Page 47 of Another Postcard

“Brooklynn,” he called. When she twisted back, he pulled those fucking cards from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He held them out and she tentatively took them with shaking hands. The more she looked through them, the more horrified her expression became.

When she got to the one I’d received upon arriving in Montreal, she shot to her feet, dropping the cards. “Baylee! Fuck! She’s fucking alone withmy sister!” She started for the door in a panic but stopped when Noah spoke again.

“Cameron took Baylee to Sasha’s room,” Noah hurriedly explained. “Lindsay stayed behind and is keeping Cecily in her room until the police arrive.”

Tears welled in Brooklynn’s eyes, spilling over and making tracks down her cheeks. She dropped her head into her hands and said something, but her words were muffled and I didn’t understand them. “Baby," I said in as appeasing a tone as I could muster. “Come here.” Her hands fell to her sides and she looked at me, but didn’t approach. To my surprise, the tears were drying and instead of sadness, her eyes were filled with fiery rage.

“I’m going to fucking kill that bitch,” she spat. “Besides her behavior toward you, which is worth its own special brand of punishment. She’s going to hell for what she’s about to put Baylee through and I’m going to help her get there faster.”

She was fucking magnificent when she was like that and my cock stirred. Of all the fucking times for me to be aroused.Fuck.I mentally sucker punched my hormones right in the solar plexus, cutting off their oxygen so they would go down without a fight.

“She’s spent years taking care of Baylee,” she shouted. “Who the hell knows what she’s been teaching her and—fuck, has she been in danger this whole damn time? I can’t believe I didn’t see—DAMN IT!”

She was pacing and raging, jumping from one thought to the next, working herself up even more. She whipped around and pointed at Noah. “I want to see her.”

“Brooklynn,” I called her name softly. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Furious brown eyes turned and practically burned me to ashes. “Excuse me?”

Yeah, I’d put my foot in my mouth with that one. I carefully worded my next comment to keep it from sounding accusatory. “I only meant that I thinkweshould calm down beforeweconfront her.”

She seemed to accept my logic, though she continued pacing like a caged animal.

“Brooklynn, come here.” I held out my hand.

She shook her head, the fury slowly converting into anxiety.

“Baby,” I put more steel in my tone. “Come here. Don’t make me ask again.”

She tensed, but then her shoulders sagged, all of the fight leaking out, leaving only her clear devastation. She slowly trudged back over and sat on the other end of the couch. I rolled my eyes and clasped her hips, dragging her to my side. “Stop it,” I instructed as moisture gathered in her eyes again. “I can see you trying to blame yourself for this, thinking that it’s your fault because you brought her into our lives.” I took hold of her shoulders and shook her lightly. “That’s bullshit. Complete fucking bullshit. You can’t hold the weight of her actions on your shoulders just because I didn’t personally know her before I met you.”

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her to me, placing a kiss on her crown. “Damn it, Brooklynn. I love the fuck out of you, woman. You mean more to me than anything and even if there was some blame to be laid at your feet—which there isn’t. Just to be absolutely clear about that—I wouldn’t care because I love you and nothing else matters as long as you love me back. You do, right?”

“So much, Levi,” she mumbled into my T-shirt as her arms went around my middle, squeezing me tight. “I love you.”

“Then, all this other shit is just stuff we have to deal with, but you and me? We’re good. Better than good. We are fucking spectacular.” She sighed somewhat contentedly and the sound was like a healing balm. It soothed the ragged edges left from my worry and anger.

There was a knock on the door and Noah went to open it. Sasha, Matteo, Simon, Kristi, and Jonas all filed into the room. Sasha rushed over to Brooklynn and yanked her up before throwing her arms around her. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaning back so she could see her face. “Baylee is sound asleep with your female security chick. Um, Lindsay. I figured she would be more at ease with her than Cameron if she woke up.”

Brooklynn nodded her thanks. “I’m okay”—she looked around at everyone—“I’m so sorry guys.”

“What the fuck ever, B” Matteo snapped. “None of this is your fault.”

“See, baby.” I couldn’t help being a little smug. “Told you.”

“That girl though,” Sasha growled. “I am totally going to kick her ass.”

“Get in line,” Simon said harshly.

Kristi hugged Brooklynn next, asking, “Is Baylee going to be, okay?”

“I think so”—Brooklynn shrugged—“It’ll take a little time and she’ll probably regress some and need more care for a while. But yeah, eventually. I’ll take her home and help her get adjusted over the next few months, then we’ll work on finding her a new companion.”

I shot to my feet, suddenly furious. “What the fuck are you talking about, Brooklynn?” I exploded.

Brooklynn glared at me and I immediately softened my expression and tone. No fucking way was I leaving her for months. “We have to leave for Europe in a week, baby. If you need to, you can leave a week later and meet us right before our first concert.” I felt a little guilty about demanding she be with me over Baylee, but fuck, neither of them would ever find the independence they were striving for if they let this throw them all the way back to the beginning.

“Brooklynn,” Kristi said tentatively. “You’re not just a backup singer anymore. We can’t just replace you with a fill-in musician, honey.” I nodded in agreement, happy that Kristi had brought that up so it wasn’t all coming at her from me.

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