Page 28 of Sutton and the CEO's Baby

“My brother, or half-brother, Brian. He was in the special forces. More recently he owns a personal protection company and sometimes does private investigating. I will get him down there protecting the girls and should be there myself in a day or two.”

Earl hung up the phone and I immediately called Brian.

We had never been close. It was one of those situations where I didn’t even know he existed until I was nearly an adult. My father had an affair with one of his secretaries. When he found out she was pregnant, he threw her out. She demanded paternity testing, and instead of admitting his faults, he paid a lump sum for them never to contact him again.

Brian’s mom knew that my father would never publicly acknowledge him. So, she took the money and raised him as best she could. He approached me when he was in high school. Actually tried to beat the shit out of me. I was thankful that he attempted that before joining the Marines. I barely beat him back then.

Once I learned what my father had done, I wanted Brian in my life even if it was limited. He didn’t want money or a handout, but he agreed to have contact with me. As time passed, the anger that Brian had for my father faded and he was able to see me for who I was. We were both products of that terrible man, but we didn’t have to be like him.

“Mark?” Brian answered. “I expected your call.”

That had me pause.

Brian kept talking. “Listen, man. We need to talk.”

My anxiety, that had jumped when Earl told me about the latest bullshit just went through the ceiling.

“Does this have anything to do with Sutton?” I demanded.

“That client, Coswell, he was married to Sutton’s mother.”

I felt sick. Brian had contacted me about a possible lead on Sutton’s mother. But I hadn’t taken it seriously. We had gone down several paths and none of them had panned out.

I took a shaky breath, snatching up my things. “I need you to get to her.”

He was quiet for a moment and then said, “I’m alone now. Tell me what you want me to do.”

“Sutton is in trouble and I’m out of the country. I want you to go to Otterville Falls to protect her.”

“On my way,” he said, and then hung up the phone.

I spent the next half hour making the arrangements for the flight back to Sutton. I still wasn’t convinced that Jo and Judith were the same person.

That aside, I knew that Sutton was Hollingsworth’s daughter. So many of their mannerisms were the same. Whoever this Coswell was, he had no claim to her. What I didn’t like was the fact that Brian thought he could be dangerous.

When I boarded the plane, I was too keyed up to sleep on the long flight. Images of the last few months together flashed through my mind. The way that Sutton would fall asleep with her hand tucked underneath her cheek, or how her feet would always get cold when we were watching television, so she would stick them in my lap.

I missed the curve of her belly and seeing the changes in her body from the pregnancy. I missed lunchtime quickies and grabbing sushi on Friday nights. I just flat-out missed her.

The thirteen-hour flight to NY was sheer torture, and after I landed blurry-eyed, I raced to the apartment to grab clean clothes. From there, I raced to the airport and the private jet. It was twenty-four hours from the time that Earl had called me and I hadn’t closed my eyes even once.

I felt bad when I learned that the house wasn’t ready for them. When I arrived at the trailer, there were four cars parked out front.

The door slammed open the moment I turned off the car and Sutton came rushing out to greet me. I barely got out the door before she was in my arms and I was kissing her, loving her.

My hands roved all over her body. I needed to know that she was with me.

“Erm,” somebody cleared their throat.

Like I gave a shit. There was no way I was about to let this woman go. They could go fuck themselves. A few moments later, we were doused by a bucket of cold water.

Sutton wrenched her lips away, sputtering, and I cursed up a blue streak.

“Who in the fucking hell did that?” I sputtered.

Martha stood there, grin on her face and bucket in hand. “Welcome home, Mr. Williams.”

I glanced around to see my half-brother, Brian, not even attempting to hold back his laughter. Knox seemed to be glaring at Brian, and Earl was looking at Martha like she hung the moon.

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