Missing (The Brannock Siblings Book 3) (21 page)

"She's safer there than at my own home. I wouldn't be
able to hold him back if he was determined enough."

"Lily, has he said anything to you? Anything that would
lead up to this? I mean, this is completely out of the blue, right?"

"Not really. He's been calling, but I got the impression
it was because he's having problems with the bimbo and doesn't have anyone else
to talk to. I mean, it's not like he's stayed in contact with me or anything so
yeah, it's out of the blue, but… I don't know. I guess this is exactly what I
expected."

Aiden didn't like the sound of that. Not when she knew how
deeply her sister had loved the man and not when she wasn't there every minute
of the day. "Lily, you wouldn't…"

"No. I wouldn't, Aid. He may be the father of my child,
but he isn't getting another minute of my life."

The relief she wanted to feel never came. Her sister had
been lonely for a long time, but would never admit it. Not when Aidy brought so
much joy to her life. She could only hope that Lily wouldn't end up with a
broken heart again now that she was interested in someone else.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Aid. Thank you and tell Gus
I said thank you, too."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you, too."

She joined Gus and Aidy in the living room, seeing that they
were already halfway done building a massive fort of blankets, pillows, and
chairs. Aidy was talking excitedly about castles and dragons and princesses.
He
was watching
her
.

She smiled, letting him know all was well, but the heat in
his eyes only flared. He wanted her and he left no room for argument. It was
clear as day. Maybe this would be easier than she thought, letting go of her
fears and embracing a relationship with her best friend.

"Aunty Aiden, can we make popcorn?"

She reluctantly moved her gaze away from him and smiled down
at her niece. "Of course, sweetie. I'll go start some."

"Pantry, left of the door," Gus called out behind
her.

She had just started the popcorn when a phone started
ringing on the counter. It was Gus' phone and the annoying normal was extremely
loud.

"Will you get that, babe?" he called from the
living room just before the sound of Aidy's giggle rang out.

She picked up the phone and looked at the screen. It wasn't
a saved contact, just a number. "Hello?"

"Um, hi, is Fergus available?"

Her stomach rolled in the worst way at the sound of a
woman's sultry voice coming from the other end of the call. Instead of stopping
herself from jumping to silly conclusions that would devastate her, she leapt
buildings in a single bound with the ideas running through her mind. The only
reason for a sultry woman to call him that wasn't his sister or his brother's
girlfriend - which she knew for a fact were saved contacts on his phone - was
because she was interested in him romantically and the only reason she would
have his number is if
he
was interested in
her
. Her fingers
constricted around the phone until the bite of the hard plastic became too
painful.

Of course, the last thing to run through her mind was that
it could be someone from the station, but that was too easy.

"Hello?"

"Oh, sorry, um… yes, he is here. May I ask who is
calling?" She cringed the second the question popped out of her mouth. She
didn't want to know, but couldn't fight the need to get the name of the woman
that would probably fill the space in his life she had so ignorantly refused to
fill, until now.

She had waited too long to snap out of it.

She was too late.

"Cindy."

Gus walked into the kitchen with a broad smile, Aidy close
on his heels. "Is it Luke again? I swear Ash is going to lose her hair
if-"

"Here he is, Cindy."

Gus' smile abruptly fell at the sound of that name. She held
out the phone, trying to look as indifferent as possible, but knew without a
doubt the expression on her face was more like a grimace.

The guilt in his eyes before he looked away was not lost on
her. He hesitated before taking the phone out of her grasp and lifting it to
his ear. As soon as her fingers were free, she turned toward the microwave and
opened the door as carefully as she could. She wanted to rip the thing off and
scream and cry. It was her own damn fault. She should have listened to her
sister from the very beginning. She shouldn't have been so dramatic and
stubborn.

"Hi, Cindy," Gus said from behind her, his voice
strained. She heard him walk out of the kitchen and down the hall, his voice
fading as he spoke. "Oh, that was my… um, my friend. Yeah." The quiet
click of his bedroom door was like an explosion in her ears and her heart
thumped to a halt at that other fucking f-word she had owned like a complete moron
for weeks.

"Who is Cindy?" Aidy asked as she perched herself
up on the counter and watched Aiden practically tear open the bag of popcorn
and throw it into a bowl.

"I don't know, sweetie."

"You gotta come see the fort Gus Gus built for
me."

She grinned at her niece and envied the ease in which her
young mind could let go of the unknown. There was no reason for Aidy to fear
the future and Aiden prayed there would never
be
a reason.

Aidy started in on a very thorough explanation about every
part of the fort they had built, but Aiden's mind wasn't in the room. It was in
that bedroom where Gus was speaking with another woman on the phone. A woman
who had no reason to think Aiden was a threat because Gus had clearly stated
she was a
friend
.

Aidy started in on the popcorn and focused on the cartoon
playing on the television. Aiden started to laugh to herself. A painful laugh
that caused the agony she was feeling to spread over every limb until even the
tips of her fingers hurt. Until the only thing left to do was sob, if she could
only take one breath. She deserved this for the way she had acted over the last
several weeks. She'd finally found clarity. She had finally found what had been
missing in her life all along, only the timing was horrible because she had
fallen.

No, she had crashed and burned.

Just as she expected she would.

Time to move on, Aid.

She thought of the waiting messages on her dating profile -
a profile she was planning on deleting until now - and decided that the very
next morning, she would respond. Maybe she could get a date and spend a night
thinking of anything but Fergus Brannock.

The next ten minutes were spent focusing on her niece and
debating on whether to head back to her apartment or suck it up and put on her
big girl panties.

Footsteps sounded from the hallway and Aidy giggled as they
hunched under the blankets and shoved popcorn into their mouths. Aiden was
anxious, but she was ready to face whatever happened next with neutrality.

Even if it killed her.

Gus

Sleep was impossible. I couldn't get that look on Aiden's
face when she handed me the phone out of my mind. The bleakness in her eyes… it
ripped my heart out and confused me at the same time.
She
was the one
that wanted to be friends, not me.

It had been a moment of weakness when I responded to a
message from Cindy that same morning. She had been a good friend when we dated
in the past so I didn't want to be a dick and ignore her, but I wasn't
interested in pursuing anything more with her. Apparently, answering the text
had been enough encouragement for her to call me out of the blue just to catch
up.

If I had any doubts before, the hour we spent talking with
my family together cleared them up. Aiden fit so perfectly into my family and
there was no way I could move on from her, no way I could let her go. I loved
her and I would do anything to keep her in my life.

Mom had always said we would find that one woman that we
would give up everything for if we had to, I just didn't realize how true that
actually was.

I would quit my job and find another one if it was too much
for her. I would die for her.

When I told Cindy I wasn't interested in revisiting anything
with her, she was disappointed and surprised, but understood.

"Don't string that woman along," she'd told me
before saying goodbye.

I wasn't trying to, but for some reason, that is what was
happening.

Aiden unsuccessfully played it off as nothing for the rest
of the night and hardly looked at me when all I could do was stare at
her
.
Giving her space wasn't working.

Aidy had fallen asleep on the floor between us, surrounded
by pillows and my Red had turned away and pretended to sleep. I could only
assume it was to avoid a conversation we just couldn't have at the moment with
Aidy there.

I was finally drifting off when my phone started ringing. I
quickly crawled out of the fort we had built and moved to my bedroom. My alarm
clock said it was four in the morning. Sleep quickly left me when I saw Captain
Payne's name on the screen.

"Brannock."

"Detective, need you to come in right away."

"Please tell me we got the fucker."

Payne sighed and my hope was washed away. "No. But
we're closer."

I heard movement out in the hallway and turned to find Aiden
in the door of my bedroom, worry all over her beautiful face.

"I'll be there soon."

"Is everything okay?" she asked when I threw my
phone on the bed. Her voice was tired and husky from just waking up. So damn
sexy that I had to turn away from her to face my closet so she wouldn't notice
the tenting at the front of my sweats.

"Not sure. I have to go in now," I muttered as I
yanked a shirt off of its hanger.

"I'll make you some coffee while you get ready."

I absently removed the t-shirt I had attempted to sleep in
and smiled at her. "Thanks, babe."

Her eyes widened and she took a quick step back. I looked
down at my naked torso and was never so grateful for the hours I had spent at
the gym staying in shape. When I looked back up, she was gone.

I dressed quickly and walked out to the kitchen where she
was filling a thermos full of fresh coffee. Aidy was still lights out in the
living room and I caught a glimpse of her tiny feet poking out of the makeshift
fort.

"Will you text me later and let me know you're
okay?" Her voice was filled with distress and the avoidance she had been
working on so hard was completely gone. At least for now.

"Yeah. I will."

She handed me the thermos, but before she could pull away I
grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her against me. She came willingly, but
cautiously. I set the thermos on the counter and cupped her face in my hands.
She closed her eyes tightly and my chest tightened.

"Look at me, Aiden."

I waited, the feel of her soft skin doing a number on my
desire for her. There wasn't time to clear up the call from last night or to
even begin to explain what she meant to me, but there was one thing I could do
to
show
her what I wanted. Then tonight, I'd make her mine one way or
the other and I wouldn't take no for an answer.

Her eyes finally opened, chocolate swirls that I swear I
could stare at forever. I bent my head slowly, our eyes locked together. Her
breath hitched, but she didn't protest, spurring me on. When my lips touched
hers, I lost it. The tender kiss I was planning to give her was suddenly
forgotten and morphed into something desperate. It wasn't going to be enough. I
wouldn't be able to leave without ensuring her sugary taste would stay with me
the rest of the day.

But just as quickly as it started, it was ripped away.

"Aunty Aiden? I'm thirsty."

Aiden pulled out of my grasp faster than lightning and turned
away with a quiet whisper, "I can't."

Can't?

It was my turn to ask the two words that had changed so much
for me over the last week, but I did it silently.

Why not?

She slipped into the fort with Aidy, leaving me standing
there speechless and broken.

No. Not broken.

Confused as hell, but not broken.

Not when I knew I had given her all the time in the world to
stop
that kiss, and she hadn't.

***

Work was the continuation of a shit morning. The captain
brought everyone on this case into a meeting, going over all the evidence and
facts as a team and it brought to light a lot of points. One being the fact
that everyone hadn't been on the same page as Lincoln and me when it came to
how we were going to locate this guy. Several people thought we were just waiting
patiently.

Linc had to hold me down in my seat so I wouldn't shoot
those lazy pricks in the knees. Our job wasn't to just sit around on our thumbs
and wait.

It didn't help that Aiden had been on my mind all morning
and by the time Linc and I left the station for lunch, I was sure he wanted to
shoot
me
. Where was Con and Luke to slap me in the back of the head when
I needed it most? I told Linc everything that happened and he just shook his
head and told me to man up.

He was right. I was done being silent. Hell, I'd never been
silent before, why the fuck was I doing it now?

I just needed the right opportunity to talk to Aiden, to sit
her down and risk everything by telling her how much I needed her and I needed
to do it soon. The knowledge that she was slipping through my fingers was
clawing at me.

I headed home for lunch and to clear my head. Honestly, I
just wanted to see her again and hoped to run into her and finish that kiss,
make her see that this was right. I had only been home five minutes when Lily
showed up at my door looking stressed and exhausted.

"Hey, I've been looking for Aiden for the last couple
hours. Is she here with you?"