Leverage (The Brannock Siblings) (21 page)

Lucas had stayed by my side, only leaving to go home and
shower and change quickly, then came back and sat with me. We talked about what
had happened just before I had been taken and he filled me in on everything
they had discovered since.

Justin had been interrogated by Gibbs and Montgomery and my
brothers had been present for it, which made the man jabber like he had a gun
pointed to his head. He gave them everything they needed to make sure Banetti
stayed locked up for as long as possible and apparently, the last couple of
days were busy for the Oakland Police Department. They had shut down at least
five different locations that Banetti was working out of, confiscated a boat
load of drugs, even more weapons, and had been working with several women on
their recovery. Banetti was a sick bastard. The few women they found had been
pumped full of drugs and hardly even knew their own names.

Justin's confession was practically a gold mine for Lucas,
but he still seemed a little disappointed that he hadn't been there to hear it
in person. He kept reassuring me that he wanted to be with me more and Gus told
me they had been glad he stayed away because they didn't want to have to arrest
him for assault and none of them would have tried to stop him anyway.

When he told me about his staged arrest and what Justin had
said when they took him away, I wanted to assault the man myself. He had played
his role so well for years. It was only Lucas' determination to keep me safe
that stopped him from revealing too much to the man. No one suspected him of
anything
.
How that was possible, I had no idea, and it made me anxious to think of Lucas
out there every day risking his life and the constant possibility that there
was someone else just like Rains. It was just the nature of the job I guess,
but Lucas wasn't going to let that stop him from putting his faith in the men
around him when he needed to.

We pulled up to Dad's house and Lucas helped me out of the
car. "Maybe we should just head over to my place, let you rest a little
before you do this, Ash," he pleaded with me again. The whole way home
from the hospital he had been begging me to not be too hard on my father and
brothers. He said that he had promised to back them up if I went too crazy.

"Why did you make such a ridiculous promise, Lucas?
You're supposed to me on
my
side."

"I know, baby, and I
am
on your side, but I need
them to continue approving of me."

"Why?"

He sighed and stopped me before I could climb the steps to
the front door. He took my hands in his and looked into my eyes. "I still
have to go through them to get to you. If I betray them, they'll give me the
ass kicking they have been waiting for. You don't know what it's like to spend
every day in fear of getting jumped by one of them. I can barely kiss you
without one of them holding the other back and one day, they might not even
bother holding each other back."

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from him to climb the
steps, he didn't let me get far and held onto my hips to keep me steady. I was
just fine walking on my own, but I was enjoying his attention too much to say
so. Especially when he dropped his hand a little and patted me on the butt
making me warm up inside.

The door opened before we got there and Dad stood there with
a huge smile on his face. A fake one, but a big one. His eyes gave away his
fear.

Now I understood why Mom always took her time when any of us
were in trouble. She let us stew in our own fear while she waited to punish us,
especially Dad. I remembered the time she had let him lock himself up in his
office for three days while she continued on with daily life with a smile on
her face, like nothing was wrong. He had paid my brothers to show up at my
summer job as a lifeguard and scare off all the boys that even looked my way
while I was in my swimming suit. My boss had not been happy about it and had
almost fired me until my mom showed up and explained the situation.

The boys had already received their punishment, but Dad… she
let him torture himself for a while longer. He would peek his head out of the
office throughout the day while he was home and ask one of us where Mom was and
if it was safe to come out and without fail, Mom would appear behind us with
arms folded across her chest. Dad always had fast reflexes, but I had never
seen a man move
that
fast. The door would shut and we wouldn't see him
again for a few hours.

Mom was smart. It felt great to have that kind of power.
They were terrified of me right now and I decided to let it go on a little
longer. I was mad, yes, but I had gotten over it on the way home thanks to
Lucas. He had explained the reasons why they had lied to me and I realized it
was the same reason he had kept his so called 'arrest' from me. They were
absolutely right that I wouldn't have let them go through with it.

"Hi, Daddy," I said with a smile and he took a
step back as his brows shot up his forehead in surprise. I moved forward and
hugged him as best as I could with one arm.

"Uh, hello, my beauty. How are you feeling today?"

"Better. My arm aches, but my face doesn't hurt so much
anymore."

The swelling had gone down and the bruises had already
started to fade. My lip was still sore and was the only injury I wished would
heal faster. I wanted Lucas to kiss me, but he had avoided it at all costs, not
wanting to hurt me which didn't help with my frustration.

Conall and Fergus were sitting in the living room looking
apprehensive when I walked in and strode toward them. They both stood with
their hands protecting their groins. I just smiled sweetly and hugged each of
them before turning toward the kitchen.

"What's going on, Luke?" I heard Fergus hiss.

"I have no idea. I have been trying to reason with her
all day, but she hasn't told me one way or the other if she is going to kill
you guys or not," he hissed back.

I heard Conall groan, "Oh God, she's letting us live in
fear. Dad, how long? How long do you think she will torture us?"

I stopped just inside the kitchen doorway so I could hear
them and covered my mouth to hold back the giggle that wanted to burst out.

"I have no idea. Your mother once went a whole two
weeks on me after lying to her about a case. Aislinn is more stubborn than
Isabelle
ever
was."

"Plus, you guys have spent years making her life
miserable," Lucas chimed in and I heard three smacks before he yelped,
"Ouch! Hey, it's the truth. No reason to smack me."

"He's right, boys," Liam mumbled. "We need to
take the first step. We all need to go in there and beg for her forgiveness,
otherwise, there's no telling how long she will draw this out. It may be
months… Oh, dear Lord, it may be years!"

They all went deadly silent, then I heard Lucas speak.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I've already apologized for the things I
did in the past. You guys are on your own with this one."

"Traitor," Gus mumbled.

The sound of pounding footsteps coming toward the kitchen
made me jump and scurry over to a stool at the island, giggling silently the
whole way. I positioned myself so that I would appear indifferent, but
expectant at the same time. Just like Mom did when she knew an apology was
coming. The woman was a pro.

All three of them rushed into the kitchen, their eyes
twitching back and forth, then froze when they saw me. Lucas was smiling behind
them and winked at me. He had figured it out and he was going to let this play
out
my
way this time.

They all started speaking at once.

"Ash, we had no choice,
he
made us swear not to
say anything…"

"It was all Dad's idea, Ash, and you know what happens
when we don't obey him…"

"My beauty, we can all come to some kind of
understanding. It wasn't like I held a gun to their heads…"

I couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out. It was the
greatest thing I had ever seen, my brothers and father all practically
groveling at my feet and turning on each other. Mom would be proud of me.

They had all gone silent and I was gasping for air and
clutching my stomach from the laughter. All three of them started to chuckle
nervously, like they weren't sure if they should join in or be more afraid.
Lucas just watched me with an adorable expression, like I was his hero.

My laughter finally died out and as I wiped the tears from
my eyes, he moved beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, being
careful not to put too much pressure on my injured one.

"I promise to forgive you under one condition."

They all took a step forward and nodded eagerly as they
spoke at the same time once more.

"Yes, anything."

"Tell us what it is."

"Done."

I looked up at Lucas who was trying to withhold a laugh from
seeing how pathetic they all looked. This must have been priceless for him.

"You have to swear to let me live my life. No more
scaring off people you don't like or trying to control me."

They all looked at Lucas with grim expressions and glared at
him, like he had betrayed them. He just lifted his hands in surrender and
gestured toward me, "This is all her."

Three sets of eyes shifted back to me and waited.

"I've spent long enough living under your thumbs. I
love you all and I appreciate your concern for my well being, but the control
ends today. I need to live my life."

My brothers looked to my father for help as if they were
expecting him to be the one to argue with me. He just sighed and looked each of
them in the eye, then back at me. "Okay, Aislinn. We promise." He
glanced at Lucas and narrowed his eyes. "You are responsible for her
now."

"Whoa, whoa! No!" I shouted. "I am
responsible for
me
," I argued and turned to Lucas who was smiling
sheepishly.

"Calm down, Ash. That's not what he meant," he
said soothingly and pulled me off of my stool to stand in front of him.

"Well, then what
did
he mean? Just because they
are going to back off doesn't mean they have to pass the torch on to
you
!
That totally defeats the -"

I stopped talking when he dropped down on one knee in front
of me, holding both of my hands in his. When he looked up at me with those sky
blue eyes, full of amusement, I gasped.

"What are you…"

"Aislinn Brannock," he began and tears sprung to
my eyes when I saw his hand sink into his pocket and pull out a small black
velvet box which creaked as he opened it. A beautiful diamond glistened back at
me and I started to feel lightheaded. My eyes moved back to his when he started
to speak. "I love you more than words can explain. I have for most of my
life and I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out, but now that I have,
there is nothing that is going to stop me from being with you forever. You are
my
dream
, just like your name says you are. Be my wife, let me take care of
you while you live your life. Let me love you for the rest of mine and longer.
Marry me?"

That's when everything went black.

***

Lucas

Lucas caught her around the waist before she could fall and
he panicked for a minute.

"Whoa, Luke! She actually swooned for you. Will you
teach me how to do that?" Gus laughed.

They all started laughing as he lifted her into his arms and
started to walk out of the kitchen. "I'm taking her to my house. Don't
want you asshats to ruin the moment for her anymore."

"Oh, I think she did that herself pretty well,"
Conall called after him.

Liam opened the front door with a smile on his face,
"That was some proposal, son. Don't worry too much about her reaction, she
gets it from Isabelle. That woman fell to my feet the first time I spoke to
her."

"Seriously?" Lucas chuckled.

"Yes, I'm serious. The beauty couldn't look at me
without getting a little dizzy, but then the same went for
me
. I felt
like I was on fire whenever she glanced my way." His eyes brightened as he
spoke about his wife and Lucas smiled, understanding perfectly.

He made his way to his house, adjusting her carefully so he
could open his door. She didn't weigh much at all for him and he felt like he
would crush her if he wasn't paying attention. He started to get worried when
he laid her on the bed, arranging his pillows to accommodate her shoulder, and
she still didn't move.

He still had the ring in his hand and he gazed down at it,
wondering if she liked it or not. He knew she would and he felt a little silly
for worrying so much about it. She wasn't the type of girl to fret over the
size of a diamond.

She stirred a little, but her eyes didn't open, so he
stretched out next to her and waited.

It was only a few minutes before she opened her stormy grey
eyes and turned to him with a confused expression covering her beautiful face.

"What happened?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead gently, "You
fainted."

She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her
hand as she blushed, "Oh God, how embarrassing."

"Don't worry. It definitely raised my status with your
brothers. They think I have magic powers now," he teased.

"Did you really ask me to marry you?" Her voice
was muffled from behind her hand, but he could hear the slightest hint of
disbelief.

He reached out and pulled her hand away so he could see her,
waiting for her to look at him, then entwined his fingers with her and sat up.
"Yes. I did. And you still haven't given me an answer."

She grinned up at him and tried to sit up. He helped her
move so her back was leaning against the head board and her arm wasn't in an
awkward position. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive during her
recovery. He was already struggling to keep his distance. When she was
comfortable, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead again, then her nose,
then ever so gently on her lips. She sighed and tried to press her lips against
his again to deepen the kiss, but he backed off with a teasing grin and waited.