Chasing His Brother's Bride
Chasing His Brother’s Bride – Chapter 53

Friday afternoon Jolie was leaving work and she noted the FBI agent once again standing across the street from the office building. Trey again reminded her to ignore him but she was getting irritated. Brix and Malik had both messaged her they had to stay late to finish up an issue which had come up from another office and to go on without them. She knew better than to question it but she wished one of them were there so she could k**s them in front of this a*****e.

She was really tired of this guy. She gave an impatient huff and then her annoyance gave way to confusion as she noted Macey waiting by the car. She looked to Macey, “what’s up?”

“Do you have a minute?” Macey asked looking at her curiously.

Jolie considered telling her she absolutely did not. The woman appeared disheveled as if she’d been dressing and undressing, her blouse wrinkled and misbuttoned. Her hair was in disarray. Her lipstick smudged as if she had been making out and it was smeared on her teeth in the way which would make Brix comment nastily. He really hated lipstick on teeth.

“Are you okay?” Jolie asked her.

“Yes why?”

“Have you looked in a mirror?” Jolie was concerned. “Is your fiancé here?”

“No.” she frowned and then as if realizing what Jolie was saying blushed. “Oh gosh, no. I spilled stuff on my shirt and I had to take it off and then blow it dry in the bathroom. I must look a mess.”

“Well, you don’t look like you did when you came in this morning,” Jolie voiced. She looked as if she’d climbed out of the backseat of a car the way Elaine used to do.

“I wanted to talk to you for a minute before you go home for the weekend.” She looked past Jolie to Trey, “alone.”

“Not happening,” Trey said bluntly.

“She’s not allowed to have private conversations?” Macey shot back. “Your boss has her so protected,” she said the word as if it were a curse, “she isn’t permitted a private conversation.”

Trey folded his arms over his chest, “she can have all kinds of private conversations but not in the open, not right here and not with a woman who a month ago was doing everything in her power to get Jolie fired. You don’t get to do a one-eighty with her and expect everyone to suddenly believe you simply have her best interests at heart.”

“Well, I do and I want five minutes with Jolie.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Jolie grimaced. “I need to get home to Pia.”

“Just five minutes, Jolie. Please.”

Jolie put her hands on Trey and pushed him backwards and motioned for him to lower his head to hers. Usually, he kept a solid foot between them so getting this close to him was not what he was expecting of her. He stepped closer being careful not to touch her.

“Something is off.” Jolie whispered. “She looks like she climbed out of the back seat of a car and the only car I can see with this much space around here belongs to our FBI agent. She might be wired.” Trey lifted an eyebrow. “Call it in but I’m going to have a five-minute chat. I don’t trust her. He thought it would have been Celia but I’m changing my mind. Let me get her into the back seat of the SUV. She won’t know her devices scramble back there.”

“On it.”

She turned back to Macey who appeared nervous, “I can chat but Trey feels strongly about me being in the open. None of us want me shot by some rando who thinks he can get to Brix through me. Can we at least sit in my car?”

Macey appeared torn with the suggestion but then nodded.

The two women started to get into the backseat but Trey held his hand up, “not until I know you’re not packing weaponry.”

“Where would I hide a weapon?”

Jolie rolled her eyes, “Macey, he needs to look or he’s not letting me into the car with you. Can you hike your skirt a hair higher.” She did as Jolie instructed and then Jolie motioned, “and take off your jacket for a minute to satisfy him you’re not hiding anything there.”

“Why would I have a weapon?” Macey nervously slipped out of her jacket.

Jolie considered the woman was very likely wired or under surveillance to get information from her because she was starting to sweat. Tiny beads of sweat of were on her upper l*p as she took her jacket off, shook it out and then slipped it back on when Trey tossed it back.

“Purse,” Trey said and Macey grunted her annoyance. “I’ll hold this until you’re done.” He held her cell phone too.

“We would have been done already if this wasn’t such a production.” Macey grimaced and shoved her bag at him.

“I told you before Macey. We get kidnapping threats. My husband is a billionaire CEO.”

“From me?”

“As Trey said, a month ago you hated my guts and now you’re acting strangely protective. It’s crazy what people will do for cash.” She motioned to the car and waited until Macey got into the back seat of the car. Trey motioned for the driver to get out.

“What’s going on Macey?”

“I started thinking the other day maybe the reason you were protecting Brix was because we were in my office and maybe he has it under surveillance as well. I thought if I could talk to you alone and not in the building, I could replace out for real what is going on with you.”

“Going on with me?”

“Come on Jolie,” Macey muttered. “You are constantly with one of these guys and they don’t let you go to the bathroom on your own. I’m really worried for you.”

“Are you?” she shook her head. “Or has the FBI convinced you to be an informant for them and are looking for you to get me to confess Brix is holding me against my will?” Jolie was ruthlessly blunt.

Macey paled and Jolie knew then she had been right. She g*****d.

“Look, they came to me and told me Brixton Beckwith is a mafia don. A don, Jolie. Did you know this?”

“I don’t have a freaking clue what you are talking about.” Jolie shook her head incredulously.

“You are in danger from them. They told me they probably threatened you and your daughter.”

“Nobody threatened me.”

“Jolie, they showed me the damn photos of what Brix did to you six years ago.”

“What?” Jolie was stunned. “What did they show you?”

“I mean your eyes were almost swollen shut but it’s clearly you in the pictures. They said he beat and raped you and when his brother tried to help you escape him, he shot his own brother in the head.”

She started laughing. Jolie couldn’t help it. She giggled at the words spewing from Macey.

Macey grabbed her hands squeezing them tightly, “they can help you, Jolie. You and Pia. They can put you somewhere safe where they can never replace you.”

“Why would I want to leave my husband?”

“Because he’s an abusive son of b***h who runs the biggest mafia in the world and hiding it behind his stepfather’s legitimate company.”

Jolie considered they had really educated Macey.

“Jax said he has been wanting to help you for years and he’s very worried.”

“Jax? The FBI agent you’re f*****g? Is this why your hair looks like it does and your shirt is buttoned up wrong?”

Macey looked down at her shirt with wide eyes and quickly rebuttoned it. “It’s not like that. We got to talking one afternoon about how we could help you and one thing led to another.”

“He’s f*****g you because you have an inside lead on the Cacciola and Beckwith families.” Jolie mocked her. “I hope the s*x is worth your job, your career and your credibility.”

“I’m not worried about any of those things Jolie. He said you could die.”

“From what? Multiple o*****s?” Jolie shot back. “Macey I’m replaceing this all hard to believe. You hated me. Wanted me fired. Tried to get me fired twice before Brix took over from Solomon. Explain to me why I should trust a single word coming out of your mouth.”

“Okay, I agree. I didn’t care much for you. I always thought you were a bit of a snob, and the men upstairs were always saying how stuck up you were. Then I met Jax and he was telling me the abuse you suffered and how it impacted your ability to be around men. It made me realize you weren’t stuck up. You were scared and it was why you kept your distance from everyone. He showed me the photos of how badly you were beaten and when he left the room, I read parts of the medical he forgot to put away and it said you’d been raped and likely tortured for months.”

Jolie nodded, “you do know he left it out knowing you would snoop.”

“No.”

“Yes. He’s using you Macey and it’s going to cost you your job. I hope as an informant you get paid whether you succeed or not.”

“I’m not being paid,” she denied angrily and wiped a wayward tear as if frustrated she couldn’t get Jolie to spill her guts. “Look, I am genuinely concerned. If anything happened to you and it was because I didn’t try to help, I would feel terrible.”

“He manipulated your emotions to make you think you were helping me but really what he wants is for me to give him the information he thinks I have on Brix and his family. He’s using you.”

“Jolie, why are you protecting him if he did those things to you.”

Jolie shook her head sadly, “you don’t get it Macey. He didn’t do anything to me. He cares for me. Brix cares for me and would never hurt me or Pia.”

“Then why did you run away from him? If he’s so great, why run and hide his own kid from him.”

“Have you ever had a bad breakup? Brix’ brother made me believe he was cheating. I knew I was pregnant. Brix was possibly with a new girlfriend. I didn’t want to lose custody and have my child raised by a stranger.” Jolie didn’t know where her lies were coming from but they were on par with the story Brix had made up about their so-called relationship in Vegas.

“Did Brix kill his brother because he made you believe him?”

“It’s my understanding Brix was on a flight back to America from Italy when Val was killed. I can’t speak to specifics though because I wasn’t there.”

“You were there. Your statement said Val kept you locked up for eight months.”

“Does it?” She shrugged, “I was pissed off at the Cacciola family. I lied.”

“Your father gave a statement to the police which said you willingly went with this Val guy.”

“My father did?” she made a face and shrugged. “I stopped speaking to my dad not long after my mom died. We had a falling out. I know he was at the hospital after my accident but we didn’t really speak.” She looked to Macey curiously, “if they believe Val kept me prisoner for eight months, why would they now think it was Brix who hurt me?”

“They think because Val was dead you used him as a scapegoat and it was really Brix who had you.”

She snorted. “Did it not dawn on you how bizarre it is they would try to twist my statements to suit them to make you try to talk to me?”

“Jolie.”

“I hate Jax, as you call him. Do you know why I hate him so much?”

“No.”

“When I first got to Boston, I applied to a job and the company I applied to, ran my social security to make sure I was who I was. The FBI was at my door in an hour. Jax put me in a room, which had photos of my battered body everywhere and asked me to turn informant. I didn’t know anything. He then said because I didn’t have medical care, if I testified for the government, he could pay for my abortion. After she was born, he threatened to release Pia’s information to the Cacciola family. He used my child against me to try to make me testify. My child. I didn’t like him to start with but threatening my daughter? f**k him and f**k you for f*****g with him.”

“Jolie, I didn’t know.” Macey was pale.

“Macey. Here is the truth. Valentin Cacciola was a terrible, horrible human being who wanted what his brother had. He tied me up in his room and tried to destroy me. I survived. I ran. My experience with whatever business it is you seem to think they run, this mafia s**t you’ve mentioned a few times, does not exist. I know Brix as a billionaire real estate mogul who swept me off my feet. He loves our daughter to pieces. He makes me feel safe and protected and while his brother did hurt me, Brix has helped me heal far better than anyone else.”

“I don’t know,” Macey seemed so confused.

“Okay, if I was so terrified of Brix, if he had beat and raped me the way this FBI agent has led you to believe, why did I come to work on the Friday after I saw Brix on the Thursday?” She saw the question register in Macey’s brain. “Why did I answer his call when he called my office that Thursday? Why did I not go home, grab Pia, and run? I literally came back to work the next day, early! I worked overtime. Why did I go to his hotel room with him on Friday night and spend the entire weekend there? Why was I in his bed Saturday night? Ask my daughter where mommy slept in the hotel. She still replaces it funny she got to have the big king-sized bed to herself when we had to share the other one.”

Macey was frowning.

“The FBI has been following Brix and his family for years and has never gotten anything on them. They think because Val hurt me, I would have dirt on them but don’t you think, if I had dirt, I would have spilled it on the man who violated me? I didn’t even have anything on Val, let alone Brix. They’re barking up the wrong tree. You are barking up the wrong tree. I love my husband. I love my family. We have done nothing wrong.”

Macey shook her head, “he made it seem like you were being coerced or forced to stay.”

She laughed, “girl, I could strip my clothes off for you right now and the only marks you would see on my body are from where Brix gave me a hickey.”

“What about Malik?” Macey asked quietly.

“What about him?”

“He watches you too closely. It’s like Brix has him monitoring your every move.”

Jolie leaned closer, “do you want to know a secret?”

“What?”

“I sleep with both of them.” Why she opted to spill such a juicy tidbit Jolie would never understand but perhaps it was for the shock factor. Whatever it was, Macey’s eyes widened to the size of pie plates and she covered her mouth. “Turns out my husband is not the jealous type and I am a very curious person. If you see Malik watching me, he’s probably remembering what I did to him the night before.”

“Holy shit.” She paused and then looked out the window, “what about him?”

Jolie sneered, “ew. I’m not sleeping with the entire house of security. Just my husband and his best friend. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but if you’ve never had a threesome, do it at least once in your life Macey. It’s unbelievable. The o*****s alone.”

“Okay!” Macey was fiery red now as she shook her hands in front of her as if begging Jolie to stop talking.

Jolie loved how flustered she’d made her and then shrugged, “it’s cool. To each their own. Anyway, long story short. I have nothing to share with the FBI because I know nothing. I love Brix. I love Malik. I love our daughter. I love the family who keeps me safe from harm of people who want to steal from my billionaire husband.”

Macey nodded.

“Oh, one other thing, Macey.” Jolie gave a sad smile. “Brix values loyalty above anything else. Had you simply gone to him, he would have rewarded you for your loyalty and honesty. Instead, you opted to try to get information through me. Everything I’ve told you in this car cannot be corroborated, despite you having a wire on because the car has built in security,” she saw Macey blink in surprise. “I’ll deny I said anything about Val, Brix or Malik or my threesomes. You’ll still continue to appear the vindictive b***h who was trying to get me fired for years. There is no point in you going into work on Monday. You’re fired.”

“You can’t fire me.”

The door opened and Brix slid into the backseat beside Jolie. He lifted her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “She can fire you. She and I are married, one person under God and all that jazz. She can and has fired you. We will pack up your office and ship your things to you. You can get out of our car now.” The door on the other side opened and Malik held it for her Macey.

He leaned in and looked Macey in the face, “get out.” He pointed across the street to where the FBI agent was pacing nervously, “your boyfriend is waiting for you. Ciao.” He unceremoniously pulled her from the car.

Jolie watched through the tinted windows as Trey shoved her purse and phone back into her arms before he took the passenger seat and the driver retook his position.

The door closed as Malik slipped in beside her and dropped his arm over her shoulder and hugged her. He looked to Brix, “one person under God? Did you confuse your wedding vows with the pledge of allegiance?”

Jolie started giggling at Malik’s question and as the car pulled away from the curb, the trio were roaring with laughter and Jolie couldn’t help but feel despite the humor, this wasn’t over quite yet.