Page 91 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

The screeching of tires mingled with the pounding rain, creating a cacophony that mirrored the intensity of our pursuit.

"We got him!" Riley shouted.

With a precision akin to a well-choreographed dance, the police vehicles closed in, strategically immobilizing Dave's car.

The sound of doors slamming and officers barking orders filled the air as law enforcement officers moved swiftly to apprehend him.

"Step out of the vehicle with your hands up!" a commanding voice echoed through a loudspeaker, its authority carrying the weight of the law.

Dave, his face etched with desperation and defeat, slowly emerged from the Honda CR-V. He was cornered.

Selene's eyes locked onto him, a mix of relief and fury burning within her gaze.

More police officers closed in, surrounding Dave, their badges glinting in the rain-soaked night. Handcuffs clicked into place.

The whole road had come to a standstill. Yet, somehow, the media had managed to find a quick route to capture everything on camera.

"Mommy!" Oliver threw himself in Selene's direction as Riley opened the Honda's back door to gently escort him out.

"My brave, brave boy." Selene bundled him into her arms and held him tightly. There were no tears in her eyes, only the fiercest fucking love I'd ever seen. She looked at Ollie's empty arms. "Where's the watch, Ollie?"

Ollie lifted his left leg and pulled his jeans up a little to reveal a watch tied to his ankle. "When Daddy told me to come, I thought he wanted to go get ice cream, Mommy. He always took me to get ice cream when he came home."

"What?" Selene's voice was strangled. "Baby, did Dave come to the house?"

"Once. He had the same outfit as the delivery boy, Mom," Ollie said, his tone worried. "He said he was going to tell you sorry and we would be a family again. But then today, I got in the car and he told me he would take me away. So I quickly took the watch and I..." He stopped talking, overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of everything that had happened to him.

Selene wrapped him in her arms and kissed his forehead. "You're a genius, Ollie. Don't ever let the world say otherwise."

"Really?" Ollie's voice was muffled as he buried his face in her hair.

"Absolutely."

We had succeeded. Ollie would be safe.

"Hey," I said, prodding Dom as we watched Selene and Ollie. "Why did Riley say he owed you?"

"Well, he wanted to propose to his girlfriend at H&H. I knew the girl. More because she'd been there a night ago with another guy, and they'd pretty much made out through the entire dessert course. Did him a favor.” He shrugged.

"Guy's happily married to the love of his life now, and has two kids too."

"What did you do?"

"What any bro would do. Stopped him from making the biggest fucking mistake of his life."

I looked at Riley as he sat beside Ollie, getting details on the incident and checking him for signs of any injuries.

"But he made it to a happy ending anyway."

"Sure he did. Just because it went wrong with the wrong person, why should it be wrong with the right one?"

Selene turned her face to the two of us and smiled. It was a grateful little smile, like the one you'd share after completing a mission together.

And it hit me, standing there in the middle of all that rain and after everything that we'd just been through.

None of the shit I'd told her earlier was true.

I fucking loved her.

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