36. Briar
36
brIAR
I wake up in a giant canopy bed, the white sheer curtains dancing softly in the breeze around it. The room is lit by warm sunshine. The mattress underneath me is plush, and the blanket on top feels like a cloud.
I don’t recognize this room.
My heart starts pounding in my rib cage. Panic claws up my throat.
My mother finally found me, just like I always knew she would.
I jump off the bed and run toward the main door. It's locked, just like I knew it would be.
A scream builds in my throat. Right before it can escape my lips, the bathroom door opens. Dimitri stands there with a white towel slung low around his waist. Steam billows out from behind him, bringing with it the scent of his spicy shower gel.
I fall to my knees and bury my face in my hands.
He's immediately by my side.
"Briar," he says, holding my shoulders as they start to shake. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. "I woke up alone, and I thought...I thought..."
I can't even finish the sentence.
"You were sleeping when my men arrived at the island,” he says. "We landed in Paris a few hours ago."
"Paris," I say. "Right."
"I meant it when I said that I wouldn't let anything happen to you ever again," he says. "But at the same time, I need you to be strong, princess. Okay?"
“Like Chloe,” I say, nodding.
A shadow passes over his face. He never hid his contempt for my eldest sister.
But I don’t care. I love my sister. She’s the strongest girl I know. I’ve looked up to her all my life.
Chloe had nothing but the clothes on her back when she left home. But she was smart. She stayed hidden, and she worked hard. She made a life for herself. And when she came back home, she finally stood up to our mother.
Dimitri tucks my hair behind my ears.
I know he has a slightly different opinion about my eldest sister, but he's smart enough not to voice it now. I reach for the swelling on his head.
"Did you get this looked at?" I ask. "It's still the same size as it was yesterday.”
“There was a doctor on the plane who checked it out,” he says. “He looked at you as well.”
"Me?" I say. "But I'm not even hurt."
His eyes dip down to my belly for a moment.
"I just wanted to be sure," he says, looking away.
I feel everything he feels. And I can tell from the look in his eyes that he's pulling away for some reason.
He still feels guilty about yesterday.
He walks toward the balcony and pushes the curtains aside all the way. Some hanging flower baskets in the balcony have dark pink blooms. They’re gorgeous, but what takes my breath away is the view. The Eiffel Tower stands tall and proud in the distance.
“We should head out soon,” he says. “The detective’s apartment is only a few blocks away.”
“Dimitri,” I say.
He doesn’t turn around.
I don’t need to ask him what he’s thinking about. His mind is still stuck on what happened yesterday.
“I dreamed about you while I was sleeping,” I say. “It was a replay of everything we did last night.”
I walk toward the bed. I add an extra sway to my hips because I know he’s looking.
"Briar, I know what you're trying to do," he says, catching up with me and pulling me closer to his body. I gasp when I feel his hard cock against my ass.
“What am I trying to do?” I ask innocently.
"If you drag me back to that bed with you, I'll never want to leave it," he says. "I'll want to lose myself inside you for the rest of the day. And if I did that, I wouldn't get any work done now, would I?"
I shift my hips against him. He growls against my ear and drags my nightgown up my thighs.
He cups my pussy.
"How does your pussy feel?" he asks. "I lost control last night."
"It's okay," I whisper. "I like it when you lose control."
Now that I've had a taste of what it feels like to be owned by this man, it's all I want. It's all I crave.
"That's right." His baritone voice makes my nipples pebble. "You begged me to be rough on you."
He slips his hand inside my panties now, exhaling slowly when he finds me wet and pliant.
"Always ready to take my cock," he says, moving his thick fingers up and down my slit. "Always ready to tease me with this perfect ass."
I arch against him, draping my arm behind his neck.
"You looked so good taking my big cock inside you," he says. "I didn't think you'd be such a little slut for it. You were begging me to fill you up with my come. Isn’t that what you need, princess? It's not enough for you to have a man's cock stretching you out. You’re not content until your little hole is filled with cream.”
"Yes," I say. "But only yours."
"Ah, fuck it," he says. "I told myself that I'd keep my hands to myself today, but I can't help it when you spread these thighs for me and beg me to make you feel good."
He plunges two fingers inside me. The force of it makes me stand on my tiptoes.
"Find something to hold on to now, princess," he says. "You're about to take my cock inside your little pussy again."
I hold one of the bedposts as he replaces his fingers with the tip of his cock.
"This is how it started," he says, dipping his tip in and out of me. "I told myself I'd just put the tip in. It couldn't hurt. And now look at me."
He plunges all the way inside me with a rough thrust, lifting my feet off the ground. He fucks me roughly like he's on death row and I'm the last source of pleasure offered to him. Like he can get away with anything now.
My eyes catch on the floor mirror, where I can see our reflection. He's driving his powerful body into mine, pounding into me mercilessly.
He follows my gaze, seeing what I see.
His much more powerful body rails into mine. His arm underneath my bouncing tits is the only thing holding me steady as he hammers into me with brutal thrusts.
"Fuck, the sight of you getting fucked by me should make me feel bad, but it only makes me want to fuck you harder," he says. "You look so good taking my cock."
His thrusts grow more powerful now. He's jackhammering into me, taking me without restraint.
"If anyone walked in on us right now, they'd think I was taking you against your will," he says, biting down on my shoulder. "They'd think I was keeping you hostage inside this room, forcing you to open your thighs for me."
He's owning me in every way now.
He lets his inner beast come out to play when we’re together like this. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
"Beg for my come now, princess," he says. "Spread these thighs a little wider and ask me to empty inside you."
"I want you," I say.
"Say the words," he says. "There's no reason to act shy now."
"I want you to come inside me," I say. "I want to feel you coming deep inside me."
My entire body trembles with the need for release. And he's the only one who can give it to me.
“My good little girl,” he growls, burying himself deep inside me as he gives me what I asked for.
He slaps my clit, then pinches it hard, making my eyes lose focus.
When I come for him, it feels like I'm levitating. Gravity has nothing on me. I'm floating in outer space now, completely weightless. I'm not burdened by anything in this world. All that exists is pure nirvana.
I moan softly when I feel him spilling inside me.
“ Fuck , Briar,” he growls. “You take my come so good.”
He keeps pumping his hips into me, drawing out the orgasm and filling my body with bliss.
It's like a drug that I know I'll forever be addicted to.
And the roots of this addiction will only grow stronger with each day that passes.
He kisses my shoulders and neck, inhaling the scent of my skin.
I turn around in his hold. He cups my tits and presses his lips against mine. Every time we kiss, this bond between us turns stronger. It becomes unbreakable.
There's nothing on this earth that can shatter it.
"You must be hungry," he says. "You barely had anything to eat yesterday.”
I moan as he bites down on my lower lip.
"No, I just want to keep kissing you forever," I say, tugging him toward the bed. I want him all over my skin. I want to run my fingers over every inch of his chest.
"The complimentary breakfast closes in half an hour," he says.
And just like that, my priorities shift.
“You’re right,” I say. “I’m famished.”
His lips twitch. He takes my hand and walks me toward the closet.
"I had some clothes brought in for you. I hope it's all to your liking."
He opens it, showing me a whole array of clothes. There's nearly everything here—from casual wear to cocktail dresses. And on the top shelf is a selection of wigs and sunglasses and prosthetics.
"It's for your safety," he says. "Just in case you're caught on a CCTV camera."
I nod, understanding his concern. I'm so beyond grateful that he's looking out for me in all these small ways. I don’t have to worry about it because he thinks of my every need before I have to.
I turn around and give him a hug.
"What's this for?"
"For just...being you," I say. "I love you, Dimitri."
"I love you too, Briar." His voice is thick with emotion.
I know I should hurry up and get dressed, but all I want to do is hold him for as long as possible.
Everything between us shifted yesterday. Whether we want to admit it or not, the helicopter crash brought us together. It made me want to be honest with myself about my feelings for Dimitri.
It made both of us finally give in.
And life never felt sweeter.
~~~
It's drizzling as we enter the Parisian streets.
Dimitri wanted to take the Town Car, but I felt like walking since our destination is only a few blocks away.
“You know what this feels like?” I press a kiss against his bicep.
“What?” He keeps scanning our surroundings, distrustful of every person and shadow.
“It feels like we’re a happy couple out on their honeymoon.” I smile up at him.
That catches his attention.
He glances down at me.
"If you were my new bride, I'd keep you chained to my bed all week," he says.
His words make me stumble. He pulls me closer against his side, holding me steady. He chuckles darkly.
“If there wasn’t any work to be done, I’d be doing exactly that,” he says.
My legs feel like spaghetti noodles as I walk. My desire for this man is as deep as the ocean. My lust feels like it can consume me.
“Not fair,” I whisper.
“I wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine for once.” He playfully pinches my waist.
Having sex with Dimitri feels like an addiction. I can’t stop thinking about it.
To distract myself, I think about the breakfast buffet we just had.
“The food was good, right?” I say. “I’ve never had more cheese and chocolate in my entire life.”
“I want to take you out for dinner tonight,” he says. “There’s a really nice restaurant I think you’ll enjoy.”
“Really?” I ask.
He checks his watch. It’s still fairly early in the morning.
“Talking with the detective shouldn’t take more than an hour,” he says. “If everything goes according to plan, we can explore the city later today.”
“That sounds lovely,” I say. “But you know what I really wanted to explore?”
“Don’t tell me it’s the?—”
“The pirate island,” I say dreamily. “I was really looking forward to seeing more of it in the morning."
"Did you miss the part where I told you it was cursed?" He raises an eyebrow.
"No, I heard you the first time." I study Dimitri's side profile. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who's superstitious. "But admit it, it would've been fun."
"Briar, people have died on that island," he says. "And those who make it out are said to have bad luck. They're said to be cursed."
"Okay, but if you think about it, we're already cursed, so what would be the harm in exploring the rest of the island?" I say.
He sighs slowly, shaking his head like he's trying to make a child understand why they can't have ice cream for breakfast.
"Also, if you didn't want me to be curious, you shouldn't have told me about the hidden treasure."
"I should have known better than to appeal to your rebel side."
"If I didn't have a rebel side, I never would have met you in the first place."
He blinks. "I don't even want to think about that alternate reality.”
"You know what I think?" I glance down at our intertwined hands. "I think we would have found each other anyway. All of my memories before you are so bleak and lifeless, but now everything is in technicolor."
Something passes in his eyes. It's gone before I can make sense of it.
For the first time, I think it’s more than just guilt in his eyes. There's something else going on in his head. I'm about to ask him about it, but he speaks first.
"We're here," he says, clearing his throat.
We stand in front of a seven-story apartment building. It has wrought-iron balconies adorned with flower boxes.
It’s where the detective lives.
My heart bangs in my chest again.
Thinking about my mother always fills me with dread. She could be thousands of miles away, but she still has my emotions in a chokehold.
We’ll be looking into her past now.
I don’t know if I’m ready to face it.
But then, Dimitri squeezes my hand, and it feels like fresh blood enters my veins. I feel like I can take on anything.
It’s funny how a single person can rule over your emotional landscape.
"Will he be violent?" I ask.
"I wouldn't have brought you with me if he was," Dimitri says.
“How are you so sure?”
“From the information we gathered about him, he used to be a stand-up guy. He was an active church member and volunteered at a dog shelter on the weekends. Not to mention, he was one of the only detectives in that jurisdiction who refused to be bribed. This doesn’t make him a good guy, but I know he had good intentions.”
“People can change, Dimitri,” I say. “They don’t always end up as the same person they started off as."
“If it makes you feel better, I’m heavily armed,” he says. “As is my team who will be watching this building.”
“Your men are here?” I ask, surprised.
I scan the road, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“I wasn’t going to take any chances,” he says. “Not with you around. I don’t think the old detective will try to attack us, but in case he does, we’ve come prepared.”
“I thought he was a stand-up guy,” I tease.
“Doesn’t mean he can’t make stupid decisions.”
"You have a harder time trusting people than I do."
"Maybe when this is all over, we can go to therapy together."
He walks to the main entrance—a grand, heavy wooden door that opens after he enters the code into the security lock pad. I follow him.
A small lobby area has mailboxes to the right and then a staircase. There’s an Out of Service sign over the elevator, so we take the stairs to the sixth floor.
We stop in front of one of the doors.
Dimitri rings the doorbell.
There’s a shuffling noise from inside the apartment. I hold my breath as the door opens, revealing an older man in plaid pajamas. He has a pot belly that protrudes from his white undershirt. A piece of cereal is stuck in his unkempt beard.
"Who are you?" he asks in French.
Dimitri introduces himself. “My name is Dimitri. I came here to speak with you for a few minutes."
The detective's eyes land on me. At first, he looks bored, but then his expression turns incredulous.
"Those eyes," he whispers.
I know exactly what he sees. He sees my mother staring back at him.
He’s about to slam the door shut on our faces, but Dimitri is one step ahead. He holds it open with his palm against the door. The detective throws his entire body weight against the door from the other side, but Dimitri doesn't budge. His muscles don’t even look like they’re straining as he holds it open.
"Like I said, I'm just here to talk," Dimitri says. “We know who you’re afraid of, but she did not send us.”
"Leave me alone," the man screams. "Leave me the fuck alone."
I glance at the other apartments on this floor. We need to get inside before the neighbors call the cops on us.
Dimitri sighs and throws the door open the rest of the way, knocking the man out of the way. The detective lands on his back a few feet away. He scrambles back on his elbows. His face is contorted in pure fear.
And he's looking right at me.
“You ruined my fucking life,” he screams. “ You ruined my entire fucking life .”
"I'm her daughter," I say. "I know I look exactly like her, but I'm not her. And I'm nothing like her either. We came to you because we need your help."
He blinks a couple of times.
Dimitri closes the front door behind him and locks it. I keep my eyes on the detective.
"Detective James Sterling, my name is Briar Thorne," I say. "Like you, I was subjected to my mother's cruelty all my life. And like you, I'm trying to hide from her."
"I don't know anything," he says immediately.
Dimitri sighs again. "Look, we can do this one of two ways. The first way, which is what I prefer, just so you know, is to sit down like adults and have a conversation. And the second way involves your sister. The choice is yours, but I hope you pick wisely."
"My sister?" the detective stands. "What did you do to my sister?"
"Nothing," Dimitri says. "Yet."
I close my eyes. This poor man looks traumatized enough already. There's really no need to scare him even more.
"How did you find me?" the detective asks.
"That's not what I'm here to discuss," Dimitri says, sitting on the man's brown leather couch and gesturing for him to do the same. "I'm here to talk about Malorie Thorne. After everything she did to you, I believe you have as much of a reason to hate her as I do."
The detective remains standing. He grinds his jaw back and forth as he stares at Dimitri. And finally, he takes a seat on his own couch.
“Do you even know what you’re getting into?” the detective asks, looking between the two of us. "That woman has eyes everywhere."
“We know that,” Dimitri says. “We also know she wants you dead. But you've been protecting yourself and your family by distancing yourself from everything and everyone you love. That's no way to live now, is it?"
The detective remains quiet.
My eyes wander to the kitchen. There are takeout containers on the counters. The dishes are overflowing in the sink like they haven't been washed in days. There's a stale quality to the air, like he hasn't opened a window in a long, long time.
"Again, I'm sure you have your reasons, but there must still be a part of you that wants revenge for all that she did," Dimitri says. "After all, she took everything from you. She was the one who turned you into this."
I look at the detective. He doesn't seem inclined to speak.
During breakfast, Dimitri showed me a file. It showed me everything there was to know about this man—his family, his past cases, his childhood.
I can sense Dimitri is about to get impatient with the poor man, so I step in.
"Mr. Sterling, I know you decided to become a detective for a reason," I say.“I know about your mother.”
He watches me with wary eyes. He wasn’t expecting this turn in conversation.
"You loved her more than anything else in the world," I say. "And it killed you that you weren't able to help her when she needed someone."
His mother was a victim of domestic violence. His father was an alcoholic with a violent temper.
Like me, the echoes of his childhood still haunt him.
You grow older, but you don’t grow out of certain stuff. It becomes a part of who you are.
“You were just a child then, too powerless to help her,” I say. “But you vowed to yourself that one day, you’d demand justice for those who can’t demand it for themselves. Isn’t that right, Detective?”
His jaw is hard, ready to shatter.
All of his muscles are locked, like he's preparing to lunge at me. Dimitri leans forward, taking on a protective stance.
“I know it must be hard for you to hear this, but your past is what made you who you are today. You were once driven to be a detective because you genuinely wanted to help people.”
His nostrils flare. "What are you, a psychiatrist?"
"No, I'm just someone who understands," I say. "Tell me more about your final case, Detective Sterling."
His eyes have a vacant look about them. His body is here, but his mind is elsewhere. He's in the past and the future but never in the present moment.
This is what happens when a person's spirit is broken. They're everywhere except for where they're supposed to be.
Just when I think this is a lost cause, his posture straightens. He's still in his stained undershirt and messy hair, but his eyes have a sharpness that wasn't there before.
And in this moment, I see him for who he once was—a diligent, hard-working man. One who didn't accept bribes even when everyone else around him did. A man who upheld his honor, even when it ended up destroying him in the end.
"It was obvious that it was arson," he says. "Everyone knew it, but nobody said it. My colleagues were acting strange. Evidence went missing. The people who did speak up started to disappear. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew everyone was afraid of something.”
“But not you,” I say. “You leaked it to the press that something about the Thorne mansion fire wasn't right."
"I thought I was doing the right thing," he says. "But then she went missing."
"Who?" I ask.
"My fiancée," he says. "Megan."
I suck in a breath. This wasn't on the records.
"She was my whole world," he says. "The light of my life. The only person who made everything worth it. She was the only person who truly understood me. She was my first love. My last love, too."
"My mother hurt her?" The words are stuck in my throat, but I manage to whisper them out loud.
He nods. “It was her. She started the fire. She took my girl and…”
He doesn't have to finish the rest of his sentence. I know that the worst had happened.My mother killed his fiancée and started threatening the rest of his family as well.
"I'm sorry," I say.
"I'm sorry, too," he says, pursing his lips.
There's a knock on the door. I glance at Dimitri, but he looks just as confused as I am.
A second later, we hear someone scream, " Police! Ouvrez la porte! "
Dimitri curses under his breath.
I look back at the detective to see that he has a phone clutched in his right hand. He called the police while we were having this conversation.