Brynne

“Are you sure you don’t mind taking him?” I ask as I hand Noah over to Kiley.

She gives me one of her rare smiles. The bruises have started to fade, and she’s put on a few pounds since she’s been staying with Blake, but there’s a sadness in her eyes that never seems to go away.

“I’m happy to help.”

“Thank you.” Felix is coming over soon to look at my new pieces, and after that I could really use a nap myself. I haven’t slept much this past week, and even less since Kane has been gone.

“I’ll take him back to Blake’s apartment for his afternoon nap.” She puts him in his stroller, then takes the diaper bag from me. “That way you don’t have to rush.”

“You’re a saint. You know that?”

She blushes and looks away.

“I’ll order Chinese tonight, and we can watch the game together.”

“Sound good.”

When she’s gone, I tidy up quickly, but I don’t have much time before I get the call from the front desk letting me know Felix is here.

I’m nervous. Other than Kane, I haven’t shown anyone the new pieces I’ve been working on.

They’re different. A lot different than anything I’ve ever painted. But I think they’re good.

Of course, Kane thinks they’re brilliant. But I swear I could paint a giant red dot on a blank canvas and he’d think the same thing.

“You look good,” Felix says when I answer the door, his dark eyes roaming down my body in a way that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I don’t know if he’s always looked at me that way or if I just never noticed it before, but it makes me uncomfortable. And for a second, I hesitate before widening the door and letting him in.

“Nice place.” He walks in, his posture tense, nostrils flaring as he looks around. “It always shocks me how much money these athletes make. I mean, seriously, half of them have the emotional and intellectual IQ of a five-year-old, and they’re making millions. Blows my mind.”

I open my mouth to argue, but I realize that he’s just repeating the same monologue I used to say, even though I know the truth. The men who’ve made it as far as Kane have worked their asses off to get where they are.

“Come on. I’ll show you what I’ve been working on.”

Felix reaches for my hand, his attention back on me. “That…boyfriend of yours, he’s out of town, right?”

“He’ll be back tomorrow.” Unease settles in my stomach. I pull away from his grip, but he hesitates before releasing my hand.

“Then we have all night.”

“Excuse me?” I take a step back, putting distance between us.

“I’m kidding, Brynne.” He chuckles, but it doesn’t hold any humor.

“Right.” I chew on my bottom lip.

“But you could offer me a glass of wine.”

It’s something I would have done without hesitation in the past. I can’t count the number of bottles we finished together over the years.

Maybe it’s me who’s being weird and awkward.

This is Felix.

One of my best friends.

The man who was there for me when no one else was.

“Um.”

“Come on, Brynne.” He gives me a lighthearted smile. “We’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything yet, but I spoke with Gisselle Peppers, and I may have gotten you a spot in her gallery next month.”

“You’re kidding?”

“She just wants to see one of your pieces.”

“Oh my God,” I squeal, which is something I never do, and throw my arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

“You know I’d do anything for you.” He holds me a little tighter, and when I try to pull away, he hesitates.

“Felix,” I warn.

“Sorry. Hard habit to break.” He lets me go. “Now let’s get that glass of wine.”

Forgetting my initial unease, I lead him into the kitchen and pull out a bottle of Chardonnay from the wine cooler.

“Where’s Noah?” he asks, taking the glass I hand him.

“A friend’s watching him.”

“Too bad. I was hoping to see him. I bet he’s getting big.”

“He is.” Guilt creeps into my chest. I’ve been a terrible friend lately. Especially after everything he’s done for me. “I’m sorry I haven’t called. Things have been hectic here.”

“I heard about your father.”

Everyone has. It had been all over the news, which only pissed the man off more than he already was. Because one thing Steve Jacobs hates is being seen as weak.

I take a sip of my wine, and I let him talk, listening to him go on about his latest projects. We quickly fall back into our old easy dialogue.

Almost an hour goes by, and I’m shocked when I realize we’ve finished off the bottle of wine.

He lifts the empty bottle and raises a brow. “Another one?”

“No. I better not.” I’m already feeling a little wobbly and lightheaded.

“Always a lightweight.” He chuckles. “Why don’t you show me those new paintings?”

He’s close, closer than he needs to be when he follows me down the hall toward the room where my work is set up.

“So, this is what you left me for.” He goes to the windows and stares out at the city below. “Can’t say I blame you.”

I frown, because I can’t tell if he’s joking or being serious. “Felix.”

He turns, his hands shoved in his pockets, expression casual. But there’s something in his eyes that I can’t read. Something dark. And a small shiver of fear races down my spine.

“Here…” I swallow past the lump that’s formed in my throat and move towards the large canvas that I finished working on yesterday. “What do you think of this one? Maybe you could show it to-”

His arms wrap around me, and he pulls my back against his chest.

For a heartbeat, I freeze.

Shit.

I turn, trying to move away, but when I do he traps me. “Felix, don’t-”

His breath is heavy in my ear. “These pieces. They’re fluff. You’re better than this. Better than him.”

“Stop.” I get loose from his grip, but only for a moment, before he grabs my wrists, then tugs me back towards him.

“You need me, Brynne.” He pushes me so that my back is against the wall, and causing the canvases that were stacked against it to topple over.

“Let me go.”

Fear sucks my breath away, choking me.

“This isn’t you. You told me that you wanted away from this life. These people. You were happy when it was just the two of us.” He has my hands pinned at my sides. He’s not as big as Kane, but he’s a hell of a lot stronger than I am.

I twist my wrists, and I’m able to get one free. Raking my fingernails across his cheek, I scream, “Get off of me!”

I see shock register in his eyes, but it’s quickly replaced by anger.

“Bitch.” He backhands me hard, and I taste blood on my lip as I crumple to the ground.

“Hey, asshole.” A woman’s voice makes us both jerk our attention to the door.

Kiley stands there, and it takes me a moment to register what she has pointed at him.

A gun.

Shit.

“Jesus,” Felix breathes out, placing his hands up in the air, and taking a step backwards, putting a foot through one of my paintings. “What the hell?”

“What do you want me to do with him?” Kiley asks, her blue eyes cold and trained on Felix.

Felix looks at me, and the expression of terror on his face would almost be comical if I wasn’t worried that Kiley might actually put a bullet in his chest.

“Get out of here,” I say to him, using the wall to help me stand.

He takes a step towards me. “Brynne, I didn’t mean-”

The click of the hammer being pulled back has us both twisting our heads towards Kiley, and my mouth drops open in shock.

“Just go. Before this gets worse,” I say, flinching when he takes a step towards me.

“You want me to call the cops?” Kiley asks, but I can hear the hesitation in her voice, and I doubt she has the proper papers to be using the weapon in her hands.

“No.” I stare at Felix. “He’ll leave. And he’ll never come back. Right?”

“Yeah. I’ll go,” he grits out. “But good luck ever finding anywhere to show this shit you call art. You’re nothing without me. You’ll always be nothing. Just a spoiled little rich girl living off other people’s money.”

I shrug, trying to hide the way my fingers tremble. “Maybe. But if you’re not out of here in thirty seconds, you’ll be nothing, too. Just an obituary in the back of the newspaper.”

It’s an empty threat. But he doesn’t need to know it.

His nostrils flare and his lips twist in a scowl before he storms out of the room. Kiley follows him, and I sink to the floor, my legs giving out on me, and let the tears I’d been holding back stream down my cheeks.

A few seconds later, Kiley is beside me, the gun gone. A look of protectiveness straining her pretty features. A look that reminds me of Kane.

“You okay?”

“Where’s Noah?”

“Asleep in his stroller. He’s fine. I just came back to get another bottle.” She winces, and looks down sheepishly. “I had a little accident with the first one.”

I huff out an unsteady breath. “Lucky for me.”

I don’t know what Felix would have done if she hadn’t stopped him. I shiver, not wanting to think about what could have happened.

She chews on her bottom lip. “You won’t tell Kane about the gun, will you? It’s not loaded, I swear.”

“It wasn’t loaded?” I stare at her in bewilderment. It takes some kind of balls to point an unloaded weapon at someone.

She shakes her head and I start to laugh. I don’t even know why, but I can’t stop.

“My God. You’re…”

“Crazy? Yeah, I know.” She laughs with me.

“I was going to say fearless.”

Her expression sobers. “Fear is why I have the gun.”

I squeeze her hand. “You don’t have anything to worry about anymore.”

“Just protecting you from stalkers.” She raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” I touch my lip. It’s starting to throb, and when I pull my fingers away, there’s blood on them.

“Kane is going to freak when he sees that.” She stands, then holds out her hand to help me up.

I wince, thinking about Kane’s reaction when I tell him.

He’d warned me about Felix, but I hadn’t really seen how strong his obsession was. Kane will want to know what happened, and as much as I want to protect Kiley, I have to tell him about the gun.

“I can’t keep this a secret from him. You know that?”

She swallows hard. “I know.”

“I doubt he’ll condone you carrying a gun. Even an unloaded one. You protected me.”

Her expression is still clouded over with apprehension.

I pull her into my arms and hug her hard. She resists it at first, but eventually her body relaxes and she hugs me back.

I’m still shaking, and I double and triple-check that the apartment door is locked before calling down to the front desk to let them know not to allow Felix into the building again.

I want to ask Kiley about the gun. There’s so much about the girl that I don’t know. But one thing I do know is she’s a lot more like Kane than he thinks.