My Rose

39. Briggs

Chapter 39

Briggs

“He who is not prepared today will be less so tomorrow.” ― Ovid

D ays went by with no word from my father. No word in the media about multiple gunshots being heard from the rooftop that night. No word about the VanAndrews heir being the receiver of one of those gunshots. The news coverage started and stopped at the door of the Met—as was always the case.

Rose hadn’t left my side once when I was in the hospital, and now that we were finally home, I just wanted our life to begin. I wanted the week of peace that we had before my father tried to kill Rose to return. I wanted Rose to stop looking at me like I was more injured than I really was. Being shot nearly an inch from a major artery was sheer luck, but I’d been in worse pain before. The amount of blood I lost was the thing that took me out, but now that I was back on my feet, I was ready to get Rose off of hers. Preferably on her back, underneath me.

In a groggy state, I squinted my eyes as my phone lit up on my nightstand with a call I really didn’t want or need. Removing my arm from Rose’s waist slowly, I crawled out of bed. Right as I pulled my sweats on, a faint knock sounded on our bedroom door.

Dean stood on the other side, adjusting his gun along his waist. He and Jasmine had been staying at our house since I’d been shot—waiting for the next move with us. “They call you, too?”

I looked over my shoulder at Rose—who was curled up and covered by our comforter—before I stepped out into the hallway, pushing my arms into my jacket sleeves. “Of course, I got a call. It’s my fucking house.” I checked the magazine as we walked towards the front door. “What I want to know is why my security team thought they should call you.”

“They said you weren’t answering.”

I double-checked my phone. “Fuck. Ten minutes ago?”

“Seems that way.” Dean stepped to the side, letting me exit my front door first. “Don’t chew them out just yet. Maybe it’s nothing.”

“Anyone or anything being this far out here isn’t nothing. ”

The head of my security team came rushing up from the end of the driveway, waving a flashlight to alert us it was him. “Sir,” he panted out, making me think twice about his role on my property. “Sir, we called as fast—”

“Which alarm was triggered?” I cut him off. He looked at Dean, then back to me, his brows furrowed.

“Several, sir. All along the main road, except for one in the woods.” His warm breath billowed out in plumes against the icy night. “We found nothing. We didn’t want to wake you, but you said to call if anything—”

“Show me.”

“Of course, sir.” He pointed behind him. “The car is waiting for you.”

“No.” Dean pointed to our cars. “We’ll follow you.” The guard nodded reluctantly, looked us both over once more, and then darted for the car at the end of the driveway. Dean turned towards me. “Got your keys?”

I reached into my sweats and pulled out my fob. Dean shook his head. “No fucking way we’re taking that car.”

“It’s fast,” I replied. “What if they run?”

“If there’s even someone to run, you mean?” Dean laughed. “If that’s the case, then we need space for a body. That trunk of yours have room for that?”

I smirked and put my fob back into my pocket, then used my phone to open the garage door and turn the SUV on. “That the kind of space you’re looking for? ”

Dean rolled his eyes to me as he made his way to the passenger door. “Don’t be a smart ass.”

We drove behind the other blacked-out SUV, following my head of security, who I think was named Jake, but waking up at two in the fucking morning really put a damper on my ability to remember something as small as his name—especially when someone was actively trying to come after my girl and me. When my phone rang again, I set it to speaker.

“What is it?”

Jake, or whatever his name was, replied quickly, “Another alarm, sir. Closer, this time.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “Where?” My knuckles tightened as I sped up, pressing Jake to go faster. At least he had the brain to pay attention, snow sputtering from his wheels as he tried to match the fervor of my car from behind him.

“About a quarter mile away, sir.”

“Don’t you have an app for this shit?” Dean whispered hastily.

I scanned the tree line, hoping for a bear and not a person. “No. That’s what I pay people for.”

“And how has living in la-la-land been treating you?” Dean arched a brow, and I slammed on the brakes as the SUV in front of us slid to a stop. My car slid across an icy patch, and I swerved to avoid hitting the other car, stopping mere feet away from the tree line. The doors from the other car opened, and two armed guards started firing at whatever made them stop. “What the hell?”

Muffled gunshots ceased as fast as they’d started, and both guards rushed to meet Dean and me as we ran to their car. One of the men stepped to the side, talking into an earpiece while my head of security described what he’d seen—a man, shorter than me, covered in black. That was all they got as he ran across the dirt road—one of several along our property.

“Go back to the house. Surround it. Guard it with your fucking life.” I took my gun from my waist and cocked it. “If she gets hurt, you’re all as good as dead. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Dean’s gun cocked beside me. “Same goes for mine, except you’ll be dying by my hands. Clear?”

“Y-yes, sir.” Jake didn’t hesitate to force his companion back into the car and turn around, speeding back to protect Rose and Jasmine.

“You go left. I’ll take the right. There’s a pond up ahead. He’ll have to choose a side unless he plans on running across half-frozen water.”

Dean grinned. “Let’s see which lucky bastard gets him, then.”

There was a perk to coming to this land for family vacations that were always less about being a family and more about distancing myself from my father by playing in the woods as a young boy—I knew this land like the back of my hand. It wasn’t long before a figure matching the description we set out looking for ran by me. Keeping hidden behind a tree, I watched as he slowed and took his phone out. I did the same, sending Dean a pin showing my location.

“Where will I find you?” he said to himself, searching for something on his phone. “Not so far away, I bet.”

That voice—so familiar. I narrowed my eyes as he pulled the phone from his mostly covered face, the light from his screen illuminating his body shape as he pushed his phone into his pocket.

“Well, well.” I stepped out from behind the tree, the barrel of my gun tapping along my side. “Stanley. How nice to see you again.”

He stumbled back. “Reaper, or should I say, Mr. Andrews.”

I tapped the barrel to my temple as I chuckled. “You know, knowing my name and who I am is almost as valuable as your life—funny how they both hang in the balance right now. One so dependent on the other.” His head angled to the side in clear confusion. “See, dead men can’t tell secrets, Stanley.”

I think he finally understood what I was saying and took a few steps back, reaching for something in his pocket. I raised my gun, aiming right for his head. “I wouldn’t do that.” Dean’s gun glinted in the faint moonlight, snow crunching beneath his boots. That bastard was either dressed at two a.m., or he got a phone call well before the first one I got. No way he got dressed for the snow completely in the time he did. “I recognize you.”

Stanley let out a forced laugh as he raised his hands slowly into the air. “Now, fellas. This isn’t what it looks like.”

Rage boiled beneath my skin. “You came onto my property in the middle of the night dressed in black from head to toe.” I cocked my head at him. “I’ll be honest—it looks bad for you right about now, Stan.”

“Very bad.” Dean stepped closer to him until he was close enough to pat him down. Pulling a gun from the holster along Stan’s side, Dean quickly inspected it and then tossed it over to me .

I turned Stan’s gun over in my hand. “Very, very bad.” I tucked my gun under my arm as I unloaded Stan’s, letting the bullets drop slowly into the snow in front of him. “Who sent you?”

Stan’s arms started to tremble in the air. “I-I don’t know.”

Dean angled his gun toward Stan’s hand and fired. Stan cried out, pulling both hands to his chest as red dotted the snow by his shoes. “You really don’t learn lessons well, do you?” I asked. “Tell me now. Who sent you?”

“Okay, okay!” Stan cursed under his breath, his shoulders sagging in defeat. He gave up so easily. It would have been comical had he not had every intention of going up to my house. “Some woman in a suit, I don’t know. She told me if I could get a picture of the woman in your house, then she’d do something about the drug charges against me. Wipe them from the computer or something.”

Dean glanced at me, his brow dipping. “What drug charges?”

I pocketed Stan’s gun, then took mine up in my hand again. “The one that was needed to make sure he stayed away.” Load of help that was. “What did this woman look like?”

“I—I’m not sure. Blonde? Maybe?” Stan shook his head, appearing to clear it as his eyes fell to his shoes. Dean and I shared a look. “You mean that wasn’t part of what he said his client wanted to do with me?”

Dean smirked and shrugged his shoulders, pressing his gun to Stan’s back, causing him to stiffen. “I don’t give a fuck what he did to you. I’m sure you deserved it.”

I groaned in frustration. “Did she say why, Stan? What do they want with her? ”

Stan raised his head just enough to meet my eyes, his movements slow so he wouldn’t set off Dean behind him. “You think I know?” He laughed weakly. “I told you what I know, kid.”

“He’s not a kid,” Dean replied. “Any last thoughts?” After a beat, Stan shook his head. “Good.”

“Wait—” Dean’s gun went off before I could finish, and Stan’s body fell to the snowy ground with a soft thud. “I had more questions.”

Dean pocketed his gun and bent down to pick up Stan by his ankles, blood pooling in the snow by his head. “Too late. He said he had nothing else to tell us.”

My eyes narrowed on Dean. “Someone sent him to find Rose.”

“Or Jasmine,” Dean muttered. “It doesn’t matter. You told me that guy lied during his time in your chair. What makes you think he was telling the truth just now?”

I walked over to join him, grabbing Stan’s wrists to lift him. It wasn’t my first time carrying a body, but that was the extent of what I was going to do tonight. Dean seemed to have the same thought as we broke through the tree line and loaded Stan into the trunk.

“You need to call your guy.”

“Yeah. Maybe next time, don’t shoot the guy before I’m done talking.”

Dean pulled his jacket off and wiped his hands of the few blood splatters on his skin. “What do you think he was going to say?”

“I don’t fucking know. But someone coming here—somewhere not many people know about to begin with—and it was a blonde—” I scrubbed my palms down my face .

“It wasn’t her, Briggs.”

I let my hands fall and glared at him as he finished. “I would have still liked to hear whatever we could get out of him.”

“Jesus, Briggs. Just take it as a win. The girls are safe for tonight. No one is going to get them.”

“Unless he had someone else with him,” I gritted out through my teeth.

Dean sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll call your team back and make sure no other alarms went off.” He looked defeated as he let his hand fall to his side. “Are we good?”

Leaning against the side of the SUV, I finished shooting off my message to the man who’d clean up the mess. “We need to do something. This is only going to get worse.”

Dean cocked a half-assed grin. “If you’re ready—I’ve got a plan.”

Stan’s words rolled in my head like I did in the sheets when I got back to Rose, still safe in our room. I hadn’t been able to sleep much—my faith in the security team surrounding our home much less now that Stan, of all fucking people, was able to get beyond the perimeter.

The sun rose steadily, and I watched as I thought it all over—every piece of information we had was so close to fitting, yet something was missing. I’d known the ins and outs of our company since I’d taken over my brother’s role—what if he knew something I didn’t? What if he had the answers that only my father would have trusted him with?

As much as I loved my brother, he was twisted in ways I’d never been able to become. ‘Ruthless,’ as my father called him, ‘psychotic,’ by others. To me, he was just my twin. My confidant. But what if there was something so vile that he refused to share it with me? And now that the words of another dead man circled my brain, I needed to find a way to end it. If Dean and I’s plan failed…

My thoughts snapped to Rose as she turned to nuzzle into me. As much as I tried to keep her safe, I could only do so much if I had no fucking clue why she was being targeted. I needed to get the upper hand if I had any chance of turning our future around.

“What’s wrong?” Rose propped herself up on her elbow, checking my scar.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me, wiping the concern from her face with a kiss. “Nothing, baby.”

Her brow furrowed as I laid back down. “I don’t believe you.”

Leave it to my little viper to speak her mind. “I didn’t think you would.”

“I—”

“I don’t want to talk right now, babe. As much as I love you, I need to not think. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.” I played with the ends of her hair as she looked down at me.

I expected her to get up and go into the bathroom or punch me in the arm, storm around, and yell at me—something on the offensive side. And she had every right to. But as her fingers started to trail down my chest, my expectations became muddled .

Was she—

“Oh, fuck.” I pressed my head back into the pillow as her hand dipped beneath the hem of my sweatpants. “Rose, you don’t—”

“Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do.” She dropped her voice to a seductive whisper, my cock responding eagerly to her words right before she gripped my shaft. “Remember?”

I wrapped her hair around my fist, pulling her within an inch of my lips. “Oh, I remember, Rose baby.” A low groan left me, and I kissed her deeply when she stroked once, rubbing the tip with her thumb.

I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth. “Shit. Did I hurt you?” She tried to pull her hand away as her gaze fell to the scar on my chest beside the rose tattoo I got for her, but I reached down and gripped her wrist, urging her to continue as I guided her back to where she’d been.

“You’re going to if you stop.” The worry wasn’t clearing from her face, so I ripped her hand from my cock by her wrist and rolled on top of her.

“Hey!”

“Shhh,” I whispered as I reached for one of the straps tucked behind our headboard. “Be a good girl for me”—I finished clasping her wrist, then bent down and took her bottom lip between my teeth—“and let me have you how I want.”

“I love you,” she rushed out. “Do whatever you want.”

I felt my face soften and my heart flutter as I stared back into her baby-blue eyes. “I love you so goddamn much.” I worked to secure her other hand, then kissed her again, our tongues sliding together in long, desperate strokes. I finally pulled myself back and situated my knees on either side of her, then rolled my waistband down. Her lips parted as I freed myself, her eyes widening at the sight. I adjusted the angle of the pillow behind her head. “Promise me you’ll always be mine. That you’ll love me no matter what.”

“Briggs—”

“Just promise me, Rose.”

She blinked up at me like I’d become insane. Perhaps I had. “I will always love you, Briggs Andrews. Forever.”

Madness, disastrous, catastrophic—that’s what we were. But we were also so much more. She’d choose me no matter what, and that’s all I needed. No matter what happened—she was my world, and I was hers.

Just. Hers.

“Fuck, the way you look at me—” I couldn’t finish the sentence before I shoved my cock into her mouth with a hard thrust. “That’s it, baby, breathe through your nose like I taught you.” She obliged, her eyes watering as I slowly thrust my hips, giving her a little more each time I repeated the move. “That’s my good girl.” I reached a hand to her cheek, caressing her soft skin where they hollowed.

After a few more slow thrusts, my cock began to pulse. I pulled out, denying myself the release as I leveled my hips above hers. I brushed my thumb over her bottom lip before bending to kiss her, my desire for her never diminishing. Rose’s brows pinched together as I stared down at her, calming my breaths. Whatever was on her mind—she kept to herself .

I kissed the edge of her collarbone. “I wanted you like this,” I whispered, hooking my forearm under her knee and driving into her with ease. “You’re so wet for me, little viper.”

“Always,” she said as her hands strained to move—to touch me.

“Tell me how I make you feel.”

She gasped as I pushed in deeper. “Appreciated. Loved.” I withdrew, waiting for her to continue. “Admired. Empowered.” She gasped as I thrust in once more, her eyes searching mine. “Like I’m the most important thing in the world to you.” My chest swelled along with my cock as I thrust into her, then withdrew slowly, letting her feel what she was doing to me.

“That’s because you are, baby girl.” Using my thumb, I rubbed her throbbing clit until her walls pulsed around me, and our eyes locked as her lips parted. “You are all of that and so much more.” I captured her lips with mine, sliding my tongue in as I drove into her, chasing my release.

“Here’s another one with her, I think.” Rose passed me a photo with the edge of a blonde woman barely in the corner.

I nodded. “Looks like her. From what I remember.” I stared at it a bit longer, wondering if it was the same woman who coaxed Stanley to come after my woman. My mother saved herself, but going after my entire world—it didn’t make sense .

Rose leaned back, resting in the crook of my uninjured shoulder. We’d taken a shower and continued our morning like I hoped every morning would go, surprisingly hearing no questions about where I went in the middle of the night. Her peaceful scent washed over me as I passed her back the photo. And then all peace was lost as Jasmine burst in through our bedroom door.

“Good afternoon, lovebirds.” She smirked at Rose. “Are you both hungry? Digging through that box looks super unfun.”

My eyes locked on Rose, my fingers wrapping around her hair. “I could eat.”

Jasmine scoffed. “Ew, really? I’ll just leave.”

“You’ve been in our house for too long, don’t you think?” I glared at her, Rose matching my stare. Turns out my little viper wasn’t afraid to tell her best friend where to shove it, either. Even if she did it silently.

Jasmine took a seat at the edge of our bed, her eyes narrowing on me. “I’m here for my best friend, not you.”

“Min,” Rose started, her tone rising. “He’s right. Aren’t you guys getting tired of waiting around here with us?”

“Waiting for a crazy psychopath who’s out for your blood all over some twisted revenge or idea that you can take away all of his money and ruin his business? Yeah, not getting tired of making sure you’re okay.”

“We told you, Minnie. We don’t think I was the target as much as my mother was.”

“That’s not how I see it. He tried to kill you as a kid and then shot you on the roof after telling you that you belonged beneath him.” Jasmine’s eyes roamed over the way I was holding Rose. “If you guys weren’t so clearly in love, I’d be convincing you to end this and run away to some foreign country with me.”

I thrummed my fingers along Rose’s skin, picturing my cum between her thighs. “You’re right. I tried to tell her to stay away from me. But I think you and I both know how much Rose decides to do whatever she wants, regardless of what she’s told.” Like wearing the plug. My Rose hated following orders, and once Dean and I worked through what we’d discussed the night before, I’d take Rose down to our special little room and remind her of a few things—if she stayed.

“Yeah, you leaving the diner that day is starting to make a lot more sense. I should have had Dean take her home with us instead.” Rose picked up one of the many throw pillows she had decorated the bed with and threw it at her friend’s head. Finally, the damn things served a purpose. “Hey!” Jasmine shouted, both girls giggling—a tiny sliver of happiness amongst all the bad she’d been subjected to because she still chose to love me through it all. “Have you talked to your grandparents at all?”

“After we sent them that ridiculously expensive getaway package for Christmas?” Rose arched her brow up at me. “No. They seem happily oblivious and very safe, though I don’t think a month-long getaway was needed.”

“Can’t be too careful. Not when it comes to you.” I tried to convince Rose that we should take our own trip, but after rummaging through her box on more than one occasion, she was reluctant to leave it all behind. She wanted answers just as much as I did, but her safety hung in the balance, and now that I knew someone was coming for her…

“I’m almost surprised I don’t have a tracker under my skin yet.” Jasmine and I remained silent until Rose’s jaw popped open, her hand lightly tapping my chest in a mock slap. “You didn’t.”

Jasmine swiped a hand through her hair. “I told him he should.” She shrugged. “Makes me feel safer having one.” And after last night, I felt zero remorse.

“You weren’t kidding about what Dean—oh my God. I can’t believe you. When?”

I leaned in close, brushing my nose along the top of her head. God, she smelled so fucking good. “You’re a heavy sleeper.”

The anger from her was palpable. And adorable. “What else have you done while—no, never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Let’s just say I really like my midnight snacks.”

Her cheeks blushed, and Jasmine groaned. “I’m leaving. Food is ready for you since neither of you know or care to learn how to cook.” She checked her nails. “Getting Rhonda here was one of my better suggestions.”

“Telling Rose to tell me to pull my head out of my ass was the better one,” I replied, staring down at Rose.

Jasmine groaned louder, the door clicking shut behind her as she left the room. I reached over and grabbed Rose’s thigh, pulling her leg over mine. “Now, where were we?”

Rose tapped on my chest. “Not doing that.” She sat up, reaching for the box. “They couldn’t have been friends for that long.”

“Your mom and mine? ”

She sighed. “Yeah. Otherwise, my grandparents would have told me about her while they were chastising me for my choices in friends.” I snorted, and she rolled her eyes. “Really? Still not over that one?”

My jaw tensed. “I will never be over it. He tried to hurt you. Multiple times. Almost—” I stopped my words as a rush of realization surged through me. A sour taste filled my mouth.

“What’s wrong? Why are you making that face?”

I pulled her flush to me, pressing my lips to the crown of her head. “It’s nothing, baby.” I tried to ease the rapid thumping in my chest, hot anger filling my veins as I maneuvered her in my hold to type out a quick message. “Tell me what else you’re thinking.”

“I don’t know. I know my mom looked like she had been crying or really mad after your mom left in my dream.”

“Your dream is your memory of that event. It’s not just a dream, baby.”

“Right.” She worried her lip as she thought. “Whatever they found might have been too big for my mom to take down. She hadn’t been a lawyer for that long going off the graduation dates from her photos.” She loosed a deep sigh. “What if what we find, if we find it, is big enough to take down your father and the company? You really won’t care to lose all of that?”

“Not at all.” Losing the company I could handle. Rose? No chance.

“What if your dad tries to take you down with him?”

I shrugged. “He wouldn’t because it would point back to him. I started—” I paused, thinking if I should finish. But hiding my past from Rose was off the table. She needed to know it all. “I started when I was a minor. I could easily and rightfully say I was persuaded and threatened to do it.”

Her fingers reached up to caress the edge of my scarred brow. “You were forced, Briggs. Even if you found a way to justify it by finding the awful things they did that didn’t relate to the business and using that as your fuel—he still made you do that.”

“I know,” I said, twirling the ends of her hair. She made that knowledge possible. “Beyond that, I’m the only one he’d want to head the company if it didn’t fall. He wouldn’t risk his legacy.”

I threaded my fingers through hers over my rose tattoo, calming her breath. “I wish we could just ask one of them. We’ll probably never find her, though, will we?” I hummed a response, one she thankfully didn’t ask more about as my mind wandered.

Years had gone by since she left Beck and me, not even showing up for his funeral. I doubted she knew he was dead. Her child died, and she wasn’t there. My father wasn’t the only guilty party, in my mind. Yet there was another who needed to pay the price for what they did. Someone I couldn’t wait to watch suffer for the pain they caused.