Brooke wanted to see him? Thank God he wouldn’t have to figure out how to angle his way into the place where he needed to be most right now. Relief rattled through him so intensely, he barely noticed the doctor leaving and Bonita sobbing her way toward the ladies’ bathroom.
Five minutes and he could see Brooke. Jordan swallowed hard and wondered how one willowy woman and a barely formed baby could knock the ground out from under him in a way nothing else had before.
He didn’t like this feeling one damn bit.
When he looked up from the ugly tile floor, he realized that he wasn’t alone.
Emilio stood silently on one side. And what the hell? Parker waited on the other, his black eye from their fight still not fully faded.
Jordan stared at the line of Garrison offspring and while they unquestionably loved Brooke, he didn’t trust they could keep her safe from Bonita’s talons.
There was only one way he could make sure Brooke had total peace and her every need met. “I’m taking Brooke home with me.”
Her brother Adam quirked a brow. “Isn’t that for her to decide?”
Jordan planted his feet and his resolve. “Like any of you would handle the situation differently if you were in my shoes.”
He watched her three brothers wince with chagrin, then resolution as they glanced at the women beside them. Her brothers might be his adversaries in the Jefferies-Garrison war for power, but they certainly shared the same drive.
Emilio grinned. “Good luck convincing her without upsetting her, bro.”
And thank God for brothers who could wrench a much-needed laugh out at just the right time. Emilio gave him a quick, hard hug and stepped away to comfort his fiancée, leaving Parker still standing beside him.
“You care about my sister,” Parker said, the words sounding more like a statement than a question.
Jordan gave a simple nod. More and more every day. More than he’d expected or knew how to take in.
Parker sighed long, hard. “Okay, then. We’ll gather up Mother and head out. Let Brooke know how worried we are for her and the baby.”
Jordan glanced toward the ladies’ restroom with no sign of Bonita yet. Still he kept his voice low, but level. “About Bonita. Normally I make it a point to stay out of other people’s family affairs, but Brooke and our child are my family now.”
Parker frowned. “Your point?”
This wouldn’t be easy to say or hear, but after a night like this, he couldn’t keep quiet. Especially when Brooke needed his help. “It seems to me that hiding the liquor bottles isn’t working anymore.”
Jordan waited for the explosion, a fist or at the very least a bark to mind his own business. Yet none came.
Only a heavy resolution in the air as the eldest Garrison nodded. “I’ll look into inpatient rehab clinics first thing in the morning.”
No victory here. Just a hard truth. Jordan kept his silence.
Parker sagged back against the wall. “I’m certain the brothers will be on board to join me in an intervention for Mother. Brittany’s probably going to want to stay with Brooke.” He looked back at his siblings and all nodded in agreement, Brittany swiping at a tear streaking down her face. Parker turned back to Jordan . “We’ll let you know how it goes.”
A few short words exchanged, but enough. They’d been adversaries for a long time.
Working together didn’t—and wouldn’t—come easy. But given Emilio’s marriage and this baby, their families would have to get along.
Bonita was a destructive force to those around her, and he wanted better for Brooke and their child.
Speaking of which, now he just had to figure out a diplomatic way to persuade her to move in with him, without raising anyone’s blood pressure. That would most definitely take a Christmas miracle.
Chapter 8
Brooke let the soft leather of the limo seat envelop her, her feet propped up and a water bottle clasped in her hand. Jordan sprawled beside her, working away on his BlackBerry.
Hot.
Silent.
And always present during her every waking moment in the hospital.
She kept her other hand pressed to her stomach to reassure herself the baby still rested safely inside her. The smell of the hospital and fear clung to her senses even miles away. Everything had happened so quickly, from passing out to waking in Jordan ’s car as they raced to the E.R.
Now the world had slowed, in every sense. She couldn’t work. Couldn’t go anywhere.
The helplessness pinched, but she didn’t have a choice. Already maternal instincts to protect this precious life burned so strongly. She would do whatever it took to keep her child safe.
Although so far, she hadn’t needed to do much beyond dress herself. Jordan had taken care of everything, checking her out of the hospital and whisking her away in the limo. However, when she got to her place, she would regain some control.
Her assistant could bring any pressing work over, andLissette’s niece had been looking for part-time employment. With someone who could help during the day, she should be fine.
She could do some paperwork at home to keep from going stir-crazy. Parker had even offered to send over his receptionist, Sheila, to take care of business errands, but Brooke reassured him her staff at the Sands could handle things.
One morning off work, and already she was going stir-crazy. She needed to calm herself, for the baby’s sake.
Brooke stared out the limo window, counting palm trees whipping by to steady her thoughts…as they passed the exit to her condo. “Hey, we missed the turnoff to my place.”
Jordan glanced up, tucked his BlackBerry in his briefcase on the seat beside him and focused the full attention of those yummy blue eyes on her. “I know. I didn’t want to give you time to stress about this. Stressing isn’t good for you or the baby.”
“Stress about what?” Was the doctor keeping something from her? Her fingers curved around her stomach.
Jordan stretched his arm along the back of her seat. “I’m going to take care of you.”
Ah, now she saw the way this was going. “You’re using this as an excuse for us to move in together. I don’t want to stay in a hotel room for weeks on end.”
“Not at the Victoria.” He toyed with her hair, loose around her shoulders. “At my house, with a full staff to wait on you while you stay on bed rest.”
“Your house?”
“Yes, or actually my parents’ old home, but mine now. I bought out Emilio’s half a long while back.”