Three Weeks Later

I squeeze Mia’s hand in mine as we stand side by side outside of the Brokerage Inc. headquarters. It’s set back in a small strip mall in the center of town. The front looks pretty rundown, surprisingly for what’s supposed to be the center of the Carter family empire.

“You ready?” I ask Mia.

She nods her head once. “I guess so.”

“Good.” I grin at her and turn back to the door.

I’ve been out of the hospital for a week now. I’m not fully healed, not even close, and my body is still a patchwork for bruises and scars, and my arm is still in a sling. But none of that matters. I’m free and alive and that’s very bad news for the Carter family.

I push through the front door and step into the office. It looks like a normal reception area. The secretary sitting out front is an older woman, maybe in her late fifties, with thick blonde hair and a face splattered with makeup. Mia follows me inside, standing close.

I can feel her nerves, but that’s okay. She has every right to be nervous. We’re going up against the Carter family, and this moment will make or break us.

The secretary smiles as I approach.

“Afternoon,” I say to her. “I’m here to see Mr. Carter.”

She frowns slightly. “Do you have an appointment?”

“I don’t,” I say. “My name is Lucas Baker and I’m here with Mia Hayes. He’s going to want to see us, I think.”

She does her best to give us both a smile. The names don’t ring a bell, but I wouldn’t expect them to. She doesn’t have anything to do with the Carters and their shitty business dealings, I’m sure.

“One moment,” she says before standing and heading into the back.

I look at Mia and she tries to smile. “What if he doesn’t want to see us?” she asks.

“We’ll go back anyway.”

She bits her lip. “What if this doesn’t work?”

“It will work.” I squeeze her hand just as the secretary comes back.

She gives me a confused little smile but doesn’t sit down. “Okay, head on back,” she says.

I grin at Mia and we follow the secretary into the halls of Brokerage Inc. In theory, this is supposed to be a money lending operation, though it’s pretty empty. I spot maybe three other employees. I have my suspicions about this place, but that’s not why we’re here. Frankly, I don’t care about his shady business dealings. I only care about Mia.

The secretary knocks on a door then steps back. The door opens a second later, and Mr. Carter himself ushers us into his office.

He shuts the door behind us and gestures at the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat,” he says. We all sit down in our spots and he leans back in his chair, eyeing us. “I have to say, I’m surprised to see you two here.”

“I’m sure you are,” I say.

He gives me a look. “What can I do for you guys?”

He’s still trying to play the genial businessman, with a fake smile and an open demeanor. He probably thinks that letting us back here was a good move on his part, a way to keep pretending to be a good guy.

But that’s his first mistake, because we know better.

“We’re here for a simple reason,” I say. “I want you to get your sons to leave us alone. And Mia wants you to back off of the nature preserve.”

He smiles slightly wider. “I don’t have any control over my sons,” he says. “And Mia knows I can’t do any such thing.”

“Actually, Mr. Carter, you have a lot of control over your sons.” I lean toward him, staring into his eyes. “But we’re not requesting. We’re demanding.”

He laughs softly, arching his fingers together. “Interesting. Why do you think you can order me around, Lucas Baker? You’re just some washed up military guy, home to raise a motherless child.”

I look at Mia. “Show him,” I say.

She nods, looking nervous.

Mr. Carter looks amused. “Mia, dear, you shouldn’t be here. We gave you plenty of chances.”

“I think you’ll want to see this,” I say to him.

Mia pulls a folder from her bag and passes it across the desk to Mr. Carter. He gives us a bemused look before opening the folder. “Okay, what am I looking at?” he asks.

“That first image is a raw still from the video my dashcam grabbed of the accident I was in. Did you know I was in a car accident, Mr. Carter?”

The smile on his face is slowly fading. “I heard something about that,” he says.

“I’m sure. If you flip that image over, you’ll see a touched up version.” Mr. Carter flips, and the smile is gone from his face. “As you can see, it’s clearly a truck, and the license plate is very visible.”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at,” he says, but I can tell he knows exactly what I’m saying.

“One more picture,” I say. “Go ahead and flip.”

He turns it over and grimaces. The third photograph is of a truck parked in his driveway. It’s the truck from the first two photographs.

“Bullshit,” he says, shutting the folder. “This is garbage. That second picture is doctored. And how do I know that it’s even from the accident? It could be another truck entirely.”

I grin at him. “We both know the truth here, Dan,” I say, using his first name. That pisses him off, but he doesn’t say anything about it.

“I think you’re just trying to blackmail me,” he says. “And I don’t respond well to that sort of thing.”

“Strange. I thought you’d be very comfortable with it,” Mia says suddenly.

I grin at her before turning back to Dan Carter. “Look, we don’t have any proof of who was driving that truck. But we do have proof that it was one of your vehicles, and someone in your family was driving it. I bet that if the police do some investigating, they’ll figure it out.” I lean toward him, grinning huge. “Especially if I suddenly get my memory of that accident back.”

Dan’s eyes narrow. “You bastard.”

“Sure, I’m a bastard. But one of your sons tried to kill me, and based on the repairs you guys did to that truck, I suspect you’re helping to cover it up. Even with the cops in your pocket, I doubt you could squash this.”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out. I know that I have him, but I’m not sure if he can see it yet. He stands up and turns his back on us, looking out the window.

He’s silent for an uncomfortable length of time. Mia looks at me, a little worried, but I squeeze her hand again to calm her. We sit there and wait.

“What do you want?” he asks finally.

“Back off the preserve. And stay away from me, Mia, and our families.”

“In exchange, you will give me everything.” He turns and looks at us. “Absolutely every shred of evidence.”

“I don’t think so,” I say. “Because I need something to hold over your head. No, the deal is that you do what we say, and we won’t ruin your family.”

He stares at me, rage passing over his face, before turning to look out the window. “My boys are trouble,” he says. “Always have been. I was too soft on them, spoiled them, made them into monsters. Dylan especially. The boy doesn’t know how far is too far. When he came home and the truck was a mess, I knew what he did. Especially when I heard about what happened to you.” Dan Carter sighs and turns back around, sitting back down.

“I don’t care what your excuses are,” I say to him. “Take care of it. And we’ll be even.”

He nods once. “Consider it done. You’ll be left alone, and I won’t purchase the preserve.”

“Thank you,” Mia says.

Dan looks at her for a second. “You made the right choice, Mia Hayes,” he says. “My son is a monster.”

I stand and Mia follows. “We know he is,” I say. “And so are you. Keep your word.” I turn and leave, Mia in tow. We walk quickly out of his office and into the beautiful afternoon sunlight.

Once we get to Mia’s car, she turns and throws her arms around me, hugging me tight.

I grimace. “Careful,” I say.

“Shit, sorry,” she says, laughing. “I just can’t believe that worked.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

“You think he’ll back out?”

“No, probably not. But we have an enemy now.”

“Didn’t we always?”

I grin at her. “Good point. Come here.”

She presses herself against me and we kiss, deeply and full. It feels damn good, like the first free kiss we’ve ever had. The weight of the Carter family feels lifted, and the future feels wide open.

When we finally break the kiss off, I hold her hand and look into her eyes. “I need you to know something,” I say. “I love you, Mia Hayes. Fell in love with you a while ago, since the day we met.”

She smiles huge, her whole body brightening up. “I love you too.”

“I know that.”

We kiss again, and this time it means even more.

I don’t know if Dan Carter will keep his word, but I suspect he will. He’s a father, and he works hard to keep his sons out of trouble, even if he knows they’re rotten. I’m a father too, and I understand that. Except Noah won’t be rotten like the Carter boys are, I’ll make sure of that.

And so will Mia. I know she’s going to be in my life for a long time, which means she’s going to be in Noah’s life. And the idea of Mia being his mother brings a huge smile to my face. I can help her take care of her father, and she can help raise Noah. We can be a family, together, finally. No more Carters, no more problems.

That’s all in the past. We can have what we want. She’s my girl and I’m her Daddy. I told her I’d take care of her, and I will. She never has to worry about a thing.

“Come on,” I say to her. “Let’s go home.”

She smiles, kisses me, and we leave together.