Evangeline knew she would.
And being able to talk about it, if not thoroughly and totally openly, felt marvelous.
Especially getting Amélie’s opinion on Branch.
She only really needed Aryas’s.
But Amélie concurring meant everything.
“I’m scared,” she admitted.
“This also isn’t surprising,” Leigh replied gently.
“Of a lot of things,” Evangeline carried on.
“My darling Leenie, the beauty of you is you feel that and you’ve still carried on. You don’t have to share, I’ve not had what happened to you happen to me. I can’t understand, I can just imagine how difficult it is to sally forth after what Kevin did to you. And you should feel exceptionally proud of yourself that you did that, Evangeline. Exceptionally proud.”
Evangeline rubbed her lips together, liking hearing that too.
Leigh kept talking.
“And also, doing that with one such as Branch, who I can imagine is quite the match for you. I won’t break the trust Olly has in me, and thus the trust Branch has in Olly with what he’s shared that Olly has given to me. But I will say that I not only hope you best that match for you, I hope you do it for Branch. Olivier is worried about Branch finding happiness. However, I know, if anyone can bring that about, it’s you.”
“Thanks, Leigh,” Evangeline whispered.
“Don’t thank me for sharing the truth, Evangeline. Now, I’ll just have to hope that you make great enough strides in that so the two of you can come over for dinner. Olly is over the moon that Branch has found somebody, especially after I’ve shared so much about you and he knows how lovely you are.”
She grinned.
She couldn’t help it.
But still she warned, “I wouldn’t hold your breath for that, Amélie.”
“I won’t, Evangeline, but I’ll still hope.”
Evangeline would too.
“And I’ll do my best to keep gossip curtailed while you do your work,” Leigh went on.
“Thanks, Leigh. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it, darling. Now you enjoy yourself and we’ll have lunch again soon.”
“Absolutely.”
“Take care, Leenie.”
“You too, Leigh.”
They hung up and Evangeline looked to the clock on her computer.
It was just after noon. She had no idea if Branch was awake and taking on the day or not.
But she didn’t want to wake him if he was not.
So, her lips curled up, her heart feeling light, she went back to her listings.
BRANCH
The phone ringing woke Branch up.
He opened his eyes, hauled his body the long way to the side of the bed and tagged the jacket he’d dropped to the floor last night.
He pulled out his phone and scowled at the screen.
Then he took the call.
“What?” he asked, trying to force the sleep from his voice but not quite succeeding.
“Brother, it’s past noon and I woke you up? Did she jack your shit and good when you made it back to her and you’re still recovering? Or did she paddle your ass for dragging her away from Sixx’s scene, the burn didn’t let you get to sleep and you’re still recovering?” Olly harassed.
“Fuck off,” Branch muttered, rolling to his back and pushing up so his shoulders were against the headboard.
“Thanks for the opportunity, Branch. Leigh was so pleased I delivered her friend to you, she did jack my shit and good, so when we got home I slept like a baby.”
Unfortunately, Branch had witnessed that very thing.
He didn’t share that.
Then again, Olly knew he was in the control room so he knew he did. He just didn’t give a fuck.
“You’re obviously not fucking off.”
Olly’s voice got low. “Bud, I’m so fuckin’ happy for you, I don’t even got words to express it.”
Branch dropped his head but opened his mouth to speak.
“Don’t get excited, Ol, we’ve been together just days and it isn’t going anywhere.”
Olly didn’t hide he didn’t like that.
“Why the fuck not?”
“She’s a good woman.”
“Then I’ll repeat. Why the fuck not?”
“She doesn’t need my shit.”
“If she hasn’t had the chance to give it to you, it’s not mine to give. We’ll just say I just met her last night but I know a lot about her and she’s a strong woman, Branch. My guess, strong enough to take your shit.”
“I know how strong she is. I know her story. And that might be the case, she still doesn’t deserve it.”
“I don’t get this, man.”
“You don’t need my shit either.”
“Well then, brother, let me give you a crash course in friendship,” Olly returned with a sudden bite in his tone. “It isn’t about the good times over beer. It’s about the shit times and being able to stand strong by your boy when he’s having them or after he’s had them or whenever it hits. So I might not need it and I might not want it but I’m your boy, so if you ever feel like giving it to me, I’m no brother at all if I don’t take it.”
Branch rolled his neck, feeling so much, he didn’t speak.
He didn’t need to.
Ol wasn’t done.
“And same thing if you find a good woman. You said she’s a good woman and you know better than me. But Leigh doesn’t suffer fools gladly so I also know your assessment is true so my guess is, you give her your shit, she’ll take it, help you get past it and then maybe you can find your way to happy.”
“My brand of shit, Ol, you don’t know, but no one needs it.”
“You know because I told you that I landed my brand of shit on Leigh and it was a load, Branch. It nearly buried us both. But she was falling in love with me and saw the promise we had so she found her way through it and look what I got.”
“Ol—”
“No,” Olly cut him off. “You mean something to me, Branch. You were there when I needed you and I don’t give a fuck you were being paid. What you made happen was meaningful to me and you got my trust, brother, and you earned a place in my heart, so I can’t listen to this shit anymore. I know a lot of men who are good men, relatively decent men, but they’re still dicks. I know two men who are good men, decent men, right to their balls, and they deserve to be happy. Clay is one. You’re the other.”
Ol was talking about the situation Branch helped out with when a maverick Domme at the club injected her poison into a variety of lives, including Amélie’s.
He was also talking about Barclay, part-owner of the Bolt, who was now a friend of Branch’s because Olly was a friend and Olly’s assessment of that man wasn’t wrong.
“Find your way past this, Branch,” Olly urged. “And if I can help with that in any way, you know, but I’ll say it again, I’m here.”
All Branch could give that was a “Right.”
That was when Olly lowered the boom.
“And just sayin’, you can’t, don’t know this woman, just know she means a lot to Leigh, so if you can’t sort your shit, cut her loose because she doesn’t need to be played that way.”
“I can’t.”
Fuck.
He was so fucked in the head, he couldn’t even control his own goddamned mouth.
“Then don’t,” Olly whispered. “And be fuckin’ happy.”
It was safe to say he’d had enough.
“I need to be done with this chat,” Branch clipped.
“I’ll give you that.”
“And I need you to keep a lock on this. What Evangeline and me have is ours. You know. Amélie knows. Aryas knows. That’s it, man.”
“’Fraid it’s too late to flip that lock, Branch. You know the Honey but figure you don’t know that about the Honey. Evangeline is popular and it’s a wonder balloons and confetti didn’t drop when she hit the hunting ground last night. The one and
one that equals the two of you might be more like algebra. But those people are used to figuring out complicated equations. And they want good for her. So a whiff of it, they were all over it.”
Fuck.
“Then just do your best to stem that tide, Ol. Want her and me to be just her and me but it’s not anyone’s business the way I play it.”
“You got it, bud,” Olly muttered.
“Just got up. Got shit to do. I dig what you’ve said, man, and time comes I need that, I’ll take you up on it. Just need you to know now, it’s appreciated.”
“And that’s good to know.”
“Talk and beer later.”
“Yeah. Later, Branch.”
“Yeah.”
They disconnected and Branch pulled himself out of the bed, throwing his phone on the nightstand and heading to the bathroom.
He used the toilet, washed his hands, splashed water on his face, and it had been so long since he’d spent the night at a woman’s home in the way he’d done last night at Angie’s, putting him where he was right then, not getting his ass dressed and out the door, he hadn’t thought to bring a toothbrush.
She had an electric one. He found a replacement head. Went for it. Then headed back to the bedroom and got dressed.
He was in the kitchen when he saw a large, square, neon Post-it stuck to the coffee machine.
He went there, ripped it off and read:
MBB,
MBB?
What the…?
His mouth twitched up in an almost grin.
Her big boy.
He read on.
Hope you slept well.
Help yourself to whatever. I set up the coffeepot. The switch on the front, flip it to on.
Branch needed some coffee so he did just that.
Then he read on.
I’ve got a late-ish showing tonight but I should be home around 6:30. Maybe latest 7:00.
My turn to cook, if you don’t mind eating late. If you do, we’ll get takeout and I’ll pick something up to bring it home with me.
See you later, handsome.
xxx E
Her turn to cook.
He’d wait.
And not let himself think about how easy he was letting himself fall into shit like it being her turn to cook.
He also didn’t let himself think about moving around her kitchen as he searched for some bagels, didn’t find any but did find some English muffins so he loaded one in the toaster.
While he was getting out butter, his phone went again.
Unknown call, no number, no location, nothing.
Which likely meant Gerbil.
Good timing.
If word spread about him and Evangeline, it increased his vulnerability.
And hers.
There was a reason there weren’t a lot of people in his life and this was for his safety.
And theirs.
A dead man didn’t have friends, but Branch had allowed himself a few of them he knew he could trust.
But that man absolutely didn’t have a woman.
“Yo,” he answered Gerbil’s call.
“Piz,” Gerbil replied.
Branch stilled on the short trek from fridge to counter with the butter.
“What about Piz?”
“You know that crazy-ass bitch he married and divorced who was most of the reason why he didn’t mind becoming a ghost to be on Rifle Team?” Gerbil asked.
“Yeah,” Branch answered.
“Well, the crazy-ass bitch was more like a cunt. She divorced his ass and didn’t share she did it pregnant with his kid.”
Branch unfroze and made his way to the toaster, saying, “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. A little girl. She’s almost seven now. And crazy, bitch-ass mama has decided the government is going to set them up so she’s all up in their shit, threatening to sue, saying Piz died the first time he died, that being the fake one, due to negligence. This being why he was traced to Rifle Team and the files were discovered.”
“I can’t fucking believe that woman was pregnant. If Piz knew—”
“He’d be alive, a part-time daddy, because if he knew he had a kid, he’d never sign on to Rifle Team,” Gerbil finished for him.
They both fell silent, thoughts of Piz alive, the man they knew who they also knew would kick ass as a father and love doing it weighing heavy over the phone line.
Gerbil broke it.
“From internal memos, they’re gonna pay her off to shut her up. So she’ll go away. And outside Raines being screwed that audit brought his shit to light, everything’s all good, brother.”
At least there was that.
“Thanks for lookin’ into that,” he said, the muffins popping up, he put them on a plate and got a knife.
With that, he stilled again.
Because he knew right where her knives were.
Shit.
He reactivated and moved back to the muffins, asking, “And Raines?”
“Well, just because I like how you mete out vengeance, I’ll have to admit to making it a little tough on the new guy’s team in finding him. You say the word, I’ll make that easier.”
“I feel like saying the word, I’ll do that,” Branch replied. “Now, I gotta share that things with me and Evangeline aren’t under wraps like they used to be.”
“Under wraps?”
“No one knew about us.”
“Why?”
Not a-fuckin’-gain.
“Do I need to explain?” he clipped.
“Yeah, you do,” Gerbil retorted.
“No, I don’t,” Branch ground out. “I made more enemies in those missions than just Raines, Cam.”
“And they all think you’re dead, John.”
“Let’s keep it that way. And now we gotta keep Evangeline safe. Because the circle I got is tight. And it seems the circle she’s got is tight. But shit happens.”
“For the most intuitive field operative I met in the entire fuckin’ United States intelligence corps, you’re one dumb motherfucker,” Gerbil fired at him.
Branch’s back shot straight.
But again, as usual, Gerbil didn’t let up.
“Two days ago, you tell me you’re with a good woman and you want me to help you keep her safe. Now you tell me word’s getting out in your circle. If you don’t see what’s happening to you with her, John, I’m gonna have to come out of my bunker and slap you upside the head so I can rattle it loose.”
“Don’t piss me off, Cameron,” Branch growled.
“I’m a thousand miles away from you and even you couldn’t penetrate the Gerbil Shelter even if you could kick my ass in about three seconds so don’t mind if I do piss you off, John, so you’ll see the fuckin’ light.”
“Last woman I gave a shit about I broke up with and a week later she went out and got herself dead.”
“Fuck,” Gerbil whispered.
“Head caved in with a baseball bat.”
“Holy fuck, John, fuck.”
“She would not have done the stupid shit she’d done to get herself in that position if I hadn’t ended it with her so do not fuckin’ tell me I need to see the light. Even if you don’t get why I feel I have to do it, you need to get I feel I have to do it so I’m protecting Evangeline and I’m asking you to help me protect Evangeline and that’s the last we’ll talk of it. If you don’t wanna help with that, brother, then just don’t and shut the fuck up.”
“I’ll help, John. Of course. I’m here for you, always. Team, man. Brotherhood. Always.”
“You got any more to give me?” Branch demanded.
“No.”
“Then later.”
With that, he disconnected.
He stared at the muffin, suddenly not hungry.
And his phone rang.
“Goddamn it,” he bit out.
He looked at the screen and relaxed when he saw the name of a colleague he sometimes worked with, a man named Tucker Creed, on his phone.
&nb
sp; Then he took the call.
And with all the shit he’d been getting that day even though he’d only been awake less than an hour, he needed time to clear his head.
So even though it meant missing Evangeline’s cooking, the job Creed asked him to help out with, he took it.
EVANGELINE
After finishing up Mira and Trey’s listings, Evangeline was about to head out the door to find some lunch.
But when her phone rang and it said Branch was calling, she didn’t even bother playing it cool.
She snatched it up, took the call and put the phone to her ear.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey, thanks for making coffee.”
She felt the smile split her face.
“Did you get some food?” she asked.
“Muffin,” he muttered then spoke more clearly, “Listen, Angie, this sucks but a friend of mine called. His usual partner is his wife, don’t ask, she’s arguably more badass than him, but that’s beside the point. They’ve got a job and they can’t find a babysitter and it’s her turn to watch the kids. He’s asked if I’d take his back on it tonight and we trade favors. I gotta do it.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
“It’s gonna run late, I don’t know how late.”
“Oh,” she repeated.
And waited.
He had her key.
His job had run late last night too, but he’d come to her and pulled her in his arms when he’d crawled into her bed.
This after he pitched an alpha fit at seeing her with another man.
But she waited.
And he made her wait.
And then she waited more.
And he said nothing.
“So, well, okay,” she filled the silence. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s Saturday but I have an open house so I won’t be home until maybe six.”
“Fine. Be here then.”
She was going to sleep alone.
Okay.
Right.
Maybe he needed this and maybe she needed to pull back and give it to him.
And also, maybe she needed some time too.
But she had more to say, things he wouldn’t like, and she might as well get it over with.
“You should know, I spoke with Amélie and she said—”
“I know,” he cut her off. “Ol called. I asked him to nip it in the bud the best he could.”