Chapter 35
Brady
“Hey!” Cooper yelled to get my attention from the other side of the van, a vehicle large enough to hold our entire party. “You planned one hell of a trip, my brother.” He put his arm around Rowan’s shoulders. “We had a blast.”
The old me would have smirked and taken the credit. Because I just didn’t give a fuck.
But Lily was right; there was a change. I felt it in everything I did and the things I said.
And it was all because of her.
“You mean, our assistant planned one hell of a trip.” I knew Bangkok well enough that I had a preference on where I wanted all of us to stay, but she had booked our spa visits and the sightseeing and every restaurant we had eaten at.
“Who gives a shit who planned it?” Macon said. “This was fun as hell.”
Brooklyn put her hands up in the air. “I second that.”
“You know we loved every second of it,” Jo added.
“Fuck yeah,” Jenner agreed.
I linked my fingers through Lily’s and pulled her closer.
Goddamn it, she smelled good. The pineapple coming on strong since she’d just showered.
“I’m glad you guys came.”
My stare landed on Rhett and Ridge. They’d joined us yesterday, staying just long enough to view the properties Jenner had found, get in a little relaxation, some dinner, before flying home with us this morning. What was wild was that I’d actually had a good time with them. Rhett had loosened up a bit, and Ridge was more talkative than he’d ever been.
“And I’m glad you guys came too. It was nice to see you both relax.” I let out a chuckle to let them know I was giving them shit.
Ridge laughed. “I’m not going to lie … I wish I’d been able to come sooner and spend some more time here.”
My brows rose. “Was that a compliment?”
“Probably the biggest one I could ever give you,” he replied.
I pounded his fist. “I’ll take it.” I turned my focus to Rhett. “And you? Can I count you in for the next trip?”
“I came to this one, didn’t I?”
That was Rhett’s way of giving a compliment.
I knew his style.
Before Lily, I would have said the same thing.
I held out my balled-up fist to him. “Happy you did.”
After he knocked his knuckles against mine, I turned to Lily.
There was so much conversation happening around us that no one could hear anything I was about to say.
Except she beat me to it and whispered, “Do you see me beaming?” Her smile certainly was. “I couldn’t be prouder of you right now.”
“Because of what I just said to Ridge and Rhett?”
She nodded.
“Lily, it wasn’t more than a few words of conversation.”
“But it was a start—and a big start.”
I kissed her cheek, moving my mouth to her ear. “I’ll give you that.”
She cuddled up to my side as the van pulled into the entrance of the private airport. Once we cleared security, the driver continued onto the tarmac and parked a few feet from the plane, where one of the pilots was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
Before the driver even had a chance to get out of his seat, the pilot was pulling at the handle of the van, sliding the door open. He peered inside with a peculiar look on his face, scanning everyone until he found me. “Brady, we have a problem.”
Those were words I didn’t want to fucking hear.
Words that instantly triggered my heart to start pounding.
The pilot’s statement could have been referencing anything, but I still glanced at my newly hired bodyguard, who was sitting closest to the door, making sure he was on alert. When I saw that he was, I gave Lily’s hand a squeeze and climbed out of the van, joining the pilot on the tarmac.
“What’s going on?” I asked him.
The bodyguard got out and stood behind me.
“I’ve been calling and texting you,” the pilot responded. “I was hoping to talk to you before you arrived so I could warn you.”
I pulled out my phone. There were several missed calls and texts from him.
What the fuck?
I checked the settings, seeing the mode for Do Not Disturb was on, which was why I hadn’t heard any of his attempts to reach me.
“Sorry about that. It won’t happen again. Fill me in on what’s going on.”
He crossed his arms, like he didn’t know what to do with them. “The crew arrived at the plane about an hour ago to do our usual preflight checklist and flight plan, and when we got on board …” His eyes dropped to the ground, a redness heating his cheeks.
What the hell?
What was he about to tell me?
“The plane,” he began, “was a mess.”
“A mess?”
His head shook as though he was afraid to say anything else. “It’s been vandalized.”
“It’s been … what?” The pounding in my chest turned to a fire. A fire with flames that were about to lick straight out of my mouth. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding me right now. Wasn’t it locked?”
“Yes, of course it was.”
“Then, how the hell—” I cut myself off because I knew how this had happened.
Instead of saying another word, I took the steps two at a time, and as soon as I turned into the main cabin, I saw the destruction.
My stomach instantly sank.
Motherfucker.
I gripped the headrest of each seat as I walked through the cabin, knowing my knuckles were turning white from the pressure, the anger in my body building with each step. David had written MAKE YOUR CHOICE on the back of every fucking seat, along with the walls and windows, with what looked like black marker. The base of the seats had been sliced with a knife, where there were multiple rips in the leather, running vertically and horizontally, so the stuffing was coming out. The carpet was in similar shape, torn and shredded in many areas.
This was more than a mess.
This was devastation.
I headed for the galley, where bottles had been shattered, liquor and condiments splattered all over the walls, where the same words had been written across the wallpaper and over each cabinet. The flight attendant was in the restroom, the door open, where she was trying to clean up all the glass from the mirror he had shattered above the sink, where he’d also ripped off the toilet seat and graffitied the walls inside.
I couldn’t fucking believe what I was seeing.
David wasn’t just trying to make things difficult for me.
He was defacing and demolishing everything that meant something to me.
He was kicking me where it hurt.
But what was next?
My life?
Cooper’s? Macon’s?
My parents’?
Lily had said it before … and she was right.
He wasn’t going to stop.
My phone was still in my hand. My damn fingers shaking in rage as I turned the screen toward me, trying to flip through the notifications, finding the text I knew was waiting for me, but all I could see was fucking red.
David
Keep taking what’s mine, and I’ll keep taking what’s yours.
It’s your choice.
NOW, MAKE A FUCKING DECISION.
“What the fuck?!” Cooper yelled from behind me.
I turned around to see my brother’s face full of shock and concern.
A few seconds later, Macon appeared beside him, shouting, “Who in the hell would do this?” as he scanned the interior.
Rhett and Ridge were behind them, the same look coming through their expression.
“What the hell happened here?” Ridge demanded.
“This is bullshit,” Rhett added. “Who would do something this fucked up?”
“Oh God, no!” Jenner shouted as he joined us.
Aside from Ridge and Rhett, the guys knew there was only one man in this world who had balls big enough to do this.
Before I could reply to any of them, the pilot voiced, “We’ve been trying to clean things up. We don’t have a product that will take off the marker. But when we get back to LA?—”
“I’ll have it taken care of,” I told him. “It’s not your responsibility to clean it. I appreciate you trying.” A thought hit me, a worry that went so fucking deep that I had a hard time getting out the question. “Was there any damage to the cockpit? Can you fly the plane?”
“The cockpit wasn’t touched,” the pilot responded. “Neither were the twin engines or anything external from what we can tell. I’m having a flight engineer check things out to be sure. So far, the damage only appears to be in here.”
Cosmetically, it could all be repaired. If he’d fucked with the guts of the plane, that would have made things much trickier.
“Brady …” Lily gasped as she stood in the mouth of the cabin, her voice small, weak. Her hand went over her lips as she took in what was before her.
She knew who had caused this wreckage, and her eyes told me she was blaming herself.
She was horrified.
Mortified.
Embarrassed.
I wanted to fucking murder that bastard for the both of us.
“Brady—”
As she started to say my name again, I cut her off with, “Cooper, Macon, Jenner”—I stopped to think for a second, questioning if I should include Rhett and Ridge since they knew nothing about the situation, but quickly realized they owned as much of this plane as I did and they needed to be included—“Rhett and Ridge, I need to talk to you outside.” I pointed at the door and nodded, signaling for them to start moving.
I then walked over to Lily and put my hands on her cheeks. “I’m going to go talk to the guys about this. I’ll be right back.”
Her eyes were already filling with tears. “I’m sorry, Brady. I c-can’t … I don’t … I’m s-so, so?—”
“Baby, this isn’t your fault.”
“How c-can you say th-that?”
“Because it’s my fault. My fault that I haven’t stopped this motherfucker yet.” I pointed her eyes up at me, catching the first tear as it dripped. “Are you okay if I leave you for a few minutes?”
She took a breath instead of answering me.
“I need to know you’re okay before I can go anywhere, Lily.”
She nodded. “I’m okay.”
I gave her a quick kiss.
Now that the women and bodyguard had boarded the plane, I called Jo over, waiting for her to wrap her arms around Lily before I took off for the steps and met the guys on the tarmac. I knew they were going to tell their women about the conversation we were about to have. I was fine with that. I just wanted to have it with the men first, and I didn’t want to have to filter what I was about to say.
“Most of you know it was David who did this to our plane.” I crossed my arms before I threw my phone across the fucking runway. “I don’t know how he got it unlocked, but the motherfucker somehow made it happen, and he left this mess.”
Knowing Ridge and Rhett were lost, I said to them, “David is Lily’s ex-boyfriend. The dude isn’t right in the head.”
I gave them a quick rundown of his behavior, a fast-forwarded synopsis of what he’d done to Diesel to give them an idea of the type of person I was dealing with and why I couldn’t go to the police. I even pulled out my phone and showed them his most recent text.
“Aside from telling him you’re going to kill him, what else have you done?” Macon asked.
I explained how I’d researched David, how I’d had our assistant look into locating him so I could confront him myself, and how all attempts had been unsuccessful.
“He has a presence online. Loves to post on social media. I just can’t nail him down.”
“What would you do if you got your hands on him?” Jenner asked.
I hissed out a mouthful of air, my jaws locking, as I was holding them together so tightly. “I think the real question is, how long can I let this go on for?” I rubbed a palm over my other balled fist, envisioning what it would feel like if it connected to David’s face. “The biggest thing I’m worried about is his next move. Who else is he going to hurt? One of you? Lily? Our parents?” I let the reality of that set in for the second time today, and all it did was work me up more. “Is he going to burn down our corporate headquarters? My house?” I looked at each of their faces as I clenched my teeth. “Is he going to kill me?”
I wanted to fucking scream, and I wanted to beat something. I wanted to hit it so hard, again and again, until there was blood on my skin.
This wasn’t rage.
This went far beyond that.
“The asshole is getting through my personal security,” I continued, my voice as rough as sandpaper. “He’s getting through the security at our hotels. He’s getting through locks.” My arms dropped at my sides, both hands now squeezing into fists. “The dude’s like a goddamn ghost. How the fuck do you stop someone who’s as invisible as him?”
“There’s only one way,” Cooper said, his tone harrowing.
I ignored him and bellowed, “Because it won’t end unless I give her up, and I’m telling you all right now, I’m not giving up a woman who’s going to be my wife.” I shifted my gaze around the entire circle to reinforce that point.
There was a vibration in my pocket, and I lifted my phone to my face.
David
Are you asking yourself who or what is next?
You should.
When I showed the new messages to the guys, Cooper roared, “End him. That’s my answer. That’s how all this stops. There’s no alternative. I’m telling you right now if some asshole was pulling this shit with Rowan, I would do the same thing.”
“He’s right,” Jenner said. “You have no other choice.”
The group turned silent until Rhett broke the quietness with, “I think you all know I would have killed him already.” He rubbed his hand over the side of his black beard, showing the lion tattoo on his thumb. “He’s making your life hell. He’s making Lily’s life hell. This isn’t a job for the police. This is a job for someone who will put a bullet through his fucking skull.”
Ridge nodded. “I agree with Rhett.”
Jenner added, “You don’t want blood on your hands, brother. There are people out there you can hire who can do a much better job than any of us could.”
I nodded. “I’ve got a name.”
Macon was the softest of the group. That didn’t make him feeble. He just had a heart bigger than the rest of us. As I looked at him, I saw nothing fragile in his stare.
“If he hurts you or Lily or any of us, which he will, then this isn’t even a discussion. You need to protect your family, Brady, and Lily’s part of our family.”