Leather & Lace

Chapter 14

Brett watched Eric leave. His jaw was throbbing from the punch, but he knew that it would’ve been pointless to fight back. If this was any other guy, he would’ve beat their ass easily. But this was his friend. His best friend and he could understand how he felt. He didn’t expect this night to go the way it went. He definitely didn’t understand who could have possibly drugged her. One thing for certain, two things for sure, it was intentional. An older lady appeared with tears in her eyes, followed by an older man and two other women.

“My God, Lacey.” The older lady cried. Brett assumed it was her mother from the looks of her. “What happened to you?”

“She’s a strong girl, Carolyn.” From how well dressed the man was, he knew that it was Lacey’s father. The smug look he gave Brett, made him want to grab the old man up and tell him about himself.

“Larry, she's our daughter. Can you at least show some concern for her?” Lacey definitely had his eyes and her mother’s beauty.

“I am concerned, but I’m more concerned about this man being in her room.” He gave Brett the side eye.

“Who are you?” A soft female voice said. Brett almost had to do a double take. She stood over five feet and six inches tall with dark brown hair that was pulled into a low ponytail. She was damn near identical to Lacey. The woman next to her held her hand on her belly as her other arm was snakes around Lacey’s sister.

“I’m a friend of Lacey. My name is Brett.” He held his hand out for her to shake. She hesitantly shook it, but he couldn’t blame her.

“I’m Sharice, Lacey’s older sister and this is my wife, Autumn.” They exchanged greetings. “You’re the one she’s representing for your divorce case.” Brett shook his head. He wanted to ask how she knew that, but seeing that her father is the DA, he was sure it was talked about at the dinner table. “Can we talk outside?”

Brett nodded and followed Sharice and Autumn. When they were in the hall alone, Brett felt uneasy not knowing what Sharice was going to say.

“What happened to my sister?” She asked bluntly.

Brett explained what happened to her and felt bad. How could he not see anyone putting something in her drink? How could he be so wrapped up in her to not realize danger was lurking.

“The doctor said she’s resting. They had to pump her stomach and give her a bunch of fluids to hydrate her.”

“So no one saw anything?” Sharice asked.

Brett wished he had. He wished that he was able to catch the fucker that did this to her. He shook his head and Sharice puffed out a breath of frustration.

“I’m sorry. I'm glad you were there for her.”

“Lacey is very important to me.” Sharice noticed how his shoulders were slumped and how he had a look of defeat. She lightly smiled at him. “Thank you for being there for her.”

Brett gave Sharice his information. He needed to go home and shower. “Can you please call me when she wakes up?”

Sharice didn’t miss the look in eye. The care, the concern, the love. “Yes, we will.”

“Thank you.” Brett left the hospital. Hewanted to get home and shower and make his way back. As he drove home, he tried his best to remember what happened. It frustrated him that he couldn’t see when or how her drink was tampered with. When he made it home, he quickly showered and changed. He checked his phone for any missed calls but there weren’t any. He needed to call Eric and although they are not on good terms, he needed his help to figure it out.

“What the hell do you want?” Eric's harsh tone made Brett roll his eyes.

“I need your help.”

Eric scoffed, “You need my help? After what you did!”

“Look, I'm not trying to argue with you. My only concern right now is trying to find out who slipped something in Lacey’s drink. You want to hate me, fine. But if you really care for her, you need to help me figure this out.”

Eric remained quiet on the other end and for a second, Brett thought he hung up the phone. “I will help for the sake of her, but let me tell you this. I don’t care about what y’all did in the past, I really like her and I will do everything in my power to make her mine. So I’ll help you but not for your benefit. After this, you stay the hell away from us. In fact, you need to find another lawyer.”

“That’s not your call to make, Eric. She’s a lawyer and she’s doing her job.”

“Is she? Or are you just trying to squeeze your way back in?”

Brett pushed out a breath. “I get that you’re upset. I should’ve told you about her when we were at the club. But she ended things with us before they even began. I told her I was married and she ended it. You know how my situation was with Shondra.”

“Yes, I do. Shondra is a great person and she was yours. So why are you divorcing her?” Eric asked. “Why not try to give it another shot?”

When Brett remained quiet, the realization hit Eric hard.

“I should’ve known. You are so selfish.”

“Are you done? Because the woman we both care about is in the hospital. Or do you not really care about that? You’re calling me selfish yet, I’m willing to call a truce for her sake and you’re still moping over the fact that we have history.”

“It’s not history if you’re in love with her.”

“You’re right,” Brett pointed out. “I’m in love with her. I didn’t expect it to happen, but it did. It doesn’t even matter if she doesn’t love me back, does it?”

Eric groaned. “Yeah, sure.” Eric knew that Lacey cared for Brett and that was a problem, but Brett was right, he needed to focus on figuring out who drugged her and why.

“Tomorrow we can meet at the club and see if they would let us watch the security cameras,” Brett suggested.

“That’s fine.”

After he ended the call, waited for Sharice to call but his patience was running low. After waiting another ten minutes, he grabbed his keys and left.

He walked towards her room, hoping that she was awake. He stood outside her and watched as her family talked around her. Her dad noticed Brett standing outside the door. He walked towards the opened door and closed it behind him when he stepped out. The silence was awkward, but Brett knew the conversation wasn’t going to be a pleasant one.

“Brett Newman.” Larry spoke.

“DA Anderson.”

“I’m not going to beat around the bush.” The older man stepped closer. Brett didn’t step back. “You shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t you be home trying to reconcile with your wife?” Brett smiled, immediately catching on to what he was trying to do. He has seen that look before only this time, he knew how to handle it. Don’t let them see you sweat. His dad always said that.

“Shondra and I are separated and in the process of divorce, sir. There is nothing to reconcile.”

“I’m aware. I’m also aware that my daughter is representing you. It is not appropriate for a lawyer and her client to hang out. Its definitely inappropriate for you to be f*****g your lawyer.” The man smiled and Brett took a deep breath. It wasn’t just f*****g for him and Lacey. She was everything he needed. She’s more than just a piece of meat.

“Sir,” he tried to be as polite as he could. Not for respect of her father, but for Lacey.

“Don’t even try to deny it. I have eyes and ears everywhere. Whatever this is between you and my daughter stops now.”

“That’s for Lacey to decide. She is her own person who is able to make her own choices.”

“f*****g her client isn’t a good choice,” he said.

“But it’s still her decision,” Brett snapped back.

“Well Lacey isn’t awake yet so,-“

“Dad! What the hell?” Sharice shrieked. Brett didn’t even hear the door open.

“Go back in the room. This has nothing to do with you!” Larry snapped.

“It has nothing to do with you either. Lacey is a grown woman. You can’t decide what we can or can’t do with our lives!” Brett loved that Sharice was willing to also defend Lacey.

“Sharice-“

“No, Dad. You don’t get to try to play protective father. I know you may not agree with the choices we make, but they are our choices. Not yours!” Sharice was infuriated.

“What is going on here?” Carolyn stepped outside the room.

“Dad is bothering Brett.” Sharice pointed out.

Carolyn looked at her husband in disbelief.

“Larry, I’ve told you plenty of times to leave those girls

alone.”

“Sweetie I-“

“No!” She cut him off. Brett was surprised at Larry’s tone. It was softer towards his wife. She walked up to Brett and smiled. “I apologize for my husband’s behavior. I know you care about our Lacey. You are welcome to stay.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Anderson.”

“Just Carolyn is fine, my dear.” She looked at her husband. “Larry, I would like to go home now and rest.”

“Okay, sweetheart.” He held his arm out and she grabbed on to him and they left. Once they were out of sight, Sharice turned towards him.

“I’m so sorry. He shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“It’s fine and thank you for the back up.”

She smiled. “No problem. The doctor said he’s not expecting her to wake up just yet, but they are monitoring her vitals. I need to get my wife home. Please feel free to stay.”

“Oh trust me, I wasn’t going to leave. I’ll call you with an update.” Sharice and Autumn left and Brett was finally alone with Lacey.

“Hey beautiful. I’m not sure if you can hear what I’m saying, but I told Eric about us. Well.. our past, but part of me feels relieved. He didn’t take it well and he’s even willing to fight for you. I have to respect him for that. But in the short amount of time I have known you, I’ve fallen for you. You are on my mind when I wake up and

when I fall asleep. I don’t know how you feel about me, that’s something we can talk about when you wake up. If you don’t feel the same way, I will back up and let you and Eric explore whatever you have to. I love you that much, Lace. As much as it will hurt and as hard as it will be, I just want you to be happy.” He kissed her lips, allowing his lips to linger there longer than normal before breaking the kiss. He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers. He reclined the chair back, closed his eyes, and fell asleep to the sound of her breathing.