CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
TRAVIS
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It has been five days since I last saw Brook. Well, that’s not true. I watched her Wednesday podcast.
She didn’t play my anonymous message. Which I’m trying not to read into. If she’s decided not to pursue Leo’s story, then I can’t force her.
If she’s decided she doesn’t want me... I’m not sure I’ll sit back quite as much.
I won’t.
I’d just returned from seeing Mama in the hospital when I tuned in. I’d had it all planned out; Wednesday Brook would share the recording and then come flying back into my life, and we’d live happily ever after.
That hasn’t happened.
And when I said I’d wait...I might have been lying. Or at best exaggerating. I’m like a fucking lion in a cage.
I told her I loved her!
Mama, at least, is doing better. And she has not lost her sharp mind. When I visited, she got right to the heart of the matter quickly.
“Hey Mama, how are you feeling?” I took her hand and sat down in the chair by the bed.
“Better. You all made a fuss over me.” She tsked.
“You had a damn heart attack. What were we going to do? Tell you to clean up after yourself and turn on the TV?”
She snickered.
“How is your girl?” she asked.
Why did she think Brook was mine despite never seeing us together before Sunday night? I’d originally thought it was her medical condition merging with her desire to see me married.
But now she’s extremely lucid.
I mean, I told her I’d had one date.
“About that. You totally outed me while barely conscious on Sunday night.” I frowned.
Watching me with no remorse, I wonder for a moment if she did it on purpose.
“She needs to know the truth. You can’t start a relationship with lies.”
I was right.
“I’ve told her everything.” I sat back and glanced around the room. “We need to get you moved somewhere nicer.”
“I can go home tomorrow. This is fine. You and your fancy money.” She scoffed.
“Which you enjoy.”
She giggled. I loved seeing her happy. Fuck, I was scared.
If Mama died, it would be one of the biggest losses in my life.
I am not ready for that to happen, so I plan on taking her to the best doctors in the world and getting her the best help.
All her arguments are being tossed out the window this time.
“I’m going to marry her,” I stated.
“I know.”
“How do you know?” I cried. “You saw her show once and saw us together for thirty seconds!”
“Mothers know things.” She shrugged like it’s no big deal and I’m making a fuss. “That’s your girl.”
I smiled, despite it being complete nonsense.
I know she’s hoping for a fancy wedding, and if I get my way, she will get it. Although I’m sure Brook has thoughts on the matter.
I’ve never told anyone I loved them before.
I’ve never said I want to spend my life with someone. Or wanted five hundred children with them. I want little Brooklyn’s and tiny Travises running around our yard knowing they’re safe and will never be hurt. On the private island, obviously.
I want to see her naked, standing in our bathroom, pregnant with my kid.
I want these things I never thought I’d want.
It started with a compulsion to claim her and ended with the desire to love her utterly and completely.
“She is mine.” I told Mama that day and then promised to bring her over one day soon so they could meet properly.
I didn’t burden her with the details, not when she was in hospital recovering. Not when I was waiting for Brook to tell me she was mine.
Much as I’d like to kidnap her and take the choice from her, I knew I had to be patient. Which I’m terrible at.
Tonight was Friday, and I would be sharing the burden with the boys. Even Maddox and Parker said they were coming to the club.
Glancing at the time on my laptop, I mull over whether it’s worth tuning into The McKenna Files podcast for her second and final show of the week.
“Mr. Warner, Michael wants ten minutes of your time. Can I send him in?” Tiffany asks from the doorway.
“Yes. Give me a couple of minutes, then send him over.”
She smiles and disappears. I’m about to head to the bathroom, but I’m drawn back to the podcast. It started five minutes ago.
Fuck it.
I click play and start to listen.
“...and as you know we’ve been investigating Leo Taylor and the many reports that you’ve sent in .”
Woah.
I’m standing, but I lean my palms on my desk.
“ I’ll be honest, I was going to put this story to bed. These serious allegations can impact a person’s life, so the right path to take is filing a police report, so it’s investigated properl y. But today we have a story we believe needs sharing.”
I straighten, sliding my hands into my pants pockets.
This is it. The reason I pursued Brooklyn. What I wanted more than anything...and yet, something about it feels hollow.
If I lose her because of what I’ve done, none of this will be worth it. He will have won and destroyed something else in my life.
I sigh.
No, I did that.
“ We have new information that I’ve been sitting on. This has been given to me by someone who’s trusted me enormously. Leo’s son.”
She hasn’t called or messaged. I can’t help but feel this is her parting gift.
Goddamn it.
I told her I loved her. I told her things I haven’t detailed to the guys. Brook knows things about me no one else does.
When I met her, something sparked inside me. She made me laugh. She made me feel. She made me see a future I’d never dreamed of.
Fuck.
“Hey, Travis, thanks for seeing me,” Michael says, wandering in.
I hold my hand up. “Sorry, I need to cancel. I’ll call you in an hour.”
He stops.
“ Many of you will remember him from the nineties, walking the red carpets with his dad.”
Michael probably thinks I’m a jerk kicking him out to listen to some celebrity gossip right now, but this is too important.
I give him a pointed look.
“Sure.” He does a one-eighty and walks out.
I close the door, lock it, and return to my desk. Sitting down, I turn up the volume.
Is she going to share my recording or just do a high-level summary?
My heart thumps loudly.
“This is going to be shocking for many of you to hear. In a few moments, Terrance Taylor will share his story, so this is a warning: if you have children present or could be potentially triggered, you may want to turn the show off.”
No one gave me that option, I think bitterly to myself.
But I love that she’s being responsible, because what I shared is heavy.
It’s graphic and real and...my childhood story.
A strange kind of fear ripples through me. One where I’m about to be torn open and exposed, despite the anonymity.
Still, she could tell them who you really are...
Fuck.
Thud, thud, thud.
Perhaps she’s still angry. A friend might have got under her skin and told her she needed to share the truth with the world. After all, that’s what she does.
It’s her passion and purpose.
My eyes close.
I wouldn’t destroy her. I love her...despite whatever she chooses to do.
“ Mr. Taylor, who lives an anonymous life now, tells us of a life where his innocence was taken. Where he lived in fear for years before being sent away to school.”
My stomach churns.
On the desk, my phone lights up with messages from the guys.
Maddox. Parker. Then a second later, Zayne and Killian.
I didn’t know they were following her show this closely, but of course they are. We’ve had each other’s back from the moment we met and always will.
Then it happens.
My voice fills the airwaves, and as I stare out across the green, I hear myself tell my story. As each minute passes and my story is told, a weight lifts off me.
I’ve done it.
That asshole of a man has been exposed. I could have filed a complaint. I’m still without the statute of limitations in California, but there was no fucking way I was going to go through a legal process where he could drag me through hell.
No, this is far better.
It removes all power from him.
Now, Brook will need protection.
Decker is still protecting her, but at a distance. I’ll need to talk to him tomorrow about stepping that up. My father isn’t exactly The Godfather, but he has money, and he’ll be desperate.
Desperate people do bad things.
Stupid things.
I wait as Brook wraps up the show, knowing she still has the opportunity to expose my new identity and send a vast amount of attention and legal stress my way.
Along with my father.
I updated the guys on Wednesday at our lunch, so the boys know what’s at stake here.
She won’t do it. Parker messages.
A woman scorned, don’t count on it. Maddox replies.
I flip the phone over and listen to the pounding of my heart.
When the recording of me ends and I hear her sigh, my stomach drops.
Don’t do it, sweetheart.
Please.