“Do you wanna go take a drive with me?”
“What?” An incredulous laugh bursts from her. “Now?”
“I need to show you something.”
“But the dinner?”
I plant my lips on hers, kissing her with everything I have. I’m hungry too, but this can’t wait. I can’t wait any longer. “It won’t take long. We can eat when we get back. Promise.”
She stares down at our clothes and I quickly grab her boots, slipping them on her feet, followed by her coat over her shoulders and that damn red scarf around her neck. Then I slip on a hoodie over my head, and out we go.
Rina is strangely quiet as we drive through the streets of Boston. It’s not all that late. Just a little after seven, but it feels closer to midnight. This has easily been the longest day of my life. Certainly, the most eventful.
As we start to get closer, I fill her in on what happened with me today at work. I tell her about Rich and what he had planned to do. I tell her about Christopher Day with the SEC. About the offer Alexander made me. All of it.
“But how did you know who to call at the SEC? How did you know you could trust him? That he wouldn’t turn it all around on you?”
“I didn’t know that part. That was a risk. But my father was an investment banker his whole life. When I was in high school, he had gone into business with a friend of his. That friend ended up being investigated by the SEC and my father befriended the lead investigator.”
“Christopher Day,” she concludes.
“Yes. They stayed in touch and though I wasn’t all that jazzed about calling my father for advice, I quickly discovered I needed it anyway. He put me in touch with Day and he and I went from there.”
Her hand meets my thigh in the dark. “I’m sorry you went through all that. You didn’t talk to me about any of it. I wish I had known. I wish I could have done more to help you through it.”
“I couldn’t talk to you about it. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. Not even my father once things got going. But you did help me through it. More than you know. Just being with you was enough.”
I pull over to the side of the road and put the car in park, twisting to face her. Her blonde hair burnishes gold under the streetlights filtering through the windows and sunroof. She’s so beautiful I ache everywhere whenever I look at her. My chest tightens and my stomach is in knots and my cock hardens and my skin zings with electricity.
She’s the passion of my life. The love of it.
Soft hands with sharp nails rake through my hair and along my scalp as she drags my face to hers. “I love you,” she whispers against me and those words on her lips are my undoing. My head tilts and my mouth devours hers, greedily, possessively, so crazy with her taste and sounds.
So crazy with her.
“I love you too. So fucking much, Rina. So. Fucking. Much.”
My tongue invades her mouth, my hands all over her, starved and gluttonous after going so long without the feel of her. She is my breath. My sanctuary. No one could steal the key to my heart, as Aria put it. It always belonged to her. Even before I met her.
Never have I needed anyone the way I need her.
“Brecken,” she hums against me, licking my lips. “We’re going to get arrested if you keep going.”
“Huh?” I pull back and discover I had unbuttoned her coat and my hand is up her shirt, lifting it half off her. I slip it out after giving her breast a squeeze, staring down at it. “Greedy, impatient bastard.”
She laughs, kissing along my jaw. “Where are we? Why did you bring me here?”
“For that.” I point behind her at the building, and she spins around, squinting into the darkness. “That sign. See it?” I continue to point until she finds it, her eyes widening when she does.
“Davenport Financial,” she reads.
“Yup. Davenport Financial.”
“But. How? When?”
“That night in the bar after Aria had a kitten over us possibly being together and you ended it with me, I realized you had asked me about New York. You asked me if I was still planning on going back and though things were still headed that way, I had been cooking up another idea. This idea.” I point again before taking her hand in mine. “You ended things with me not just because of Aria, but because you thought I was inevitably leaving. That night when I stepped out onto the street, I was determined to get you back. And I knew in that moment, this was what I had to do.”
She gasps, flipping around, her eyes glimmering in the light of the dash. “Brecken. You can’t do this for me. You can’t change your—”
“I had always thought of doing this, Rina. Even when I was in New York. In fact, I figured once I was a bit older, had a larger client base, I would. But believe it or not, Boston presented the better situation than New York did.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, I was able to bring over several of my existing clients from Epis Financial where I’ve been working. But I’ve also been able to bring on several new clients. Big clients.”
Her lips part as her eyes fill with understanding. “My brothers.”
“Yes. That night of the ice storm when we went to your parents’ place, Kaplan asked me a few questions about investments and he and I got to talking. After that night he called, stating he took my advice and it worked out well. He signed on with me that day and we discussed some of the investments for the Abbot Foundation. He wants me to speak with your parents when they return from Europe next week. Your other brothers came on board as well at his recommendation. Drew and Jonah too as well as Hughes Healthcare with Jonah.”
“So, this is what you really want? This will make you happy? Being here in Boston?”
“Yes.” I press my lips to hers. “I used to think New York was the only place for me, but in moving back here, I’m home. I have my family. My friends. A new business I’m both terrified and excited to tackle. The woman I love. I have everything I need here and more, but that means you’re mine now. No more running.”
36
Brecken
With my belly full of pasta and my mind at ease, I close my eyes, wrapping Rina up in my arms. My goal is to wake up tomorrow and everything will be different. I think that’s possible. I think for the first time ever, tomorrow holds infinite possibilities for me. Endless ones with Rina. Exciting ones with my new job.
“I got rid of my apartment in New York,” I whisper softly, unsure if Rina is asleep yet.
“You did?” she asks groggily.
“About two days ago. The moment I signed the lease on the office building, and they came to put up the sign for Davenport Financial I knew I wasn’t going back.”
“You did all that not knowing if you were going to be able to keep your license? If you were going to end up like Rich is now?”
“Well, as of two days ago, I had a pretty good grasp on things. I held off as long as I could with signing the lease, but once Day told me they were closing in on Rich, I knew I was good.”
“So you’re an official Bostonian again?”
“I am. Only, everything in this place is rented. The walls, the furniture. Hell, even all the pots, pans, plates, and utensils.”