Chapter 16 #2
Leif answered the door, his hair disheveled as if he’d been running his hands through it, his eyes wide. I’d only been a few minutes behind him, and yet he looked even worse now than he had on my porch. “Brooke? Why are you here?”
I ignored the knife in my heart at that and pushed past him.
“You better be alone in here and not cheating on me. Because if that’s why you broke up with me, you will have to answer for a lot more.”
Leif’s eyes widened, the hurt on his face slicing into me. But I had to be numb. Had to ignore it. “There is no one else, Brooke. Why would you think that of me?”
“Why else? You broke up with me out of the blue. What else am I supposed to think? What is wrong?” I let out a breath, shaking. “What is wrong, Leif? Because you can’t have had a personality change this drastic in the hours since we last spoke. What happened?”
“Nothing, everything. Brooke. It is better for you if I’m not around. Better for Luke.”
“No, you don’t get to bring up my son after walking away.
You invited us to the damn farmers’ market.
You wanted us to go out and enjoy it as a family.
Like a damn family, and here you are, walking away?
You said it wasn’t safe before. What do you mean by that?
If you want to break up with me like this, I need answers.
It’s what I do for a living. Find answers. So give them to me. Now.”
My voice rose with each sentence as I moved forward, pressing my finger against his chest. “Talk to me.”
“Brooke,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Tell me what’s wrong. Don’t walk away from me. You made me believe in you, Leif. Trust you. Don’t break that trust. Don’t break me.”
Now I was crying, my anger bursting like a bubble as I just wanted to know why.
“It’s to keep you safe,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I’m going to need a better answer than that.” My hands shook and I stepped back, wiping away my tears as I stared at him. “I deserve better than that, Leif. And so do you. I left my son with Lake and May, and I walked here. I need to know what I did wrong.”
I hadn’t meant to say that, and my voice broke at the words. Leif cursed under his breath and began to pace. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I promise you. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
I threw my hands in the air. “What do you mean by that? What on earth could I be in danger from? Just tell me. Tell me. I deserve that. You don’t get to make my choices for me.”
“Brooke, Roger threatened you.”
I blinked at him, confused. “Roger?”
“Fuck. I need to start at the beginning.”
“Yes. You do.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I promise you. I love being with you. I love seeing you and spending time with you. I love spending time with Luke. You coming back into my life the way you did changed everything. I would never take that for granted.”
“You were just going to walk away without a second thought.”
“There were a lot of thoughts, Brooke.”
“Then tell me,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Tell me.”
Leif met my gaze, the agony in his eyes breaking me.
“My birth mom had a lot of boyfriends when I was younger. You know that when she got pregnant, she hid it from my dad, Austin. She said it was because she thought she could be a better mom, that she and my birth dad weren’t too close and so that’s why she did it.
And maybe my dad believes that. Or maybe he just hid his anger from losing ten years of my life for me so well.
I don’t know because all I remember is that my mom tried her best at the beginning and then quit trying.
But when she started doing drugs, started dating men that hated her, and hit her, I had always thought, looking back on it, that she would’ve died from something else if she hadn’t gotten sick. ”
I didn’t have any words for this. I couldn’t even imagine putting Luke in the situation Leif had been in, and my heart hurt. “I’m so sorry.”
“I am, too. I know she tried sometimes, but not always. And while I told my therapist this, I didn’t really tell my parents too much about it.
I didn’t want them to feel guilty about not being there for the first ten years of my life.
And they shouldn’t feel guilty. It wasn’t my dad’s fault that he didn’t know I existed.
The moment he knew I existed, he took me in.
Sierra was barely even dating Austin at the time and took me in. They are my parents.”
“And how is Roger connected?” I asked, confused, trying to keep up. I wanted to reach out and hold him, but he kept pacing, and I knew he needed space to tell me these things.
“He was my mom’s boyfriend. My mom never married him.
He went to jail before my mom died. So he wasn’t even around when I was thrust into the system.
They tried to figure out where I would go.
I don’t remember a lot of the legal part of that, about how hard my dad fought, or even if the will stated where custody went.
I don’t know the legal stuff. But the man my mother was dating before she died was a horrible person.
He was in prison for a long time, longer than I ever thought possible, because of what he did while he was behind bars. But now he’s out.”
I looked up and then, my eyes wide. “When did he get out?”
“Right about the time you moved in. When we started to be together, he sent a threatening note. Because he wants money or to scare me like he did when I was a kid.”
“Oh, Leif. I am so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me this?” I asked.
He pushed his hair from his face, and I wanted to hold him and tell him everything was going to be okay. “I didn’t want to worry you. I realize that that’s stupid. The only people that know are Nick and Sebastian. One of the only reasons they even know is because Roger showed up.”
“He showed up? At your house?”
He shook his head. “No, at Montgomery Ink Legacy. That’s also where he sent the note.
I don’t think he knows where I live, but now that I’ve talked to the authorities, they are going to keep an eye on him.
Roger is out on parole, so they will talk to his parole officer.
But there’s no real evidence other than him coming by.
I don’t have a restraining order against the man. Why would I?”
“Leif…I am so sorry.”
He moved forward and cupped my face. I wanted to move away, unsure what I felt, but I didn’t. He needed me just as much as I needed him. Maybe that realization told me that he had pushed me away for a reason. But we needed to be better than that.
“He came in today, and he threatened you and Luke. He saw you leaving my place, and he threatened you. I was going to tell you about that so that you could be on alert. The cops will want to talk to you, too. I had this whole speech planned out to tell you, then I saw you, and I heard Luke laughing, and I just needed to end it to keep you safe.”
I push back, my eyes wild. “He threatened my son?”
Leif nodded. “Yes. I’m never going to let him hurt Luke. Or you. I’ll do whatever I can.”
“You were just going to walk away.”
“To protect you.”
I snarled. “That’s idiotic. If he’s going to threaten us, he will do so even if we are no longer together. Nobody hurts my son, Leif.”
“Damn straight. Nobody will hurt you or your son.”
“No one will hurt you either, damn it,” I practically screamed. “Don’t hurt us by walking away.”
“The authorities are going to talk to you tomorrow. I promise you I was going to tell you everything. Only I saw you, and everything went blank. I wanted to keep you safe. So I ran.”
“That’s stupid,” I blurted.
Leif raised his brows. “What?”
“That’s stupid. No, you don’t get to break up with me.
I didn’t break up with you, and you acted like the alpha asshole after my attack.
We will work through this together because if someone is threatening you, then we need to keep you safe.
You will tell the girls and your family about what’s going on, so everybody is safe.
Keeping this all bundled up and trying to take care of everything by yourself doesn’t work.
No one is going to hurt this family. But you need to tell me when you’re in pain, or when you’re scared.
Because I don’t know how to keep us safe if you don’t tell me things. ”
He leaned forward and kissed me then, hard and fast, before he stepped away, breathing hard. “Brooke.”
“Tell everyone. But don’t leave me.” I hadn’t meant to say that. I pressed my lips together, annoyed that I’d once again left myself so open. When he nodded tightly and kissed me again, my thoughts began to whirl.
It was hard to think with Leif Montgomery around.
“I just wanted to keep you safe.”
“Then be by my side and do it. Be open. No more secrets.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for hurting you. For acting like an idiot.”
He kissed me again, and I stepped away as my phone buzzed.
“I’m sorry for yelling back at you. One second.”
Lake:
Everything okay?
I looked up at Leif, at the hunger and seriousness in his gaze, and swallowed hard. I needed him. I knew we needed to talk more. But right then? I needed him.
Me:
Yes. Finally. Give me an hour?
Lake:
*smiley emoji* Take your time. We’ve got Luke. And cupcakes.
I laughed, then set my phone on the table beside me.
“Since you scared me, I think it’s time you make it up to me.” Leif’s eyes widened for a minute before he grinned.
“Oh, I think I can do that.”
And then his lips were on me, and I sighed, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He gripped my ass, then lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his hips, continuing to kiss him as we thrust against one another. And then he was walking, taking me to the dining room.
“Leif?”
“There is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while now.”
He set me on the dining room table and then slid his hands over my body and then up my chest, caressing my breasts before cupping my face again.
“I will never hurt you again.”
“Just talk to me. That’s all we need.”
“I think I might give you a little more than that,” he said with a wink, and then my shirt was over my head and his lips were on my breasts.
I tried to keep up, tried not to breathe too quickly or to make too many moaning sounds. But it was hard to focus on anything for too long when he was there, touching me, kissing me. Then my bra was off, and he was pulling at my leggings.
Somehow, I was ripping off his clothes, and then we were both naked in his dining room. He knelt in front of me, my legs spread wide.
“Hands on the table, keep your legs spread.”
“Leif.”
“Now, Brooke,” he ordered, and then he was licking me, sucking on my clit, spreading my lower folds. I groaned, riding his face as he continued to suck and lick and eat me out right on the dining table.
He hummed along my clit before he twisted his lips slightly, and I came, my body going tight and then relaxed against his face.
He licked, and he sucked, and then he moved back, licking my juices from his lips.
His beard was wet, and I wanted to blush, but I couldn’t, not with all the heat and warmth sending shockwaves through my body.
He gripped his cock, slid his thumb over the piercing at the end. Then he thrust into his palm before I finally gathered my strength and slithered down the table to my knees. I gripped his thighs, digging my nails into his skin, and he smiled down at me, sliding his hand through my hair.
“Look at you on your knees in front of me. I like that look.”
I spread my thighs and slid my hand between my legs, sliding over my swollen clit. “I want you.”
“I’m going to come right on those pretty breasts if you keep touching yourself like that.”
I grinned before I took him in one hand and swallowed him whole. He hit the back of my throat and groaned. He tugged on my hair and I swallowed, my throat closing around the tip of his dick.
I continued to play with myself, sliding my fingers in and out of my wet heat as I bobbed along his cock, hollowing my throat as I relaxed, letting him slide down deeper.
He thrust his hips, practically fucking my face as I did the same with my fingers.
I knew I was wet, literally dripping on the floor, as he pulled back and then gripped me again.
Somehow, I was in his arms, wrapped around him, his cock sliding between my folds and over my stomach as he moved me to the table again.
He set my feet on the floor then twisted me, putting my ass in the air as he slid his length between my cheeks.
“I need a condom,” he whispered before pressing a quick kiss to my shoulder and moving to the other side of the room. I kept playing with myself, moaning, before he came back and slid right into me in one thrust.
I could barely breathe, standing on my tiptoes, as he began to work in and out of me, hard, fast, needy.
When he slid his finger along my ass, spreading me, playing with me in a way he hadn’t before, I groaned and moved so he could go deeper.
“That’s my girl. My dirty, dirty girl.”
“Make me come already,” I ordered, my voice low, throaty.
He laughed roughly before he slid his hands over my breasts and then in my hair, pulling me back for a deep kiss that sent me over the edge.
I came over him, shaking, my knees going weak as he came too, holding me close.
Somehow we were both on the floor, wrapped in one another as we continued to move through our orgasms.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.
But this was Leif. He was taking care of me, even though was hard and fast, it was what we both needed.
And I made a vow right then and there.
I would never let anyone hurt him.
Not even myself.