♪ Six ♪
Four days after his collapse, Brenden lay in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.
“They’re releasing you,” Devlin told him as he walked into the room, “and I’ve got the plane here to take us home.”
Brenden nodded but didn’t anything.
Devlin looked at him for a long moment, having noticed that Brenden hadn’t said more than two words over the last two days. He wasn’t sure if it was depression or anger that kept Brenden silent.
Four hours later, they boarded Badlands’ Gulf Stream aircraft. Tabitha hung back, noting her father’s chilliness. It was hard to miss. Devlin glanced back at her and put his hand out to her. She took it gratefully and they got on the plane together. Brenden went straight to the lounge at the back. Devlin and Tabitha stayed up front in the seats there.
Tabitha shook her head as she watched her father go.
“He’s so cold, Dev,” she said quietly.
“He’ll be okay, babe,” Devlin assured her. “He’s adjusting right now.”
“Adjusting to what?” she asked. “Hating me?”
Devlin gave her a stern look, “He doesn’t hate you, Tabbie. He hates life right now, and he needs to work that out in his head.”
Tabitha looked cynical, then nodded, sighing.
Devlin glanced toward the back of the plane, hoping he was right. He’d never seen Brenden mad at Tabitha to the point of not speaking to her. It was something new. Tabitha had defended her mother against Brenden, and that hadn’t escaped Brenden, even in the face of the attack that had almost killed him. That had been a first, and Devlin wasn’t sure how it would turn out. He didn’t foresee Brenden cutting Tabitha out of his life, she was his life, but things could get worse before they got better. Brenden had a talent for carrying a grudge when he wanted to.
****
A week later, Tabitha was getting more and more worried about her father. He wasn’t resting, and he wasn’t talking to her either. One morning she’d wandered down the hall hearing him tapping away at the computer in his home office. She stuck her head in to see that he was listening to music on his headphones. She waited for him to look up, he did eventually, and immediately his look chilled.
“What?” he asked, his tone anything but warm.
“Have you eaten?” she asked gently.
He looked back at her for a long moment, then shook his head.
“Want me to make us something?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he replied simply.
“Daddy …” she began, her tone chiding
“I said I’m fine, Tabitha,” he told her, his tone much more stern this time.
“Okay …” she said, her shock at his tone showing, but he didn’t seem to notice at all.
She left the room, not wanting to irritate him any further, but worried to death that he was never going to speak to her again. He’d said very little to her since they’d returned from New York. Any time she’d commented on the fact that the doctors had told him to rest, he merely looked back at her emotionless.
“It’s like he’s shut down,” Tabitha told Devlin later that morning.
They were sitting out on the balcony at the back of his house. He was drinking coffee, and had been reading the paper when she’d walked out onto the deck. He could see that she was very unhappy, so he set aside his paper and held his hand out to her. She took it and he pulled her down to sit next to him on the bench, squeezing her hand gently.
It was so familiar to her, to talk to Devlin when she was down, it never had changed. Even though she was technically an adult now, she still ran to him whenever she needed advice or was worried. It was comforting to her.
“What do you mean shut down, Tabbie?” he asked.
“I mean, he’s like emotionally blocked,” she said, sighing. “He won’t talk to me, he won’t look at me. I don’t understand it,” she said, looking like she was near tears.
“He’s dealing with a lot right now,” Devlin said, smoothing his thumb over her cheek. “Give him a chance to get through it.”
“I know, I know,” she said, nodding, “he’s just never been like this with me before. I’m used to him always being normal with me.”
“Joys of becoming an adult,” Devlin said, grinning. “Now he’s treating you like one.”
“Lucky me,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Devlin grinned.
They spent the rest of the day talking about other things. Devlin, as usual, managed to divert her attention and keep her mind off the problems with her father. She loved him for that. That evening they talked about what to do about dinner.
“I should go home and make sure he’s actually eating,” she said.
“Maybe we should both go, and that way if he yells at you, I can kick his ass,” Devlin said, grinning.
“You’d do it too, wouldn’t you?” she asked, grinning.
“At this point, I think he might need it,” he told her.
She sighed. “I think what he needs is a good swift kick in the ass.”
“I can provide that too,” he said. “Although, honestly, babe, I think fate is kicking his ass right now, pretty good.”
“Have you heard back from his lawyer yet?” Tabitha asked.
Devlin had told her about the call from Angelica Benita. Unfortunately, Tabitha knew even less about BJ’s finances than Devlin, but she’d agreed that Devlin should get ahold of BJ’s lawyer and see what they could find out. Devlin had called the man just before they’d left New York, leaving a message with his secretary.
“You know, I haven’t,” Devlin said, picking up his cell phone as they headed down to his garage.
He called the lawyer, getting the secretary. They got into the car and he drove out, heading toward BJ’s, as he talked to the woman.
“Good, good, is he in? Okay, but will he take a call from me? Great, thanks, Laney, I owe you.”
“Always the smooth talker …” Tabitha muttered.
Devlin grinned, nodding his head.
He was finished talking to the lawyer a few moments later. When he hung up, he shook his head.
“I knew it,” he said. “I don’t know what the fuck, Putnam thinks, but he’s going to lose if he goes against your dad.”
Tabitha looked perplexed. “Then what does he think he’s doing?”
“I don’t have a clue,” Devlin said.
“Should we tell Dad?” she asked.
“Not at this point,” Devlin said. “I think he needs to get further from what happened first.”
Tabitha nodded.
At the house, predictably, Brenden was difficult, and as usual, Devlin found a way around that.
“We’ll cook, you’ll eat,” he said simply.
Brenden said nothing. Devlin shrugged, and set about doing exactly what he said. In the end, Brenden ate very little, but he did eat. He still didn’t say much though.
Tabitha kept silent, not wanting to irritate her father, and let Devlin feel his way around Brenden’s state of mind. Again, something they’d always done over the years.
Brenden went back to his solitude after they ate, and Tabitha and Devlin spent the rest of the evening together in the family room watching movies, and talking. They didn’t talk about Brenden lest he overhear something and get irritated that he was being discussed. Brenden James Sparks hated nothing more than being “managed” as he put it.
Unlike in his public life, Brenden didn’t do things in his personal life for effect. So his silence wasn’t a cry for attention, or to get anyone to beg him to talk. It was his way of dealing with his unhappiness. What had Tabitha climbing the walls was the fact that she didn’t know if he was mad at her, or just mad in general. She hated the idea that he was mad at her.
Finally that night, after Devlin left, she went to talk to her father. She needed to understand what he was feeling. She was willing to brave his anger if that’s what it took. Devlin hadn’t been keen on the idea of her doing so without him around, but Tabitha knew her father well enough to know that he’d get more angry knowing Devlin was around to manage the situation should it get out of hand.
“It’s my fault he sees it that way,” she’d explained to Devlin. “I’ve always used you as my backup when I have to face him, and he knows that. It pisses him off that I feel I need protection from him.”
“Okay,” Devlin had said, nodding his head, “but if you need me, you call me, no matter what time, okay?”
She thanked him for his usual concern for her well-being.
As she walked up to Brenden’s door, Tabitha felt her courage failing her. She heard her father’s stereo. He was listening to Foreigner, the song “Cold as Ice” was playing. She knocked on the door, and heard him say, “Come.”
He was sitting on his bed. The lyric that talked about the other person being so cold that they’d be willing to sacrifice even their love for each other struck a chord with her. That’s what he thought about Allexxiss, that she was so cold that she was able to throw them both away. The urge to explain to him why Allex had done what she had was strong, but she knew that her father would just read it as her trying to defend her mother again. Now wasn’t the time.
“Yes?” Brenden asked, picking up the remote to turn the stereo down.
Tabitha walked over to the bed and sat down, her eyes searching her father’s face.
“I need to talk to you,” she said.
Brenden looked at her for a long moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. She knew he was trying to decide whether or not to tell her to leave. She waited in silence for his response. Finally, he sat back, leaning against his headboard. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his arms over his knees.
“Talk,” he said simply.
Tabitha took a deep breath.
“Daddy, I need to know if it’s me you’re mad at,” she said, her voice coming out much more plaintive than she’d meant it to.
His light blue-green eyes reflecting surprise. She wasn’t sure if he was surprised at what she thought, or that she was actually unsure of whether or not he was mad at her.
He shook his head, blowing his breath out.
“No, Tab, I’m not mad at you,” he said. “I’m just …” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know I’m fucking tired of this ride right now.”
She nodded sadly, another stab of worry assailing her. When he referred to being “tired of the ride,” he meant life. She knew at this point she couldn’t suggest he talk to a professional, he’d probably kick her out of the house.
“Daddy …” she said, her voice reflecting the tears in her eyes.
“Tabbie, I just need time, okay?”
“But …”
“Tabbie, you need to live your life, okay? You need to make a decision about college and go out and live your life. There’s nothing you can do for me that I can’t do myself. Go live your life, Tabitha, please.”
He was scaring her. It was like he was saying goodbye and she didn’t like it.
“I have to know you’ll be okay, Dad,” she said, sounding much more adult than she ever had before.
“I will be,” he replied.
“I don’t believe you,” she told him as she got up.
Brenden didn’t reply, he just stared back at her calmly. It alarmed her that she’d just told her father flat out that she though he was lying to her, and that didn’t even phase him. She was at a total loss as to what to do now.
She sighed, shaking her head.
“I love you, Daddy,” she said solemnly. “I just hope that you know that. And hope you realize that if I ever lost you, my life would be ruined.”
With that, she turned and left the room, managing to hold her tears in until after she’d closed his door quietly. Brenden stared at the closed door for a long time. He had to give her credit; she knew exactly what to say and how to say it to cut straight to his heart. If he gave his life up, he’d ruin hers, it was as simple as that.
“Lovely,” he muttered to himself, lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
Tabitha left the house a little while later, driving over to Devlin’s and crawling into bed with him. He turned over, knowing before he opened his eyes that it was her. He pulled her into his arms, and she snuggled into his embrace. She told him what had happened, and what Brenden had said and what she’d told her father.
“If I lose him, Devlin, I don’t know what I’ll do,” she said, shaking her head.
“You won’t,” Devlin said, grinning. “You just nailed him to the wall with what you said. Now he knows what the impact will be on you, and he won’t be able to handle the guilt of knowing that.”
“I don’t know, Dev …” she said, shaking her head. “I just pray to God you’re right.”
“I’m right,” he told her assuredly.
He wasn’t really sure he was, but he knew she needed all the assurances she could get. Nothing could be done about Brenden’s state of mind. Devlin did resolve, however, to make sure that Brenden knew Allexxiss had been threatened into staying away from him. They had to try anything that might snap Brenden out of it.
Devlin got a call from Angelica the following morning.
“Mr. McGregor?” she queried.
“I think you can call me Devlin, Angelica,” he said, grinning.
“I’m sorry, Devlin, look, it’s Allex, something is very, very wrong with her, and she won’t talk to anyone about it.”
“Do you think it has to do with BJ?”
“I know it does,” she said, “but she used to at least talk to me about it, now she just keeps to herself. She’s losing weight, a lot of it. She had a scene yesterday where she had to wear this skintight outfit. Wardrobe had a fit because what used to be tight on her was extremely loose. It scared a lot of people on the set.”
“Okay, this is getting ridiculous now,” Devlin said, “these two need to talk, if it’s the last damned thing we do.”
“But how?” Angelica asked. “Allex won’t go near him again. She’s still reeling from the scene at the hospital. She’s not likely to go crawling back to him again.”
“I know,” Devlin said, chewing on the gum in his mouth in agitation. “Okay, let me give you the lowdown here …” Devlin said, and he told her what BJ’s lawyer had told him. “Now, go to her and tell her everything. Make her listen.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her, I hope it helps,” she said.
Angelica hung up with Devlin, and made her way to Allexxiss’ trailer. Allex didn’t answer at first, then Angelica heard the lightest call of, “Come in.”
Inside the trailer it was dark and cool. She found Allexxiss lying on the bed at the back.
“Allex?” she queried.
“Hey Angelica,” Allexxiss said, turning over to face her. “I was going to let everyone know later, but I’ll tell you now,” she said. “I’m canceling the rest of the shoot here in New York.”
“Why?” Angelica asked, surprised.
“Because it’s just getting too hot here, and I don’t feel like we’re getting what we need,” Allex said airily.
Angelica could see she was trying to rush through this, so she could be alone again. But Angelica had no intention of just leaving.
She nodded. “Okay, I understand. Um, can we talk for a few?” Angelica asked gently.
“About what?” Allexxiss asked, her tone wary instantly.
“Well, about Brenden,” Angelica said.
“No,” Allexxiss said, defensively sitting up and pulling a pillow onto her lap. “I don’t want to talk about any of that anymore.”
“Okay, well, I need to tell you something,” Angelica said, trying a different tact. “I have a confession to make.”
“A confession?” Allexxiss asked, looking mystified.
“Yes,” Angelica said, putting on her best act yet, biting her lip in uncertainty, “when all that stuff happened with BJ and the hospital, I kind of call Devlin McGregor and told him what you told me about Max threatening to ruin BJ.”
“You what!” Allex exclaimed, giving her a distressed look.
“I’m sorry!” Angelica said. “But I hated what you were going through, and I thought Devlin might be able to help.”
“Goddamn it, Angelica!” Allexxiss raged. “I didn’t want any of this getting back to Brenden. God, how fucking pathetic can one person look to him?” she said, her own self-disgust coming to bear.
“Well, see … that’s the thing,” Angelica said. “Max is wrong.”
“What?” Allexxiss asked, sounding distracted, her mind was busy thinking of a way out of all of this.
“Max is wrong,” Angelica repeated, “he couldn’t hurt Brenden if his life depended on it.”
“Angelica, Max has power you don’t understand,” Allexxiss said.
“No, Allexxiss, you don’t understand,” Angelica said, her tone much stronger now. “Max and even you put together aren’t worth a tenth of what Brenden is worth. In fact, if Brenden decided he wanted to crush Max Putnam, he could do it with a mere flick of his wrist.”
Allexxiss stared at Angelica, her mouth open in shock. Then she shook her head.
“You’re wrong,” she said. “I saw the financial report, Max had on Brenden. I was snooping through his desk before I left to come to New York. I wanted to make sure he was following through on some promises he made me, and I found it. Brenden’s only worth about eighteen million, and fifteen of that is tied up in this movie.”
Angelica shook her head. “You’re wrong, Allexxiss,”
“I don’t think so,” Allexxiss replied.
“Isn’t it worth it to try and talk to Brenden about it?” Angelica asked, feeling desperate.
She had no idea what report Allexxiss had seen, or what it meant. All she knew was that Allexxiss was dying without Brenden, and from what she’d heard, Brenden was doing the same.
“No,” Allexxiss said, shaking her head, “he’s made it very clear he doesn’t want me in his life at all, unless I can be part of it permanently. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Angelica winced at the sadness in Allexxiss’ eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Angelica said softly, feeling bereft suddenly.
“It’s okay,” Allexxiss said. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, it’s not your fault.”
Angelica nodded, standing up. She left the trailer feeling worse than when she’d entered.
****
Two weeks later in Los Angeles, The Living Edge was supposed to be back to filming, but Allexxiss hadn’t shown up to the set for three days. They were told that she was sick. Angelica didn’t believe that, she was sure that Allexxiss was getting more and more depressed.
Angelica went to the set at the set time, and once again, Allexxiss didn’t show up. They did all the work they could without her there, but there wasn’t much that could be done. When she left, Angelica was determined to do something. She got into her car and headed for Allexxiss’ house. She wasn’t sure if security would even let her in, but she knew she needed to try. She’d grabbed an envelope out of her trailer with Allexxiss’ name on it hoping to make up some story about needing to get these documents to Allex.
To her surprise, the lie worked and she drove up to Allexxiss’ house. She knocked on the front door, and was told that Allexxiss was upstairs. Angelica went up to the room she was directed to. She knocked, and heard someone say, “Come in.”
As she walked inside, Angelica saw Allexxiss lying on the bed. She was dressed in a sweat suit. She walked around to the side of the bed, and was shocked to see fading bruises on Allexxiss’ cheek and mouth.
“Allex, what happened?” Angelica asked, kneeling next to the bed.
Allexxiss looked at her, but her eyes didn’t seem to register who she was.
“What happened?” Angelica repeated, sounding concerned.
Allex shook her head slowly, then buried her face in her arms.
“Allex,” Angelica said, reaching out to touch her hair, “tell me what happened, please?”
Allexxiss just shook her head, keeping her face buried in her arms. Angelica sat on the floor next to the bed for a long time. Finally, she gave up, but she thought maybe she’d just keep coming back until Allexxiss talked to her. With that thought in mind, she got up, leaned over, and kissed Allexxiss’ head.
She walked out of the room and was surprised when a young girl stopped her.
“You’re Ms. Allexxiss’ friend, no?” said the girl in a French accent.
“Yes,” Angelica said, “do you know what happened?”
“Oui, the mister, he get very angry with her and they fight,” the girl said.
“Did he hit her?” Angelica asked, but she knew he must have.
“Oui,” the girl said, “but the spirit, it’s been broke long before this.”
Angelica winced at the thought.
“Thank you,” Angelica said, “can I ask you one favor?”
“Oui, mademoiselle,” the girl said.
“Can you watch out for her for the next day or so?” Angelica asked.
“Oui,” the girl said, looking at Angelica curiously.
“I might have an idea of what to do here,” Angelica said, smiling.
Angelica called Devlin when she left Allexxiss’ house and he told her to come to his house in Malibu. Once there, she told him everything that she’d been told.
“We need to do something,” Angelica said to Devlin
“Yeah, we do and we will. Let me call Tabbie, we’ll go straight to BJ.”
An hour later, Angelica and Devlin walked up to BJ’s house.
“I think Angelica and I should go talk to him,” Tabitha said, as she let them in.
“And what should I do?” Devlin asked, with a crooked grin.
“Stay down here and listen for yelling,” Tabitha said, smiling at him.
“I always get the fun part,” Devlin said.
Angelica and Tabitha went upstairs to Brenden’s room. Tabitha knocked and Brenden told them to come in. He was sitting on his bed, wearing sweats and no shirt. Angelica had to admit to herself that BJ Sparks was a good-looking man even at almost forty.
“What are you two doing here?” Brenden asked.
“Daddy, we need to talk to you,” Tabitha said cautiously.
Brenden sat back and blew his breath out, bringing one knee up to his chest.
“’Bout wot?” he asked.
“About Mom,” Allexxiss said.
Brenden’s face closed down instantly as he shook his head.
“That’s over, Tabitha,” he said sternly. “Over and done with.”
“Daddy, wait!” Tabitha said. “You have to listen to this, first, please? This is Angelica Benita, and she’s in the movie Mom’s been working on. She’s talked to Mom about what’s been going on. Please listen to her.”
Brenden looked rebellious, but he could see that the two young women were on a mission.
“Fine, make it quick,” he said, his tone disgusted.
“Look, Mr. Sparks,” Angelica said, stepping forward. “I know why Allex left you.”
“Yeah, why?” Brenden asked sharply, but the pain reflected in his eyes told Angelica he was still hurt by it.
“Because Max threatened her,” Angelica said. “He told her that if she left him for you, that he’d ruin you.”
Brenden’s look was cynical.
“Daddy,” Tabitha put in, “Angelica told Devlin and Devlin had your lawyer check into it, and he told us that you’re worth way more than Max is.”
“But when I told Allexxiss this, she said she saw some financial report Max had on you that said you were only worth eighteen million, and that fifteen of that was tied up in the movie,” Angelica told him.
Brenden grinned at that point, shaking his head.
“What did she see, Daddy?” Tabitha asked.
Brenden shrugged. “Probably a financial report on BJ Sparks.”
“Huh?” Angelica asked.
“My real name is Brenden James O’Malley,” Brenden said, “and a lot of my money is hidden under that name.”
“To keep people like Max from ruining you?” Tabitha said.
“To protect you, baby,” Brenden said. “From men who might go after you for your money.”
“Oh,” Tabitha said.
“So, see?” Angelica said. “Allex was trying to protect you. She said she could handle Max ruining her, but she refused to let him hurt you or Tabitha. That you’d worked too hard to get where you were now.”
“I suppose coming and talking to me about it was just too logical, huh?” Brenden muttered.
“Max told her to break it off immediately,” Angelica said. “She said she couldn’t face breaking it off with you, and that was why she went to Jamaica.”
“With him,” Brenden put in.
“No,” Angelica said, “she wasn’t with him in Jamaica. He planted that story.”
“And the baby?” Brenden asked.
“There was no baby,” Angelica said. “In fact, she said if there had been a baby it would have been yours, since she had stopped sleeping with Max the minute she was back with you.”
Brenden sat back, taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly.
“Daddy, there’s something else now,” Tabitha said, her tone changing slightly.
“What?” he asked, sitting up.
“Allex has been really depressed,” Angelica said. “Since New York, but now …”
“Now what?” Brenden asked, sensing this was not going to be something he wanted to hear.
“Apparently she and Max are fighting and he hit her a few days ago,” Angelica said.
Brenden shot up off the bed. “He what?” he said, his voice low and threatening.
Angelica swallowed. “I went over there today to see her, and she has fading bruises on her face. She wouldn’t tell me what happened, but a maid there told me that he’d hit her.”
“I’ll fucking kill him,” Brenden growled.
Tabitha and Angelica looked at each other. There was no doubt whether or not he still loved Allexxiss.
“Give me their address,” Brenden said, as he walked toward his closet.
“You’re going over there?” Tabitha asked.
“You have a better idea?” Brenden asked.
“Uh,” Tabitha stammered, “Daddy, maybe you should let one of us get her to come here.”
“After that shit in New York?” Brenden asked from inside his closet. “You think she’s ever going to approach me again?”
Tabitha looked questioningly at Angelica, figuring she was more likely to know Allexxiss’ state of mind at that moment. Angelica only shook her head sadly. She knew Allex wasn’t likely to make another overture to BJ again.
“Well, okay,” Tabitha said, “but maybe someone calmer should go over there with you.”
Brenden came out of his closet wearing faded jeans and a black tank top, carrying black alligator skin boots. He sat on the bed to put them on.
“I’m perfectly calm,” he said, but the light burning in his eyes was anything but calm. “And I’ll continue to be calm while I take his ass apart.”
“Daddy!” Tabitha said, worried that he’d get himself into trouble.
“Relax, Tabbie,” Brenden said, standing up and walking over to his daughter. He kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll only kill him a little.”
Brenden walked out of the room before Tabitha could stop him. He headed down the back stairs to the garage. Devlin caught up with him just as he went to start the engine of the Barracuda.
“Where ya goin’?” Devlin asked, leaning on the hood of the car.
“Out,” Brenden replied mildly.
“Can I come?” Devlin asked, his smile falsely beatific.
“Nope,” Brenden said.
“Ah, come on,” Devlin said, grinning and refusing to get off the hood of the car.
“Get off my car, Dev,” Brenden said, narrowing his eyes.
“Now, is that any way to talk to your best friend?” Devlin asked.
“It is if I’m getting ready to run your ass over,” Brenden replied.
“Fine,” Devlin said moving away. “Just call me if you need help.”
“Will do,” Brenden said as he started the engine and hit the button on the remote to open the garage.
Brenden pulled up to the security gates to the Putnam Estates twenty minutes later, after blowing five stop signs and three red lights. The security officer at the gate looked at him for a long moment.
“Your name?” the officer said.
“BJ Sparks,” Brenden answered evenly.
“You’re not on the list,” the officer said, without a flicker of recognition.
“Let me put it to you simply,” Brenden said, putting his hand calmly on the side of his car. “Open the gate now, or I’ll use this car to ram it.”
“You wouldn’t,” the officer said offhandedly, looking the car over, “What is this, a sixty-eight ’Cuda?”
“Yeah,” Brenden replied, grinning in spite of himself. “So you can see it would be criminal for me to fuck it up on Putnam’s gate, right?”
“Yeah, it would be,” the officer replied.
“But you see,” Brenden said, taking off his sunglasses, “Putnam has something that belongs to me in that mausoleum of a house,” he said evenly, “and I want it back.”
The officer looked back at him for a long moment, and suddenly it hit him who he was talking to.
“Hold on, you’re BJ Sparks,” the officer said.
“That’s what I said, yeah,” Brenden said, doing his best not to roll his eyes at the man.
“Well, in that case,” the officer said, reaching into the guard shack.
Brenden hoped that he wasn’t reaching for a gun or the phone to call the police. He’d been serious about ramming the gate though, one more crime for rock’s bad boy. The officer took out a clipboard.
“Says here you’re kinda on Putnam’s most wanted list,” the officer said.
“Am I now?” Brenden said calmly.
“Yeah,” the officer said, “but since I think I know what you’re here to reclaim, I’ll let you in. Can’t say my fellow officers will be so easy on you though,” the officer told him.
“S’okay, I’ll take it as it comes,” Brenden said.
The officer inclined his head to Brenden. “You have a good day, Mr. Sparks.”
“You too,” Brenden said, grinning as the gate opened. “And if you lose your job over this, come see me.”
“I’ll remember that, sir,” the officer said, breaking into a smile.
Brenden drove up to the house and got out of the car. He walked up the stairs and rang the bell. The butler came to the door.
“I’m here to see Allexxiss,” Brenden said politely.
“She’s indisposed at the moment, sir,” the butler replied.
“Well, I can deal with indisposed,” Brenden replied, with a tight smile on his lips. “Just tell me where she is.”
“I’m sorry, sir, she’s not available at this time,” the butler replied, getting more indignant by the moment.
Brenden looked back at the man for a moment, then leaned indolently against the doorjamb. “Is Max available, by any chance?” he asked, his light blue-green eyes glittering with malice.
“No, he’s not here at the moment,” the butler said.
“Then get Allex, now,” Brenden said.
“Sir!” the butler blustered as Brenden pushed past him into the foyer.
“Look,” Brenden said. “I’m going to see her, one way or the other, so either tell me where she is, or be prepared to do a lot of cleaning when I’m done trashing the place to find her.”
“I’m calling security!” the butler blustered, moving down the hallway.
Brenden shook his head, then looked around him. He saw the staircase and started up it, looking down both ends of the hallway when he reached the top.
“Monsieur,” called a girl from the side of one of the doors.
Brenden looked at her. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Allexxiss, she is down here,” the girl said.
“Thank you,” Brenden said. Max sure had a lot of staff willing to betray him.
A minute later, he was in Allexxiss’ bedroom and found her lying on the bed. As he approached her, he noticed that she held something in her hand, and was turning it around and around. It was his lighter, a black Zippo with blue and white lightning bolts.
He knelt down next to the bed. “So that’s where that went,” he said softly.
Allexxiss looked at him, and her eyes widened as she realized who was talking.
“Hey baby,” he said softly, reaching out to touch her cheek.
“Bren?” she queried softly.
“Yeah,” he said, his fingers caressing her cheek. “And we need to get you out of here, babe.”
“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head sadly.
“You let me worry about can’ts, okay?” he told her, standing up and picking her up in his arms.
“Bren …” she whispered. “I can’t …”
“You can, and you are,” he said, then started walking towards the door.
He got down the stairs and saw two security guards waiting for him.
“Gentlemen,” he said, inclining his head, and continuing to head for the front door.
“We can’t let you do that,” one guard said.
“Really?” Brenden asked, looking genuinely surprised. “Why not?”
“Mrs. Putnam belongs here,” the other guard said.
“Who says?” Brenden said, staring back at them.
“Her husband said she’s to remain in this house,” said the first guard. He was a short stocky man with close-cropped blond hair and tiny mean-looking eyes.
“I don’t know if you realize this or not, Nazi-boy, but this is a free country, and Allex can go wherever she wants to go.”
“She doesn’t look like she’s going of her own accord,” the second guard said. He was a slightly taller version of the first. Max definitely hired all brawn no brains kind of guys.
Brenden looked down at Allex, who was staring up at him as if she couldn’t believe it was really him.
“You want to go with me, or stay here, baby?” he asked her.
He was praying she wouldn’t repeat the “I can’t” phrase again, but either way he was getting her out of this house.
“Bren?” she queried softly.
Brenden nodded, thinking she was probably drunk. No help there.
“Look, boys,” he said finally. “I’m leaving here with her and you’re either going let me, or you’re going to have to stop me. I’ll tell you right now, I’ll hurt anyone that tries to stop me.”
“And we’ll beat the shit out of anyone that he doesn’t finish,” Devlin said from the doorway. He smiled malevolently as he stood with one of Brenden’s own security team, a large man with large fists and an Airborne Ranger tattoo prominently displayed on his forearm.
The two guards looked at the security guy and Devlin, then back at Brenden. Max went cheap on the security people, so neither of these guys were armed, and they were both smaller than Brenden.
“What’s it gonna be, boys?” Brenden asked.
There was a long moment of silence, then both security guards stepped back out of Brenden’s way. He carried Allex out of the house, and put her into the passenger’s side of his car. He had to unlock her fingers from around his neck, she was holding on to him so tight.
“Thanks you two,” Brenden said, with a nod to Devlin and his security guy.
“Couldn’t let you be gallant all alone,” Devlin said, grinning.
“Makin’ us look bad,” the guard added, flashing a grin.
Brenden laughed.
“I’ll meet you two back at the house,” he told them, as he got in on the driver’s side of the Barracuda.
“Will do,” Devlin said.
On the drive back to his house, Brenden noticed that Allexxiss was leaning heavily against the car door. He suspected she’d been drinking a lot, and wondered if she’d been medicating in other ways too. Once at his house, he carried her upstairs to his room. She was asleep by that time. He laid her on his bed and covered her up.
He stood watching her sleep for a while, then went downstairs.
“Is she okay?” Tabitha asked him the minute he walked into the kitchen.
“She seems pretty out of it,” Brenden said.
“I think she’s been taking anti-depressants lately,” Angelica said, having seen a bottle of Prozac in her trailer a couple of times.
“And drinking, it smells like. Lovely mix,” Brenden said, “been there myself.”
Angelica nodded, looking worried.
Devlin walked in then.
“What took you two so long?” Brenden asked.
“Had a little run in with the locals,” Devlin said.
“The police?” Tabitha asked.
“Yup,” Devlin said, nodding.
“What happened?” Angelica asked.
“Nothing,” Devlin said. “We explained that we were merely visiting a sick friend, and that she was being taken somewhere for care,” he said, smiling broadly.
“You lied to a police officer, Devlin McGregor?” Tabitha asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No,” he replied, “I merely stretched the truth a bit.”
“That’s called lying, honey,” Tabitha said, winking at him.
“Oh,” he said blithely, “my mistake.”
“Uh-huh,” Tabitha said, narrowing her eyes at him.
“So where is she?” Devlin asked.
“Upstairs, asleep,” Brenden said. “I came down to get something out of the safe.”
Brenden left them in the kitchen, stopped by the safe in his den, and then went back upstairs. Allexxiss was rousing, just.
“Bren?” she queried, her voice an almost hysterical whisper.
“Right here, babe,” he said, sitting on the bed next to her as she sat up.
“It wasn’t a dream then?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said, grinning. “I’m right here, and you’re here too.”
She leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around her pulling her close.
“This is crazy, Bren, he’ll find out …” she said softly.
“Let him find out, Lex,” he said. “Let him dare come here and try and take you away from me again.”
“No, Bren, you don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head, her voice desperate and afraid.
“Oh, baby, I do understand, and there’s not a bloody thing Maxwell Putnam can do to me,” Brenden assured her.
“He can, Brenden, he can and he will, please …” she said, grasping his shoulder.
“Allex, calm down,” Brenden told her, touching her cheek. “Max doesn’t scare me.”
“Brenden, he’ll ruin you, he’ll take everything, please take me back.”
“No,” Brenden said. “You’re with me, and that’s where you’re staying.”
“No, no …” she said, shaking her head.
“Allexxiss, listen to me. I know about that report you saw, and believe me, that’s not even close to what I have, okay?”
“What?”
“I know about the report you saw that said I was only worth eighteen million,” he told her. “Believe me, Allex, I’m worth a helluva lot more than that. Max isn’t even in my league, let alone my ballpark, okay?”
“But what was that I saw then?” she asked, not willing to believe him easily.
“Probably a report on BJ Sparks,” he said, grinning. “When most of my stuff is under O’Malley.”
“You still use that name?”
“Yeah, a little secret babe, that’s still my legal name.”
Her eyes widened. “It is?”
“So you see? Max can’t touch me, or you now.”
Allexxiss looked shocked, then she shook her head miserably. “Brenden, I’m so sorry, I should have talked to you about this. I should have—”
His finger on her lips stopped her.
“We haven’t lost a lot of time Allex, a lot less than the twenty years we lost before.”
She looked up at him in something akin to wonder, and he kissed her lips softly. He deepened the kiss, as he reached for her left hand. She felt him tugging off her wedding ring and heard it hit the wall across the room. She grinned against his lips, but then felt him sliding another ring over her finger. She pulled away to look at it. It was a beautiful marquise cut diamond with semi-circles of baguettes swirling out from the main stone. It was a ring fit for a queen.
“Brenden …” she breathed, unable to think of something suitable to describe the beauty she was looking at.
“I bought that before we broke up this last time,” he told her.
“It’s incredible …” she said breathlessly.
He tipped her face up to his. “You’re leaving him, and once you’ve divorced him, you’re marrying me. Understand?” he said.
She bit her lip, staring up at him, unable to believe she wasn’t dreaming all of this.
“Allexxiss, do you understand?” he asked. “You’re going to be my wife, like you were meant to be all along.” He leaned down and kissed her. “Say yes, Allex, now,” he ordered.
“Yes,” she said, smiling brilliantly.
“Well done,” he said.
He pulled her against him, kissing her deeply. They spent the rest of the night making love and making up for lost time. Tabitha grinned when they still hadn’t emerged the next morning. She was overjoyed that they were back together. That idea was confirmed when her parents finally emerged at noon the next day, looking sated, and with Allexxiss wearing a totally different ring on her left hand.
“Nice ring,” Tabitha said as she admired it.
“Yes, it is,” Allexxiss said, smiling brilliantly.
“I have good taste in jewelry,” Brenden added.
“And in women,” Allexxiss put in.
“Only the best,” he told her, leaning over to kiss her neck.
Things were finally on the right track and God knew the sparks would do nothing but fly, from there on out.