One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

He brushed her loose strands of hair to the back of her eyes. With his thumbs, he erased her tears from her cheeks, and tilted her face up with her chin, so he could kiss her cheeks without going too low.

“We are searching for the people who took Calista away right now. My men are on to them. I was in the office when I was called that the kids school was on fire, and the CCTV camera caught someone taking Calista.”

“Oh my God!” Mackenzie exclaimed. Her hands flew to her mouth as she cried. Chase’s heart shrunk in his chest. She had no idea how it broke him to see her like that.

He held her hands and pulled them away from her face.

“Look at me, Kenzie.” But she couldn’t, not when her both eyes were flooded with tears.

“We caught sight of the plate number, and my men are tailing the car down as we speak. We would get Cally back, Mackenzie. I promise you.”

She wanted, no…she needed to trust him, and she knew this. He was hurting as much as she did, she could tell from the redness of his eyes. Even as he tried to stay calm and still, his grip on her hands was firm and tight. The veins on his forehead potruded, threatening to burst through the skin of his forehead.

The sound of his ragged breathing, the way his eyes searched her face, everything told her that he needed her just as much as she needed him.

Mackenzie was about to say something, but Chase wouldn’t give her the chance. In one swift move, he pulled both Cameron and Mackenzie to himself, saying nothing. He wrapped his arms around them, locking the both of them in the tightest embrace they had ever been in. His heart bled knowing Calista wasn’t there with them, but he had hope knowing he would find her soon.

He sniffed in the scent of wood dust on Mackenzie’s hair, and plastered a small smile on his face. He kissed her forehead gently, before lowering his lips to the back of her right ear. Amidst the chaos, Mackenzie’s body stood erect at his touch, she wished she could tiptoe and kiss him out there, in the open.

She could reserve the kiss for later, after they found their daughter.

“We will find our daughter, I promise you.” Chase spoke once more, as though reading her thoughts.

She raised her head to look up at him. She caught sight of the pure emotions that flickered in his eyes. The concern, the care, the love, the angst.

Watching his emotions rage in his eyes, while he fought to keep calm for them made her love him all the more.

“We would find our princess. You don’t worry. I’ll do whatever I have to. Thank you for trusting me, thank you for deciding to stay, for not running away.”

She could never, not with how much she and the kids loved him.

Once they disengaged from the hug, Chase’s eyes swept around the garden their nearest environs in a scrutinizing glance. He returned his eyes to Mackenzie’s when he was done.

“Now, let’s go get the bastards that dared to pull this shitty prank on us.”

He kept the “I’ll cut their hands off for daring to touch her” silent.

A black range Rover pulled up in front of them, and Chase turned to see his driver, Maxwell, seated in the driver’s seat. He held Mackenzie’s waist with his right hand, and Cameron’s hand with his left while ushering them to the car.

He pulled the door open for Mackenzie and helped her get into the car, before he climbed in beside her, and placed Cameron on his lap.

Chase could see how firmly Cameron was holding onto his sister’s glasses. He clutched it in his left hand, reluctant to let it go. The boy was tired, it was evident in his eyes, but he refused to close his eyes for fear that Calista’s glasses would leave him, just like her.

Chase kissed the back of his head, and Cameron sniffed.

“You can lay on my body and sleep if you want to, big boy, okay?”

Cameron turned to look at him, and Chase’s heart broke into a million pieces. His eyes were bloodshot red, and his sunken deep into his sockets.

“What about Calista?”

Chase heard Mackenzie strangle her sob in her throat. It dawned on him, in that very moment, that he had to find Calista as soon as possible. There was no way they would survive it as a family if she didn’t.

“We would get her soon, okay? Just get some rest, she’ll be here by the time you wake up.” Chase didn’t want to admit it, but it took him a lot of courage to reassure the boy, and even himself.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Chase busied himself with holding Cameron and staring out of the window until Cameron fell asleep. Mackenzie, on the other hand, continued to remain frantic, not that anyone could blame her.

She tapped her feet on the floor of the car continuously, lost herself while staring out of the window, and jumping at the sight of every black car, as though she knew the colour of the car Calista’s kidnapper had used.

Chase placed Cameron’s head gently on his body, before looking up at the rearview mirror.

“Hand me my tablet, Maxwell.”

“Yes sir.”

The man reached for the gadget beside him, and stretched it towards Chase. Chase took it and turned it on. He narrowed his eyes on his screen as he swiped past footages, pictures and short videos.

Mackenzie drew closer to him out of sheer curiosity. She moved closer, and he shifted the tablet towards her to enhance her view.

“What is that?” She asked.

“Camera footages of the car that took Calista away.” Chase replied. Mackenzie’s eyes widened in shock and faint relief. She moved further, until there was no space between them, and examined the car carefully.

“I have sent the plate number to my team of private investigators.” Chase continued, looking over at her.

“We will find out who the owner of the car is soon.”

He heard her heave a sigh, but this was of relief. She held her chest and reclined into the seat of the car. She had found hope, and it made him happy.

“I have also tracked the IP address of the person who leaked the photos.”

Her relief washed away in that instant. She jerked up and turned sharply in the direction of his voice.

“What?!”

“Yeah, I did. I mean, at first, the person was really good at covering tracks. But just a minor slip up on their part, and we were able to infiltrate and gather the information we needed. The name was James Lowe.”

Mackenzie stared at him, blinking in confusion.

“James Lowe?”

“Yes.” He replied. He didn’t expect her to know him, but he did. He knew the name far too well. James Lowe was none other than Eleanor’s ex-husband, Jeffrey’s biological father.

“Who is that? I mean, why…” Mackenzie started to ask, but her questions ceased immediately she felt her phone vibrate on her thighs. She looked down at it and saw it was ringing, the familiar unknown number was displayed on the screen.

Her heart jumped in her chest. That number had never carried any goodnews for her.

She raised her eyes to look at Chase, and he nodded in approval, squeezing her hand gently to calm her.

Mackenzie swallowed the lump that gathered in her throat, before she answered the call and pressed the phone to her right ear. She turned, uncertain, to look at Chase and he flashed her a reassuring smile.

I’m with you every step of the way. She could see it.

“Hello?” She breathed out, shaking with fear.

“Well, well, well. You couldn’t obey simple instruction, could you? You are dumber than I thought. But that’s on you, I cannot be blamed for whatever takes place after now.”

Blood drained from Mackenzie’s face, turning her cheeks pale white and frozen.

“You killed your child.” The distorted voice continued.

Mackenzie’s heart sunk in her chest.

Chase’s eyes darkened at the speaker’s arrogance. The phone had not been on loud speaker, but he was able to hear the last sentence very clearly. He snatched the phone from a pale Mackenzie, and held it to his right ear.

“Now listen to me, and listen bloody well,” he fought hard not scream, no matter how badly he wanted to.

“Runaway or disappear, whoever you are. But don’t let me find you, do not let me get my hands on you by accident because I swear I would single handedly drag you through the gates of hell and watch you beg for your own death. Don’t fucking test me.” Chase seethed. He ended the call immediately, and placed the phone on Mackenzie’s open hands.