Page 35 of The Billionaire and His Driver
But in that instant, when Brina said they should take it slow, Sully fell in love with her too. He knew in that moment why his brother was singling her out. It wasn’t her physical attributes: Physicality was too easy an explanation. It was seeing that rare diamond in the rough. That diamond nobody would regard unless they took a deep dive and a much closer look. Because Sully thought he’d never live to see a woman turn down any Bradshaw man ever. And he wasn’t being arrogant or cocky about it either. It was a natural fact. “That’s a very good idea, young lady,” he said to Brina.
But it wasn’t his approval Brina needed. It was Ronny’s. And Ronny seemed surprised by her response, maybe even hurt by it. She could never really tell with him.
Ronny was both those things: surprised and hurt. But he also knew Sabrina was her own woman. And a veryin tune to his needswoman at that. She had to sense that making commitments wasn’t something he did lightly. And to confess his interest in her in front of the one man he respected more than any man on earth was a tremendous leap for him. And he knew, at the end of the day, she was right. Slow and steady for two people like them, both of which were old enough to understand the risks of impulsivity. It made perfect sense. “I agree,” he said with a smile that seemed to lift that burden of his confession off of him.
And it relaxed Brina too.
But neither one of them could take the time to think about what it all meant long-term because Ronny’s intercom buzzed, and his secretary announced that Reynolds McNabb, the head of Security for all of Bradshaw Technologies and all other Bradshaw interests, was there to see him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
They all sat down, with Ronny sitting next to Brina on one side of the conference table, while Sully sat on the opposite side of the table with Reynolds McNabb. Brina was pleasantly surprised to see that their head of security was a black man, given how Mrs. Dash was the only person of color of any authority at Bradshaw Manor. And the fact that he was one of those hot black guys with the great deep-toned skin and those caressing, light, golden-brown eyes, and that athletic physique that could take a woman to the rafters in the bedroom and all the way back again, was something to see as well. A man like Reynolds McNabb used to be her dream man. But after so many of those perfect-looking dream men made clear by their actions that she was not their dream woman, she lowered her standards. Went for the geeky types. Ended up with losers like Jeremy who used her too.
“We’re still looking for the attacker,” Reynolds said as soon as they all sat down.
Sully was confused. “What attacker?”
“The man that broke into Sabrina’s apartment,” Ronny responded.
“But the good news,” said Reynolds, “is that we have a name. We know who did it.”
Brina and Ronny looked at each other. “Who is he?” Brina asked. Of everybody at that table, she was the most anxious to know the details.
“His name is Dresnick Wilburn. Better known as Drez.” Reynolds looked at the black woman sitting across from him. He was also shocked when he saw that she was of his same racial background. Had it been Sullivan Bradshaw, it wouldn’t havebeen a surprise at all. Sullivan was a very private man who didn’t let most into his inner circle, but the few times Reynolds had to discreetly enter that circle because of some woman extorting him or stalking him or for whatever other reason, they all were black women. Every single one of them. He’d never known Sullivan to fool with or date or be with anybody other than a black woman. But he’d never known Ronald to have similar tastes. All his women tended toward skinny white blondes from what he could remember. But you never know with Ronny. “That name ring a bell?” he asked Brina.
Brina shook her head. “No sir. Never heard of him.”
“Any photos?” Ronny asked him.
Reynolds produced three large photographs and sat them in front of Ronny and Brina. Ronny picked up two and Brina picked up one.
“That’s certainly the guy that was in her apartment,” Ronny said. “How did you get his name?”
“Video cameras from every business we could find. I’ve got a massive team on the case.”
“Good,” said Ronny. “Spare no expense. I want him found.”
Sully was still stunned to see this side of his brother.
“We will find him, take him into our custody, and debrief him before any law enforcement gets involved.”
“Debrief him?” asked Brina. “What does that mean? You’re going to interrogate him?”
Reynolds nodded. “Yes ma’am, you can call it that.”
“Then why aren’t you calling it that?”
Reynolds was impressed. Most women sat silent around a temperament man like Ronny Bradshaw, who wasn’t above putting his lady friends in their place. But not this sister.
But Ronny answered before he could. “They employ more tactics than simple questioning,” he said to Brina. “It goes beyond interrogation.”
Sully and Reynolds were a bit surprised that he would give her that much sources-and-methods’ level intel, but Sully was beginning to understand the dynamic. Ronny treated her, not as his driver or even just as his woman. He treated her as his equal. It was refreshing for Sully to see. A miracle in a lot of ways.
“We’ll get him in our custody, ma’am,” Reynolds said to Brina, “I can promise you that.”
Brina smiled. “Thank you so much. I’ll sleep better if I knew he wasn’t still out there.”
“Yes ma’am,” Reynolds said.
