again?” Brandon’s nervous voice is cute as hell, but I’d rather him not be worried. I’m not in any danger. Over a dozen FBI agents are in the room next to ours, and he’s in the bedroom of our master suite watching my every move. I’m safer than I’ve ever been. “I still can’t believe I agreed to let you do this. Clearly, I need my head re-examined.”
“Do you want to see your son, BJ?” I hate that we’re required to have this conversation with Brandon’s work colleagues listening in, but I don’t have much choice. With my ears clogged up with implants, I can’t wear the standard earpieces most Honey Pots use during a sting, so Brandon’s voice has to be relayed to me via the speakers in the ceiling of the New York hotel we’re luring Ophelia to.
Brandon took the news he may be a father better than I expected. He cursed, ranted, and called Ophelia more than a few names, but within minutes, his focus shifted to me. He was worried I’d be upset, and that I wouldn’t be able to forgive him for having a child without me. It was only when we reached a mutual understanding of our dislikes did he calm down.
I wanted to hurt Ophelia. I wanted her to suffer for the anguish she had and was about to put Brandon through, but then I realized anything I did to her, I did to Bobby. That wasn’t fair. He’s an innocent child. I couldn’t hurt him any more than I wanted Mrs. McGee punished for what Madden had done to me.
When I explained that to Brandon, it was like a lightbulb switched on inside of his head. He finally understood why Grayson stopped him from killing Madden all those months ago. As much as Madden hurt us, killing him would have hurt Mrs. McGee even more. Neither Brandon nor I wanted that. So, instead of plotting ways to take Madden down illegally, Brandon transfixed his attention on serving justice to both Madden and Ophelia legally.
We worked side by side for months, filing motions and scouring through stacks of evidence for hours at a time.
Some days we had wins.
Others, we didn’t.
Our bid to make Madden serve time for his crimes failed. I was railroaded on the witness stand by Mr. McGee. He based his entire defense on the fact I never said ‘no.’ He made out that I had a fascination with his family and used my friendship with his ‘less attributed child’ to get closer to his ‘astute son.’ My financial records were splashed across the tabloids, and my sex life was scrutinized. Not even Brandon pretending to side with the defense in the hope of turning the knife on his father worked.
Mr. McGee did what he had done his entire life. He used his charm to have the jury side with him. In all honesty, I was pissed. When the verdict was handed down, I almost spiraled as deeply as Brandon did months earlier. But, out of nowhere, little rays of sunshine broke through the dark clouds swarming us.
My courage to fight for justice saw other women step forward. The first person was Gemma Calderon-Levesque. After Brandon reached out to her, she risked a multi-million- dollar settlement with the McGees to speak out with me. Then, one by one, more women came forward. Some were from Madden’s past, and others were as recent as last year.
While Leo and I sorted through a sickening number of victim accounts to have Madden charged with multiple counts of rape, sexual harassment, and workplace bullying, Brandon returned to his position in the Bureau under Grayson’s branch. For the most part, it was both healing and painful for him. He lived for the adrenaline a hard and seemingly impossible race to win gave him, but every contest has speedbumps.
Isaac Holt is Brandon’s.
How was Brandon to know the payments Isaac set up for Bobby weren’t as Ophelia stated. She made out the money Isaac was placing in her account every month was to help her fight Brandon’s bid for custody of Bobby.
Could you imagine how much that hurt Brandon to hear? He’d been fighting Ophelia in the courts for months just to get proof Bobby was his son, then when he finally had DNA evidence he was, Ophelia not only reopened the rape case she had ‘forgotten’ she’d instigated when it wasn’t of use to her, she also supposedly sought help from a man she knew didn’t like