The Marine (Black Hawke Security #3)

CHAPTER NINE

brIAR

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“M om, I have to go.” I rub my forehead and hope like hell no one can hear me because I’m at Savannah’s house, standing in the hallway outside her office.

The house—mansion—is enormous enough that I could find a space with complete privacy, but I don’t feel right walking around her home.

I might be her personal assistant and bridesmaid, but there are lines you don’t cross.

Plus, I really want to get off this call.

“I have a right to know if you are okay,” Mom demands.

“I’m fine. It was just a bruise. Nothing broken.”

“I should hope not. Kael had his hand around your throat!”

Nothing Dad didn’t do to you.

Or me.

I don’t say that out loud, even though I want to.

At the end of the day, it’s my fault.

Is it?

Why do I think these things? Am I just repeating what my mom said over and over during my childhood?

“Briar!” My mom interrupts my thoughts that are lost in time.

“Mom. Stop. I shouldn’t have lied to him. I agreed to go on these dates. I was just...” I search for the right words, because if I tell her I’m scared, it will just make her worry more. “Tired and wanted to go home.”

God, now I’m lying to my mother.

During dinner, Vanessa rang pretending to be Mom. I jumped to my feet, asking if she was okay, and told Kael I had to go check on her after the call disconnected.

Stupid idea.

Of course, he wasn’t going to just let me ride away in an Uber.

“I have to go,” I said, gathering up my bag and jacket. “Something’s wrong with Mom. I will call you tomorrow.”

“What’s happened?” he asked, and I could see he didn’t believe me.

“I don’t know. I just have to go.”

Good one.

I’m such a terrible liar.

His face turned angry, and he tossed some big notes on the table, then followed me out of the restaurant.

“I can go. Just—”

“Briar, I’m your damn husband. How many times do I need to say it? I’m coming with you.”

“No.” I stood my ground and stopped on the sidewalk.

“Do not test my patience. Get in the damn car.”

He opened the door, and I began to panic as he rounded the car.

What the hell was I going to do?

By the time we arrived, I was a hot mess. I was sweating and my hands shaking.

“I’ll go in. You wait here.” I had tried.

The look Kael had shot me sent fear right through me.

I followed him up the path to Mom’s front door and he knocked, calling out her name. When she opened it, she was in her dressing gown, the TV going in the background.

“Hi. Briar. Kael. What are you both doing here?” she asked, surprised to see us.

Because she was.

I cringed and felt myself pulling away from the arm he had wrapped around my back. Tears were already forming in my eyes.

Without hesitation, he turned on me angrily. “You lied?”

I shook my head despite the evidence in front of us. “No. Wait. Let me—”

“You lied?” He yelled again, his angry face closing in on mine.

Terror filled me.

“What’s going on?” Mom cried as he pushed me against the outside wall.

“Go inside, Mrs. Sutton. Now!”

“Briar!” she cried as he pulled the door closed in her face, pushing her back.

“Mom, I’m fine,” I cried, holding my hands up. “Kael stop. Let me explain.”

“You fucking lied. Why? We were having a nice dinner.”

You were.

I wasn’t.

I dropped my arm and tried to reason with him. A novice move, even for me.

“I just wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t want to upset you. I have a sick stomach, and Mom has some medicine that helps me.” I lied once more.

Kael spun away, and I drew in a breath, hoping he would drive off.

But he didn’t.

He turned back and launched at me, gripping my throat painfully and pushing me up against the harsh brick wall. I ripped at his hand, gasping as he glared down at me like a madman.

For all I know, I tore skin off his hands and I don’t care.

“Liar. All you do is lie, you little bitch.” He spat.

I tried to speak, clutching and ripping at his hands and shirt, trying to breathe.

I thought I was going to die. Right there on my parent’s porch. In the same house my father had died years ago.

Would he be charged?

Would he get away with it?

An image of Aidan flashed before me, and I knew I didn’t want to die.

“You disgust me.” Spittle hit my face.

Then the door came flying open and Mom stood there with a baseball bat and phone. “I’m calling the police. You need to leave.”

Kael dropped me and I fell to my knees, desperately drawing in air. Black and white spots filled my eyes, and all I could do was focus on breathing. Next minute, I heard a car screeching away and my mom dropped down next to me.

“Yeah, well, you saved me,” I say quietly into the phone as I lean against the wall at Savannah’s house.

I’d left an hour later in an Uber with my throat throbbing, knowing I’d have a bruise.

“You have to press charges.” Mom tells me.

“You never did.” I bark back, then regret it. “Mom, I’m sorry. I just have to do it my way. Kael is...”

Dangerous.

More dangerous than anyone realizes.

I’m so glad I never got pregnant. I knew the moment I had a scare one month that I had to leave him. If he ever hurt my child, I’d probably kill him.

I will not let my kids go through what I did growing up.

“Please be careful,” she says, and I hate that because of me, another violent man is in our life.

I rub my neck and remember Aidan’s reaction. I need to make sure he never meets Kael. He could mess this up for me royally. That can’t happen.

Kael will give me this divorce after the wedding, but if he thinks there is another man, he will make my life hell.

In fact, I might not live to find out.

His entire focus is on controlling me, and I’ve watched him teeter on the edge of sanity a few times.

Two more dates.

That’s all I have to get through.

Unfortunately, one of them is the wedding, so I need to keep Aidan away from Kael, as he will be there.

He’s one of the groomsmen, so we will both be busy. I’m confident that the two aren’t exactly going to end up drinking buddies on that night.

I say goodbye to Mom and go back into the office where Savannah and I have been going through her schedule for the next month.

“Sorry.” I indicate my phone.

Savannah looks up from the contract. She’s glancing over at her desk, not interested at all in what I’ve been doing. Which I’m grateful for.

“So listen to this,” she starts. She’s been offered the female lead role in an action film that starts six months after she gives birth.

“Six months. What if I can’t tone up?”

“You will. Get a trainer and all the nutrition people the stars use,” I say, sitting down and crossing my legs.

“I don’t even know who they are.” She sighs, sitting back in her chair and rubbing her belly.

Savannah has only been a star for a few years. One of her first movies hit it big and then they did a sequel. She’s retained her humble nature, which is rare in this business.

Not many see it.

But those of us close to her do. That circle is small since her family and best friend betrayed her. She doesn’t trust easily and neither do I. Perhaps that’s why we’ve become friends.

We’ve gotten much closer in the past few months. However, because we work together so closely, that doesn’t always translate to hanging out socially. But there is a bond between us.

I care about her.

Savannah is funny and kind. She loves Ryder, and it’s adorable how playful they are together. He’s very protective of her.

Is that what Aidan would’ve been like had we stayed together? If my father hadn’t died.

Would I be living an idyllic life with a man who loved and protected me? We will never know, as it didn’t work out like that.

God, Mom would be furious if she knew I’d seen Aidan. And slept with him. Not that I’m going to tell her or anyone.

But damn, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Especially at night.

He’s like refined sugar. Now I’ve had a taste (again), I want more. And more. And more.

But I can’t.

Aidan Black is my past, not my present or my future.

Still, that doesn’t mean my body understands. Let’s just say I’m going to stop for new batteries on the way home tonight. It was only two nights ago when I last saw him.

“I’ll ask around my network. We’ll find someone. Just sign the contract and we’ll get you ‘Sarah Connor’ ready.”

“Who?”

I roll my eyes. “Sarah Connor. Terminator? Oh my god. If you’re going to be an action heroine you have to watch that movie.”

She groans. “Okay, adding it to the list.”

“When is your last dress fitting?” I sit down and pull my tablet onto my lap and start swiping.

Keeping Savannah focused on the wedding is best right now. She can be scatterbrained and jump from one thing to the other.

Which is why she has me.

“Tuesday,” she says, brightening up. “God, I can’t wait to marry Ryder.”

I smile broadly at her.

“You’re going to be a beautiful bride.”

“Oh! That reminds me. We are having a dinner party on Saturday night. Like a pre-wedding dinner. Will you come?” she asks excitedly.

Aidan.

I really should keep away, but, god, I immediately feel my body reacting to the idea of being near him again. My nipples harden, my core heats.

“Um...”

Shit, what do I do?

It could give me the opportunity to speak to him and be clear that nothing more can happen between us.

If you think that’s where this ends, you are wrong, Briar Sutton.

With Kael attending the wedding next week, I need to make sure Aidan keeps his glowering gaze away from me. Kael will spot it a mile away, and it will be me wearing the bruises the next day.

“I know it’s last minute. If you want to invite the girls, you can,” Savannah says in that vulnerable way.

“Really?” I ask, surprised. Trina and Alice are huge fans. I rarely have the opportunity to include them in things.

Clearly, I can’t invite them to the Golden Globes or Oscars. But a private dinner at Savannah Sinclair’s house—oh my god—they will die.

But I check in with her. I don’t want her to think I would only attend if the girls were there. It’s not true and I hate that she might think that.

“They’d love it, but you don’t have to do that. Of course, I’d love to be here.”

Savannah waves her hand out like it’s no big deal. “No. Invite them. I want to meet them. It’s less formal than it sounds.”

I grin widely.

Trina is going to lose her mind.

“That would be amazing. I’ve wanted them to meet you for ages. I just didn’t want to push, you know.”

We’re both straddling this employee/friend space and working it out.

“Totally get it. Just make sure they sign the NDA contract and give them instructions on security, etc.”

Aside from the day-to-day stuff, the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she’s referring to is the confidentiality around her wedding.

No one—as in the public or media—knows she and Ryder are getting married next Friday. It’s possible it will leak early, but so far we’ve had a huge amount of luck keeping it under wraps..

Like a field of five leaf clovers' worth.

Nothing stays secret in Hollywood, but we seem to have done it.

So far.

With less than fifty guests, it’s a small Hollywood wedding and just what the two of them wanted.

I even got Kael to sign the NDA. He’s more interested in controlling me and making sure he attends as my date.

So I’m not worried about him. He’s never been star struck despite meeting Savannah once in person.

“I will.” I smile, excited to ring the girls and tell them the news.