The Billionaire and His Driver

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Three weeks later Elvira and James and all of the housekeeping staff were back to work in full force (except for Gail, who resigned her position and was busy preparing a lawsuit), and all seemed normal again. But it was far from normal for Brina.

She didn’t spend the day cleaning rooms and unloading vans, which would have normally been the case, but she instead, as had been the case for the last three weeks, spent every single day with Ronny. At his office. At his club. She even was his caddy while he played a round of golf with another businessman. And he didn’t introduce her as his caddy. He introduced her as his lady. Always. No matter where they went. She hadn’t been back to her apartment since that attack. Not because she didn’t want to go, but Ronny wouldn’t allow her to go, even just to get more of her clothes, because he knew the memories would flood back and set her back. That was how kind and considerate he was toward her. That was how well he treated her.

And now, as an example of her new life, she and Ronny were having dinner with his brothers at a fancy restaurant in Windale. They were laughing and talking and completely enjoying the evening. She felt carefree and genuinely happy.

She also felt as if she finally found a place where she belonged for the first time in her adulthood. And she was beginning to believe she wasn’t going anywhere. In those three weeks since that scene at his club, Ronny made her feel as if he would be lost without her , which was a sentiment unheard of before in her life.

“Where does the case stand with the lawyers?” Sully asked both of them.

Brina didn’t know so she looked at Ronny. Ronny ate another morsel of his steak. “They’re still investigating. They want all the pieces in place before they make any final moves.”

“Which means some pieces are still missing?” Sully asked.

Ronny nodded as he chewed. “Yes.”

That was news to Brina. “What pieces?”

“Lawyers and pieces,” said Perry as they all munched down on dinner. “What are you people talking about?”

“Long story,” Sully said.

“In other words,” said Zack, “none of your business.”

“They still haven’t been able to determine who did it,” Ronny responded to Brina’s question. “They know who didn’t do it, but they need to know who did it before they feel ready to proceed legally. They just haven’t found the evidence that pointed to any one person. And that’s what they need. It all has to tie together.”

Brina nodded. She understood that.

But Perry was still on his own kick. “Why does it always end up being you and Sully in the loop,” he asked, “while Zack and I are always out of that loop?”

“Age and wisdom, my dear brother,” said Sully with a smile. “We have it, and you and Zackariah does not.”

Perry was seven years younger than Ronny and six years younger than Sully. But they treated him as if he was some kid. “I’m thirty-seven years old I’ll have you to know. I think I’m beyond puberty by now.”

Zack and Brina laughed. Sully and Ronny gave them a hard look as Ronny’s phone began ringing. He looked at the Caller ID. It was Reynolds McNabb. “Hey.”

“Am I on Speaker?”

Ronny found that an odd thing to ask. “No.”

“Is Miss Hawkins with you?”

An even odder question. “Why?”

“We have Drez Wilburn in custody. I think you may want to hear what he has to say.”

Ronny hesitated. For some reason that sounded ominous to him. “What will he have to say?”

“It’s about Miss Hawkins. If he is to be believed, and he sounds very believable, she may not be who you think she is.”

Ronny’s heart grew faint. It was as if the proverbial shoe he had been waiting to fall just dropped. He looked at Brina. Brina looked those gorgeous, brownish-green eyes at him that always melted his heart. And was still melting it. Because, in that moment, he knew there was no turning back for him. Rise or fall, ride or die, he was not turning his back on her ever again. “We’re on our way,” he said to Reynolds, and then ended the call. “Let’s go, Sabrina,” he said as he stood up and grabbed his suit coat off the back of his chair.

“I’m still eating.”

Ronny was putting on his suit coat. He almost stopped all movement. “What did you say?”

Brina looked up at him. “I’m still eating.”

Ronny’s temper flared. He never liked anybody giving him what he considered back talk . “I said let’s go!” he said between clenched teeth.

Brina was surprised by his tone. But she knew, by the fire she saw in his eyes, that this was a critical moment in their relationship. She knew she had to stand her ground or forever cede it to Ronny. “And I said I’m still eating,” she replied to him.

The brothers were accustomed to the way Ronny spoke to anybody that disobeyed him. Yet they were shocked that anybody other than them would speak that way to Ronny. But what shocked them more was when Ronny, though pissed, didn’t tell her to take a hike or get home however way she could or otherwise dress her down. He just walked on out.

But Sully was looking at Brina. To him, she was proving her mettle. To him, she just might be that one woman that had what it took to stand up to his brother.

Brina did finish eating her dinner, and she didn’t rush it down either, the brothers noticed. Then she stood up and grabbed her jacket and purse. “Have a great rest of your evening, guys,” she said to the brothers, they returned the nicety, and she walked on out of the restaurant.

Perry, with a grin on his face, looked at Sully. “What was that about?”

But Sully was concerned about Brina. He ignored his brother as he got up and walked out too.

“Just like I said,” Perry said to Zack, shaking his head, “we are always out of the loop.”

“And just like I said,” said Zack, still eating his food. “I don’t give a fuck.”

But he did wonder why Sully, of all people, would get involved.