Page 72 of Knight's Desire

He pushed her head back down to his chest before he spoke. “Gennessey found it. The room looked like the scene of a struggle, and she was investigating some items on the floor. The tunnel door was still open some, or she wouldn’t have noticed. We went to the realty to confront Bexley since he was the one who sold you the property without disclosing about the tunnel. He and Naomi Brown pointed us to Leonard. We found the house he was using to watch you at home. We think that’s where he was going to take you when he tried to grab you that night he attacked Isobel.”

“What made you think to look at the warehouse?”

“We figured he had to have a location close by to the Shoppe so he could monitor his video feed without being noticed.”

“And the warehouse was one he rented or owned? That’s how you found it?”

He didn’t answer right away, but his hand stopped moving against her back. She remained still, certain he would continue when he was ready.

“No, not exactly. Sydney and Owen, our new computer tech, were running properties, but I was going stir crazy waiting. So I…I went to the Shoppe to wait.”

Her head popped up at that, her grin splitting her face. “You chose to wait at my Shoppe? I thought all the wedding dresses and tiaras made you uncomfortable.”

“True. But I felt closer to you there. So that’s where I went. I was in your office and looked out the window at the view behind the Shoppe. We’d been looking at commercial and residential properties. We hadn’t considered industrial, and some of the buildings in the Industrial Park would have given him a clear view of your office. Anyway, something about the activity at the park got me curious. I figured I’d go take a look.”

“Alone? Brick, you told David you showed up with backup.”

“What else was I going to tell him? I alerted the team once I figured out which warehouse to check out, so I knew backup was on the way. And they were.”

“How did you figure out where David was holding me?”

“I walked down to the Industrial Park and didn’t see anything right away. I hid and just watched. A delivery truck went by. As soon as I saw that it was a catering truck from a nice restaurant, I figured there was only one reason for it to be there.”

Hope’s expression sobered. “David called it our rehearsal dinner. He kept me handcuffed, and he cut up my filet mignon and fed it to me.” She shivered at the memory. “I could barely taste any of it. I too afraid of what he had planned.”

“It took some convincing, but the driver told me which warehouse he’d come from. He described David as the man he dealt with. He said he thought the guy was alone, but I knew you had to be close. We have an app on our phones that we can use to alert the Command Center at KSI if we need help. So I sent the beacon and went in. I heard you yelling and just followed your voice.”

“I’m glad you did. Were you also the one who called my brother?”

Hope had stepped out of the exam room at the hospital to her father, her brothers and her sister all waiting for her with all of KSI keeping them company. She’d broken down into tears and moved straight into her father’s arms. Ella had wrapped her in a hug from behind, and Henry and Adam had flanked them. While they were locked in a group hug, the waiting room had cleared out, leaving them alone with Brick waiting patiently nearby.

“I was going to call him earlier, but Jay convinced me to wait until we had news. I tried to tell him they didn’t have to come, but Henry wouldn’t listen. I never expected all of them to be there, but Jay arranged for a couple of private planes to transport them.”

Hope raised up to place a kiss to Brick’s jawline. “That totally impressed Ella and my brothers, by the way. I had hoped for better circumstances when you met my family for the first time, but it was nice to see my dad shake your hand.”

“He thanked me for saving your life. I wasn’t sure what to say to that.”

She ran the back of her hand along his jawline, the stubble tickling her fingers. “What did you say?”

“That I wasn’t about to lose the woman I loved when I’d only just found her.”

Hope’s eyes widened. “Did you really say that to my dad?”

He tried to bite back a grin, but it poked through anyway. “It sort of came out before I thought twice. I half expected Henry and Adam to punch me when I said it, but they shook my hand and wished me luck in dealing with their sister.”

Hope rolled her eyes and went back to snuggling next to him. “That sounds like my brothers. What did Ella say? Actually, what did my dad say?”

“Your dad smiled and told me I’d better take care of you or I’d have to answer to him. Frankly, he scares me more than your brothers. Ella hugged me and muttered something that sounded like ‘it’s about time.’”

Hope giggled. “I love my family, but I’m glad they decided to go on back home. They would have hovered over me. It would have been nice for a while, but eventually they would drive me crazy. I just want to move on from this. I know it’s unrealistic to think I can go back to my life as normal, but I want to try and get some normalcy back.”

“I think it’s better if you take a couple of days, maybe schedule an appointment with the therapist the doctor recommended.”

“I want to go back to the Shoppe. I want to get back to my drafting table and my sketches.”

Brick shifted on his side and stared down into her face. “Really? You don’t think it’ll be hard to be back in the Shoppe after what happened?”

She hesitated. “It will, but I love my Shoppe. I love what I do. I love being next to where you work. I love that you felt close to me in that space, and that being in that space was what led you to find me. That space is mine, it’s where I can be creative, it’s where I’ve built my business. It’s where I met you. I can’t say it won’t trigger some bad memories for me, but I believe the happy ones will overshadow those.”

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