Billionaire Brothers 2 : Love Has A Name

by S. Ann Cole

  Trevillo shrugged, unperturbed. “She was bored. And I was merely keeping her company. You left her here alone and fucked off talking business while at your brother’s wedding. And then you wanna give us shit about putting work over everything else? Ha.”

  “She doesn’t need your company. Stay. Away. From. Her. Or I swear, Trev, no one will be able to recognize you by the time I’m done rearranging that face of yours.”

  Trevillo just sat back and stared up at his brother with a small smile on his face like a fractious, obdurate child that’ll never reform, while I was fuming. Fuming at the way Lovello was treating me like Little Red Riding Hood that needed protection from The Big Bad Wolf. Or as if I were that juicy piece of lamb leg lying between the lion and the tiger.

  I knew what the problem was, though. And I was beyond angry at myself for letting him lose all sense of trust in me. I wrung my arm out of his grasp with enough force for him to direct his glower to me. “Don’t speak on my behalf as if I’m some goddamned hare-brained child! I can handle myself.” I crossed my arms over my chest, staring him in the eyes. “Let’s say Trev decides not to stay away from me. What do you think is going to happen, Love?”

  Lovello averted his gaze from me, running a hand through his hair and leaving a mess of what was once neatly groomed. When he didn’t offer an answer, I asked, “Have I really screwed up that badly that you can’t lend me even an ounce of trust? Why don’t you save yourself the stress and just leave me, then?” My voice broke at the latter, signaling my weakness.

  Before I embarrassed myself further with any more of those dramatic, girly-girl outbursts, I flounced off from the reception canopy. I’d hate to be the one to ruin Natalio and Sadie’s big day.

  Wandering a few yards away from the merriment of the reception, I took a seat on a wrought-iron bench that was situated under a sprawling weeping willow tree. As much as I loved Lovello, maybe it was time for us to end things. It was senseless trying to have a relationship without trust. And I’d forever be feeling compunction for lying to him.

  It’s amazing how the breaking of one tiny string could ruin the entire structure of something that was deemed strong. I loved him with every inch of my being, and I’d never felt more remorse in life than for being dishonest with him the last night. So blatantly, too. Even though I’d suspected he knew something, I still lied.

  Now, his lack of trust in me was making him possessive, controlling and guarding. I didn’t want him to always have to be pissing on his hydrant and staking his claim. I wanted him to know, incontestably, that I was his, without a smite of doubt in his mind that I might do this or give in to that.

  “Been affected by Trev, huh?”

  My head shot up at the perceptive female voice. It was Sadie. She smiled at me and winked as she sat down next to me.

  “You should be up there with your new husband, Sadie,” I told her.

  “And you should be in there accompanying that angel of a man you have,” she grinned. “Alas, my ‘new husband’ is busy playing referee with your angel and Satan’s son.”

  My laugh couldn’t be suppressed. Glad I wasn’t the only one who perceived that Trevillo was a living rakehell.

  “It’s not a crime, you know,” she continued. “The first time I met Lovello, I was affected. I think I can recall asking him if he was legal — and at that time, Natalio’s arm was wrapped around my waist.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep,” she confirmed, nodding to emphasize. “And I was affected the second time, the third, the fourth and the fifth. It’s hard not to be affected by a face like that. And Love’s blatant flirting didn’t help much.”

  “Understandable. But at least Natalio trusts you enough to know you are his and wouldn’t do something dumb like sleeping with his brother.”

  Sadie scoffed. “Have you met my husband? Really, have you? See that over there?” She nodded towards the reception where Lovello and Trevillo seemed to be bickering at each other while Natalio made placatory gestures. “That’s like déjà vu for me. Only, Trevillo would be the one playing the referee between Love and Natalio.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. Natalio used to warn off Lovello all the time. Telling him to stay away from me. But Love wouldn’t. And they’d always be in each other’s faces making empty threats. Now, as much as you see him playing the referee, Natalio is reveling in Love’s misery, saying that Lovello now knows what it felt like when he used to blatantly flirt with me.” She frowned as she said, “Although, I don’t know what the hell’s Trev’s problem, he doesn’t even like younger women. Strange.” Sadie shrugged and tossed her long hair over her shoulders. “It took some time for Natalio to get over his jealousy of Lovello, because he sure as hell wasn’t staying away and I simply loved talking to the guy. He listens and he gives wise advice. And now he’s like my best friend. You gotta leave them to their crazy display of jealousy and arguments. They’re brothers who love each other more than anything. But you can’t swallow the guilt pill because you’ve been affected by your guy’s brother. That’s just hormones. You know, unerringly, who your heart belongs to. Who makes you out of breath just by breathing in theirs.”

  I’d never imagined I’d be having chats like this with anyone other than Trudy. But Sadie was overly sweet and natural, and conversing with her brought no discomfort. It was easy. “Well, that’s something I didn’t know I needed to hear. Sure as hell just eased a lot of my tension. I was all but nailing myself to the cross.”

  Sadie opened her mouth to reply but then folded her lips, her eyes fixed past me. I followed her gaze to see Lovello striding towards us. She leaned closer to whisper, “Just look at him. All the guy needs is two white wings and a halo. Phew.”

  We giggled. Sure enough, Lovello, dressed in his white tux and looking as flourishing as white roses, was a pseudo-angel.

  “Natalio summons you, Rainbow,” Lovello said when he halted in front of us.

  Sadie rolled her eyes, gave a slight bow of her head and replied in a sarcastic tone, “And I’ll attend to His Grace.”

  I wasn’t aware that I’d been staring after her with a smile on my face as she walked away, until Lovello said, “She’s easy to like, isn’t she?”

  “Quite easy.” I refused to meet his eyes.

  “Are you coming back to the reception?”

  “Why should I? Aren’t you worried I might pocket your family’s expensive silverware?”

  “I don’t think you’re a thief.”

  I lifted my head to look at him. “How can you not? Every liar is a thief, and every thief is a murderer.”

  A muscle flinched in his jaw, and he made a mess of his hair again before crouching down to level our eyes. “Axia, you looked me dead in the eyes and lied to me. You can’t expect me to —”

  “Then just leave me, Love. It’s simple.” God knows I can’t leave you.

  “Will you stop saying that,” Lovello hissed through gritted teeth.

  “What do y —”

  “Just…” He lidded his eyes to shut me out, his face hard and tense, every facial muscle sharpened and rigid. When he opened them, his slate-grays revealed … absolutely nothing. “Just give me some time. I need time to rebuild what you’ve broken, okay?”

  Who was I to throw a bitch fit when he was giving me a chance? “Okay.”

  “He’s heading over here now, Axia,” Lovello whispered in my ear and nodded in the direction where my father, alongside his father, were making their path towards us. “You can no longer avoid him.”

  Although he was speaking to me, it sounded as if he were speaking to himself also. Excluding his father, I’d been introduced to all his family members here at the wedding. His mother, Melinda, was sweet and angelically beautiful. His sister, Princessa, was a tad snarky, but dealing with people like her was my specialty. Besides, her brothers shunned her so much — though I’m not sure why — that it was almost as if they didn’t have a sister. They fussed over Sadie more than they
did her. Everyone else was warm and welcoming to me. But I was yet to be introduced to father Nelson, and I couldn’t shake the thought that Lovello had been trying to avoid his father, as I was avoiding mine.

  Melinda, whom we were chatting with at the time, followed our gazes and released a great sigh when she saw her husband and my father nearing us. “Son, I’ll leave you two now. Nice meeting you, Axia.” With that, she took off like a plane on a runway.

  “Axia, sweetheart,” Vince greeted when the two men finally reached us. “Do I dare say it’s a surprise to see you here? Seems you’ve been keeping secrets from me.” He shifted his eyes to Lovello to indicate what the secret was. “Last time this gentleman was in my house, you were throwing daggers at him.”

  Marcello roared with laughter, his steel-gray eyes twinkling at me with a comforting warmth. “Oh, that’s exactly what he needs. A woman, strong and independent enough to afford throwing daggers at him.”

  Marcello Nelson was of a towering height. His hair, though thoroughly silvered, was rich and thick atop his head. His steel-gray eyes were intensely intense, but captivating. With defined square jaw, a straight nose and full lips, there was no mistaking where his sons’ handsomeness came from.

  To answer my father’s question, “No, Daddy. I haven’t been keeping any secrets from you. It’s only because we haven’t been able to catch up lately.”

  “Any specific reason why you’ve been avoiding my calls?”

  “I haven’t —” I broke off, realizing that I was just about spew a lie with Lovello standing right next to me, the man who I was trying to get to trust me again. Best if I started practicing telling the truth in everything. Big or small. “Yes. And I believe you know why.”

  “Hmm” was all he said, pinning me with a glare that said ‘we’ll sure as hell be talking later’. He then cleared his throat and introduced, “Marcello, this is my blessed daughter, Axia.”

  Marcello gifted me an adoring smile and embraced me in a hug. “Nice to finally meet you, Axia — well, now, as a grown woman and not as a little, dark-haired girl with pigtails, in tights and sneakers running numerous laps around the horse tracks.”

  Vince gave a hearty laugh, his eyes glossing over. “My, my. She was an athletic little thing, wasn’t she?”

  “Sure was,” Marcello confirmed. “Your father here talks a lot about you. I hope you’re enjoying my son’s celebration of found happiness.”

  Lovello coughed a cough that didn’t sound authentic. It was then I realized that he hadn’t said a single word since the older men strolled up to us. Instead, his eyes were darting around the reception as if he were bored with the conversation.

  Marcello’s face grew hard and serious, if not intimidating. His eyes were cold as ice when he pinned them to a ‘distracted’ Lovello and yanked his attention back. “Son, are you going to be a gentleman and tell me about your date?”

  “Father, she’s right in front of you and her father’s right next to you. Who can give a more accurate description than herself and her father? I know only as much as you know.” Lovello’s tone was both reverential and acerbic at the same time.

  What was his problem? Why didn’t he want to introduce me to his father? My eyes slid over to Vince’s, whose features had arranged themselves into a confusing frown.

  “Miss Blacksille is a lovely young lady. From good roots and substantial enough to make you a good wife, son.”

  Lovello redirected his attention to the reception where everyone was dancing and laughing, then muttered in a bored inflection, “I’ll bear that in mind.”

  Deeply offended, and feeling as if an anchor had been dunked in my stomach, I slipped my hand from Lovello’s. Pretty sure my cheeks were a shade of crimson, because I was greatly embarrassed at how Lovello spoke of me like I was nothing. I couldn’t even look at my father, fearing what I’d see in his eyes.

  Lovello, feeling the break of connection, turned his face to me. That was all it took for him to recognize that I was hurting. Sighing, he snaked his arms around my waist, locking me to him. “Do you still want to take pictures of the cake before they cut it?”

  The passivity in his eyes told me that I should just agree to his silly cake question so we could escape our fathers. Fearing my pain might be exposed if I spoke, I nodded. Lovello mumbled a few words to the men and whisked me away.

  For the second time that evening, I had to question if Lovello was serious about me or not. He kept confusing me. Trevillo’s question, of course, had me questioning where we stood as a couple. And now Lovello’s plain out refusal to introduce me to his father — which didn’t even have anything to do with our relationship but manners.

  Since I failed us both last night, I had assumed the position of a weak and spineless submissive. For the sake of regaining the man’s trust, I hadn’t really been Axia Blacksille. Or maybe it was because I’d allowed myself to fall in love again? And much harder this time around? Yep. You fall in love, and you set yourself up for hurt and pain. There would always be displays of weakness and vulnerability.

  Now was the time to put a noose around my neck and stand on a block of ice for being so damn stupid! Stupid enough to inflict pain on my own heart by falling in love. Again. Harder. Harder. So much harder.

  We were a good distance away from our fathers when Lovello stopped walking and peered down at me anxiously. “Axia, I don’t want you to think that any of that was about you, okay?”

  “Really? Can you explain to me who or what it was about, please? Because you’ve just made me look like a complete idiot in front of my father!”

  He released me and began pinching the bridge of his nose, a habit I’d noticed only recently. “I’m sorry, Axia. I didn’t mean to. It’s just him … the man is just…”

  “Him who? Your father?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about him? He seems nice.”

  Lovello ceased his nose pinching and looked at me through eyes that were bulging from their sockets. “Nice? Did you just say nice?”

  “I don’t understand. He wasn’t mean to me, so I don’t get why you wouldn’t introduce me to him as your date.”

  “Axia, there’s nothing nice about that man. He’s a domineering, intimidating, high-handed bastard. The only reason he’s nice to you is because you’re of rich roots, with further strength that you’re the daughter of his good friend. I didn’t introduce you to him because he would only think I brought you here to seek his approval. And I honestly don’t give a shit what he thinks.”

  “Seek his approval? For what?”

  “Of you being eligible to date or marry me.”

  I tried to stifle a laugh and failed. “Are you serious? Isn’t that some ancient days thing?”

  “The man’s seriously archaic, Axia. He refuses to succumb to modernization. We believe he was erringly born in the wrong time period,” Lovello laughed.

  “You still could’ve handled the situation a little better than that, Love. My father was right there. And I imagine he’s just as embarrassed as I am.”

  Lovello raked a hand through his hair. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just … you remember me mentioning an ex-girlfriend of mine, Nicole?”

  Oh, the first love. “Yeah.”

  “Well, I fell … I met her when I was around eighteen. Really liked her. We were together for about two years, going strong, until I made the stupid mistake of bringing her here. My father was rude and dismissive, making it clear she could never become a part of this family, accusing her of wanting me for money and all that. Both her parents were blue collars, so there was no possibility of him being nice to her. And because of his bullying, she left me.”

  “Wow, um, well that sounds like a scene from a historical film,” I strangled out, as I tried not to laugh. “Sans the eloping and committing suicide together.”

  Lovello narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t make fun of this, Axia. If you don’t believe me, ask Sadie. Father gave her a helluva challenge when Natalio first brought her
here. But trust me, that beautiful, long-haired girl you see over there is a lot tougher than she looks. She fought back. And now she’s like his ultimate daughter-in-law.” He wrapped his arms around me, pressing me up against him. “I’m sorry, beauts. Forgive me? I promise I’ll find your father later and apologize.”

  Forgive and you’ll be forgiven … “You’re forgiven.”

  With that, his lips crashed down on mine, blessing me with his sweet tongue that I hadn’t tasted in hours. He demanded. And I submitted. His tongue growing more acquisitive as the kiss lasted. Feeling my skin heat with sudden need, I threw my arms around his neck, tipping up on my toes to kiss him deeper while pressing my body harder against his.

  Dios, lo amo.

  When I felt his hardening arousal, however, I pulled back, mumbling against his lips, “We can’t get all horned up in the middle of a wedding reception, Love.”

  “Who says?” he grumbled, slipping his tongue back inside my mouth and digging his hardness further into my stomach.

  Pulling away for good, I smacked him. “I do, Pretty Boy.”

  He smiled one of his ‘life will be good after all’ smiles. “Did I forget to tell you just how sexy you look today with your hair down and blown out like that? You’re so … breathtaking. And this dress…” he trailed off as his hands traveled down to my ass. “Hmm, this dress. When we get home, I’m gonna —”

  “Hey, you two, knock it off! This is my wedding, not yours.”

  We both jerked our heads up to see Natalio a few feet away from us, grinning from ear to ear, while Sadie stood with her bouquet raised in the air. “I’m gonna throw the bouquet now, Axia. You coming?”

  Lovello shifted his eyes to me with a raised brow. He knew that was definitely not my scene. When he saw my expression, he laughed and waved off Sadie who just shrugged and assumed her position to toss the bouquet.

  Pretty Boy Nelson tilted my chin, and dropped a soft kiss on my lips before whispering, “You don’t need to catch a bouquet to hope you’ll hold your own one day, beauts.”