Page 39 of Brick (Chosen Few #5)

B rick held tight to Natalie’s hand as they strode toward the police station.

Déjà vu and maybe a little PTSD hit him as they made their way across the parking lot.

Less than forty-eight hours ago, they’d been in a shoot-out on the ground they now traipsed.

Just being in the place where Natalie had been ripped away from him was making pressure build against his temples.

All that mattered was that he had Natalie’s slim fingers in his hold. Two days ago, he’d thought that would never be possible again. They made their way inside, spoke to the same terse secretary as they had before, and waited in the chairs.

Natalie’s knee bounced. They’d dropped off Bray at Ellie’s, feeling a little less worried leaving him since Keetan was dead and his hooligans were behind bars.

“Natalie Shaw?” the secretary called. “Chief Wiebe is ready to see you.”

Brick stood at the same time as Natalie, and they made their way to the chief’s office.

He met them at the door and motioned to the chairs. “Glad to see you two are doing well. You look better than you did at the hospital.”

Brick grunted and Natalie murmured a thank-you.

“I guess I’ll cut to the chase. In case you had any more concerns regarding Keetan’s involvement with Club East, we can confirm those allegations.

Club East was helpful in directing us to any other compromised officers—unfortunately for us, their compliance will help reduce their sentences.

But I’m happy to have any corruption nailed in the coffin. ”

“That’s good to hear,” Natalie said, her voice small.

“Of course, Keetan’s death is very disheartening. Aside from obvious reasons,” he said, looking at Natalie, “we really would’ve liked to ensure proper justice for what he did to you and your son.” He cleared his throat. “We also won’t have a testimony from him regarding Shelby.”

Natalie squirmed. Brick glanced at her face.

The color she’d woken up with that morning had drained and her pallor reminded him of how she’d looked when he pulled her from the lake.

Fiery protectiveness burned against his breastbone.

“Surely you have everything you need already. He made false allegations—you know that, otherwise you wouldn’t have taken down the APB. ”

Chief Wiebe shifted and looked away, appearing uncomfortable. If Brick were a betting man, he’d guess Arnie didn’t want that shit leaking to the top of the food chain. “We need to be thorough, Mr. Slater. You understand.”

“I understand you’ve got nothing to hold Natalie here.”

“Brick,” she hissed, giving his hand a tug. “Chief Wiebe, I just need to know where to go from here. Will an investigation be opened? Do I need a lawyer? As you can imagine, we’re trying to figure out so much already. I’d like to be prepared. I’d appreciate any advice or direction.”

“Well.” Chief Wiebe tugged at his collar.

“I’m happy to tell you Shelby’s case has been closely looked at.

The autopsy report revealed that the nature of her injury was accidental, due to how she struck her head.

There’s no evidence to indicate otherwise.

” He rubbed a spot above his ear. “That was the cause of death. Not an overdose.”

Brick’s throat dried up. Hope, raw and violent, rushed through him, but he chomped down on his questions so Natalie could take the reins.

Bewilderment clouded her eyes, but the deep frown in her forehead softened. “I-I don’t understand. What’s that mean?”

Chief Wiebe leaned forward to prop his elbows on his desk. “It means Shelby’s death was devastating and unfortunate for everyone involved. But it was an accident. You’re not responsible, nor are you going to be charged for any crimes.”

A breath whooshed out of Natalie.

Brick’s eyes misted as he watched her face crumple with relief. She let go of his fingers to cover her mouth with her hand. “Ohmigod. I—” She shook her head wildly. “I can’t believe this.”

Chief Wiebe extended his hand over the desk. Natalie took it. “Have a good life, Natalie.” Then he looked at Brick. “You too. You and Bray deserve a bright future, and I’m grateful to see you’re finally going to get it.”

Brick’s heart surged with joy.

“Thank you,” Natalie said, tears running down her cheeks. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me,” Chief Wiebe said firmly. “You’re innocent.” He dropped her fingers and opened his desk drawer. “I think I’ve got some stickers in here somewhere for Bray...”

***

“I can’t believe this. Holy shit. I can’t—” Natalie shook her head for the tenth time since leaving the chief’s office.

They stopped in front of Brick’s vehicle.

The sun warmed her skin and revitalized every cell in her body.

Gratitude and disbelief warred inside her.

Brick’s grin made her belly tingle. She let out a loose laugh and ran her hand over her hair.

Her cheeks hurt from smiling. “I don’t even know what to do. ”

Brick took her face in his hands. “You come spend your life with me and our son,” he said, his voice thick and gravelly.

She blinked twice. “I feel dumbfounded it’s that easy. That we can just... go.”

Brick lifted a shoulder. “You’re free. Hell, babe. We can do whatever you want. Move to Seattle, go to Italy, take Bray swimming. Anything you want.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I love how you just threw that in there—go to Italy.”

“You got something against pasta?”

She laughed. “Hell no. Italy would be heavenly.” She leaned into him.

“How about we go back to our rental, order dinner and celebrate, then tomorrow we go salvage what we can of our belongings.” Sadness hit her in the gut.

“I wish I had some of Bray’s things. Our photos, some of his favorite and familiar toys. ..”

Brick’s face darkened. “Let me handle that. If those items are still around, I’ll find out.”

She tsked. “That’s impossible,” she said with a sigh, though she appreciated Brick’s willingness to help. Maybe this was the trade-off for moving on—fully leaving her old life behind.

She shoved away the unease at the thought of all the material things she’d lost. She had her son and his father: the loves of her life. For everything lost, they’d create something new.

“Come on,” Brick said. “Let’s go order that dinner.”

She nodded, grinned, then rose onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. “That sounds perfect.”

***

Brick kissed his son’s plump little cheek as he carried him from the bedroom, where he’d just rocked him to sleep.

His breath warmed Brick’s neck, and the sensation went straight to his damn soul.

For some reason, Bray had wanted only Brick to put him to bed.

He figured the minute he shut out the light the boy would want Natalie, but no.

After he’d read him a book, they’d talked and sang lullabies until Bray fell asleep. Carrying the solid little dude with one jacked-up shoulder was tricky, but better he did it than Natalie. He settled Bray in the middle of their bed, then closed the door partway.

Downstairs, he stopped in the doorway of the kitchen.

Natalie bustled around the space tidying up.

Leaning against the doorframe, he watched her.

Even banged up and bruised from that dead motherfucker, she was pretty as hell.

Her long blond hair was down. Had she not injured her shoulder, she’d have put her hair in a ponytail before cleaning up.

Funny that after such a short time, he already knew random facts like this about her.

She flicked on the faucet and ran a plate beneath the water. He pushed away from the wall and crossed the kitchen. He peeled off the sling and set it on one of the chairs. Reaching her back, he swept his arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “You didn’t have to clean up.”

She jumped then chuckled. “You scared me.” She reached for a towel, dried her hands, and turned to lean back against the sink. “Didn’t take me long.”

“Mmm.” He nipped her ear and braced his hands on the counter on either side of her hips. “How’s your head?”

She hadn’t mentioned being bothered by a headache, but the hospital staff had said she sustained a concussion from hitting the edge of the boat. She’d done well with ibuprofen, but just because she wasn’t complaining didn’t mean she wasn’t hurting. She had mentioned she felt a little woozy.

“Not bad. It’s tender.” She lifted her fingers to the small goose egg, then focused on him. “What about you?”

He cradled her jaw. “Yesterday, I thought I’d never see you again.” His voice thickened. “Today you’re here. So I’m pretty fucking great.”

She laughed, and the sound delighted him. “‘Great’ might be an exaggeration, but I love your enthusiasm,” she said, her voice husky. She ran her fingers down the front of his shirt, and her full, plump lips worked into a smile. His cock twitched.

He brought his hands to her waist. “You don’t know how badly I want to pick you up right now. But we’d probably end up on the floor.”

She caught his good hand with her good hand. “How about we try the couch?”

He followed her to the living room, admiring the slight curve of her back and her full ass in the leggings she’d worn all day. He dropped to the sofa and tugged her onto him.

She straddled his lap, dragging her hand over his jaw. He studied her face, but instead of desire, moisture collected in her eyes.

“What’s going on, honey?”

She sniffed and shook her head. “I’m just happy and... I want to thank you.”

“Natalie, please—”

“No.” She pressed two fingers to his lips.

“I’m not grateful for you saving me,” she said, then laughed and shook her head.

“I mean, of course I am. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m grateful you’re here. That even after all the shit my past put us through, you still want to be with me. You’re an amazing father already.”

“You made that decision really damn easy.” He rested a hand on her hip and she leaned in until her mouth touched his.