Midnight Renegade by Anya Summers
19
For a short week at work, it had been the longest week of Reegan’s life.
Even her mother, who was normally relentless about mentioning men Reegan should date or fashion styles she should wear, had taken one look at her when she showed up after her flight, and kept those thoughts to herself.
Heartbreak really should kill a person. Since parting ways with Brody, Reegan had been walking around feeling like a hole had been punched clear through her chest.
At work, everyone had thought she was withdrawn because of the injuries she’d sustained in the accident. When you walk around sporting a bandage on your head and wrist, people don’t bother to ask questions.
All she had to do was make it through her responsibilities tonight, and she would be home free. She was thinking maybe she should take some time away. Even her boss had said to let him know if she wanted to take time to recover. She might take him up on it, and head somewhere where she could burrow and mourn.
In a floor-length silver sheath gown, with icy diamonds dripping from her ears, Reegan descended the stairs of her parents’ estate. The strains of a Mozart concerto drifted from the orchestra in the ballroom and filled the lower level of the house. The chandeliers were lit. Ivory roses decorated the entryway, and she knew they would be all over the ballroom. The tinkling sound of crystal flutes clinking together perforated the buzzing hum of a multitude of cultured voices. Her parents’ social circle included the crème de la crème of society. They were people who hosted fundraisers for presidential candidates and sat on boards of Fortune 500 companies.
And it was a world Reegan had never truly fit in with. She had grown up luckier than most. She had never wanted for a thing financially.
She pasted a smile she didn’t feel on her face as she descended the stairs.
He had stopped contacting her, just like she had asked him to.
Oh god, Brody.
She missed him like crazy. And ever since she had overreacted last week, she had lain awake at night, missing his warmth beside her and wondering if she had made a mistake, even though she had promised herself that she would move on, that she would go to the club frequently to find another Dom.
Deep down, she didn’t want another Dom; she wanted Brody.
But there was no way she could call him after everything, after the way she had behaved. Once she had finally calmed down from the accident, and after Paul’s sudden proposal, Reegan came to realize how ridiculous it was that she had used a measuring stick, comparing the way things happened between her and Brody in college, and now.
That didn’t mean she knew what to do about him. The zero contact she had asked for, he had given her, and respected her wishes. And she had been wrong to ask for it.
But she was floundering, unsure if he would even listen if she made any overtures, especially since she had shut him out without a thought for his feelings.
She loved him. That was the only thing she knew for a certainty. Hell, she had been in love with him for thirteen years.
On her way into the ballroom, she snagged a champagne flute off a tray from a passing waiter. She smiled and greeted her parents’ guests, many of whom she had known since childhood. She grazed on appetizers, danced with her dad, and wondered how soon she could make her big escape and go lock herself in her room until morning. Glancing at the time on her watch, she smiled. As soon as she had given her toast for her parents, she would slowly work her way back to the stairs.
She made her way over to the stage, where she was handed the microphone. The orchestra ended the Beethoven piece. All eyes descended on her. Luckily, she wasn’t one for stage fright.
“Good evening, everyone. First, I want to thank you all for coming to help my parents, Jay and Carla, celebrate their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary.” The crowd clapped. “Mom, Dad, the two of you have shown me my entire life by your example what a thriving, loving relationship is all about. I can’t tell you how I am proud to be your daughter, and to be here tonight to help you celebrate your love for each other. I love you both so much. If everyone would raise their glasses? To Jay and Carla, and the next thirty-five years. Cheers!”
The crowd lifted their glasses and toasted. “To Jay and Carla.”
Her mom and dad came over and gave Reegan a big hug. Then she froze at the all-too familiar eyes she spied in the crowd as they released her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. He was so handsome, she drank in the sight of him in a dark gray suit and tie.
What was he doing here?
Their gazes connected with a sizzle. Brody approached her, crossing the dance floor with confident determination. She curled her hands into fists to keep herself from reaching out for him as she stood there, trembling and fighting back tears.
“Jay, Carla, thanks again for having me.” Brody nodded at her parents.
Reegan glanced their way, at their smiling faces, as they greeted Brody like an old friend. When had they met? What the hell was going on?
Brody’s gaze landed back on her, like he was drinking in the sight of her. He took the microphone from her hand, and she was too shocked to put up a fight. Her brain still wasn’t computing that he was here, and not almost two thousand miles away, in Denver.
“Reegan, I know that we’ve had our ups and downs, that we don’t always agree on everything or how to accomplish certain aims. But there is one thing that I do know.” Brody paused, searching her face before he continued. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. And I know that you’re it for me. The only woman I want at my side, challenging me, driving me crazy, and calling me on my shit.”
There were a few chuckles from the captivated audience.
“I came here tonight because I need to know one thing.”
He loved her? Reegan was damn near hyperventilating. But then he surprised her further as he lowered himself to one knee, held up a ring in his free hand, and said, “Reegan Elizabeth Taylor, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I can’t promise you it will always be smooth sailing, because it’s not how you and I are built, but I can promise you one thing: that I will love you until my dying breath.”
Tears slid down her face. The crowd fell away until all she could see was Brody gazing up at her with more love than she had ever dreamed possible. He was offering her everything, how could she do anything less than the same? Life with him would never be easy—but if she had wanted easy, she would have accepted Paul’s proposal. Through her tears, she smiled, infusing her gaze with all the love she felt for Brody, and said, “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Joy splashed across Brody’s face. Reegan’s dad took the microphone from him as if they had rehearsed and planned the whole thing. Then Brody slipped the ring over her finger. It was a simple white gold band with a small solitaire, and it was perfect. With the ring in place, he rose, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her, to thunderous applause from their audience.
When he finally lifted his head, the love in his gaze left Reegan staggered. She held onto him as her parents toasted the two of them with lots of fanfare.
Her mom was bubbling, she was so excited. “I’m thrilled that I get to plan a wedding.”
“In Colorado.”
Her mom argued. “But—”
Reegan shook her head. “No buts, Mom. I love you, but that is what I want.”
“All right, honey, we can plan it in Denver. You know, I’ve heard that the Brown Palace Hotel is a fabulous place for weddings. I’ll make some calls and see if we can reserve it first thing tomorrow.” She clapped her hands together with excitement.
“That would be lovely, Mom. Thank you,” Reegan conceded, knowing full well her mom would be more than happy to handle all the details—and in truth, it didn’t matter to her if she married Brody before a judge at the court house or at the Brown Palace Hotel, as long as she did it.
“If you both don’t mind, I’d like to steal my fiancée away for a minute,” Brody stated with a friendly grin at her parents.
“Certainly. We’re thrilled to welcome you to the family, son.” Her dad clapped Brody on the shoulder, then turned her way and said, “This one’s a keeper, missy. He even asked for my permission first, as is the proper way to go about these things.”
Brody had asked her father for permission? When? How? And she’d had no clue, she’d just puttered around this house in misery for the last two days.
“Goodnight, you two.” Her mom hugged Reegan and then Brody.
“Come on.” Brody placed a proprietary hand on her lower back, and escorted her from the ballroom.
They were congratulated on the way as they headed for the stairs. But when they neared the stairs, Brody directed her toward the front door. She placed a hand on his forearm. “Wait, let’s go up to my room.”
“Are you sure?”
She took his hand, and nodded with a small smile. “Yep. Follow me.”
Never in a million years would Reegan have thought Brody would end up in her childhood bedroom. She escorted him into her wing of the house, wondering if he had ever been in a house with wings. Most of the people at the club knew she had grown up comfortably, but they had no idea her parents were filthy rich. The family fortune could be traced back three generations, and Reegan stood to inherit it all when her parents were gone. She shuddered at the thought.
She held open the door to her bedroom, which her mom had thankfully redecorated a few years ago to reflect the fact that Reegan was an adult and no longer a girl in pigtails. Brody asked as he entered, “Are you sure you want me to be in here with you? I don’t plan on being PG with you tonight.”
Shutting and locking the door, Reegan replied, “My parents’ bedroom is in the east wing, and the servants have their own quarters around the back. We’ll be fine.”
Brody studied her bedroom. “You know, when you said you grew up in a house with wings, I didn’t really think you were serious. And in the ballroom—was that the Senator everyone is saying is planning a presidential run in a few years?”
“Yeah, most likely.”
Brody placed a proprietary hand on her waist and pulled her close. “Reegan, I’m so sorry. I never should have left my phone at the office. I was distracted that day.”
She put a finger over his lips. “It’s all right. I know you didn’t mean to, and that I blew it out of proportion.”
“I know that Paul proposed to you, too. And if you need to decide between us, I will wait until you make your choice.”
The fact that he would wait for her to choose spoke volumes. “I just need for you to explain one thing for me.”
“Anything,” he swore, running his hands over her back like he couldn’t believe she was real, and was reassuring himself.
“I know you’ve already apologized for it, but there can be no secrets between us if this is going to work. Why did you ghost me after the night we first met?”
“The truth? Because I wasn’t ready for you then. I was young, and had an ego ten miles wide. When I met you that night, you were nothing short of a force of nature. You terrified the living daylights out of me, because I knew then if I showed up at your door or called you, that would be it.”
“What do you mean, that would be it?”
He cradled her face in his hands. “Don’t you get it? For me, you were never the woman I wanted just one night with, because you’re the once in a lifetime type of woman. You’re the kind of woman all men dream about finding in their life, and for one night, you picked me. I didn’t know what to do with it—and you—so I panicked. But I never stopped thinking about you. If you hadn’t waltzed into the club when you did, I was going to start a search for you.”
“No, you weren’t,” she denied, until she spied the naked truth in his eyes. She sputtered, “But that was years ago, that was—”
“When I realized I had let the one woman I knew I could be happy with forever slip through my fingers.”
“Brody,” she whispered, her heart overflowing with so much joy, the force of it staggered her.
“You didn’t say which of us you planned to choose.”
“You. It’s always been you, Brody. I fell for you thirteen years ago, and have loved you ever since. There was never any choice, not for me.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you more than you can possibly imagine.”
“I can imagine a lot. But I have one more question: will you let me collar you, here, tonight? Wear the proof of my ownership, and let me be your Dom forever?”
She burst into tears. “Yes, a thousand times yes.”
He withdrew a slim chain with a small platinum key on it, then affixed it around her neck.
“It’s beautiful—both of them are.”
“It was my mother’s engagement ring. If it doesn’t suit, we can pick something else out. It was the ring my father gave her, and I know she would love for you to have it.”
“Brody, it’s perfect. Now, would you please kiss me and take me to bed? I’ve missed you so much this week, I was going out of my mind.”
“Gladly.”
Brody’s lips descended and sealed over hers, full of promise and love. With a single kiss, the ache that had been in her heart since that fateful night long ago healed and mended. And then he carried her to the bed, where he showed her that their love was unlike any other, and strong enough to withstand any tempest life might toss their way.
Reegan knew they would fight like rabid dogs. That they would test each other’s limits and sanity. But in the end, the love they shared would guide them like their personal north star, back home to each other and the love they shared—every time.
