Kissing Brooke’s temple, Blake whispered, “So many nights I’ve dreamed about you, Brooke. So many times I’ve wished you were here with me. No one on the management team has ever brought a woman home with her, you know. Not until she’s found the femme who’s meant to be hers.” Brooke stiffened in surprise.
“Our homes are our sanctuaries. If a woman is here with any of us, in our bed, it means she’s worth far more to us than a meaningless hookup, baby. When Bryn met Rowan and fell as fast as she did, it was like the floodgates opened. For thirty-five years, not one of us was interested in a long-term relationship, although a few of us had suspicions we already knew a femme our souls were convinced was ours forever—Jaime, Teagan, Trill, me—even if we were convinced you might stay out of our reach.
“But now?” Blake kissed Brooke’s temple again. “Except for Drew, each of us has found her forever, has her femme exactly where she needs to be, and willneverlet her go. I’ve always known you were mine, tigress…just as you have always known I was yours.”
“What about Drew then? I adore Drew, you know that…I always have. All the APS femmes do. But I’ll be honest withyou, Blake. I can’t think of one woman in Whimsy whom I can see as Drew’s forever. None of us can and, believe me, we’ve speculated.”
Blake smiled in the darkness as she tightened her arms a bit. “Let me tell you something about my cuz, baby. Like the rest of us, Drewlovesfemme women. She will do just about anything for any woman who might need her, but it is the femmes of the world who speak to her butch soul. She is extremely discreet and keeps her playing from view, but I doubt you would be surprised to find out she is just as predatory as the twins and the rest of the Seven.” Blake felt Brooke nod in agreement.
“That said, we don’t talk about relationship shit that much with each other. What Icantell you, however, is that the femme who finally lands on Drew’s radar will be a woman who is cunning, resourceful, highly intelligent, and downright dangerous, but also as kind and as ethical as they come. Much like Drew herself is. And our mystery femme? Heaven help anyone or anything that even thinks about threatening what Drew considers to be hers.”
Laughing softly, Brooke murmured, “You just described the entire management team of APS, Blake, not just Drew.”
The Utopia team lead chuckled. “I did, didn’t I?” Her voice sobered. “But Drew and her femme will operate on a level even further beyond what we do. You know about Purgatory, baby, at least the very basics. My cuz totally rules that place, and believe me when I tell you there is some fucking scary-ass shit that goes on down there. Drew Hollister is feared for some damn good reasons.”
There was silence for a moment, then, “The woman who Drew ends up sighting in her crosshairs will be just as comfortable on the dark web and in Purgatory as she is. Traffickers, violent criminals, embezzlers, cyber thieves, scammers: she likely deals with them as casually as she wouldswatting a fly. I wouldn’t be in the least surprised to learn that Drew already knows her, or has at least met her, although I’d make book on the fact that Drew is unaware of who this woman actually is to her. And I doubt very much the mystery woman knows who Drew is to her either.”
Brooke blew out a deep breath. “Hoo boy.”
“Hoo boy is right. Personally, I’m betting there are going to be some major fireworks between them.” Blake snickered, leaning up slightly to give Brooke a deep kiss before she settled back down. “Drew is one of my best friends in this world, baby. I’d fall on my sword for her, just like I would for any of our management team. But, for as much shit as she’s thrown at me over the years, I will be enjoying thefuckout of watching her meet her match.”
“Blake.” Brooke couldn’t prevent her grin, even through the exasperation that seeped into her tone. “Are you trying to tell me you’re as pure as the driven snow and haven’t deserved the crap she’s given you? Her or the twins or the rest of the Seven?”
Blake burst out laughing. “Hell,no…I’m not saying that at all. I live to drive those fuckers out of their minds, and no one is better at it than I am.” Brooke giggled. “But I have watched Drew and her crew in action for too many years not to know exactly what they’re capable of doing, and why ‘The Shadow’ has the reputation she does,” Blake continued, all traces of laughter suddenly gone. “Baby, the criminal element in Purgatory isterrifiedof Drew Hollister. And I suspect her femme inspires the same kind of fear, for reasons yet to be known. Only time will tell. But I predict the APS book will be on fire between those two.”
She kissed Brooke one more time, then covered them up warmly. “We’re both tired, tigress, so it’s time to go to sleep. Like I’ve already told you, being able to go to sleep with you in myarms is a dream come true. You have no idea what it means to me that you’re here.
“Rest easy tonight, baby, and know you are in the safest place you can possibly be. And I’ll make sure you always feel that way.”
Chapter 6
“Spill it, homeslice. We’ve pieced the story together from various sources, but we need to hear what the fuck is going on fromyou.” The APS femmes were together in the Wendy House, where Piper was making it perfectly clear they expected the full story about Brooke’s microbrewery dilemma. “I’m warning you, though: the next time you pull shit like this with your girls, it ain’t gonna be pretty. Now, what’s up?”
Sighing, Brooke took a sip of her wine, then proceeded to fill them in on the situation. “At this point, Blake says we should just sit tight until Trill and the rest of them come back with information,” she concluded. “Honestly, I’ve gotten a wee glimpse at how APS operates up close and personal and I’m floored.” She shook her dark blonde head. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t always known how freaking amazing they are, but seeing it with my own eyes has left me speechless.”
“Even being on the front lines with them, they blow me away constantly.” Kelly took a swallow of her beer as Piper nodded. “You know as well as I do that they will figure this out, then bury those creeps six feet under where they belong. Just the fact that they are trying to screw over a woman who just beat breast cancer because her husband took his eyes off their business for a minute?Fuck. Those assholes will be lucky if the APS management team doesn’t chop their balls off.”
Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, a cup of tea in her hands, Rowan observed, “Bryn wassomad when she stopped by the WAC with Teagan after the meeting.” Rowan, along with Kelly, was the owner of the Whimsy Arts Complex and the Dream Creamery ice cream shop. “She gets this little tic in her jaw whenher temper is about to blow, so I knew whatever it was, it was frigging serious.Thatwould explain it.”
Delaney agreed. “Teagan was just as pissed.” She looked soberly at Brooke. “Sis, there isno waythey’re going to let this go. As far as APS is concerned, it’s bad enough when men try to hurt women in general, but stealing from a woman who could have lost her life to cancer?Holy crap. Just do what Blake and the rest of them need you to do, and they’ll protect Cask & Canvas, no matter what.” She took a mouthful of her own tea.
“Speaking of Blake.” Brooke groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose as Nova cut to the chase, the other femmes straightening immediately to attention. “My bitch, we are fuckingdonewith this coy shit you’ve been pulling. Hiding your head in the sand isn’t going to fly any longer. You think we don’t know how you and Blake really feel about each other?”
Alyssa threw a piece of popcorn at her. “I’ve known both you and Blake since we were little kids. You may have never admitted it, but you know as well as I do that Blake has loved you her entire life. Deep down inside, you’ve felt the same for her.You need her, Brooke. And if you don’t think Blake Seibert won’t cut a fucking swath through those dumb shits because they’re putting the woman she loves at risk? Sheesh.”
Looking into her wine glass for a moment, Brooke finally sighed and took a sip, not saying anything.
“Honey, I haven’t lived in Whimsy for very long, but it’s as plain as the nose on your face that there’s something between the two of you that’s on a par with what Bryn and I feel for each other.” Rowan’s voice was quiet in the silent room. “You twofit. Blake may drive the rest of the management team out of their minds because of how she can be,” a small laugh escaped her, “but I also know every single one of them would lay down their life for her and vice versa.”
Kelly jumped in. “Think about what Blake does, homeslice.She runs Utopia, the most killer gaming facility in the world, but one that exists so the associates at APS learn how to provide the most top-level protection services in the world for women. Yes, she’s a goddamn goof, and I’ve been tempted to smack her myself on more than one occasion, but there is no way APS could do what it does without her.
“Just like the rest of them,protecting women is her life. And you are at the top of her list, my bitch. You need to cut the shit and admit you two belong to each other. Because you do.”
Brooke swiped at the tears that had started to fall down her face. “I haven’t admitted to you that I’ve been scared to be at home alone since The Candyman’s muscle tried to kidnap me,” she said in a low voice, ignoring the rumbles that immediately filled the room. “I never told anyone because it seemed sostupid. If there is one thing I amnot, it’s a pussy, and you know it. The Candyman and his goons were behind bars, so what did I have to worry about? But Blake?” She hesitated for a moment.
“She saw through the bravado. She sent Jaime and Alyssa to pack me up, told me I was staying with her, and even though I said it was temporary, Blake ignored what I said and told me I belonged to her. As far as she is concerned, my living with her is a permanent thing.”
Snorting, Piper said, “Dude, you have been carried off and stashed in an APS badass lair, so your goose is cooked. Don’t fight it, because you will fuckinglose.” She jumped up to replenish everyone’s drinks. “What remains is for you to admit, without any bullshit, that you are where you need to be. It’s like Ro already said: the two of you fit.”
