House Rules

by Rebecca Brooke

  His eyes widened when they finally focused on the bat in my hand. He took a step toward the door and reached for the handle. Leaving would have been his best option at this point. What he hadn’t expected was for the door to be locked from the outside.

  Panting, he turned to me, palms held up. I guess he thought the gesture would keep me from beating his ass.

  “What’s your name?” My tone left no room for anything but an answer.

  “Harold Weller.” His hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t hold them for long, letting them drop to his sides and clenching them into fists.

  “Mr. Weller, I hear you aren’t interested in paying your debt.”

  He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet. “Look, I don’t want any trouble. I’ve got the money right here.”

  I took a step toward him, then another. “See that’s part of the problem. You honestly seem to believe that I had Jason bring you back here over some money you owe me.”

  “You don’t want the money?”

  “Oh, I want the money.” I walked around him. “But I’m more concerned about you announcing to the whole bar what happens here, behind closed doors.” Pulling back, I swung the bat, directly into his ribs. The grunting sound left me with a little gratification, but certainly not enough to calm my fucked up day. I took another swing at the same spot and Weller dropped to his knees, clutching his side.

  “I said I’d pay,” he panted.

  “I know you will. But I think you need a reminder about how business in this bar is conducted. That way the next time, if I allow there to be a next time, you’ll conduct yourself properly.”

  Tempering my force so as not to kill the bastard, I took two more swings into his ribs until I heard the satisfying snap of bone breaking. Each time he tried to protect his body. Unfortunately for him, and his ribs, standing above him left me with the advantage. Moaning on the floor in pain, he curled into a ball.

  “Please,” he begged in a ragged tone.

  I flipped the bat onto my shoulder. “You understand the rules, and plan to follow them in the future?”

  He nodded. “Yes, Mr. Hawes. I apologize.”

  “Good. Now get the fuck out of my office.”

  He stood slowly, favoring his side, and limped toward the door, his breath wheezing in and out. As he reached for the handle, I reminded him, “Make sure you pay Jason on the way out.”

  “Yes, Mr. Hawes.”

  I knocked on the door letting Jason know it was okay to unlock it. Weller held onto the doorframe, using it to support himself as he made his way back to the bar.

  The door shut behind him and I walked over to the sideboard. Anger still tightened the muscles in my shoulders. A few shots of bourbon should do it. There was still a ton of shit to get done before dinner.

  A few hours later and I’d finally gotten enough of the paperwork from the dealership sorted. My father and I were going to have to have a long conversation about running the business. There were definitely changes that had to be made if we were going to continue to survive with all of the new technology.

  The traffic agitated my raw nerves. For some reason nothing settled me, not even the four shots I’d drank earlier. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but one thing was for sure: I needed to get my head on straight before I arrived at my parents’.

  The chefs at both bars were some of the best out there, but none of them compared to Mom or Ashton. Some days I was a little jealous Ashton had the skills he did in the kitchen. In no way did I want to be a chef, but being able to make myself a decent meal would be helpful. Shit, I could probably burn water if I tried.

  Ordering out every night got old, so dinner at my parents’ was always worth it. The trade off was Mom and Elena’s interference in my love life; their incessant quest to find me a woman. Like I had to struggle on that front. Ashton wanted to settle down. The whole idea of love and marriage was something he looked forward to.

  Me . . . not so much.

  The thought of being tied down to one woman for the rest of my life made my dick shrivel up. My mom and dad were happy, but sometimes I wondered if Mom held Dad’s balls in a glass jar, only letting him have them when she wanted. He was a mean son of a bitch when it came to business yet when Mom was around, he acted like an angel. In all my life, only one woman had intrigued me enough to let her stay the night, not since Hilary. Even then, I didn't let her stay the night until months later. I forced the thoughts of Tess from my head.

  Over the last few months, they’d become even more determined. One of these nights, I needed to sit down with Ashton and Dad and figure out what the hell had brought it all on. Maybe then I could turn that shit off. Until then, I’d have to deal with the offers to set me up on blind dates and avoid them at all costs. There were only so many random excuses I could give them. Elena might understand. Mom, on the other hand, had made it clear more than once that she didn’t want to hear that I had no intention of settling down.

  I pulled up outside and settled myself, before climbing out and handing my keys to the valet, heading to the elevator. The doors opened on their floor. I didn’t bother to knock.

  “Look who decided to join us.” Ashton smirked from where he sat on the couch, his arm resting over Elena’s shoulders.

  “Maybe you should be in the kitchen making me some dinner?” I pulled off my coat and dropped it over the back of the couch.

  He took a sip of the drink in his hand at the same time a glass appeared before me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad nod at the glass. Mom may have been better at knowing when something was bothering Ashton, but it was Dad who could read me like a book. He took the seat next to me. “We’ll talk later,” he said, low enough so only I could hear.

  I nodded and turned back to Ashton. None of us wanted Mom to catch us talking about work anywhere outside my dad’s office. I took a long, slow sip, the burn helping to soothe my frayed nerves.

  With a heavy sigh I leaned back into the couch. It was the first time I’d relaxed all day. My eyes slid shut and I let the peace of the room surround me. I had to know it wouldn’t last.

  Sure enough, a few minutes later, I heard the creak of the kitchen door. I glanced up to say hi to my mom, since I was probably already in enough shit with her for not stopping in as soon as I got there, and that’s when I saw the gleam in Ashton’s eyes. The way he pulled Elena closer to him.

  Fuck. What was he up to?

  “Miller,” Mom scolded. “Why didn’t you come say hi to me when you got here?”

  She took the seat on the other side of me and I leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “Sorry, Mom. I wanted to let you finish cooking dinner, then we could sit and talk all we wanted.”

  Dad scoffed, but tried to hide it behind his drink.

  “Maybe we should talk about Miller’s date the other night now that Mom’s here,” Ashton said.

  Asshole.

  The rat bastard was going to get killed for throwing me under the bus. Before I had the chance to put out the fire the traitor had intentionally stoked, my mom was practically bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement.

  “You had a date?” she squealed. “Who was it with? What was she like? How did it go?”

  One by one, the questions flew from her mouth. She never even bothered to take a breath. Ill at ease, I sat and waited for her to finish her verbal onslaught. My brother knew he’d opened the proverbial can of worms. I should have known better than to bring her to Ashton’s place.

  Tess was the first date I’d been on since the bitch who tried to ruin me over two years ago. That didn’t end well. Bitch tried to get information on me to give to a friend of hers who was a desk jockey reporter on the local news station. They thought she could make her career by breaking the Hawes family.

  Fuck that.

  I caught Hilary sending texts to her friend at the paper one night. Nothing incriminating, although, that didn’t stop me from teaching her a lesson after I dumped her ass.
I would have loved to see the look on the little princess’s face after the cops found drugs stashed throughout her apartment—placed there by friends of mine, obviously. We’d left just enough for the police to charge her with intent to sell.

  Just like that, I tainted everything she’d ever said about me. You see, she was a convicted criminal, while my record was squeaky clean.

  “Miller? Don’t leave me out. I want to see you happy like your brother.” Mom nodded over at Ashton.

  Not for one moment had I ever considered that Ashton might find a woman he’d be willing spend the rest of his life with. For years he was no better than me: sleeping with anything that walked, kicking them out even faster. Then overnight, everything changed. I don’t even think he realized what was happening. Not until Dad pointed it out to him. In Ashton’s mind, he was helping Elena out of an awful situation. Except his whole world began to revolve around her.

  That’s when I knew life for him would never be the same. And while I could see that being with Elena made my brother happier than I’d ever seen him, it wasn’t a life for me.

  “Mom, there was no date. Ashton’s trying to get you all worked up so he can mess with me.”

  I played it off while Ashton snickered to himself. Technically it wasn’t a date.

  “That’s what you get for screwing with him when he first met Elena,” Dad said, not an ounce of sympathy in his voice.

  “Miller, what is so wrong with you finding a woman to settle down with?” There was a sadness in her voice that made me want to agree, if only for a moment.

  “Mom, it’s just not who I am. I’m happy with my life the way it is.”

  “Yeah, sleeping with a new woman every night sounds like a blast.”

  If Mom wasn’t already irritated with me, I’d point out how wrong that sounded. Thankfully, Elena stepped in to save me.

  “Faith, don’t worry. I don’t think Miller has found the right girl yet.” Elena looked over at me, her eyes watchful. “I think when he does, he won’t be able to stop himself from falling in love with her. Even though he’ll tell himself over and over again that he’s not the kind of guy to fall in love.”

  Okay. Not so helpful.

  “Thanks, Elena,” I said, sarcastically.

  Mom laughed. “You know, I never thought of it that way. He’s so much like Malcolm. I should have guessed he’d follow in his footsteps when it came to settling down.”

  “Where did you meet?” Elena asked.

  I groaned. It was a story Ashton and I heard a thousand times growing up, but that didn’t stop Mom from telling it again anyway, especially when Elena couldn’t hide her excitement at hearing it.

  Mom looked over at Dad, who’d leaned back in his chair, a smile gracing his lips, watching her like he always did when she told this story.

  “Stop it, Miller.” She turned to Elena, glad to have an audience. I noticed Ashton rolling his eyes. The idiot was lucky Dad didn’t see that one. Then again, he always seemed to get away with that shit. I was always the one who got caught.

  “I’d finally saved up enough money to put a down payment on my first new car. Every day, I drove past the dealership on my way to work and there it sat—a cherry red, 1972 Dodge Dart. The moment I laid eyes on the thing, I was in love. At least, until I met the salesman inside.”

  Her face turned wistful and I found myself listening intently, even though I could likely recite the story verbatim if asked. “I’d never seen anyone like him. Dark hair and dark eyes had always been my type, but there was something else about the man that drew me to him. He tried talking to me, asking what he could help me with. A million things floated through my mind and I couldn’t get one of them across my lips.” She smiled over at Dad. “He finally took pity on me and after walking me down to his office, got me a cup of coffee. Those few brief moments settled my nerves. I told him which car I wanted and how much I could pay. He never put up an argument, something he’s remembered all these years.”

  Only Mom could talk about Dad like that and get away with it. Anyone else would leave with something broken for inferring that they were stronger or more powerful than him.

  “What happened after that?” Elena asked, sitting on the edge of her seat.

  “I gave him my money and left.”

  Elena’s eyes went wide. The rest of us knew Mom was only pausing for dramatic effect. That was her favorite part of telling this story; the reactions of others when they hear that my dad almost let her walk out of his life.

  “Oh my god, he let you leave?” Elena’s eyes snapped to Dad, who was chuckling at her expression: mouth open, eyes ready to pop out. I might have laughed if I hadn’t been so fucking annoyed at the reason for the retelling of the story. Dad loved Elena like a daughter, and just like Mom, she could say anything she wanted.

  “I did,” he said, slight laughter still ringing from his lips. “I enjoyed living the bachelor life and the small part of my brain that wanted to keep that life let her go. Not once had I expected anyone like her to walk through the door. For so long I’d been single, telling myself that a wife and family was something I wasn’t interested in. Ronnie was the one who would give my dad grandbabies. Me? I had to learn the business and keep it running.”

  Elena’s eyes darted back and forth between me and my dad. Probably seeing the same thing Mom mentioned earlier. While there might have been similarities between my dad and myself, I knew that was all they were . . . small similarities. I’d dated enough women to know that not one of them had ever affected me the way my parents did each other when they met.

  “. . . knew she’d be back in a few days to pick up her car. I decided to make that day as memorable as possible. That way, when I wanted to take her out again, there would be no way she’d tell me no.”

  “This is supposed to be my story.” Mom gave Dad the fake pout that always got her anything she wanted.

  “Then please continue, my dear. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Most people would take his comment sarcastically, but that was the exact opposite of how he meant it. He genuinely wouldn’t want to upset my mom in any way. According to my dad, the sun and moon rose and set with her.

  She winked at my dad and continued. “As I was saying, he let me leave, promising my car would be ready in a few days and that he’d give me a call when I could pick it up. About three days later, I got the call. When I arrived, Malcolm stood outside leaning against the driver’s side door. He handed me the paperwork and the keys. I looked down to make sure everything was in order, when I noticed that there were no payments listed. When I told him there was a mistake, he completely denied it and turned to the payoff page which showed the car had been paid in full. I threw my arms around him and before I knew what was happening our lips were locked in a kiss. I felt the—”

  “Tingle all the way down to my toes,” Ashton finished, cringing. “We get it. None of us want to hear that part. Move on, please.”

  He was right. I definitely did not want to hear about my mom sticking her tongue down my dad’s throat. There were some things you couldn’t force yourself to forget, but I tried to keep those thoughts at the back of my mind.

  “Please, Ashton.” She rolled her eyes and continued. “Anyway, that night he took me to dinner. We spent the entire evening talking, getting to know one another. One date and I was hooked. The rest is history.” She gestured over at me with her eyes still on Elena. “Now you know why I think there is still hope for Miller. One day he’s going to meet the woman of his dreams and fall head over heels for her, like his father did.’

  “That sounds exactly like Miller.” Elena smiled. “Now we need to keep helping him look for her.”

  “Yes. Anyone working on the show?”

  “Let me—”

  “Goddamn it. Drop it,” I snapped, fed up with the conversation as a whole. Was no one listening to me or what I wanted?

  Mom bristled beside me. “Drop it?”

  “Yes! I’m done with this conversation. I don’t w
ant a girlfriend, or a wife. I want to live my life the way I choose, without everyone interfering.” I jumped up from my seat, grabbed my coat, and turned for the door. A home-cooked meal wasn’t worth the aggravation.

  “Miller, you better turn around and get your ass in my office before I drag it there.” The low tone made it clear that ignoring him was not an option.

  With a groan, I tossed my coat back down and stormed down the hall to his office, ignoring everyone else in the room. Some days it felt like he was two different people. There were times he was my dad: the loving man who raised me, giving me and my brother everything we needed. Then there was my father: the head of the family business, who expected us to take over for him and do as he said, no questions asked.

  Right then, I knew there no point in trying to avoid the fight.

  Tonight I was dealing with my father.

  CHAPTER 7

  Miller

  Standing at the window, I waited. No doubt my father was trying to console Mom and Elena, even though they were the ones who had pushed the issue. And now he was going to rip me a new asshole for standing up for myself.

  Figures.

  The door slammed behind me, rattling in its frame. Years ago I would have jumped out of my skin at the sound. Younger and weaker, I would have been scared shitless of my father’s wrath, but now it served as a reason to be even more pissed off.

  “Whose house do you think you’re fuckin’ standing in?”

  I whirled around to face him head on. “I know exactly where I’m standing. But it’s my goddamn life and they need to stay the hell out of it.”

  He took a single menacing step forward. “You will not talk to your mother or Elena that way in my house.”

  I matched his step. “That’s funny. I tried to leave your house and you stopped me. You either want me here or you don’t. Make up your mind.”