Her torment and pain rip through me, clawing away at my anger and leaving something far starker that I cannot name. But it drives me forward, and toward her, and she flings herself into my arms. I close my arms around her, holding her as she sobs. My mother, the queen herself, is sobbing. I hold her like this, and time stands still, but my emotions do not. I know Emily says she’s human, but I don’t know this woman I’m holding who can be this weak. But I do know she’s a creation of the Brandon family name.
The bathroom door opens, and my mother doesn’t seem to notice, keeping her face plastered against my shoulder. Or maybe she’s afraid of what she must now face: my brother. Derek walks in, stepping to us, his expression as stark as those emotions I cannot name. We stare at each other across her head, brothers again, for a reason neither of us wants to exist: this is an attack on our family. And while I’ve thought it and said it many times before, this is a war we are fighting, and it has never been so real.
I release my mother, and she turns to Derek, the two of them staring at each other, no words, no tears. It’s their way of coping, and I step to the door to allow them their private reconciliation. Exiting the bathroom, I find Emily standing there. I wrap her in my arms, and those stark emotions I’m battling are suddenly bearable. I cup her face and stare down at her. “When this is over, I’m going to properly propose, and you’re going to say yes. Because I’m going to make sure you love me so much, you can’t say no.”
“I already do, Shane.”
I press my forehead to hers, my lashes lowering, savoring her words, her smell, her body next to mine, until the bathroom door opens behind me. Emily reacts immediately, pulling us closer and kissing me. “I’ll be nearby.” She backs up and disappears as Derek steps to my side.
“Mom’s freshening up.”
“Mom,” I say. “Like Pops. We never call them those names anymore.”
“Maybe it’s time we do,” he says as Seth steps in front of us. “And maybe,” Derek adds, “it’s time Ramon dies.”
Seth doesn’t react. He never does. He’s stone-cold. The bathroom door opens again, and my mother, Mom, steps to Derek’s side, lacing her arm with his. “I’m ready to go back upstairs.”
“I need a word with Shane,” Seth says.
“We’ll go on up,” Derek says, looking at me, hatred in his eyes, but it’s no longer for me. He starts walking, leaving Seth and me alone.
“You spoke to Cody instead of me about Ramon,” Seth says, “because you knew he wouldn’t do it. And you know, even if you don’t like to admit it, that part of the reason I’m so close to you is that you understand me and what I’ve done in my life. You know what I’m capable of doing. And you knew if you came to me about Ramon, I would find a way to end him without recourse. You want him dead. You come to me when you’re really ready.” He turns and starts walking.
My lips quirk, that stark feeling completely gone. “Seth.” He stops walking and turns to face me. “I’m ready.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EMILY
From a nearby table in the bar, I watch Shane in the moments after his mother departs with Derek, as he and Seth have an exchange, standing there in the archway by the bathrooms, his blue suit hugging every athletic line of his tall, powerful body. On the surface he is simply a gorgeous man who owns the room, and every situation he so chooses to own. But it’s the man beneath that presence who calls to me, who knows me as I know him, in ways that simply can’t be defined. And now, with Seth departing, Shane’s gaze lifts, seeking me out, and it’s an amazing thing, the way his eyes warm when they fall on me. The way he makes me feel like I’m the light in the emotional storm he’s just traveled through with his mother. Like he has been the light in the storm of my past that delivered me to Denver, and to him.
I stand up and close the distance between us, and he watches my every step, and I his, the room fading away to just us, if only for these few precious moments. And when the space dividing us is erased, his arm automatically slides around my shoulders, our path leading us toward the main hotel, our steps automatically falling into sync. “How bad was it with your mother?”
“Was that my mother?”
“Shane,” I say softly. “Just remember—”
“She’s human,” he supplies. “I know. And that’s all the more reason to get her and my father to Germany sooner rather than later. We’re working on getting them on a plane by morning.”
I sense the relief in him with this plan. His mother will be out of the sights of Ramon and Mike. And it is, indeed, a good plan, but I am instantly aware of the good-bye to his father that he will soon share, and it could come sooner than he expected. I don’t say this to him though. Not now. And I really don’t have a chance to have that conversation with him anyway. We round the corner to the main hotel area and start walking toward the elevator. “Will they stay the night here?”
“That remains the plan,” he says.
“And Jessica?”
“We’ll use the press situation to keep her here for the night,” he says, “and then reassess her situation once I talk to Adrian.”
“And you’re making him come to you.”
“That’s right.”
“And he’s making you go to him,” I say.
“He’s an impatient man who hates to be ignored,” he says. “He’ll come to me, but not before he tries to force me to be reactive first.” He turns us to the elevator banks, where Cody catches up with us.
“An update,” Cody says, punching the call button, his dark eyes instantly engaging, his dark hair curling at the longish ends. His attention is on Shane as he adds, “One of my men is escorting Derek, who’s setting your mother up in a private suite for your parents to share. Derek seemed to think she needed to pull herself together before she’s with your father again.”
“I forget how smart my brother is sometimes,” Shane approves, the elevator doors opening, the three of us stepping inside, where we are silenced by the risk of recording devices represent. And while this is something I’ve been aware of before now, the idea that Ramon might be watching just plain gives me chills. It also creates a new concern for me regarding Jessica’s safety that I wait to express until we’ve exited the elevator, just outside the car, where I pause to ensure I have both men’s attention.
“Won’t Jessica being here tonight actually bring attention to her and make her a target?” I ask. “I mean, Derek’s secretary isn’t here. With Jessica here when she’s not, it makes Jessica look important, which isn’t the way you want Martina or Ramon to see her. And Jessica doesn’t know about Martina at this point, but she’s smart. If you keep her around here long enough, she’ll figure it out.”