The CEO's Seduction (A Hamilton Family Series)

by Diane Alberts

  He curled his hands into fists. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? You gave me everything I wanted from you, and now we’re done, with no hard feelings, like you promised. It’s perfect, really.”

  She swallowed hard and blinked rapidly. “Right. Bye, then.”

  The door closed behind her as she fled, and he dropped the act.

  Covering his face with his hands, he let out a shuddering breath.

  For a few hours in his long, lonely life he had thought he finally found someone who could love him. Who might be able to give him the life he never thought he could have. He’d even been willing to ignore his fear of marriage, and love, and all the shit that came with it, for her. Hell, he’d thought he could be loved.

  Yet all it had taken her was one brief night in his arms, and a quickie at the beach, for her to realize the ugly truth about him…

  He wasn’t worthy of being loved after all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Anna blew her nose and leaned back against her bedroom door, her whole body aching from the harsh sobs she’d just let out. It had taken all of her control to not cry in front of Brett, and all of her energy to stand there, lying about not loving him anymore, just so he could walk away with a clear conscience.

  And even worse?

  He had actually believed her.

  The absolute certainty in his eyes as she shoved the biggest lies she ever told down his throat had hurt. But he’d taken them in stride. For a second, she thought he might be upset. For a second, she thought maybe he would ask her not to give up on him. But then he had told her in no uncertain terms he’d gotten exactly what he wanted from her.

  Sex.

  Nothing more.

  He didn’t even care.

  A knock sounded at her door, and she groaned inwardly, swiping her hands across her cheeks. “Yes?”

  “Are you coming back down?” Cole asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll be down in a second.”

  His feet shifted on the floor. “Are you crying?”

  “No.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m laughing.”

  “Let me in, damn it,” he demanded, rattling the knob. “Why are you crying?”

  She pressed her lips together tightly. The last thing she needed right now was him questioning her. Making things worse. “Don’t be an idiot. It’s a wedding. Girls always cry at weddings.”

  “Oh.” He snorted. “Well, finish up. They’re going to start serving dinner soon, and Chris wants you there for it.”

  The last thing she wanted to do was go back down and face Brett again. To see his relief at being done with her. But…she wouldn’t miss her brother’s wedding because she was too much of an idiot to listen when everyone warned her away. “I’ll be right there.”

  His footsteps retreated down the hallway, and Anna sighed.

  She walked over to her dresser, squinting at her mirror image. Maybe she shouldn’t have looked at all. She couldn’t go down the stairs looking like an extra from the movie Carrie.

  All of the magic the makeup artist had worked washed away with her tears, and there wasn’t a single cream or lotion in the world that could make her look human again.

  But she’d go downstairs and smile anyway.

  She owed that much to Christopher and Nina.

  Then, afterward, she could cry herself to sleep. Or drink a bottle of wine till she forgot how upset she was. Either one. Or, you know, both.

  Whatever it took to forget all about Brett.

  She cleaned off the mascara that had crept down her cheeks, patched up the rest of her makeup, and headed downstairs reluctantly. It didn’t take long for Anna to spot Brett. He sat at the bar, alone, with a glass in between his thumb and forefinger. He twirled it absentmindedly. As she watched, he took a long sip and set it down.

  Reaching up, he loosened his bow tie and left it hanging off his neck. A woman Anna didn’t recognize sidled up next to him and leaned close, whispering something in his ear. He lifted his head, said something in return, and looked at Anna.

  He met her eyes with a piercing stare, letting her see behind his mask.

  And it hurt.

  He looked like he was in pain, which didn’t make sense, since he’d gotten what he wanted. Hadn’t he? She clenched her fists and took a step in his direction, but stopped herself. She couldn’t keep doing this. Couldn’t keep running to his side to save him whenever he needed someone. When she didn’t come another step closer, he turned back to the woman, said something, and then walked away.

  Anna released a pent-up breath she hadn’t even realized she held.

  For a minute, she thought he would leave with the woman to get back at her or something. If he had, she would’ve lost the fragile hold she had on herself right now. When he reached Wyatt’s side, he said something to him. He turned red, and then Cole did the same exact thing.

  With one last look at Anna, he pulled off his bow tie and walked out into the garden.

  What was he doing?

  Was he leaving?

  She didn’t even hear Chris approach, so when he slid an arm over her shoulder she jumped in surprise. “Your makeup is smudged, little one. Have you been crying?”

  “Well, duh.” She turned into his arms and hugged him tight. The familiar comfort of his arms closing around her soothed her. He still wore the same cologne she bought him in high school—Old Spice. “I just watched you get married. Of course I cried.”

  He chuckled and smoothed her hair down. “I’ll probably cry at your wedding, too. I’m sure of it. That is, if I even let you get married. From what I’ve seen so far, no man on earth is good enough for you. Trust me. I would know.”

  Anna swallowed past the lump in her throat, eyeing the door that led into the gardens. Was Brett out there waiting for her to come out and talk? If so, why?

  And why did she want to go out there so frigging badly?

  Forcing her attention back on her brother, she smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not thinking about getting married any time soon.”

  “I know. But you will someday.” He kissed her temple. “If the man you choose passes the test, that is.”

  “And what is this test?”

  Christopher shrugged. “We grab him. Take him prisoner. And then we—”

  Eric came up behind her. “Then we rough him up until we scare him away. If he runs, then he didn’t really love you. If he stays, then we let him marry you.”

  Anna swallowed hard. “Good thing I haven’t brought anyone home to meet you yet, then. That sounds pretty damn brutal.”

  Eric raised a brow. “What, Brett doesn’t count?”

  “Brett?” Chris’s voice went hard, and his hold on Anna grew too tight. “What the hell does Brett have to do with Anna?”

  “Wait. You didn’t tell him about you guys yet?” Eric asked, his eyes wide. “When I heard your conversation, I assumed you did.”

  “How do you even know about us?” Anna asked, going stiff. “Who told you? Brett?”

  Eric shoved his hands in his pockets and rolled back on the balls of his feet. “Yeah. Brett told us when we caught him outside your room last night. Didn’t he tell you all of this? And didn’t you get Wyatt’s text? We kind of kidnapped him last—”

  “Motherfucker,” Chris snarled. “I’ll kill him.”

  Brett’s words came crashing back into her head. I didn’t come to your room last night because of your brothers.

  She held a hand to her rapidly beating heart. “Oh my God. That’s why he didn’t come last night, isn’t it? You wouldn’t let him?”

  “Uh. Right.” Eric cleared his throat. “Wyatt texted you and told you all of this.”

  Cole and Wyatt came over, talking quietly. As they reached her side, Cole gave her a weird look. “Can you tell me why Brett just told me to leave you alone next time you bring a guy home?”

  “He said the same thing to me,” Wyatt said. “And he ordered me to tell Chris and Eric the same thing. Said you deserved to be happy, and you never would be
if we scared all your boyfriends away. What happened between you two, and why did he leave?”

  Her heart twisted.

  He’d told them that, even after she sent him away?

  Rejected him?

  And if he hadn’t stayed away from her out of disinterest…then had he actually wanted to be with her? Had she just told him she didn’t want to be with him—when he wanted to be with her? Please, God, no.

  Fate couldn’t be that cruel.

  Could it?

  She looked at her brothers. Everyone but Christopher watched her with wide eyes. “Are you saying you all knew about us?”

  “We found out last night,” Eric said. “After we kidnapped him.”

  Cole nodded. “We told him after the wedding, he could come clean to Chris. That we would leave him alone as long as he waited until after the wedding to confess. We just didn’t want to distract Chris on his wedding day. He’s the only one who doesn’t know yet.”

  “Chris, did you—?” Anna broke off. Not only was Christopher gone from her side, but he was gone from the room, too. “Oh God. He went after Brett.”

  Anna picked up the skirt of her dress and took off at a run, heading out to the garden where Brett had to be. She bolted into the moonlight and skidded to a halt, because he was there. Alone. With no sign of an angry Chris.

  He had a bottle of whiskey in his hands, and it was open. The lid sat next to him on her favorite bench. “Want the garden to yourself?” he asked coolly. “I can go.”

  “N-No.” She wrung her hands. “I just…well, Christopher knows about us. I wanted to give you a heads-up, since he’s looking for you.”

  Brett didn’t look up, just glowered at his whiskey. “Okay.”

  “No, it’s not.” She stepped closer, but he still didn’t look at her. “Are you insane? He’s furious with you.”

  Brett finally looked up at her. He was cast in the shadows of the night, but there was no mistaking the pain in his green eyes. “So let him get it out of his system now. I’m ready.”

  Anna swallowed. “Why would you just let him come get you? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “He’s right to be pissed.” He set the bottle down hard, clinking the glass on the concrete bench. “I shouldn’t have touched you, because I fucked it up, just like he knew I would. I failed to show you how much you mean to me, just like he knew I would. He knew I’d suck at this, and he warned me away, but I didn’t listen, just like he knew I wouldn’t. So, yeah, I’m going to sit here and wait for him.”

  Anna drew in a deep breath, her heart soaring at his words. “Brett, I—”

  “Don’t say anything.” He picked the bottle back up but didn’t take a drink. “I did what I did, and I’ll suffer the consequences. He can kick my ass tonight, and I’ll let him, just like I let the rest of your brothers last night.”

  Anna leaned against the house, her stomach twisting into one big, giant knot. “They…hit you?”

  “Didn’t Wyatt tell you that part?” He saluted her with the bottle of whiskey, but still didn’t drink. “Guess not.”

  “He didn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know any of this.”

  That got his attention. He set the bottle down and stood up shakily. “You said you knew why I didn’t come to you. You said he’d told you.”

  She bit down on her trembling lower lip. “He kept telling me we wouldn’t work. I thought you meant that. I thought you didn’t want to be with me anymore.”

  “Anna…why would I not want to be with you?”

  She swallowed hard. “I don’t know, but you have to go now.”

  “So you want to be with me?” he asked slowly.

  “It doesn’t matter, because I won’t be able to be with you if you’re dead.” She glanced over her shoulder nervously. “Get out of here before my brother kills you.”

  “He won’t kill me. I’m going to lie here, staring up at the stars, and wait for him.” He lay down on the ground, like they used to do as kids. “Want to wait with me? Lie down, here, next to me.”

  She could think of a million reasons not to, the most important one being her angry brother…and yet, she lay down next to him anyway. “You’re crazy.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. But for now, I’m going to talk to Chris when he gets here. Once we’re done, then you and I are going to continue our conversation about what we want from each other, with no misunderstandings in the way.”

  “But I don’t want to wait, and I don’t want Chris to find you.” She scooted closer until their arms brushed. “I didn’t mean what I said,” she said, her voice so quiet she barely heard her own words. She stared up at the Big Dipper and took a deep breath. “I lied to you.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked slowly.

  She hesitated and turned her head toward him, too. “I only said what I said because I thought you needed to hear me say it so you wouldn’t feel guilty. I thought that’s what you wanted because you didn’t come to my room.”

  Her voice broke on the last word.

  He stared at her. The moonlight played with his five-o’clock shadow, making it look deeper than usual. “So all the stuff about not wanting to be with me in the library…?”

  She swallowed. “Was a lie. All of it. I still want to be with you. Do you want to be with me?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked, his voice breaking.

  He closed the distance between them and melded her lips to his. The grass below her cheek tickled her skin, but she barely noticed. The force of his kiss slammed her into the rough brick wall of the house, but he cushioned her head with his hands and buried his fingers in her hair. Her teeth bit into his lower lip, mixing the pleasure with the pain, and it fueled him on more. When his tongue tangled with hers, she whimpered into his mouth and clung to him. Just as she was sure she had died and gone to heaven, something yanked him out of her arms. “Wh—?”

  “I’ll kill you.” Chris growled from on top of Brett on the ground, raising a big fist. “You promised me.”

  Brett groaned and then said, “All right. Do your best.”

  And Anna screamed as Chris did just that.

  Chapter Eighteen

  One second, Brett was kissing Anna, and his world was looking like it might not be so fucking bad…and the next he was on the ground about to get his ass kicked. Anna screamed from behind him, but Chris didn’t hesitate or even flinch.

  He raised his fist, growling, and it descended way too damn fast.

  “Christopher, no!” Anna jumped on Chris’s back and hung on. “Get off of him.”

  Ignoring her completely, Chris slammed his fist down. With unconscious reflexes, Brett moved his head to the side. Chris’s fist hit the grass next to his head, sinking in the soft soil. He blinked, knowing he had barely escaped getting his nose broken with that punch. Anna covered Chris’s eyes with both hands, locking eyes with Brett, her own wide.

  “Anna, get off me,” Christopher snapped, reaching up to rip her hands off his face.

  “No.” Anna clung to Christopher as tightly as she could. “Make me.”

  Even though he was seconds from getting a broken nose…he couldn’t help but watch with amusement. “Anna…”

  Chris glowered at him. “What the hell are you smiling about?”

  Funny.

  Brett didn’t even realize he was smiling.

  “Anna,” he said simply. “I’m smiling because of Anna.”

  Chris gave him a dirty look, stood up, peeled her off his back, set her on the ground, and hauled Brett to his feet by his tux jacket. Brett held his hands up and stopped smiling. “Let me explain. This isn’t what it looks like.”

  “Oh, so you didn’t have your tongue down my sister’s throat?”

  He winced. “Okay, it’s a little bit what it looks like.”

  Christopher yanked Brett closer, but he still didn’t push away or break free. “You promised me you’d never touch her. You even agreed with me a couple of days ago that the two of you would never wo
rk. Why? Why did you break your promise to me? Why did you betray me?”

  Guilt—old, unwelcome guilt—crept into his heart, shadowing his happiness. “I-I’m sorry. But I couldn’t keep that promise anymore.”

  “Sorry?” Chris let out a harsh laugh and shoved Brett backward. “Is that all you have? That’s the best you got? ‘Sorry I used your sister for a quick lay, but it’s okay, right? I said I’m sorry.’”

  Anna gasped, and rage took over guilt within seconds.

  He took a step in Chris’s direction, his fists tight and blood pounding with fury. He pointed a finger at the man who had been his best friend his whole fucking life. “If you ever, ever say anything like that about her again, I’ll forget all the years of friendship we shared, and I’ll fucking rip you apart, limb by limb, and make you watch the whole damn thing. Say what you want about me. But not her. Never her.”

  Chris ran a hand down his face and looked at Anna, his shoulders drooping with what better have been shame. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean—”

  Anna forced a smile. “I know. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I am worried about it.” Brett stepped in front of Anna. “I’m not using her for sex, you fucking idiot. I wouldn’t do that to her, or you.”

  Christopher deflated a little bit, his shoulders drooping even more. “Then why are you with her? Do you have feelings for her?”

  “Christopher,” she snarled, her hands rolling into fists at her sides. Brett wrapped his arm over Anna’s shoulders, more to hold her in place than anything else. “Don’t you dare answer that question for him. Contrary to what he thinks, it’s none of his business.”

  Brett smiled down at her, his heart swelling. “Looks like I’m not telling you any of that. Sorry, but I’ve gotta listen to my little lady on this one.”

  “Since when?” Chris asked, his voice aghast, but no longer looking quite so ready to kick Brett’s ass. That was a step in the right direction. “And since when is she yours?”

  “Since I first kissed her. Since I wanted to make her happy.” He took a deep breath, locked gazes with the other man. “I wouldn’t risk ruining everything we have for a night of stupidity, if you get what I’m saying.”