A First Love to Die For

Chapter Four- She's Coming Home

(Lincoln's POV)

I laid my head down on my desk and took a couple of calming breaths. The pressure building behind my eyelids was getting worse. I'd been fighting the mother of all headaches and it didn't look like it was going to be relieved any time soon.

My phone call with Charlie Byson had just ended and my heart was racing as I considered the conversation. He now knew that officers were out doing the notifications and I would update his team leader when they arrived.

His response had thrown me for a loop. "We're sending you a team of three, but the team leader will be the only one that you will have any contact with right now. Our other two are going to give backup whenever you need it. You should be seeing Josie Stevens, the team leader at some point today. She said that you knew each other, and I think it would be beneficial for you both if you played up that connection."

Holy shit, I was thankful for the help. Charles Byson and his teams were legendary in the land of law enforcement and we needed all the help that we could get but I honestly didn't know how I was going to handle having Josie home, let alone "connecting" with her again.

I had hung up in a complete brain fog. The stress, regret and worry sat heavy on my shoulders, weighing me down.

As I collected my thoughts, my forehead dug into the dark mahogany of my desk. I was wondering the chances at sneaking home early, if I could escape this miserable day. Then I heard the high-pitched giggle of my administrative assistant and knew I wasn't going anywhere. I sighed, knowing immediately that it could only mean one thing. The arrival of at least one of my brothers.

I tuned into whatever was going on and heard the extra layer of honey to her tone, confirming that somehow my day was going to get worse because the two of them were weaseling their way into my office.

She buzzed through and said, "Chief, I've got Gabriel and Declan out here and they need to talk to you."

I ran a frustrated hand through my dark curly hair. I had a feeling that I knew what they "needed" to talk about and wasn't interested in layering extra bullshit onto the heaping shit pile I already had going on.

However, I also knew that there was no way the stubborn asshats would leave without seeing me, so I told her to let them in. My brothers and I were incredibly close, but sometimes they felt that this permitted them to overshare their opinions. I might be the oldest of the three of us at thirty-three, but they always seemed to think they knew best.

Gabriel came in through the door, obviously coming right from work, in his work boots and company hat. He and his best friend, Liam had started their own construction business a little over 10 years ago and now it was the biggest construction company in our area.

Declan on the other hand was still in his hospital scrubs. He was the youngest of the three of us, at twenty-nine. He had been interning at the closest hospital, on track to be a full-fledged doctor next year.

They may drive me bat-shit crazy and I might get extremely annoyed with them at times, but I was very proud of both my brothers. I feigned ignorance, "Gentleman, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Gabriel took a seat and Declan leaned against the door. "I just got off the phone with my Mrs. and Hailey thought we should come over and stage an intervention."

I tried to stifle my annoyance. My family might be overstepping, but their hearts were in the right place and I loved my sister-in-law. Hailey was a sweetheart and an absolute saint, who loved my brother more than I would ever think was possible.

She was also best friends with the woman that stupidly still held my heart. I shook my head, knowing where this was going, "Oh yeah, what did Hails have to say?"

Declan took a moment to read my face and laughed. " I think you already know what she said. What we want to know is what you plan to do about it because we're tired of being around your lonely ass."

As Declan finished strong, Gabriel picked up. "Hailey said that Josie is coming home for an extended visit and we think it's your chance to finally be happy."

I held up my hands to slow down the attack. "Guys, Josie considers me a mistake, she made that pretty clear last time she was in town." I wondered how I was going to manage to spend time around her now.

Josie was the only woman that I had ever imagined spending the long haul with. But I knew that we had enough history that it would never work.

Declan looked at me and said quietly, "Man how long are you going to be unhappy for? Don't think I haven't noticed that you aren't even living the single life anymore." My brother and I both worked insane hours and so we bought a house together. We were rarely home together and normally tried hard not to get into each other's love lives.

Declan was newly single, he was nursing a broken heart from a break-up with his boyfriend of 4 years. I, on the other hand, had been single for years and was pretty tired of the casual, shallow and completely meaningless sexual encounters that I had once craved. As a result, I'd been a little uninterested in the opposite sex lately and apparently, Declan had noticed.

I sighed, "Look, while Josie is home, I will attempt to keep an open mind but remember, Josie broke my heart. I'm not interested in a repeat performance. Now, will you both get out of here so I can do my job?"

They both stood up to leave but Gabriel stopped on the way out and said, "Hey, you and Josie might have not worked before but you are both different people now. Maybe it's a good time to figure out if your adult selves are even compatible."

He walked out and Declan hung back for a minute, looking at me with pity. "Gabriel and I are stopping at the brewery for dinner tonight, want to join us after work?" I let him know that I would join, then got back to work, trying to shrug off the interfering ways of my brothers.