Chasing His Brother's Bride
Chasing His Brother’s Bride – Chapter 44

Jolie entered the restaurant and followed the noisy sound of Pia’s giggling towards a private room at the back. She was holding Brix’s hand as Malik had stopped to talk to a security agent outside the door. In her peripheral vision she noted the man in the suit seated strategically in the restaurant and felt an increase of anger in her chest. She wanted to yell and rage at him to leave her alone.

She moved closer to Brix and squeezed his hand.

“I know, sweetheart. I see him too. Malik noted him the minute we got out of the car.”

“It’s been one week of you in my life and I’ve seen him every day since Monday.”

“Ignore him.”

“Daddy!” Pia exclaimed as she jumped off her chair and ran to Jolie. “You came, you came.”

“Where else would I be?” He swung her up in his arm, settling her on his h*p as he escorted Jolie to her chair.

“Do I have to go back to school?”

“Nope and you never have to go back there again either. You start your new school on Monday. Mommy and Daddy will come with you and spend the morning there Monday.”

“Can Nonno pick me up for lunch on Monday?” Pia asked as she clung to his neck.

Jolie was still watching the far corner of the restaurant when she heard Brix’s answer to the child and she spun to Elio.

“You’re leaving?” She felt betrayed somehow at his departure.

He chuckled and kissed her cheek, “my darling girl. I’m going to Vegas to sort some things out,” his tone purposefully vague as if he too knew the FBI had agents in the restaurant. “Then I’m going to Italy to see my girl. Then I’m coming back to Boston to spend some time with my new daughter and my granddaughter. A short trip away means I get to stay much longer next time. Okay?”

Jolie huffed, “fine but we want movie night when you’re back.” In the last week, Elio had become a step-in father for her and she was going to miss him. He laughed and hugged her to his side.

Fabrizio winked, “don’t worry Jolie. I’ll have him back to you soon.”

Keely was digging through her bag and pulled out a tin of fish and Jolie shook her head at her. “Dad, if you go with Elio, can you bring me back a case of my fish?”

“You are addicted.” He shook his head at her in a way only a father who adored the weirdness of his child could.

She shrugged and grinned, “am I? Or am I purposefully torturing my bosses with the smell of sardines because they make me work too hard.”

Brix grimaced, “the fish stink.”

She leaned towards Jolie, “in my house the only meat you eat without question is the one which comes in these sardine tins.”

Brix let out a guffaw of laughter at her words and Jolie was confused for a moment before she recalled Trey and Luiz talking about never eating meat Fabrizio offered her unless she purchased it herself. She made wide eyes at Keely who grinned and peeled the lid of the can backwards. She sat in her seat in shock.

Malik entered the room and sat on the other side of Jolie at the table. “What did I miss?”

“Keely asked her dad to bring more sardines home from Italy.”

“I will you pay you twenty grand right here and now to not do that,” Malik offered Fabrizio.

Fabrizio laughed, “no money in the world could make me refuse my angel’s requests.”

Jolie listened to the banter and looked to Opal who was looking past her with her mouth slightly ajar. She looked over her shoulder and saw Trey enter. She had noticed Opal had been watching the dangerous-looking man more than once but she’d been strangely standoffish with the guy. She had presumed she didn’t like him because he was big, scary, and very quiet. Yet, she watched the way Opal’s tongue darted along her lips and she grinned suddenly and leaned forward, “oh my god, you hussy!” Everyone else too busy talking amongst themselves to hear them.

“What?” Opal blinked and looked to her in confusion.

Jolie made wide knowing eyes at her and Opal flipped her hand at her. “Don’t you lie to me, Opal!”

“I haven’t even said a word.”

“Have you?” She wanted to know if Opal had snuck off with Jolie’s bodyguard. There was no way she could tell from Trey. He was characteristically stone-faced.

“No. God no. Well not in reality. He doesn’t know I exist in the real world but at night when I dream, ooh baby.”

“What are you two talking about?” Brix caught Opal’s last sentence with a shocked expression.

“Nothing,” Jolie shook her head and looked back over her shoulder at Trey who had sat at a nearby table with Luiz.

“Luiz is a happily married man, Opal.” Brix teased her.

“It’s not Luiz she’s looking at,” Jolie nudged him.

He seemed surprised and Jolie understood why. Trey was an ominous looking man with deep scars on his face from a knife fight they’d been in as teenagers. Brix had told her nearly eighty stitches had once been needed to close up the right side of his face from his neck to his cheek to his temple. Trey was nearly as big as Malik and his very quiet demeanor came across as cold and cruel. Malik had told her himself he was in fact very cold and cruel and it was why he wanted him covering Jolie. He would never let anyone get to her and he wouldn’t be chasing her himself either. According to Malik most women would never give him the chance to replace out for themselves what he was truly like.

“I bet he’s hung like an elephant,” Opal sputtered suddenly before realizing she’d said the words aloud and smacking her hands over her face.

Jolie gasped at her words and Brix threw his head back and roared with laughter while Malik giggled like a small boy.

“When we are back from our trip to Vegas, Opal, you can come to dinner and we will introduce you. Perhaps you can replace out for yourself.” Brix offered.

Jolie nodded and then paused, “wait, what? You’re leaving too.” His words registered and she paled. He’d said we. “I don’t want to go to Vegas, Brix.”

“You’re not going to Vegas, love.” He kissed her temple. “You never have to go there again. I promise. I will be accompanying Dad when he leaves this afternoon. I will be back Sunday night. The team will be with you and keep you safe. I’ll also have Keely staying with you at the house and my legal advisor, Theresa will be on standby should anyone get stupid ideas while we are gone.”

She was shaking, “Brix, what if –”

He took her chin gently and looked at her, “do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Then know I will never allow anyone to harm you. You are safe in our home.”

She nodded and then took a breath, “can Opal and Axl come for the weekend then? I’d feel better with everyone close.”

Brix looked to Opal, “can you behave and obey the rules?”

“Yes! Consider me an honorary Cacciola. I can keep my mouth shut,” she waved excitedly at him as if the prospect of being a Cacciola was a thrill for her. “Do you have anyone cooking meals at the house because if not, I think Jolie should be subjected to Axl’s cooking so she understands what she’s been doing to Pia for years.”

“Hey!” Jolie glared at her mutinous friend.

“Girl, I’m saying, part of the reason Pia is so finicky with her diet is because she had to select carefully which foods wouldn’t act as charcoal in her gut.”

“Are you saying I burn everything?”

“I’m saying there is a line between blackened like Cajun food and burnt to a crisp and you cross it every single time. Did you know Brix she once was cooking fish sticks for Pia and put a hole in the pan?”

Malik chuckled at the story, “is this the pan the guys were telling me about?”

“No, that was a saucepan. I was making rice and forgot it was on the stove and me and Pia took a bath.”

“Mommy isn’t a good cook,” Pia blatantly threw her under the bus.

Fabrizio spoke up, “she will be. I told you my gift will be cooking lessons. My beautiful wife Kendall has agreed to come back with me when I return with Elio and she will teach you some basic dishes.”

“Mom is a great cook,” Keely spoke up. “She can take a handful of rocks and turn it into a five-course dining experience.”

“Yeah, but Jolie can take a five-course meal and turn it into rocks!” Opal exclaimed while laughing.

“I’m not enjoying my wedding lunch any longer,” she complained to the group who all laughed at her words.

Brix kissed her lips softly, “we can go home and have a different feast.”

She shoved his chest as the entire table heard his words. “Brix.”

He laughed as Malik shook his head at them. He leaned sideways to Malik. “Am I wrong?”

“Not in the least. Let’s pack it up and go.”

“We are not,” she glared at the pair of them. “We are having lunch and then we have to go back to the office. I’ve been out of the office more this week than in it.”

Brix appeared ready to protest but then his phone started making a series of pinging noises and he leaned sideway to his father after looking at the messages. “What did you do?”

“Stirred the pot.” Elio grinned.

“What is going on?” She looked to Brix in confusion.

“Nothing.”

“Brix,” she protested his stern features as he glared at his father. “What is wrong?”

“My father thought it funny to let his wife know he retired by sending her a text message saying how proud he was to pass the baton with a photo of you, me, and Dad from the ceremony. She is freaking out in her current little cushy cell. She has had radio silence since Saturday morning when he left the house without saying goodbye. Despite all of her phone calls and texts to him which he’s ignored, she’s simply been sitting in her newly assigned room. Her phone is set to receive and send messages only to Dad or me. Nothing else gets in or out. It seems he has his phone turned off so she is now trying to get my attention. I haven’t spoken or heard from her in years.”

“I might have also told her I know what your first order of business is.” Elio smirked.

Jolie felt her hands getting clammy and her stomach flipped uncomfortably. Were they joking about killing Chiara?

Malik rubbed her shoulder softly and confirmed her thought. “Do not worry about her. She is not long for this world.”

“How can you say these things with them here,” she cast a sideways glance out the door.

“Because they can’t hear a thing in this room and if you look closely out towards the main dining hall of the restaurant, my love, you will see many patrons are annoyed their cell phone and digital devices are not working. I could confess to a multitude of sins right now and know nobody except this table would hear them.” Malik held her gaze softly, his smile arrogant and cocky. He looked up and motioned to Opal, “is your phone working?”

She grimaced and pulled it from her bag and then frowned. “No. I have no service. It’s like being in a tunnel.”

He winked at her with a smirk. Jolie dug her own phone from her handbag and it was working. “Why does mine work?”

“Because I made it so,” Malik laughed at her squeal.

“You were in my phone?”

“It won’t be the only private thing you own he’ll be in,” Opal tossed out with a chuckle.

“Opal!”

Brix laughed, “enough. The server is coming in to take our orders. Let’s enjoy our lunch and we’ll head back to the house after. Opal, we’ll arrange for you to have one of our cars take you to pick up Axl from school and you can stay with Jolie for the weekend. I’ve let Mordecai know already you weren’t going back today, Jolie so I’ll simply let him know Opal is staying with you.”

“Sounds good to me,” Opal assented.

Jolie was quiet as the server took everyone’s orders and even Pia ordering noodles with no sauce and only butter for her lunch didn’t start an argument on the need for a vegetable or protein. She was lost in her thoughts as the chattering grew noisy around them as they waited for their meals to come out.

Eventually Brix noted her silence and lifted her fingers in his and squeezed them, “what is wrong? This is a happy day and yet you are very quiet.”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t even know.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I can’t explain it but I’m feeling cranky.”

“Time of the month?” Keely asked curiously earning embarrassed grunts from the men around the table.

“No,” she frowned, “maybe? I feel weirdly sad.”

Pia looked at her, “me too mommy. Are you sad my daddies are going away for two nights? They promised to bring me presents. Maybe if you ask for presents, you’ll feel better too.”

Brix c****d his head at her, she looked into his brown eyes, and knew Pia had hit the nail on the head. This was her wedding day and despite it being a contractual marriage and knowing there had been no intention at all of consummating the marriage today, she had been looking forward to cuddling between them as she had the night before. The idea of sleeping alone on her wedding night felt wrong. What was wrong with her?

“Are you going to miss us, Jolie?” Brix was studying the range of emotions crossing her face.

“it’s weird I’m saying yes, isn’t it?”

Malik hugged her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder as she was half-turned to face Brix. His voice was warm in her ear. “Were you imagining a wicked wedding night?”

“No.” She admitted knowing he was frowning at how blunt she was, “but I liked how we slept last night. I didn’t think it was going to be a one-time experience.”

Brix cupped her cheeks and sighed. “It was not a one-time event. We hadn’t intended to go with Dad today and I didn’t get a chance to talk to you ahead of the ceremony and we were distracted in the car. We had a couple of things pop up overnight we need to go deal with back in Vegas. Malik’s expertise is needed as well. My goal is to be home Sunday in time for dinner. Can you forgive us for bailing on you tonight? We will make it up to you. I promise.”

“It’s fine. Just come back from whatever you’re doing in one piece please?”

“I promise to make sure he comes back safe and sound,” Malik promised as the security specialist he was.

She turned her head a fraction and looked at him, “you too, Malik. I want you home without a single injury on your frame. I’ll be checking you both over to make sure you’re unharmed.”

“I look forward to your exam,” Brix teased indulgently at her pouting.

“Me too. We will also make sure to k**s any fears you might have away.” Malik promised. “We wouldn’t be leaving if it weren’t important, sweetheart. There is nowhere else we would rather be than home with you and our daughter.”

She gave a sigh and accepted their apologies for bailing on her. Jolie considered if married life was going to have two men constantly offering her support and apologies then maybe it might not be so bad. It sure as hell was already infinitely better than the first time around. She was going to be perfectly fine.