Chasing His Brother's Bride
Chasing His Brother’s Bride – Chapter 33

Jolie could feel fingers brushing her hair off her forehead and she grimaced as she opened her eyes slowly. She had locked her bedroom door, she was sure of it but as she opened her eyes she met dark brown ones, highlighted by the small lamp Pia had insisted they leave on when they had crawled into the bed.

“Hi,” Brix’s voice was quiet as he watched her.

“How did you get in here?” she scowled at him, whispering as she attempted to control her temper with him.

“Really? Of all the tricks you know I’m capable of, wondering how I got into your locked bedroom is the one you’re fixed on?”

“Brix, I locked my door for a reason.”

“Yes, because you were afraid and I left you all alone in a house with a bunch of strange men on our first night in our new home. You were afraid. Despite having Trey here, who you’ve met, you were still afraid and I didn’t pay attention.”

She blinked as the sleep she was emerging from dissipated. She wondered when he’d come to his epiphany and who coaxed him there. “What?”

“I wanted to apologize, Jolie. I should have better explained why I needed to leave and I should have introduced you to everyone in this house before I left. I certainly should not have left with you angry and scared of me.”

She swallowed at the sincerity of his words. “Oh.”

“Forgive me?”

“You were a d**k.”

His lips twisted as she didn’t immediately bend to his will. “Move over.”

“Move over?” she was sure to be dreaming. “No.” She leaned forward and sniffed him. He smelled of his soap and nothing else.

“Did you just sniff me?”

“Are you drunk?”

He chuckled and nudged her, “move over. I’ll explain where I was and why I had to go. Come on.”

“Pia,” she whispered.

“Is taking up the other half of the bed and nothing is going to wake her right now short of a nuclear bomb. I’m not crawling in to make love, Jolie,” he mocked her. “I want to hold you and explain. Please. I’m cold. My shower was short and the air conditioning is on full blast. My goosebumps are even cold.” He made a show of blowing on his hands as if they were icy.

“Ugh,” she grunted and shifted herself sideways and agreed Pia did have the other side of the bed completely taken up. There was no way he was getting in on that side unless he woke her and she would be cranky if she woke up now. She was debating her sanity as he lifted the covers, slid in beside her and tugged her close. His long sigh made her confused as he nuzzled her hair. “Brix what are you doing?”

“We caught the man who went into your home. He had bugged your home. Your safety is paramount and is the most important thing to us, Jolie. Myself, my father, and Malik needed to deal with him. However, I should have better explained why it was so important to go.”

She leaned her head back and stared into his eyes looking for any kind of deceit and found none. “You could have told me in the morning. You didn’t need to come in here in the middle of the night.”

“It’s only eleven,” he laughed at her. “I didn’t want to waste a whole night with you still angry.”

“Okay, but now I know and you are in my bed.”

“Yes, but I missed my girls this evening. This way I get to cuddle with you.”

“Brix, you don’t cuddle.” She frowned at him. “You’ve probably never cuddled a day in your life.”

He tickled her ribs playfully, “don’t be so judgemental. I cuddle.”

“Name one person you’ve cuddled other than Pia in the last thirty years.”

He furrowed his brow, “I’ll have you know I love a good cuddle.”

“You’re so full of it.”

He chuckled, “okay, maybe I’m not known for being the snuggly type but you are converting me. I can’t help it. There is a quality about you Jolie which makes me like having you close. In only a few days you’ve become important to me. I like having you beside me. You slept with me Saturday night and I liked having you there. When you were not there Sunday night, I missed you. I think we should share a room.”

“Are you out of your ever-loving mind?” her jaw felt unhinged at the way it was hanging open.

“Maybe I am,” he admitted. “I know Malik this afternoon said you and I should be sharing a room and I said you would like to have your own space but, after arguing earlier this evening with you and being away from you, I have realized I don’t want to be apart from you.”

“Brix, this is weird.”

“It’s very weird.” He did not dispute her opinion. “It’s by far the strangest situation I’ve ever been in, in my entire life.” He brushed his fingers through her hair. “Three days, Jolie. It’s taken three days for me to realize I want this. I want you.” He was speaking lowly, quietly so not to wake Pia on the other side of her. “I’m not asking for you to suddenly accept a true marriage and for you to be ready to be physical with me, but I am asking for you to give this a chance. Many marriages, especially in our world, are those of contracts and convenience and they grow to be good solid marriages. I am hopeful we can have one.”

“You want a real marriage.” She felt her throat constricting painfully. “I told you on Saturday I won’t warm your bed, Brix.”

He smiled softly as he played with the silky tendrils of her hair, “do you really feel you couldn’t eventually replace a way to intimacy with me? After the sexy k**s we had this afternoon, I am not inclined to believe you are as broken as you think you are. I believe under the hurt and pain you have experienced is a warm, vivacious woman who could come alive for me. Tell me the k**s this afternoon wasn’t as hot for you as it was for me, I will roll out of this bed, and we will never have this conversation again.”

She looked away from his gaze and stared at the v of his white cotton t-shirt and bit her bottom l*p. “I need time Brix.”

“And you can have all the time in the world but the best way to get used to me, is this, right here.” He slipped his hand under her pillow and pulled her close. “The more time we spend together, quietly and intimately, the easier it will be for you when the time comes.”

“And what about Malik?” her mind had been focused on both men’s k****s and how they’d both abandoned her.

“You are marrying me, Jolie. I want us to have a real marriage. I have no objections to Malik being part of our marriage. There are things about him he can explain to you in time but I cannot emphasize this enough, I need you on board with me. Me. If you do not want Malik as part of this, if it’s too much, if its even a hair out of line for you, then I will tell him to back off and he will. He is more than a hair infatuated with you but he will back off.”

She nodded, “it seems weird to think of him not part of this.” She saw the edge of his mouth twist upwards. “How will it work?”

“You only need to begin getting comfortable with us. I meant what I said this afternoon though. If s*x is happening, I want to be there. Perhaps in time I will be more open to my wife being alone intimately with my best friend but for now, sharing only.”

“And kissing like in the elevator today? After your spiel on loyalty,” she looked away.

“Jolie, as long as you don’t have intercourse without me present, you can let him k**s every single inch of your body,” he grinned suddenly, “but not before me. If I get to wear the gold band, I get dibs on firsts.”

She shook her head at his playful words.

“Brix, what if I start to feel things you both don’t?” she asked the very real question.

“Ha,” he snorted, “you have us both by the balls, Jolie. Never underestimate your control.” He pulled her fingers and kissed them. “Say yes.”

Pia tossed in her sleep kicking Jolie hard on the back and she jerked away from it, closer to Brix. He chuckled, “she’s on board. She’s shoving you right into my arms.”

“She weighs thirty-one pounds yet she kicks like a soccer pro.” She rubbed her back frowning, trying to not react to the fact Brix had pulled her closer to him. She yanked her feet backwards when his cold feet touched hers. “Your feet are like ice.”

“I know and you are nice and warm. Warm me up.”

“Why are you so cold?”

“Cold shower and the guys were trying to figure out the AC for the computer room downstairs and screwed it up for the entire house. Dad complained he could see his breath when he came in. I told him I was going to come borrow your flannel.” He grinned when she giggled. “Come on Jolie, keep your husband warm.”

She scoffed, “why a cold shower?”

“Malik sent me a text message when I was on my way home and asked me if I thought you might taste as good all over as your lips do,” his eyes were naughty. “I had to take a cold shower.”

She blushed hotly and squealed, “Brix.”

“Shh, our daughter is right there beside you. Don’t wake her. I’m enjoying our chit chat.”

She found herself unable to refuse his playful grin as he hugged her close, tucked his feet between hers and nuzzled her hair. She sighed and tucked her head under his chin against his shoulder, “where is Malik now? Why did he have to text you?”

“He’s going through Miguel’s computer and supervising a shipment.”

“A shipment?”

“Mm,” he nodded but didn’t elaborate as he nestled into her pillows. “I like this pillow.”

“I do too. The boys grabbed my bedding from the house and I immediately grabbed my pillow. I spent a penny on it and I wanted it.”

“We can share it.”

“I’m not really getting any of it,” she muttered as she adjusted her head on his shoulder.

He chuckled and rolled onto his back, pulling her so her head rested on his chest. “You can use my solid pecs for a pillow.”

She rolled her eyes at his vanity. “Yeah, because switching from my feathery overstuffed pillow to lay on a chest as hard as boulders is comparative.” She rolled her eyes not wanting to admit she much preferred his body to rest on.

“How was your day today?” he asked as he played with her hair again, draping it through his fingers.

“It sucked,” she whispered looking at the closed bedroom door instead of him. “Between the confrontation with Macey in the boardroom and the girls from HR and the realtors at the deli then my landlord, it was a long shitty day. Then I came home and was surrounded by a bunch of strangers in a house which isn’t mine yet. The best part of my day was having dinner with Pia and then giving her a bubble bath. Then we watched Moana for the thousandth time which basically means my brain is fried now.”

He chuckled, “I am sorry I wasn’t here to help settle in. I’ll do better. The guys did call me about the realtors today. I haven’t had a chance to deal with them yet but it’s on my agenda for the week. You don’t have to report on them. I know what is happening. I’m likely to terminate the entire floor and bring in my own team but there are one or two who I may keep for local sales. The three from the deli though are not on my keep list.”

“You don’t usually terminate an entire department,” she whispered. “Don’t do this because of me.”

He shook his head, “I’m not, though it’s not to say I wouldn’t. I would fire the entire building for disrespecting you. However, in reviewing the budgetary reports Mordecai had sent me Friday night, I noted a lot of discrepancies from several of them. Mordecai told me when we met today, he had pushed back quite a bit but,” he made a face, “Elaine had it in her head if one department was making enough money to balance out the shenanigans of another it all worked out. It was almost as if she forgot she was supposed to be trying to increase her wealth. I’m also quite convinced one of the realtors was extorting her. I don’t know what he had on her but many of the receipts he had her approve off to send to Mordecai are bullshit. Malik and I wondered after what it was which would make Solomon walk into the high rollers club and put his company up when he had nothing in his hand and I’m starting to realize Elaine was screwing the company over.”

She frowned, “no. I mean she was but the three of us all know what really happened.”

“Really?” he questioned. “You and Mordecai and Opal had similar thoughts of why he threw it away?”

She twisted her lips and sighed, “yes. One of the guys in the realty office was hired at the same time as I was, about three years ago. I didn’t know who Elaine was when I first started until Opal pointed her out to me.” She was embarrassed, “I caught a woman blowing the new hire in his car when I was coming back from Pia’s daycare. I had a meeting with the daycare about Pia and was coming back. It was middle of the afternoon and everyone else was in the building. When I told Opal what I saw, she asked me to describe the woman and I described Elaine. She laughed hard at me. She told me Elaine had no problem f*****g everyone in the building, man, woman, or beast and if Solomon caught her, it was even more invigorating for her.”

“He knew of her screwing around?”

“Yes. All the time. He wasn’t any less of a cheater. He was a bit more discrete is all.”

“Then why did the pool boy push him over the edge?”

She took a breath, “I feel so bad gossiping like this. You hate gossiping.”

“Only when it’s about me,” he squeezed her with a wide grin. “Spill it.”

She hesitated for a half second and then spilled what she knew. “Opal told me the day I caught Elaine in the car about how Solomon had an affair years ago. Had a kid with his mistress and paid for it to go away. Elaine cheated all the time because she wanted revenge against him for having a baby with another woman, despite him not having anything to do with them. I know for the three years we worked together, she had at least eight different lovers.”

“Why not just divorce him?”

“Who knows why people stay together. Anyway, the pool company they were using for their home pool sent a new guy to start working there. He starts hanging around longer than necessary and Elaine starts flirting hard with him. Elaine gives off predatory vibes which makes Macey look virginal,” Jolie made a face, “anyway this young man ends up getting a blow job by a very pushy Elaine. Turns out,” she took a big breath, “this young man took the job with the pool company knowing one of the houses on the route was Solomon’s because he wanted a chance to see what his dad looked like up close.”

“No.” Brix covered his mouth as he spoke too loudly and Pia grunted in her sleep and flopped around. He whispered, “no. Elaine blew her stepson?”

“Yes.” She giggled as he made a gagging noise. “Its what pushed Solomon over the edge. It happened at the end of the season last year. Their pool shut down in September and it’s been a s**t storm in the office ever since.”

“I bet she gargled with bleach after,” Brix shuddered.

“That’s the funny part,” she didn’t look away. “The boy had to file a restraining order against her. He’s supposedly hung like a stallion and she wanted more than her lips around it. She hounded him even after knowing he was Solomon’s kid. The reason Opal and I know all of this is because we were there in the lobby stuck there as witnesses when she was served her restraining order and Solomon dragged her kicking and screaming up the office. What put him over the edge to file for the divorce was replaceing out she was harassing his son to have an affair with her.”

“Unbelievable.”

“What is unbelievable is knowing there is dirt far more sordid than this the guys would be holding over Elaine’s head she would pay whatever they wanted in receipts.”

Brix grinned, “I can’t wait to replace out what it is.”

“You’re like an old woman.” She accused him. “What happened to no gossiping and no lying?”

“I don’t like lying. I hate it. I avoid it unless entirely possible. Even our announcement today with the falsehoods made my skin crawl. I hate being lied to, more than anything. My crew knows better. My staff know better. Unfortunately, in our family business, we have to lie on occasion but it never sits well with me. Gossiping though, I have the rule in the office because once in awhile an employee sees something they shouldn’t and it helps me keep it under control. But I want all the juicy tidbits. Tell me all of it.”

“Awful,” she giggled against him and settled down again.

They lay there quietly, Brix playing with her hair as she listened to his heartbeat under her ear.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” he said after several minutes of silence. “It’s nice to have a partner to relax and talk to at night. I could get used to this. Not bad?”

She smiled against his chest and shook her head no. His arms wrapped around her and hugged her tight to him and soon she was back to sleep unaware the man holding her was wide awake, staring at the ceiling wondering what the hell he was doing.