Escape: A Stepbrother Romance Novella by Stephanie Brother Read Free Book Online Page B

risky for me.  I don’t want to think about the things he might be
involved in.  It seems crazy to me that he’s crossed over into this kind of
life.  His mom had such big dreams for him.  He had big dreams for himself.
    All
I can think is that it must have been his father’s influence.  I can’t believe
that Brandon would have allowed himself to be dragged into this just by hanging
with the wrong crowd. He had backbone even as a pre-teen and always stuck up
for what he believed to be right.
    As
I pull onto the road, the man watches, and when I check in my mirror his eyes
are still on my car.  There’s nothing for me to do but head home.  I feel
dejected. 
    Once
I’m back in my apartment I call my best friend Holly.  We grew up together so
she knew Brandon when we were kids.
    When
I tell her what’s been happening since I received the phone call she’s as shocked
as I thought she’d be.
    “So
he was your client?”
    “He
refused to let me represent him,” I say.
    “Wow.
He must have felt embarrassed.”
    “Maybe. 
He keeps talking about how dangerous it is for us to be associated.”
    “Because
of what he did?” she asks.
    “It’s
more than that.  They told me at the station that he’s suspected of being
involved in some kind of criminal gang.”
    “Brandon?”
    “Yeah,
I know. That’s what I thought, but you should have seen his hands.  They were
all split from fighting and he seems so fierce.  He’s not like he used to
be…but then he is.  I don’t know.”
    “So
that’s it then.  He told you that you can’t stay in touch and you’re never
going to see him again?”
    “That’s
what he said.  I tried Holly.  I really did.  I still care for him so much.”
    “Ah,
Sam,” she says when she hears my voice break. 
    “It’s
just…it’s been so long.  And I’d kind of accepted that he’d left me and Pop behind
and decided not to keep in touch.  It hurt, but I accepted it because we were
so young and the situation with his mom and the cancer had been so traumatic. 
I rationalized that he needed a fresh start, you know.  That he didn’t want to
be reminded of the past.  But now I’ve seen him I can’t keep hold of that
rationale anymore.  He’s wrapped up in something bad that he doesn’t feel he
can get away from.  I know he wants to keep in touch but he feels like he can’t
or shouldn’t or whatever.”
    “I
don’t know what to say, Sam.  Maybe it is best that you stay away.  You don’t
want to put yourself in danger or risk your job.  You’ve worked so hard.”
    “I
know that’s the sensible thing to do.  I mean, we haven’t been in touch for
fifteen years and we only lived together for two.  But he really means
something to me.  All the same attachment I had to him when we were kids is
still there.”
    “Really,”
Holly says.  “You still feel like he’s your brother?”
    I
pause, wondering if I should tell her what happened yesterday.   All those
shivery feelings I had when he cupped my breast roll over me again.  I can’t. 
There is no way she’d understand and that’ll just make me feel a whole lot
worse about it all.  I don’t want her memories of him to become tainted. 
    “I
still love him,” I say quietly.  “It’s like time folded in on itself and the
decade and a half we were apart just disappeared.”
    “If
you feel like that then maybe you need to try again.  Is there a way you could
help him?”
    “Well,
I have the investigator.  I could make it more of an investigatory thing,
gather evidence against others in the gang and weigh up if there is anything
that could be passed to the police.”
    “And
if Brandon is implicated too, what would you do then?  You might be trying to
help him but it could end up hurting him badly.  He could go to prison.”
    “It’s
a risk, but that could happen anyway.  He might be under surveillance already. The
cops could have someone undercover or someone staking out the places