Chase was frowning. “Okay, that’s creepy. Would he call Travis, talk to him?” He started to say something else and then obviously decided not to.
“Does it matter? He’s been served. He knows where I am. Should I be worried?”
Chase didn’t say anything for a minute and then shook his head. “No. I’ll follow up again, but I expect the papers back and signed anytime now. He wouldn’t risk his career. He won’t touch you. I won’t let him.” He was running his thumb over her chin, still holding her close. “You know I was serious about marrying you as soon as your divorce is final.” He leaned down slowly, touching his full lips to hers. She could kiss him forever, and every time he did it was better.
“And Billy Jo?” she said, worrying for a second and looking around Chase to the door, but he didn’t let her go as his smile deepened. His face was so close she could see the shadow of a beard, and she knew him well enough now that she could estimate how long it had been since he’d shaved. Two and a half days, Thursday, the morning before she’d left.
“She’s fine, she’s happy,” Chase said. “Her adoption is going through, just formalities. She spooks like you, freaks out like you, and watches you, worrying what you’ll do. You’re alike in so many ways, but at the same time you’re so different. She’s with family downstairs, and you’re with me. Stop getting sidetracked.”
For a moment, a wave of shyness stole over her as she tried to figure out what Chase was doing. He was a virile man, passionate, a leader, and he had a way of pulling her and Billy Jo together and handling everything, all the hard stuff she’d always worried over but now never thought of anymore.
His hand fell away, and he pulled something from his pocket, a box, and held it between them. Her heart kicked up, and she pressed her hand over it, feeling the beat. Her breath was stuck in her chest, shallow, as he flipped it open. There was the glitter of a ring the likes of which she’d never seen. It was so specific, the style—soft but bold. It stole what was left of her breath.
“Oh, Chase, it’s beautiful,” she said. The diamond glistened in white gold, but it wasn’t big and gauche. Nor was it so small it would get lost in the intricate detail of the setting. It was perfect for her hand. She couldn’t take her eyes off it as Chase took it from the box and lifted her hand to slide it on her finger.
“As soon as your divorce is final, the day after, Rose, we get married.” He really meant it, she knew he did. There was something about this moment that made it real. She had gone from one man, a monster, to someone selfless and caring. She couldn’t get her tongue to move, so she slid her arms over his shoulders and hiked up onto her tiptoes as he held her hips, pulling her over all his hardness, pressing his lips to hers once again, tasting her, touching her, loving her.
Chapter 9
No one said anything about how long Rose and Chase had been gone, as everyone knew exactly what they’d been doing. It was written all over them when Luc spotted them coming down the stairs almost two hours later, pasted together, side to side, arms around each other as if they couldn’t get any closer. Rose was glowing, and Chase too. Luc was happy for them even as his heart sank a little more.
It was hard being around others who were so in love and had found the people they were going to make a life with, a family. He’d have gone to his grave before admitting that watching his brothers find their happily ever after tore at his heart a little more. He was so lonely, but he would never tell anyone, because he was ashamed he couldn’t share in their happiness. The brightness they were part of only deepened the hole that was tearing him open.
“We were starting to wonder where you were,” Luc said. They hadn’t been, though, really. Fiona and Vic were behaving like teenagers in his office. She was on his lap, kissing him where he sat behind his desk. After basically telling Vic to fuck off and leave him be, he’d sought him out to apologize only to find him occupied. Even he knew the time to push was over.
Billy Jo and John were in the games room, playing some video game, and Luc had been checking out all of Vic’s domain. He’d explored the main floor, the gym, the gardens out back, and he’d sat alone for a time under a huge oak tree, but it had done little to ease his sense of aloneness, the depression that had always been a part of him.
Chase kissed Rose once more, and she stepped off the last step. He noticed the ring on her finger and the quiet as she walked away. “Billy Jo?” was all she asked Luc—sedated, content. Oh, had Chase ever satisfied her.
“Games room, down the hall in back, third door at the end,” he said. She nodded again, still walking, a sway in her hips, a lightness in her step. Chase watched every move she made.
“Hot,” Luc said, and Chase looked over to him, his expression questioning. “You two need a fire extinguisher to put out that heat. At least someone is having some fun.” He turned away and started back to the living room at the front of the house. He knew Chase was following. He too seemed far more relaxed than when he’d first gotten there.
“So…Julian. Want to talk about it?” Chase said, walking past him to Vic’s bar and making himself at home, pouring a glass of soda. Luc was surprised when he handed it to him.
“No,” he said and waved it off.
Chase shrugged, taking a sip and then patting his stomach as if he needed something else. “Okay, but Rose is a little worried about you,” he said. “What’s your sense of this Julian? Do you think he’s for his brother, or could he cause some problems for Rose?”
What could Luc say? The fact was that he didn’t know anything about him, even though before he would have sworn he was a good man. “Apparently, I’m about the worst judge of character. According to Rose, he was married to a woman, and I didn’t even know. I’d like to say he wouldn’t side with Travis, but he didn’t say a thing after Rose set him straight about the dickhead she was married to. He walked away. Chances are he’s back on a plane, going home, getting as far from me as he can,” Luc said, especially considering he hadn’t heard a word from him since parting ways. So much for having to get Luc alone and straighten things out. Guess he wasn’t worth his time. That thought brought an ache to his throat that burned and threatened to choke him. He coughed. “What’s your take?” he said. “You spoke with Travis. What do you think he’ll do?”
Chase swallowed the last of his soda water and walked back over to the bar, resting the tall glass on the top as he glanced past Luc. “Hey there, kiddo. Where is everyone?”
Luc watched as Billy Jo walked in. She had a way of moving into a room and assessing everyone and everything. At the same time, there was an edge about her that would never relax. She shrugged. “Rose is talking with Fiona and that odd lady who works here and wears guys’ clothes.”
For a second, Luc had to think.
“Her name is Nora,” Chase said. “She’s Vic’s housekeeper slash butler, who just happens to be a woman, which should tell you that you can be anything you want to be. It’s not really guys’ clothes, either. It’s a pantsuit. Women wear pantsuits. So what’s really going on?”
Luc watched Chase with this teen who was steeped in so much turmoil, and he envied him. He was creating a family out of nothing, which Luc couldn’t imagine doing himself—but then, he couldn’t imagine anyone cutting through all the bullshit and reaching this kid the way Chase had.
Luc stopped listening to the exchange as he walked over to the window, taking in the front of the property, the grass being mowed by some guy in a ball cap. A rusty old truck was parked out front, and another man, even younger, was dumping branches and stuff into the back of it. Ed’s Lawn Care was written on the side.
Then his phone started ringing, and he pulled it from his pocket and saw Julian’s name. He was so tempted to hit Decline, but, realizing Chase would want answers for Rose, he hesitated over another ring.
“Hello?” he said, putting distance in his voice. He didn’t want to get sucked back into anything with Julian. If anything, this was now a relationship that could never be on so
many levels and for many reasons: secrets, lies, and family.
“I walked away to get my head around a few things. I wasn’t walking away from you,” Julian said. His voice was deep, and there was something in his tone. Luc couldn’t quite decide whether it was confliction, remorse, or what, because now he realized he didn’t really know him.
“And? What do you want me to say? What is it that you want, Julian?” He turned and noticed the moment Chase heard. All his attention was focused on him, and he said something to Billy Jo that made her leave the room. Chase was now closing the distance between them.
“How well do you know Rose?” Julian said.
Luc pulled the phone away and stared at it. What the fuck, asshole? “Are you kidding? Are you seriously going to put this on Rose and say it didn’t happen, really?” He knew he was loud, as Chase was right in front of him, arms crossed over his chest, two inches taller than Luc and breathing down. He could feel the spike in his brother’s temper because of his reaction, and Chase was only hearing one side.
“No, I didn’t say that, but she said that he beat her, and I have to tell you, saying that is like saying the moon doesn’t shine at night. It makes no sense. My brother has always been there for us, my sister, me. He was the one who put himself between my dad and Ann to protect her. Dad wasn’t always the easiest. He’d lose it, and one time he had her by the hair, down on her knees, screaming. He was hurting her over something. I can’t even remember anymore. It was Travis who protected her, who stepped in and ended it, but Rose is saying that Travis…what, hit her?”
He could hear the disbelief. At the same time, he could feel his blood hitting the scalding point. “Believe what you want. Rose isn’t a liar, and he didn’t just hit her, his wife, which is inexcusable by any standards. He beat the shit out of her, and not only once. He put her in the hospital, scared shitless. That son of a bitch you think so highly of threatened to kill her if she said a word. Apparently a nurse knew and saw what was happening, as she helped her get the fuck out of there. She’s been hiding ever since, so your brother had better well sign those fucking divorce papers and let her go. Understand?” He was seething, feeling the pump of his blood, and he shook off Chase, who was standing in front of him, watching him. He even gestured for the phone, but fuck that shit. This was his guy, his connection, his shit that had collided with the woman his brother loved.
There was nothing on the other end, not a sigh, not an excuse—nothing. The only reason he knew Julian was still there was that he could hear him breathing.
“I want to see you again,” Julian finally said. “I’m still here. I got a room at the Grove. Can you come here?”
Seriously? No way was he going to be alone with him. He couldn’t do it. It was wrong for him to even consider it.
“What time and where?” he said, which was exactly what he hadn’t wanted to say.
Chapter 10
He’d borrowed Chase’s BMW after considering for half a second all the ways Vic would have told him no if he asked to borrow his Charger. The man didn’t share, but at the same time he couldn’t figure out why he was trying to give him a job.
It surprised him that he’d been able to slip out of the house without answering a ton of questions from Chase and Vic, walking past the shocked expression on Rose’s face and the curiosity on Fiona’s. He’d stood his ground and ignored their questions before finally telling them to back off.
He’d stepped out of the BMW and handed the keys to the valet at the front door of a hotel that appeared at the high end of what Salem offered. Then, he couldn’t imagine Julian staying anywhere else.
He took in the lobby, the high ceilings, the stone floors, the artwork, the flow of guests and staff passing through the lobby to the bar, and the open dining area that overlooked a lush and spectacular garden. Then he spotted Julian, sitting in the corner by the window over by the grand piano. The place was upscale and looked expensive, comfortable.
He kept walking until Julian, who was holding a glass of red wine, looked up to him. He rested his glass on the table and stood up, all six feet of him, tall, lean, and gorgeous. He’d changed into blue jeans and a black dress shirt and appeared freshly shaved.
Luc was still wearing the same clothes he’d flown out of Chicago in, faded jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days, though his white sneakers were clean and shiny.
“Thanks for coming,” Julian said. The way he leaned in, Luc thought he was going to kiss him. Maybe he thought better of it, as he pulled away and instead lifted his hand and gestured to someone behind them. Luc turned to see a cute lady, young, with a perky smile and red hair that was a mass of curls.
“Can I get you something else?” she asked.
“Luc, what do you want to drink?”
Vodka, straight up, he thought. “Glass of your house red,” he said instead and gestured to Julian’s glass.
The waitress left, and he sat down on the sofa and leaned back, taking in the view, the green gardens and paths, the people walking. He didn’t look at Julian, whom he could feel watching him.
“I hope you don’t think I’m like him,” Julian said.
That wasn’t what he’d expected. “Who, your brother?” Of course that was who he meant.
Julian said nothing as he leaned forward, swirling the wine in his glass. “Had to do a lot of thinking after that bomb Rose dropped. Could never figure out why she up and left, why she disappeared. I liked her, and Travis said nothing at first. I saw how worked up he was, on edge, and I thought she’d done something to mess with him. Never would have imagined it could be as she said.” He was staring into his wine before he looked up, his blue eyes reaching out and connecting to Luc. There was something brooding, deeper.
“You thought she was lying,” Luc snapped.
“Of course. How would you react if it was your brother whose character someone decided to assassinate? How would you react when you’ve only known the opposite?”
“For one, my brothers wouldn’t do that, none of them. We may have our faults, every one of us, but that’s not one of them.”
Julian actually smiled, but it was angry, the kind that let Luc know he’d pissed him off. “Bullshit. How well do you really know them? There’s a hidden piece in all of us that we don’t share with anyone. You should know. I do know.”
Now who was being an asshole?
His wine appeared as the waitress rested a napkin on the table and then walked away when Julian lifted his hand. He knew the dismissal, the coldness in the motion. The waitress must have known, too, as she was fast across the other side of the lounge.
Luc lifted his glass, took a swallow, and realized it was a shiraz, bold, hearty. Not his favorite, but drinkable. “So you’re here to debate the issue on who’s lying, Rose or your brother?”
Julian had the most amazing lips, and he brooded for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I called him.”
Alarms sang inside Luc, a warning he could feel from Chase and Vic. His brothers would likely kill him if he brought trouble to Rose’s doorstep—or seriously maim him, anyway.
“I asked him straight out. I know when he’s lying. He said nothing, he denied nothing. He said none of what I would have expected him to say. I know my brother. Whatever happened there, I just know he did it…but he’s still my brother.” He said it as if everyone had to accept it.
“Maybe so, but if he comes near Rose, tries to hurt her again, he’ll have me to contend with. She’s my brother’s girl. They’re getting married.” The moment he said it, he wished he hadn’t. That wasn’t his to share.
Julian nodded and gestured between them. “I’m happy for her. Travis signed the papers. You can tell her that. She’ll have them. So your brother, he’s a good guy?”
“Chase? The best. There for all of us whether we want him to be or not. Kind of appointed himself the family fixer. He’s not happy unless he has something to do that’s complex and in someone’s business.” Always arranging, making sure ev
eryone was happy. He’d always been that way.
Julian nodded again, leaned forward, and rested his wine on the table. “So you and I.”
Whoa, slow down! Luc said nothing as he stared at the man he’d felt so much for, but at the same time he knew Julian wasn’t ready for what Luc needed, wanted. Something real.
“You’re going to make this really hard, I see,” Julian said. “I guess I deserve that.” He glanced to the side and appeared nervous.
“I’m not playing games, here, and I’m not the one who’s hiding. You are, and I won’t do that or be the dirty secret on the side because you can’t figure out who you’re supposed to be. You can do one of two things, live your life or live the life others choose for you, but I won’t be with anyone who can’t get their fucking shit together and yell at the world that they know who they are. I’m gay!” he said. He knew he was loud and noted the discomfort that came over Julian, the moment he was about to shut down, so Luc lifted his glass and swallowed it all, the bitter wine, the bite. Man, he was really going to have to start ordering what he wanted to drink. “This shiraz is one of the worst,” he said, then rested his glass on the table and stood up, feeling the buzz.
“Wait, would you sit down? That’s why I called you. I may be a little—okay, no, a lot out of my comfort zone, but I’m not hiding anymore, and you’re right. That wasn’t really living.” Julian was rubbing his hands together as if what he was about to say or do was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Luc could make it easier or not.
No, he was done doing that. He’d lived a life of making things easier for everyone, so he just sat there and allowed the tension to build until Julian took a shaky breath and then gestured with both hands.
“You know what? I too want something real.”
Chapter 11
Fiona was on the phone in Vic’s office, ordering supplies for the cafe she insisted on running personally. Even though she was just showing, just in her second trimester and still very much tired, she refused to give any of herself, as she put it, up.
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