Chapter 43

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Chapter 43 

-Losing Control 

It’s been four days since Kara talked Alexandra Kerr Hurst into going to the hospital to see Lester and it turned into a disaster.  He’s still in the coma and she is still nowhere to be found.  Maxim’s surgery did relieve some of the pressure on his brain and it was discovered that the wound near his forehead is from a bullet.  He still hasn’t recovered his memory.  James Monroe is livid and blaming the Hurst brothers.   He believes Lester may have had a gun in his car and they went outside the restaurant and got into an altercation.  He’s making up his own theories now about what happened and refuses to listen to any of the evidence.   

James has hired his own investigative team to find out what really happened.   He’s threatening to have charges filed against Lester, he doesn’t care that Lester was also hurt in the accident or that the evidence trickling out shows that Maxim’s car crossed the lane hitting Lester and Liam’s vehicles.  

Kara just got home from a long tiring day at work.  She messed up several food orders putting sugar instead of salt in one of her father’s famous sauces causing several lunch time meals to be returned with complaints that the sauce wasn’t like it usually is, it was too sweet. 

Braylin’s not home from work yet.  He and his brothers have been taking turns sitting with Lester during the day and working late into the evening.  Walking into the kitchen Kara finds that Anzio cooked dinner for them and left it in the warming oven.  Millie went to see her pregnant daughter a few days ago, her baby is due by weeks end. 

They’ve looked everywhere they know of for Alexandra.  The law firm she worked for told Conner and Det. Farrow she hasn’t been to work since the accident occurred.  Only one of the attorney’s knew that she was formerly married to Lester and he refused to tell anything about Alexandra.  He did say Alexandra came to his law firm to get away from what the Hurst and Monroe’s did to her and now they’ve scared her back into hiding. 

Kara climbs the stairs undresses and steps in the shower.  It seems to be the place she does all of her heavy thinking these days.  As the warm water caresses her skin she rubs the soap in wishing it was Braylin’s hands touching her.  She’s never had to satisfy the sensual urges she feels herself, but as she rubs her body and thinks of Braylin her hands start to wonder to places she would prefer to feel him. 

It’s understandable to her that his focus has been on his cousin but Kara needs him to.  Each time she thinks about the accident and all that’s involved she has a nagging feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that her mother is somehow involved.  She then feels guilty and tries to brush the thoughts from her mind feeling ashamed of herself. 

Amelia has been by James side every day at the hospital but there’s something about her that’s different.  She’s not the same domineering always in control woman Kara is used to seeing.  There are times when Kara has noticed a panicked look on her face.  Kara actually tried to have a civil discussion with her and James three days ago.  Amelia showed that she was jealous she started to insult Kara warning her to stay away from her husband.  The next day during her hospital visit Kara was already feeling on edge due to Braylin’s avoidance of her.  He got up for work that morning and left without saying anything to her.  

The discord between mother and daughter soon turned into a shouting match in the waiting room after Kara gave James a cup of coffee and a sandwich when she arrived for visiting hours.  Kara thought it such a small gesture on her part, Braylin wasn’t comfortable with her doing it but he stayed silent about it until the shouting match between her and her mother erupted over it.   

Braylin also wanted to know why she was being nice to James.  He told her she had no idea the type of man James was.  He wanted to know if she was flirting with James to get back at her mother. 

It seemed things only got worse from there.  Kara actually brought coffee and sandwiches to all of them she just gave James his first.  She passed out what she had to the rest saving Braylin for last.  When she got to him the grimace on his face pissed her off, he told her he didn’t want the sandwich.  It was his favorite, a roast beef on rye.  She tore up a pound of roast beef trying to slice it the way he likes it when making the sandwich.  All she could think at the time was she was so frustrated with him but she made him the sandwich perfect the way he likes it anyway.   

After he refused her sandwich she made a show of throwing it in the trash in front of his face.  He asked why she did it.  She answered him by pouring the cup of coffee she had also brought for him on his much loved fine Italian leather shoes.  He yelled at her and a spat full of Italian curses flew out of her mouth at him shocking everyone except Amelia who strangely looked proud of her daughter for standing up for herself.  She understood every word her daughter spoke to him.  

Although she liked that Kara handled herself, she was also glad that there seemed to be a riff between her and Braylin.  She never thought it would be because she unintentionally caused his brother and her step-son to both be fighting for survival.   

After Braylin got over his initial shock of what Kara did to him and the fact that she just cursed him out in Italian he told her she was acting like a child.  

Kara apologized to everyone else for her behavior, she called Braylin an arrogant bastard then left the hospital.    

James Monroe no longer talks to the Hurst family but he does continue to talk to Kara and it continues to upset her mother.  Kara feels conflicted under the circumstances.  Whatever James says to her in his grief and frustration she does relay to Braylin and his brothers.  Conner and Detective Farrow analyze every conversation Kara has with James.  He’s let drip out how Maxim and Alexandra’s relationship dissolved into what it is now.  He believes she lost the baby on purpose because it was Maxim’s and she thought she could use it to hold onto Lester but it backfired and Lester divorced her anyway. 

James believes Alexandra was using Maxim and yet what he believes is so far from the truth but Alexandra isn’t around to dispute anything he says so it’s what is believed by both parties.   They also believe Alexandra is the key to all of this.    She knows what really happened and can answer a lot of their questions. 

Detective Farrow questioned Kara extensively asking her why she didn’t ask more questions of Alexandra when she spoke with her.  Kara couldn’t give an actual reason why.  She thought she was doing the right thing by just bringing Alexandra to the Hurst brothers so that they could all hear what she had to say together.  After all she doesn’t know Alexandra, only what she’s been told about her from Michelle so she had nothing to go on to trust her what she could have told her.   

The way Det. Farrow questioned Kara made her feel like she was hiding something.  She felt that she wasn’t trusted.  It was then she noticed a look on Braylin’s face she hadn’t seen before.  She became withdrawn, closed off.  She and Braylin have fallen into a routine much like other couples except at night when the lights go out they turn their backs to each other.  She recognizes he’s under a lot of stress.  With Lester in the hospital, Braylin’s taken over several of the jobs Lester was doing.  Kara is trying not to worry thinking there’s something wrong between them but it’s obvious to her that the stress of what has happened to Lester is pulling them apart.  If he would just talk to her maybe they can avoid further dissension between them.   Getting dressed in her usual around the house attire, a pair of shorts and t-shirt she goes back downstairs to have dinner alone. 

Braylin and Aaron met with a new client at the Gramercy Park Hotel several hours ago.  They have already decided that maybe they shouldn’t do business with him.  They have been at the bar watching him continually drink for two hours.  The discussion of business doesn’t seem to be on his mind, he’s more interested in getting laid now that he’s pissy drunk.  He finally got a woman to go up to his hotel room with him.  He told Aaron and Braylin he will be in contact with them in the morning. 

Aaron is getting worried, sure he likes to party and can handle his own with liquor and women but right now he finds himself put into a situation he has never had to deal with before. 

He loves his brother and he loves the way Braylin’s relationship with Kara has developed but what is the true status of their relationship and has it changed after their argument at the hospital.  Maybe it’s the fact that he can’t stand the sight of Elise Neal especially when she’s hanging all over his two drinks away from being drunk brother. 

He’s not even sure how Elise knew they were here.  She’s always had an internal radar where Braylin is concerned, she can sniff out his dick anywhere.  Either Kara’s slipping in the bedroom department or the conversation Aaron had with Braylin about Kara not calling him from her restaurant when Alexandra showed up is really getting to his older brother more than Aaron thought.   

Braylin told him about the dream he keeps having of Kara and her mother.  He’s chained to the bed with the black sheets in the dark room but now when he tries to get away Amelia is standing over him in her purple negligee teasing him. Kara is standing next to her dressed in her own purple nightie.  Mother and daughter are laughing at him, reaching for him and he can’t break free or get off of the bed.  He wakes up in a cold sweat as they each climb on the bed to devour him.  He doesn’t know what the dream means and it never goes any further because he always wakes up.

 Aaron teased him at first telling him it’s a hell of a dream to have about a mother and daughter considering how hot both women are.  He told him most men would be jealous but he knows Braylin is really struggling with the relationship between mother and daughter feeling himself caught in the middle of it. 

He believes Amelia has some involvement in all of this and he doesn’t know how to approach Kara about it or tell her what he feels.  He doesn’t know Kara’s motives for how she is responding to James or acting around her mother and it’s making him pull away from her instead of talking to her. 

The way Braylin’s been around Kara the last few days, the way he responds to her when she speaks to him it’s obvious something is wrong between them.  Aaron doesn’t like being put in this position, he’s not a damn relationship counselor he keeps telling Braylin but he doesn’t want him to mess up what he has. 

Elise has moved from her seat on a lounging sofa to Braylin’s lap in a chair.  She’s caressing his face trying to convince him to leave with her.  Aaron approaches them having come back from the restroom. 

“What are you doing?”  Aaron ask his brother while glaring at Elise. 

“What do you mean….I’m not doing anything?”  Braylin places his hands around Elise’s waist moving her off of his lap. 

“Mind your business Aaron, you’re just jealous?”  Elise keeps her hand on Braylin’s shoulder she’s now sitting on the arm of his seat. 

“Jealous of what he has with Kara….yeah I am.  I want the same thing with somebody someday and that’s why I’m not going to let him mess it up over a piece of shit like you.  Crawl back in your sewer Elise and leave my brother alone.”  Aaron curtly responds. 

“Shut up Aaron, we both know you want me for yourself.  Why don’t you tell your brother about the night we spent together a few weeks ago?”  Elise confidently slides her hand under the nape of Braylin’s neck to caress him there.  He removes her hand standing up and moving away from her. 

“Damn Elise, you’re not only a slut, you’re a stupid one.  Nothing happened between us that night you got me drunk. We both know I passed out before anything happened.  It’s the one time I’m proud I couldn’t get it up.  Who knows what kind of cooties you’re carrying around between those skinny legs of yours?  We both know Lester got me away from you.  Braylin already knows about it so don’t think you’re telling a big secret.”  Aaron smirks at her. 

“Goodby Elise, come on Aaron, let’s go.  I need to go home to Kara.”  Braylin grabs Aaron’s arm turning him away from a surprised Elise.   He grabs his little brother by the neck guiding him out of the bar without saying anything else to her. 

“I won’t screw up what I have with Kara.”  Braylin says once they get out of earshot of Elise.  They are walking through the hotel lobby on their way to the parking garage.  

“Well I wasn’t sure, you look like you wanted to go with her.  Whatever’s going on between you and Kara you need to fix it man?  I meant what I said back there.  You and Kara……”  Aaron suddenly grabs Braylin by the jacket pulling him behind a pillar. 

“Aaron…what the fuc….” Bray grabs at his brother’s arms trying to stop him. 

“Keep your voice down, isn’t that Logan?”  Aaron nods in front of them with his head while still holding onto Braylin’s jacket. 

“Yeah….you think he’s here to see a married woman we know?”  Braylin surmises.     

“Maybe….he looks scared.  Come on, let’s check it out.”  Aaron taps his brother on the chest. 

The two brothers carefully follow a nervous Logan Spector through the hotel.  He isn’t headed toward the bar or to the elevators upstairs to any of the rooms.  Where he is going only makes them more curious.  

They can see how jittery he is.  He keeps looking around him and checking his phone.  It’s making it difficult for them to keep up with him while trying to avoid letting him see them.   Logan is normally a very neat stylish dresser the two brother’s notice that his clothes look disheveled like he’s slept in them.   

“You think he saw us in the bar with Elise?”  Aaron ask Braylin. 

“I don’t think he was here for Elise, look at him, he’s a mess.  He hasn’t shaved in a couple of days.  I’ve never seen him look this way before.  Come on something else is going on.”  Braylin walks ahead of a doubtful Aaron trying to keep up with Logan. 

Logan looks around him just before he goes through a gate that leads into Gramercy Park.  Aaron and Braylin are slowed down by the gate, they have to figure out how to open it since it closed all the way on them as they lagged behind to avoid being seen. 

They get the gate open rushing through it.  Aaron wants to split up since they lost him. 

“No…we don’t know what’s going on and I’m not letting you wonder around here alone.”  Braylin holds onto him by the neck to keep him from moving away. 

“Shit Braylin, I’m not five.  I can take care of myself.”  Aaron responds feeling his own adrenaline rush as they continue to look for Logan ahead of them. 

“I don’t care.  Either we go through here together or we wait and call Conner.”  Braylin firmly says. 

“Fine let’s go….”  The two brothers make their way to a huge tree ducking behind it when Logan looks around. 

A silencer’s shot pings out and the two brothers’ duck both hitting the ground.  They catch each other’s eye to make sure the other’s alright.  Braylin scrambles over to where Aaron is hiding behind a bush and they both try to look where they heard the shot.   

They see Logan, he’s alright.  He’s hiding behind a tree.  He takes off running.  They run behind him.  All three men are running out on the sidewalk when another shot pings past them hitting a car on the street beside them.  Braylin grabs Aaron dragging him into the street behind a parked car.  He can see Logan just ahead of them hiding behind another car. 

In the park there’s movement in the trees.  A man comes out of the dark shadows dressed in all black.  His face is partially hidden by a scarf. One of his hands is full of rings, the other is covered with a black driver’s glove.  He looks like something out of a noir film.  The twenty-two caliber he holds in his hand is pointing at Logan ready to fire again. 

Aaron and Braylin see him, they start waving at Logan trying to get his attention.  He sees them and scrambles to kiss the pavement crawling under a different parked car to avoid being shot.  The hitman is unable to Aaron and Braylin but he heard the whistle Braylin made to get Logan’s attention. 

“Come on Braylin, we can’t help him, let’s get out of here.  He might see us.”  Aaron is scared now that the hitman has turned his head to look around in their direction. 

“Wait….he can’t see us, he’s going toward the car.  We’ve got to distract him.”  Braylin says now sobered up and filled with an adrenaline rush.  He runs from behind the car to a tree nearby and signals Aaron to join him. 

“Shit….”  Aaron runs after him.  The hitman walks to the side of the car they were just hiding behind.  The hitman is looking around he sees Logan underneath the car.  He lifts his gun ready to shoot it when there’s laughing, lots of laughing and talking to close by.   

A group of people come out of the gate from the park to their cars.  The hitman lowers his gun sliding it in his jacket.  The group of people walk in front of him and stop to talk.  Braylin and Aaron walk quickly from behind the tree to where Logan was under the car.  Logan is gone. 

They look where the hitman was standing and he’s hurrying across the street.  He hops in a black new Dodge Charger.  Braylin runs into the street trying to see the tag, Aaron follows.  Braylin yells out the tag number as Aaron nervously types it into his phone, his finger keeps hitting the wrong letters and numbers he keeps having to try to get it right.  Braylin takes the phone from him and types it in himself.

“Come on, we’re going back in the hotel.”  Braylin tells a shook up Aaron who’s now come down from his adrenaline rush. 

“What the hell for?  Let’s just get out of here.”  Aaron is walking back to the sidewalk. 

“We’re going in the hotel where it’s safe.  He didn’t see us but if we just start walking down the street to our car he might be out there and see us.  He’ll figure it out.”  Braylin grabs his brother by the arm pushing him in the direction he wants him to go. 

Going back into the hotel they get a room and hurry up to it not wanting to be seen in case the hitman comes back into the hotel.  Braylin calls Conner while Aaron calls Cameron to tell him what happened. 

“Are you two out of your goddamn minds?  You actually chased a man with a gun?”  Cameron hasn’t stopped yelling at his younger brothers since he walked through the hotel room door.  

“Don’t yell at me Cam….yell at Bray.  He’s the one that saved Logan’s ass and got the guy to look at us.  That guy was really going to shoot Logan, shit, I’ve never been so scared…..”   Aaron wipes his chest with the wet towel he’s holding. 

Braylin walks out of the bathroom with another towel wiping his hands.  Both of them have washed the dirt from their hands and faces. 

“We were following Logan.  We didn’t know there was a guy trying to kill him.”  Braylin says in his defense. 

“Well when you found out that’s when you should have returned to the hotel and called me.  Isn’t that why you hired me?”  Conner appears to also be upset.  He’s taking the tag number off of Aaron’s phone. 

“Well yeah….but?”  Braylin appeals to Conner. 

“No buts.  Are you sure he didn’t see you?”  Conner ask. 

“He didn’t see

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