Chasing His Brother's Bride
Chasing His Brother’s Bride – Chapter 42

Jolie was pacing holes in the floor in the copy room. Keely and Opal were laughing outside at her nerves. She leaned out and hissed, “quit laughing at me.”

“You would think you were nervous about marrying a gorgeous man like Brixton Beckwith.” Opal smirked.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” she flicked her hand downward at the dress Keely had surprised her with thirty minutes ago. Then Opal had insisted they do up her hair.

The “wedding” was supposed to be a formality. They already had the license. They simply needed to go to the courthouse at City Hall, get the cleric to have them say vows, take a couple of pictures so Pia could be a flower girl and then come back to work.

Instead, Keely had insisted since her first wedding day had been violent, bloody, and gory, she deserved at least one forced wedding which wasn’t. How she knew about her wedding to Val or the circumstances surrounding it, Jolie hadn’t asked but given she was Fabrizio’s daughter and Brix’s PA she didn’t bother questioning it.

“He didn’t get all dressed up,” she jerked her thumb upwards in the direction of the offices upstairs.

“The man doesn’t have a suit in his closet valued under ten grand,” Keely scoffed. “He always is dressed up. He came out of the womb wearing a three-piece, a fedora and holding a gun in one hand and a smoking cigar in the other, speaking Italian.”

Opal giggled at Keely’s words. “The burns from the cigar would explain why Mama Beckwith acts like her hoo-ha is always on fire. I thought maybe she was cranky from having a permanent yeast infection but maybe he destroyed her and she’s never had s*x since his birth.”

“No, they have s*x. Will likes to be called Daddy and I walked in his office once while he was spanking her over his lap.”

Jolie froze at Keely’s words, “no way.”

“Yup. First thing I did was tell Brix because nobody wants to suffer such horrible experiences alone. Pretty sure he puked in his trash bin and then ordered me to never speak of it again. Last year for his birthday I had a friend design a birthday card for him with the image still burned in my brain front and center on the card. I think he used it for target practice.”

“I picture Elio more like this than Will.” Opal was now heavily invested in the conversation Jolie desperately wanted to end.

After spending several days around both Will and Elio, she couldn’t imagine either man being into S&M but what did she know.

Keely looked at Opal in surprise. “Really? Elio is such a softie. I think he’s all vanilla all the time. His father and grandfather really pushed hard about how women should be treated reverently and like queens. His wife is a psychopath and he’s never even once raised his voice at her. Personally, I would have put a bullet in her head years ago.”

Jolie looked to Keely in surprise, “you don’t like Chiara?”

“Nobody likes Chiara, Jolie. She is the matriarch only because Elio has deemed her as such, well, she was but now she’s under house arrest. According to Dad, she f****d up bad. I don’t know what she did but it’s bad enough she has an entire small army on her at all times to keep her from trying to run before Elio can go home and deal with her.”

Jolie looked to both Opal and Keely and whispered, “she knew.”

Keely pulled her head back. “She knew, knew?”

“From the morning after. Had dinner with us three times a week. Participated.”

Keely’s rounded smiling face was now ashen as she plunked down in Jolie’s chair behind her desk. “No. Why didn’t she say something?”

“As I said, she participated sometimes.”

Opal frowned, “I didn’t know this part.”

“I never wanted to talk about it ever,” Jolie whispered. “Elio and Brix think I should go to counselling but I want to leave it all in the past.”

“I hope Elio puts her down,” Keely whispered low enough Jolie barely heard it.

Jolie looked to her in surprise. “Keely.”

“Val was a piece of s**t,” Keely whispered back not looking away from Jolie. “I have been around this family my entire life. I have worked with Elio, Brix and Malik and my dad and I know they are hard, ruthless sons of bitches who run this family in a way which outsiders would replace sickening but,” she held up her hand, “not one of them would ever consider the way Val acted on any day as normal. Elio tried hard with Val but every thing he did, Chiara bucked. She wanted him to eventually challenge Brix for the title when Elio retired or died. She made him a heartless thug.”

“We shouldn’t be talking about this here,” Jolie whispered back. “These walls have ears. My cameras have audio.” She pointed to the camera.

“You’re marrying the boss and getting his second as a second,” Keely grinned. “You could come to work naked and neither of them would bat an eyelash. My father told me last night about how he feels you don’t understand the power you wield as the wife of Brixton Beckwith.”

“I don’t want power.”

“Tough,” Keely grinned. “You have those two eating out of the palm of your hand. If you wanted to, you could make them pack up ship, buy you an island in the middle of nowhere and live your days out in erotic bliss.”

“Sounds swell but you forget I have a daughter who is underfoot.”

“That’s what nannies are for. You should get two. I have a feeling you’ll be knocked up by year end.”

“Keely!” she screeched a bit too loudly and it drew attention to their corner of the office and she ducked backwards back into the copy room. “Oh my god,” she put her hands to her cheeks. “This isn’t happening.”

Keely had risen and with Opal cornered her in the copy room. “Jolie, stop fighting it. They will help you heal but you need to embrace it all.”

She spun on her heel and looked at Keely with big eyes. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can do this.” Keely said with a gentle smile, all her teasing gone. “I know this isn’t a love match. I know nobody is declaring undying love and making promises to love you until the day you die but would it be what you would really want, Jolie? Romantic love fizzles without a good strong base behind it. My parents were an arranged marriage. My dad is the hardest man I know.” She met Jolie’s eyes straight-on. “He is even more dangerous than you can imagine because he has to keep Elio safe. Malik is who he is because my dad trained him to be brutal. When you are the one assigned to protect the head of this family, there are things you have to do and decisions you have to make which means you need to lose a bit of yourself. You need to be hard, cold, and rigid. Yet, my dad would die for my mom without blinking an eye. After thirty-five years, my mom walks into a room and he still pulls her chair for her to sit. My mom cooks a meal and Dad will gush for hours about how delicious it was, even if it was horrible. If mom has a bad day, my dad massages her feet, brings her flowers, and pours her wine. In return, my mom has learned to read him like a book. If he had a day even, he would replace tough, she can sense it. When we were kids, if he came home and was quiet, she would tell us to daddy needed extra love. She would make his favorite meal and we would all be all over him. She would give him space if he needed and crowd him when he didn’t. She still greets him every day with a k**s and they never go to bed angry. I would give my left arm for a woman to love me the way they love each other and none of it was born out of strong romantic feelings of being swept off their feet. It was slowly learning about each other and respecting each other.”

Jolie smiled at Keely’s impassioned speech, “you thought about this a lot.”

“My grandmother once told me never marry the man who makes your stomach have butterflies when he leaves the room. It’s a sign you’re worried about what he’s going to do away from you. She said marry the one who makes you feel safe and content no matter where he is because it’s the real deal. I mean, I’m never marrying a man because I hate d**k, but the message is appropriate.”

Jolie laughed, “I think I would like your grandmother.”

“She’s a mean old bird,” Keely made wide eyes. “Even my father is afraid of her.”

“My grandmother’s only advice to me was to tell me, my best hope was to marry rich because I’m ugly,” Opal offered. “I think Keely, your grandmother had better advice.”

The women giggled at Opal’s words.

Keely looked at her phone as a text popped up. “Oh, the car is here. I’ll go tell Brix. I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t leave without us.”

“We’re going to be late. We still need to swing by the school to get Pia.” Jolie grumbled.

“Nope. Elio picked her up already and got her dressed in her flower girl dress and he messaged me to tell me her little white shoes were made for dancing. Apparently, he let her tap dance on the trunk of the limo. They’re meeting us there.”

“Oh, good heavens,” Jolie grimaced.

“Don’t worry about not getting photos. I hired a photographer. I can’t wait to see the photos!” she squealed as she dashed away to get Brix.

“If she says, ‘best day ever’ one more time, I’m going to have to watch SpongeBob to get it out of my head.” Opal smirked and then looked at Jolie’s pale features. “Are you okay?”

Jolie nodded and then looked down at the outfit she was wearing. It was a creamy off-white, tea length dress. With a sweetheart neckline and tailored waist, flaring out slightly at the h**s. Lace over satin, the lace extended above the neckline to her throat and capped at her shoulders. A short bolero waited at her desk for her to put on for the quick trip to city hall given it was still March and cool out but Keely had insisted on the outfit and said she could suck up the goosebumps for an hour. She had to admit, she felt very pretty in the dress. The one she had worn to marry Val had been a ballgown which had nearly swallowed her petite frame.

“This feels far more real and romantic than I was expecting.”

Opal smiled, “you deserve this. All of it Jolie. I want to say you’re making the best of a bad situation but I don’t necessarily think this is bad. You have a billionaire who wants to protect you and keep you and your daughter safe and give you a real marriage at your own pace. You have another billionaire,” at Jolie’s surprised expression, Opal grinned, “I googled Malik. He’s loaded. Anyway, he wants to play husband too. It’s unconventional Jolie but you’re not exactly a stereotype for wife either. They want what is best for you and they both agreed to go as slow as you need and to even stop if you can’t make the marriage real and consummate it. None of this speaks to me of men who are trying to hurt you, Jolie.”

“I know, Opal but it’s never been what I wanted, to get married again.”

“You also didn’t want to have the entire world coming for you and Pia because of Val’s penchant for pissing off anyone he ever crossed but here we are.” She sighed and moved to grip Jolie’s hands, “listen. My husband and I had the love Keely mentioned before. The kind where you immediately gravitate to each other and feeling like you can’t breathe without the other person being close. We spent our first year in bed more than out and I can honestly say I loved him so much I had blinders on. His quick temper was because he was passionate. His biases and prejudices were because he was a man of conviction. The way he took control of our finances was because he was responsible and wanted what was best for us. Those rose-colored glasses fell off after a while and I got to see the real man, especially once Axl was born. All the things I loved so desperately about him turned to things I hated. His temper was because he lacks self-control. His bias is because he’s a homophobic piece of s**t. Controlling my money was a way to keep me tied to him. I would dread when five o’clock came around because it meant he was leaving work to come home and make our lives uncomfortable. I can’t say I survived the hell you went through, Jolie. I don’t know if there is a woman on the planet who could but I do know, if I had the chance to have someone offer me a lifetime of respect, security, comfort, and hot s*x, I’d be jumping in with two feet. Love is overrated, or at least the love-at-first-sight kind is.”

“You’re right,” she nodded. “I keep trying to paint this family with the brush Val put in my hand. He made them out to be things they aren’t. They adore Pia. If you could have seen the way Malik and Brix were with her last night. At first, I was annoyed it took so long for them to come to her but it was because they were sorting s**t out with the old hag but,” she pursed her lips, “Malik holding Pia and telling her how good it makes his heart feel every time she calls him daddy almost made me o****m.” She giggled at Opal’s loud guffaw.

“Just don’t get caught like the old hag over one of their knees in the office.”

She shrivelled up her nose, “I am fairly confident I will never be comfortable with either of them spanking me.”

Opal leaned backwards, “ooh, your husbands are getting off the elevator. Let’s let them have a good look at you in your dress.” She pulled Jolie by the hand and yanked her from the copy room and shoved her into their main office.

Her eyes met Brix’s through the glass partition and she saw him falter in his footsteps, causing Malik to crash into him from behind.

Opal’s snort behind her made her giggle. “He definitely wasn’t expecting you to have changed clothes.”

She walked out with Opal grabbing her bag and bolero for her. “Keely insisted I change.”

“Damn, sweetheart, I’m tempted to k**s the bride before we even get downtown.” Brix’s voice was hoarse as he looked her up and down. “You look gorgeous. Come here.” He held his hand out and lifted her hand over her head and made her twirl.

Jolie was aware the entire office was watching them. She cast a look at Malik who gave a low whistle.

“Keely picked this out?” he asked. “You should give her a raise.”

“Yes, he should,” Keely commented from behind him. “Let’s go. Car is waiting. No kissing her before the ceremony. Took me forever to convince her to put the lipstick on. She won’t let me reapply it. I’m positive.” She looked around the office at the gawkers and clapped her hands, “back to work. Nothing to see here. Just a pair of lovebirds getting ready to tie the knot and live happily ever after.” Her voice grew increasingly high-pitched as she spoke.

Brix leaned forward and kissed Jolie’s cheek, his eyes tender and his hand squeezing hers. “You look beautiful. Let’s go make this legal.”

She giggled and cupped his cheek stroking the stubble already forming, staring back into his eyes, “I’m ready.” She really was. Time to get her husbands.