Brown Siblings - 01 Laid Bare (27 page)

“I’m sorry. Okay? I just worry about you. Domestic violence isn’t something to mess around with. These abusers get touchy about other people in their victims’ lives. I love you. I can’t bear to think of you getting hurt. It’s not because I don’t think you’re capable. I’m a protective man, Erin. It’s who I am. I want to be there to make your life easier in all ways.” She blew a stream of air out. “I get that, Todd. But I cannot be managed or guilted. And I do not want to be wrapped in cotton and shielded. I have a life and I want to live it. I love you, but I don’t want you to take over. I won’t have it.”

He wanted to though. He wanted to step in and take care of her, keep her safe and shielded from any and all threats. She couldn’t know how much or she’d freak. Hell, he was a protective person in general; it’s why he’d become a cop to start with. But with her it was more. She was his and he protected what was his.

Still, the last thing he wanted was to annoy or agitate her any further. She was upset enough by that point. Erin was strong, more than she gave herself credit for. But abusers were batshit crazy and he had no intention of letting her get in the middle of this mess.

He took her hand. “I’m sorry. I know you’re capable. I just want to take care of you. Call Ben and tell him what’s going on; he’s worried too.”

She made that snorting sound he knew meant trouble. “Call him yourself when we get there. And tell him I don’t like tattle-tales.”

Erin said little else to him on the drive over.

“I’m coming in with you. I don’t care how mad you are,” he said as he parked. But he said it to an empty truck because she’d already gotten out and moved across the lot toward the elevators at a furious clip.

Great. He didn’t know Ella’s last name and he’d just wander around aimlessly if he lost sight of Erin. He rushed to catch up, putting an arm around her to keep Erin at his side. She’d be protected whether she liked it or not. They would always need to work on their relationship; that’s how relationships thrived and grew. This was something he hadn’t understood when he was married. But he got it now.

Erin was his to protect and he would. He’d find a way to do it so she knew he respected her and her independence, but she had to understand it would happen.

He made a snorting sound of his own.

Two hours later, Erin’s hands shook as she got back into Todd’s truck. As much as she hated to admit it, she was glad he was there. If he hadn’t been, she’d have needed to sit in her car a good half an hour before she could have driven anywhere.

Ella had been a mess. Barely conscious from the stew of opiates keeping the pain at bay. Her face purpled and swollen from the beating she’d endured. Her feet and legs wrapped up from the burns.

Ella’s mother had filled them in on all the details. The ex was in police custody. There’d be a bail hearing on Monday. The cops would be able to show the guy had violated the protection order three times in the past sixty days, and hopefully he wouldn’t get bail as he awaited trial.

Ella would recover. She’d walk again and hopefully find love with a man who didn’t think killing her was the only way to keep her. Erin sighed heavily. What the fuck was wrong with people?

“You okay?” Todd asked softly.

She nodded. She’d been there in that hospital. In worse shape than Ella. And she’d survived and found love and happiness she’d never imagined holding in her life ever again. But the smell of the room, of the tape holding the bandages on, of the tubing, of the antiseptic—it brought things back and for a few minutes there, the walls felt very close.

But Todd had kept his arm around her and she’d felt better bit by bit. It still hung around her like shitty weather, but it would clear. Because it wasn’t her life anymore.

Still, it was her friend’s life, and she knew what that dark pit felt like.

“I just . . . Thank you for being there with me.”

He looked startled and then he smiled. “Honey, I wouldn’t have been anywhere else. I’m glad my being with you helped. I’m going to take you home, okay? Ben will get your car and bring it to your place. Are you up to seeing him? Or me, for that matter?” She nodded again and he touched her neck but said nothing else.

25

“She’s stable now. The burns are worst on her left leg and foot, but they said she’ll be fine, although they’re watching for infection.”

Todd listened to her speak with Brody on the phone as he made tea for her. He needed to do something with his hands because he was torn between wanting to punch something and wanting to fuck her until she thought of nothing else.

“They didn’t need grafts apparently . . . Yeah, I thought so too . . . Not much, she wasn’t really conscious. They had her on a pretty major opiate cocktail,” Erin continued.

Todd buzzed Ben up, relieved he’d arrived. He hadn’t had much time to think about what had happened the night before other than to know he’d enjoyed it. Something had shifted; there was an easy sort of acceptance that Ben was part of whatever he and Erin had. He knew Ben cared about Erin and hoped between the two of them, they could keep her calm and stop her from thinking overmuch about what had happened to her friend.

He’d called a contact at the Seattle PD and spoken to him about the case. The guy had several assault priors and had repeatedly violated the protection order. He also had two other ex-girlfriends in his past who’d filed for protection orders, and the bastard, not surprisingly, had a history of stalking. Todd hoped it was enough to keep him in jail.

“I’ll talk to you later. I know you’re busy, and Todd is here . . . Yes, do you really think he’d leave me alone right now?” She laughed and he smiled as he moved to her front door. “Love you too.”

He was letting Ben in as she walked out from her bedroom into the main room.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Ben said, moving straight to her to give her a hug. “I know you’re pissed I sent Todd your way, but suck it up. We like taking care of you so you’re going to have to deal with it.”

She let Ben hug her, even as she made that little snorting sound. It made Todd smile.

Ben kissed her forehead and stood back. “Here.” He dropped keys into her hand. “All delivered.

I can call Cope to get him to pick me up, or even cab it. I’m not too far.”

“Shut up and stay,” Erin said to Ben, touching Todd’s belly as she passed on her way out to the balcony.

“Guess you’re staying or she’ll kick your ass,” Todd said in an undertone.

Ben looked at him, serious for long moments. “Are you sure?”

“Do you want to be here?”

Ben nodded. “Yes.”

“So be here.”

Ben took his hand. Something passed between them and Todd sensed the immensity of it.

“She needs you. I need you. You’re still my best friend. That hasn’t changed, has it?” Ben shook his head.

“I know you love her. I know you two have a relationship. But I love you, man, and I feel very deeply for Erin. My instinct just now was to kiss her on the lips. I want to be really clear.” Todd stepped to him and put his arm around Ben’s waist. “Be here with us both. Be what she needs. She’ll tell you if it’s too much. I’ll tell you if it’s too much. But I don’t want you to be half a person with us. I don’t know what this means, but can it hurt to just let things go wherever they’re supposed to?”

The rich scent of a clove cigarette caught his senses. She stood on the balcony, her skirt swirling in the breeze, designer sunglasses on, smoking.

“There are times like right now when she looks like she stepped out of a magazine ad,” Ben murmured.

“It’s hot.”

Ben laughed and they went to her.

“I didn’t know you smoked, gorgeous,” Ben said as he took her free hand, kissing it.

“In times of stress. It’s an old habit.” She shrugged and Todd brushed the hair from her face.

“Seems like today’s gotta be a time of stress.”

“Yes, but not like you think. I’m not afraid this will happen to me. I mean, there was a time at the hospital . . . the smells, the sounds . . . I’ve been there and it wasn’t pretty. But I’m
not
there now. This isn’t about what happened before. Ella is my friend! I knew this guy was bad news. I convinced her to get a protection order and I paid for an attorney to go through the process with her and to help with the divvying up of their assets. They weren’t married, but they lived together. She hoped if she was more than fair, if she gave him their car and most of their belongings, he’d go away. I knew that wasn’t the reason he wouldn’t let go. When people stalk you, when they obsess on you, it’s not about fair. It’s about control. This asshole controlled her with fear and he got off on it.”

“She’s going to be all right.” Todd hated seeing Erin upset.

“Yes, on the outside. Thank god they never had kids.” She shivered, and this time it was Ben

who wrapped her in his arms as he stood behind her. Todd watched, wondering why it didn’t bother him.

“Babe, it shouldn’t have happened. I can’t imagine hurting a woman that way. I hate like hell that you were involved in even an ancillary sense but I’m glad Ella has you as a friend.” She took a drag off her cigarette and Ben brought it to his mouth and took one too. The sight took Todd’s breath away, so casual and yet sexy.

A phone rang inside and she sighed, easing from Ben’s arms. She brushed her mouth over Todd’s on her way past and both men watched her take the call.

A few moments later she hung up and turned to them. “Christ, when it rains.” She tossed her hands up in the air, frustrated. “Jeremy is in town. He’s at Adrian’s. I need to go over and sign some paperwork. Would you like to go too?” she asked Todd. “You might speak with him about the security stuff, so we can pretend you want to do that when you really just want to see him for yourself.” Erin fumbled through her stuff, sliding shoes on and smiling as she did it.

Todd laughed.

“You too, Ben, if you’d like,” she called over her shoulder as she got on her cell and began talking to Brody about something

“This is the ex? The one she had Adele with?” Ben asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Todd said.

“I’d like to take his measure.”

“And hear why he’s here so suddenly.” Todd didn’t like this little drop-in visit at all.

“You mind if I come?”

Todd turned to Ben and smirked. “Not at all.”

Erin stood there, the annoyance that Jeremy had shown up so randomly, after her phone call to him the day before about business stuff, flowing away. Instead, her body heated as she watched the sparks fly between Ben and Todd and had to stifle the need to go to them and lick them both from head to toe. Something had changed between the three of them, between each of them as well. She liked it even as it made her wary. She enjoyed the interplay between Ben and Todd.

Always had. And now that the sexual charge had filtered to the surface, it made her nipples hard and her breath come short. Todd had accepted the connection, the more-than-friends connection, between him and Ben. She loved how he openly accepted affection, even as he’d yet to really initiate more than a kiss or a caress with Ben. When that moment came, and Erin was pretty sure it would, she’d need to back off and let it unfold.

Ben turned to her first, surprised she’d been watching, but then his smile hitched up a notch when he noted her nipples.

“Let’s go then. Get this over with so we can all relax.” Todd looked at them both and laughed.

She drove, not wanting to deal with having to give directions. Plus she wanted to be in control right then as so many things in her life felt so distinctly
out
of control.

She didn’t know why Jeremy had just shown up in Seattle, but she knew she didn’t want him showing up at her condo or the café. She’d told him about Todd in detail the last time they’d spoken, which was just the morning before. She’d mentioned Todd before, but yesterday she’d told Jeremy straight-out that they were very serious. Erin was pretty sure that’s what had brought Jeremy up there. She dreaded it from stem to stern. She didn’t want to hurt Jeremy and she didn’t want Todd to feel anxious.

“Todd, I love you. There’s no need to feel jealous over Jeremy. You know that, right?” she asked as she punched in the code on Adrian’s gate and waited for it to slide open.