay
here
with you.”

He prowled forward and grabbed my upper arms firmly. “The hell you won’t.”

I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip. He hadn’t hurt me, per se.

Although Alex didn’t see it that way as he asserted, “Get your hands off her, Nik.”

Nik growled low in his chest as he dropped his hands to his sides. He was looking at me when he spoke to his brother. “I didn’t hurt her,” he affirmed.

Alex’s brows rose. “Aimee?”

I held Nik’s gaze as I answered, “I’m fine, Alex. He didn’t harm me.”

Alex walked over to me and placed his hand on the small of my back. I reverted my gaze to his when he queried, “Do you want me to stay?”

I shook my head. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded, “All right, then. I’ll be in the other room if you need me, just yell.” With that he sauntered out of the room, but not before I saw the look that passed between them.

While Nik stroked his hands up and down my arms, which he had clutched earlier, he looked at me intently. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. You didn’t.” I stepped away from him so I could think clearly. “Why do you want me to stay here?”

“It’s safer.”

That was true. But I had a feeling there was more to it. “Nik?”

“Yeah.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He sighed. “Sit down, Aimee.”

Well, crap. I just had to ask. As I sat on the sofa, he joined me, turning his body so he faced me directly. “I think Reynolds is behind this.”

Okay. Truth was, I’d thought the same thing. But I had disregarded it because he wouldn’t do something so petty.
Would he?
“Why do you think so?”

“I’ve seen him do something similar in the past.”

“Really!” Now this was news to me so I questioned, “To whom?”

He glanced away. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, until we know for sure you’re better off here.”

I had no argument. Or maybe, I just wanted to stay close to him for a little while longer. Which was really a bad idea, the man was wreaking havoc on me. I needed to leave. Instead I acquiesced, “Okay. But
only
until I get my place back in order.”

His lips curved up in a sexy half-smile. “I’ll take care of it in the morning.”

“Oh, no. That’s not necessary. I’m sure insurance will cover it.”

“It’s already being handled, Aimee.”

“Well, then.” I was shocked silent for a moment. Then I held out my hand and said, “Thank you.”

He took my hand in his and lightly stroked my inner wrist. “No problem.”

I would never know what might have happened, for at that moment, Alex walked back into the room. “Nik,” he announced, “We
need
to talk.” His voice held a seriousness that I had no doubt he used in the courtroom.

Nik inclined his head towards the door and then met my gaze. “Excuse me, Aimee.”

Once Nik and Alex were absent from the room, I was left to contemplate just what the hell I was doing.

For the record—I didn’t have a clue.

Chapter Seven

Nik

Once Alex closed the door to my home office, I demanded, “Tell me.”

“No, Nik. You’re the one who needs to start spilling his guts,” he retorted.

I spun to face him. “Enlighten me, Alex. What am I supposed to convey, exactly?”

“Please. As if you have no idea why I brought you in here.”

“I really don’t have a clue. You need to elucidate.” Annoyed, I walked over and poured myself a drink.

Alex shook his head in disapproval. “You’ve had enough,” he asserted.

“Shut up.” To make my point perfectly clear I added, “I don’t need you mothering me.”

“Fine,” he incensed. “It’s your liver.” He began to pace the office. “Mind telling me what the hell you were thinking when you had your goons perform an illegal search of a senator’s private residence?”

Ah, the interrogation begins.
I nonchalantly shrugged one shoulder. “Hunch.”

“Come on, Nik, work with me here,” he implored. “What were you searching for?”

I raised my brows at him. I swear he had his head so far up his ass he was going to find his lungs any second! “Evidence.” I fought like hell not to add the “duh.”

“Last time I checked, you were not the police.” He shoved both hands through his hair in exasperation—
family trait, that
. “Do you realize you could have gone to jail if you were caught?”

I shrugged. “But I wasn’t.”

Alex stormed across the room, got right up in my face and hissed, “Stupid, bastard. What if I had not been alerted? Were you
ever
going to tell me?”

I glared into his eyes. To this day I couldn’t handle anyone—not even my brother—in my personal space. Flashes of the prison yard went through my mind in rapid fire: me, bloody and damned near unconscious; L.D. stepping in at the last moment before I became Rex’s bitch; the initiation with my blood, sweat, and tears. Adrenaline roared through my veins as the need to fight—to win at all costs—tried to take hold. I shook my head to clear it and growled, “Back the fuck off. Now.”

Alex realized instantly what was going on with me. He stepped back and put his hands up in surrendering fashion. Then he apologized, “I was out of line. Sorry, Nik.”

I nodded, needing a minute to get my act together. Shit! I could’ve hurt my brother, my best friend, just now. I fought hard not to hurl.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
After thirteen years, one would think I was past all of that. Truth was, some things never leave a person—especially survival instincts. “It’s done,” I assured. “Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

He scoffed, “You’re a real piece of work, my brother.” He sat down hard on the sofa against the wall and stared off into the distance for a moment. I knew he was preparing to say or ask something difficult, so he was mentally bracing. Ah, hell. I didn’t want to hear it. He looked up at me and queried, “Nik, why would you suspect Caleb broke into Aimee’s apartment?” I shot him a wary glance. “I knew it!” he crowed as he stood up abruptly. “You do see it, don’t you?”

“Don’t,” I warned. There was no way in hell I wanted to have this discussion.

He clapped my shoulder and noted, “This can’t be easy. But, surely,
you
haven’t missed the resemblance.”

I cautioned, “Enough, Alex,” as I stepped away from him. If he wasn’t careful, I would lay him out.

“Will you ever let yourself grieve properly?” He laughed with no humor. “You have to quit blaming yourself, Nik.”

I clenched my fists so tight at my sides the knuckles were white. “Not what a jury of my peers said,” I snarled.

Alex admonished, “Rigged and you know it, so don’t throw that crap at me.”

I grunted, “You have some nerve,” before I sat down and rested my elbows on my knees.

“I know you’ve been to hell and back.”
Still there, Alex.
“I also know I want my brother whole, not this,” he waved his hand over me, “husk.”

“Ha!” I corrected, “Don’t you mean asshole?”

He sat down next to me and said, “While you have ass like qualities, I know somewhere in there is my brother.”

“No. He’s not, Alex. The sooner you come to terms with that, the better off you’re going to be.”

“Talk, Nik. If not to me, then someone—please. You’ve got to move past this.”

“Un-fucking-believable! Just how do you expect me
not
to still love her?”

“I don’t,” he stated. “But she’s been gone for a long time. Do you really think she would want this for you? She would want you to be happy.”

“I can’t ever be happy,” I mumbled. “I’ll never love another.”

He quirked a brow. “Really? ‘Cause you sure as hell desire that pretty woman in the other room.”

“Desire is not love,” I countered. “Sure, I want to fuck her, but I’m not going to love her.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Nik,” he remarked before he stood and walked out of the room.

*****

I rubbed my face with both hands. Alex was right, I did desire Aimee. More than I wanted to. Sure, I could have sex with her, and it would be damn good. But fall in love? Not going to happen. Ever. What my brothers failed to comprehend was that I no longer had a heart. I’m the ruthless bastard I was known for. The boy my brothers remembered was buried fifteen years ago with his beautiful wife. The shell left behind was a cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch who didn’t give a damn. I grabbed the glass sitting on the end table and chucked it across the room. When it connected with the wall, I took little pleasure in the sound it made. I needed outta here—to get out of my head for a while.

I stalked down the hallway and ran right into five-foot, two-inches of luscious woman.
Gorgeous
. Like Alex, I thought she looked a lot like Rachel. However, as I truly studied her, I realized she only resembled my late wife slightly. Their height was the same, as well as their golden blonde hair and baby doll face. But that was where it ended. Rachel had been pixie-like and dainty; Aimee was curvy and delicious.

Her mesmerizing grayish-green eyes held mine as she asked, “Is everything all right, Nik? I thought I heard something break.”

Every ounce of my being screamed at me to haul her closer and kiss her breathless. What the hell?! I hadn’t kissed a woman on the mouth since Ra—
that’s a lie. There was that mystery woman at the masquerade some five years ago.
I ran my tongue over my bottom lip at the memory. Why was I remembering that night so clearly all of a sudden? The only other woman I had allowed myself to taste and she
still
haunted my dreams. Aimee reached up and rubbed her fingertips along my stubbled jaw. “I want you,” she purred.

No, do not go there. Back away now!
I reached down and traced her cheekbones. “You don’t. I’m no good, Aimee.”

She took a step closer and whispered, “Neither am I.” Then she reached down and stroked my cock through the heavy denim. “I’m not asking for anything emotional here. Just sex.”

I swallowed hard.
Dear God, I’m not going to last another minute. Do something, please!
“I’m s-sorry,” I stammered before I turned and beat feet out of the penthouse.

*****

The nightclub was hopping, not to mention the seductive dance music—which did not help my present state. Definitely, not one of the smartest decisions I had ever made; however, I really needed to speak to my youngest brother, E. I sat in the V.I.P. section and was instantly served a scotch on the rocks. The cocktail waitress, Mindy, greeted, “Here you go, Nik. Let me know if I can get you anything else?”

I watched her hips sway seductively, not missing the invitation she had just offered. I smiled slightly, maybe that was just the cure I needed. It wasn’t long before E joined me. We sat back to enjoy the go-go dancers. They were not strippers, just dancers providing entertainment. No, the no holds barred entertainment took place on the lower level. There, a man could get lost in the eroticism.
Nope, not going there.
As soon as my drink was finished, Mindy supplied another. This time I was given a peek down her shirt. Ah, hell. I really needed to get laid, quickly. I shifted to relieve the pressure in my jeans.

E didn’t miss a thing. “See something you like, brother?”

I shot him a wry glance and admitted, “Yeah. But that’s not going to solve my dilemma.”

He chuckled, “Since when does bedding a woman ever
fix
a problem?”

“True. Generally speaking, it’s asking for trouble.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Nah, Nik. You just need to tap the right one.”

Oh, I had the right one sitting in my penthouse asking me to. I looked at E sincerely. “I need your help.”

He sat up instantly. “’Sup?”

I confessed, “I’m in over my head, E, and I have no idea how to get out of the mess I helped create.”

He leaned back and inquired, “This have anything to do with the beauty staying at your penthouse?”

Ah, so Alex
had
talked. Figured. Nothing was sacred between my brothers. They meant well, and I knew they loved me, but sometimes I wished they’d keep their damn mouths shut. “I swear you two are like a couple of old biddies. You gossip way too much.”

He snorted, “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.” There was no heat behind his oath.

I smiled though I knew it didn’t reach my eyes. Crap, I couldn’t remember the last time I truly smiled or laughed. Pathetic. The closest I'd come to a genuine smile was with Aimee. Maybe Alex was right, perhaps it was time to let Rachel go. My heart screamed in protest, as if Rachel herself was saying, “I’ll never let you go.” God, I missed her so much. Hard to believe she had been gone for nearly fifteen years now. The image of her broken body suddenly flashed before my eyes. To this day, her last words continued to haunt me: “I love you, Niky.” I squeezed my eyes tight, refusing, yet again, to shed one tear. I was brought back to the present when E stated, “You have to let go.”

Shit. He knew me too well. I retorted, “Really? Like dad? Can you honestly tell me you’ve let him go? What about mom?”

When E shook his head, I noticed his eyes were suddenly very bright with moisture. “Point made,” he conceded.

I nodded, knowing that was a low blow. We had lost our dad to a tragic accident when E was only eleven-years-old, and then our mom to a heart attack nearly ten years ago, which left just the three of us. If it wasn’t for my brothers, I would have never survived this long. “Hey, E, I’m an asswipe. I shouldn’t have brought them up.”

He held my gaze intently. “I get that you can’t ever
really
let go, but you have to move on, Nik. You can’t keep living in the past or blaming yourself. What’s done is done.”

Didn’t Alex almost say the exact same thing? It was not like this was the first time they had said these things, just ironic they were on the same page at the same time. Crap. This was not how I envisioned my conversation with E tonight. I conceded, “You may be on to something there.”