Taken: The MISTAKEN Series Complete Third Season (14 page)

“
G
od
, your hair, Jenna.”

I had forgotten about the red mop on my head. The queasy feeling started in my stomach—the same one I always had when I knew I was going to have to face the wrath of my mother began to creep over me.

She let out a sigh and walked over to us, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Brandon. She set down a large bag on the bed next to her. “I brought you some things. Clothes, shoes, makeup. And I have a hair guy coming first thing in the morning. He’ll be here bright and early so you won’t have to face her with
that
.” She motioned with her hands toward me. “Whatever you want to call that color.”

“I like it.” Brandon smiled. “I think you should keep it that way. Or go all the way with it—a nice bright fire engine red would be beautiful.”

I narrowed my eyes, grinning. He was playing with me—teasing me again. It was almost like no time had passed. Like everything was the same as it had always been. “I was thinking Marian might prefer something more along the lines of lavender. Or fuchsia. Fuchsia would be good.”

Krystal chuckled before the smile fell away from her lips. “I was sent up here to make sure there was no…” Her brow furrowed for a moment. “Christ, how did he put it? Cavorting?”

I shook my head and swung my legs over the side of the window seat where I had been perched since arriving in my bedroom earlier that night. My hands gripped the edge of the seat. “He called you?”

She nodded at my question before turning to Brandon. “I pulled her from that crappy little cabin in Montana. You can thank me later.”

“Right. You.” He shook his head, returning his gaze to mine before turning back to Krystal. “You realize I have to go downstairs and tell him.”

“Tell him whatever the fuck you want to tell him, little brother. He won’t believe you if you tell him it was me. He also won’t believe you if you tell him it was me and Cade—his two most trusted staff members. And he’ll probably have you thrown off one of the cliffs over there if you tell him his own wife was the one who sent us.” She motioned toward the window. “So like I said, tell him whatever the fuck you want. I’m guessing you can make up something he’ll be more likely to believe than the actual truth.”

“What you don’t know, dear sister, is that Jen and I have a new pact. We’re only being honest. And I have my suspicions about who helped her, but I want
her
to tell me.” He glanced over at Krystal. “And I don’t want or need to hear your bullshit lies.”

I winced. “It’s not bullshit, Brandon. Everything she said—it’s all true.”

He shook his head, pressing his lips together to hide the grin I could see on his lips. “This is fun. No really…” He glanced between the two of us. “Just like old times. Good times. But I need an answer, and I’m damned well getting one before I go back and tell Jen’s father what he wants to hear.” He let out a sigh and turned his gaze to me, his eyes boring into mine. “Look, Jen, this is the only way. Your father and I have an agreement, too. I agreed to find you and the only thing I would agree to for compensation was you.”

“What?” I could hear my heart thrashing in my ears and I had to clench my fists again to cover the fact that every muscle in my body had begun to quiver with anger. “You … you, what?”

His jaw dropped. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean that
you
were…” He raked his hands through his hair. “Fuck. Fuck. I swear to Christ I didn’t mean it like that, Jen.”

My voice lowered to almost a growl. “So you decided to play his game.
Win
me. Have him betroth me to you in exchange for … what? The names of the people who took me from that cabin? You couldn’t beat him so you decided to
join
him?” I could feel a vein pulsing in my forehead as my gaze narrowed to a glare. “You
own
me now? Is that it?”

“Christ, no.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “I just meant that he would give you the freedom to
choose
me. I swear to God, Jen—you can ask him yourself. It wasn’t that way at all—it wasn’t some kind of arrangement where I would get you in the exchange. Just the opportunity. Just the chance to have you
choose
. Isn’t that what you wanted? To be allowed to make your own choices?”

Tears filled my eyes at his words and the rage I had felt turned into something else. Relief, almost. The churning in my belly turned into more of a fluttering and the pounding in my head melted into more of a hammering in my chest.

I could tell he could sense it—the feelings I was having again. I’m sure it was written all over me. The buzzing feeling that had never really left but had only been hidden for a moment under the surface. He reached out and touched my hand again, sending a jolt of electricity through my arm. My breath caught in my chest—I hadn’t felt it in what seemed like so long. That heady feeling that made me want to tear his clothes off and let him have his way with me.

Krystal cleared her throat. Apparently, she could sense it, too.

I sucked in a breath to try to regain control of my raging hormones, a small smile coming to my face. He
did
know me. He wasn’t trying to own me at all. He wanted to give me what I had always wanted. The only thing I had ever really wanted. A
choice
. The ability to
choose
how to live my own life. It was why I had moved to Waterville. Because it was my
choice
.

The sudden release of the tension in my body sent a wave of relief over me, but jumbled my thoughts. For a moment, I couldn’t even remember why we were all sitting there in the bedroom. I just wanted him to hold me. To tell me we could finally find happiness together and that we would figure it out as we went.

Krystal cleared her throat again. “I would tell you two to get a room, but since I was sent here to prevent that from happening…”

He finally tore his gaze from mine and turned to her. “Did you really take her?”

She nodded. “Yep. You can check it out with Cade, though I doubt he’ll be as forthcoming as I am with you. Considering you hate him and all.” She smiled, turning her gaze to me. “I told you it was foolproof. Say what you want about your mother—and don’t get me wrong, the woman is a conniving bitch. But she’s a goddamned genius.”

Brandon shook his head. “What in the hell am I supposed to tell him? That she took off on her own? That she managed to hide herself in that shithole town all by herself?”

Krystal laughed. “Your problem. Definitely not mine.”

He shook his head again. “Fuck.” He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “I’ll tell him it was Melissa. He might not believe it, but it will buy us some time.”

She laughed again. “Tell him the truth. I dare you. Wasn’t honesty the new policy? Isn’t that what you just said?”

He let out a long breath, dropping his gaze to the floor.

I knew it wasn’t the most opportune time to change the subject, but I knew I needed to tell him the part of this story that I was sure he didn’t know. And having Krystal there in the room with me gave me the courage I needed to tell him. “Brandon, I need to tell you something else. Something I should have told you before.”

Krystal cocked her head. “I’m not sure this is the best time, Jenna.”

Brandon turned to her. “You swore to me. You looked me right in the eye six months ago and told me you didn’t know where she was.” A pained look came to his face. “You lied to me. Right to my face.”

She rolled her eyes. “Get over it. It isn’t like you haven’t done the same thing to me dozens of times.”

He shook his head, almost like he couldn’t believe his sister had betrayed him. “Not like that. Not when it mattered, Krystal. Family…” He paused, lifting his gaze to meet hers. “Why would you do that to me? You’re my sister. I would never lie to you about something important. Some
one
important. Not about something—someone—you loved. I would never do that to you.”

She lifted a brow. “About that…” She turned her gaze to meet mine. “I changed my mind. Maybe it is a good time.”

“A good time for what?” Brandon turned to look at me, too. “What is she talking about?”

I gulped. What had seemed like a good idea only a few minutes before now seemed like a terrible one. A
very
terrible one.

Krystal’s gaze narrowed. I knew she wasn’t going to let this go—not after she had just been called a liar. “It seems that Jenna met someone back in San Francisco.”

“Oh?” He lifted a brow, and I could see he was fighting himself to keep a sneer from forming on his lips. “Do tell.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Not a man, Brandon. A woman came up to me in a bar one night.” I let out a long breath. “I should have talked to you about this before, but I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything until Krystal brought me here and told me about the genetic testing we had done in the hospital.”

He shook his head. “We
do not
need to talk about that again.” His gaze darted between the two of us. “I’m fine. I didn’t need a kidney, and I’m fine. And I was relieved to know that your father didn’t knock up my mother. Seriously. Relived doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt.” He looked up at the ceiling. “There was this little part of me that knew it was
possible
—I mean, the guy has spread his seed to so many—”

“Shut up for a second and let her finish.” Krystal interrupted him. “Just listen for a second.”

I nodded, turning my gaze to his. I tried to tell him with my eyes that he was going to be okay—that this was going to hurt like hell for a little while, but then it would be fine. That it didn’t change anything. But I knew there was no way I could really telegraph any of that to him—not without telling him. Not without saying the actual words.

I let out another shaky breath. “This woman came up to me in the bar that night. It was the night you had the two co-eds in your apartment.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, Christ, are we really going there again? I was out-of-my-mind drunk, Jen. Seriously, I don’t remember ever being that drunk. It was one of the reasons I gave the shit up. I
told
you that today. I’m not drinking anymore. I won’t ever drink again.”

I nodded. “The co-eds aren’t the point, Brandon. The woman—she came up to me and told me to stay away from you. She told me she was your mother. Cade was there—you can ask him. He said that he knew your mother. He said—”

“This is bullshit.” He interrupted me, shaking his head in disbelief again. “My mother…” He turned to face Krystal. “
Our
mother died in a boating accident when I was four years old. Krystal was seventeen. She
died
.”

Krystal reached out to touch his hand. “I couldn’t donate my kidney to you because we didn’t share any genetic markers. None. I thought it was weird, Brandon, and I had them compare our DNA. It didn’t match. It wasn’t a sibling match. You aren’t my brother.”

“Who the fuck am I then?” He stood up and started for the door, pushing Krystal’s hand away before his hands balled into fists. “This is a sick joke, you two. Sick. And wrong. And seriously fucked up.” He strode to the door, turning to face us before he opened it. “So what the fuck does that mean, Krystal? You’ve known for how long now? A year? You’ve known we aren’t related and you chose not to say anything?”

She closed her eyes, opening them before turning to face him. “I’m sorry. Jenna didn’t know. Not until she came here. Cade convinced her that night at the bar that it was just some random weirdo, but it turns out … maybe she wasn’t.” She winced. “I’m sorry. And I
am
your sister. You’re the only family I have, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you just walk out.”

His eyes were almost crazed and he shook his head. “Fuck you, Krystal. Let’s see if Senator Davis believes the truth about who took his daughter nine months ago.” He turned away from us, opening the door before slamming it closed behind him.

“Shit. That did not go how I had hoped it would.” She turned back to face me. “I knew he would take it hard, but I hoped maybe not quite that hard. Hopefully he’ll go for a walk before he does something stupid.”

I
barely slept at all
. I hadn’t had a nightmare in months , but every time sleep found me that night, I would wake up in a cold sweat, certain that Brandon was dead.

Just as she had promised, the hair guy that Krystal had sent for showed up before dawn—well before I had to face Marian. My horrible home-dye job was restored to something close to my natural brown. It would be good enough to face my mother, but the knowledge of the other things I was going to have to face now—the endless press conferences and campaigning were already beginning to weigh on me. Something inside me said that it was the first day of the rest of my life—the first time I would actually be able to make my own choices in life. And while there was something thrilling about that, it was also terrifying. Adding in the fact that Brandon had all but abandoned me last night was making me an emotional wreck. I couldn’t even describe what it was I was feeling—my stomach was twisted into knots and my heart was pounding so hard I couldn’t hear a thing.

I made my way downstairs, hoping that I would see Brandon before I saw anyone else. I needed him to know that I understood. My own reaction to finding out that I wasn’t who I thought I was had been different—I barely remembered that night, but I knew I had been devastated. And it had taken me months to come to terms with the new knowledge of who I was and who I wasn’t, but that was just it.
I had come to terms with it
. And I knew he could, too, given enough time. And that was a luxury that we were going to be allowed to have now. Time. There was no ticking clock anymore. There didn’t have to be any more running or hiding, not if what Brandon had said was true. Not if the deal he had made with my father was going to be honored. If he really
had
agreed to work for my father for the past nine months in exchange only for my ability to make my own choices—I couldn’t have asked for anything else. It was all that I had ever wanted, and I would give up anything and everything else to choose Brandon.

And I wanted to believe that if he knew that, he could find something to hold onto right now. He could hold onto me. I remembered how lost I had felt in those days after finding out that Marian wasn’t my mother, and he had given me something to hang onto. He had given me himself, and I knew I wanted to do that for him now. I wanted him to know that I was his for as long as he would have me. That I would give him as much as he needed from me so that he would be able to get through this, and that we could work together to find out who that woman in the bar was if it was something he wanted.

He had choices, too. And I knew he needed to know that more than anything else.

I reached the bottom of the stairs, only to find no one was there.

Something was wrong. I could feel it—something was very wrong. This house, even though it wasn’t the main house, was always bustling with activity. It had a full staff that were on duty all day, and it was late enough that they should have been preparing for Marian’s arrival. And my father—he should have been there, too. He should have been sitting in the dining room or the living room, waiting for me. Waiting to ask me about whatever it was that Brandon had decided to tell him last night.

But there was no one. The silence in the house was almost deafening.

I thought for a second that it might have been another one of my nightmares, but I knew it wasn’t. I knew somewhere inside myself that was going to turn into a nightmare, though, and I knew I needed to open the front door to find out what in the hell it was that was going on.

A chill ran through me as I walked to the massive front door, almost like icy water was flowing through my veins.

It wasn’t quiet any longer when I opened that door. The nervous chattering of the group crowded in the driveway slowed for only a moment—and maybe it hadn’t slowed at all. It might have just been my mental faculties that slowed when I saw what I saw that morning. The huge pool of red that was such a contrast to the blue eyes that met mine.

I wasn’t sure if it was the heavy nod that Brandon gave me from across the driveway that made my knees buckle under me or if it was the dizziness from the panicked racing of my heart that was already making me see dark spots. I just knew that what I had seen in the driveway had only barely entered my consciousness before I blacked out completely.

Blood. So much blood.