Fight for Love (Forever and Always #5)

by Todd, E. L.

  He shrugged. “I’ve never done it before.”

  “My mom and my sister want to sleep with you. Therefore, they like you—a lot.”

  “Not your sister,” Mike said as he looked at his phone. He showed us the screen. “I scored her digits. She wants to get frisky soon.”

  Janice rolled her eyes. “My sister has a reputation as being a bit easy.”

  “A bit?” Mike said with a laugh. “I wasn’t going to make a move because Scarlet told me not to, but she blatantly asked me to have sex with her. I’m not gonna say no to that.”

  I shook my head. “You and Sean are so much alike it’s like you’re the same person.”

  “You wanna find out if we’re the same in bed?” he asked as he nudged me.

  “I’m gonna vomit,” I said.

  “I’m just glad Ryan didn’t meet my sister first,” Janice said. “They would have hit it off too easily.”

  “Yeah,” Ryan said. “For one night then I would never call her again.”

  Janice smiled at him. “Really?”

  “You’re the only one, baby.”

  Mike looked at Janice. “So it’s cool if I nail your sister?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t care. She’s an adult. She can do what she wants.”

  “Score,” Mike said.

  “But I have to warn you. She’s a heartbreaker,” Janice said.

  Mike shook his head. “We won’t have to worry about that.”

  “Fine. We’ll see what happens,” Janice said.

  Mike eyed her then looked away.

  I looked at Janice. “Adam is a shithead.”

  She laughed. “He was annoying, wasn’t he? I wasn’t expecting him to act like that.”

  Ryan said nothing.

  “When did you break up?” I asked.

  “Over a year ago,” she said. “After we broke up we remained friends and everything was fine. But I guess he just got jealous when he saw Ryan.”

  “It can’t be easy to see the greatest girl in your life end up with someone else,” Ryan said.

  She smiled at him but said nothing.

  Mike’s phone rang. “I bet that’s your sister.” He pulled it from his pocket. I could see his face in the light. His smile dropped and a frown replaced it. He answered it. “Hello?”

  I heard a woman’s voice on the phone, but I couldn’t make out her words.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do. Okay.” He hung up. “Scarlet, my mom wants to see you.”

  “Uh, why?”

  “She says she wants to talk. She was hoping we could stop by their apartment.”

  I felt my heart accelerate. “She didn’t say what she wanted to discuss?”

  “No.”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, suddenly nervous.

  “Come on. You have to talk to her sometime. And if she gets out of hand, I’ll set her straight. Sean isn’t here to defend you so I got you.”

  “I don’t need you to defend me, Mike. Now that everything is out in the open I don’t have to hold my tongue anymore.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  “I guess,” I said quietly.

  Mike leaned forward and told the cab driver the new address.

  I became quiet as I sat in the backseat with my family. Maybe Diane wanted to apologize for everything, or maybe she wanted to blame me for the fight she had with Sean. That I was the reason why Sean didn’t want to see her anymore. When I thought about that possibility I didn’t want to go anymore. Time sped up and the cab arrived at the building.

  We walked inside then took the elevator to their floor on the top story. When we arrived at their door I wanted to chicken out and leave. I hid my fear from everyone, but I knew Ryan could see through the front. He and I could read each other’s minds, I swear. He nodded to me, giving me comfort.

  Mike knocked on the door. “It’s us.”

  Andrew opened the door a moment later and gave us all a quick smile. He wasn’t as happy as he usually was. He didn’t address me personally like he normally did. Now he hated me too. He ushered us inside.

  His mom held her hands together as she stared at me. Her gaze was empty. I couldn’t read anger, despair, annoyance—nothing. She reminded me of a professor about to teach a class.

  We all stood there awkwardly, waiting for someone to speak.

  Finally, I said, “Hi.”

  Diane came closer to me. “Thank you for coming.”

  I nodded, having nothing to say.

  “Can I have a word with you in private?”

  “Of course,” I said with a weak voice.

  “Come on,” she said as she walked down the hall.

  I followed her until we reached a small study. There was a desk that faced a window that overlooked the city of Manhattan. Bookshelves were on either side of the wall. It was so clean that I doubted anyone ever used it. They only used the apartment a few times a year.

  “Have a seat,” Diane said as she patted the chair next to her.

  I saw down in front of the desk. We were both facing forward, but her body was turned to me slightly. I was glad that we weren’t staring directly at each other. I was already incredibly nervous.

  “Scarlet, I have a few things that I would like to say to you.”

  I placed my hands in my lap, rubbing my hands together. I couldn’t sit still. My knee started to shake.

  “I’m so sorry about everything.”

  I looked at her in surprise. I wasn’t expecting her to apologize. She was too stubborn.

  “But if I had known what really happened with Penelope, I never would have behaved that way. I know it’s hard to understand, but I was just looking out for my son.”

  I cleared my throat. “I do understand, Diane. But that doesn’t justify your behavior. When Sean told you he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, you should have accepted me into your family like you accepted Penelope. I feel like I’m good enough to be Sean’s friend, but not his wife.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. I just remember Sean telling me how in love he was with Penelope. It was just a shock when they broke up then he went to you right after.”

  “It’s not a shock because he and I make more sense than he and Penelope ever did. I make Sean happy and I treat him right. Penelope never loved Sean, despite what you may think.”

  “I realize that now,” she said sadly. “And it breaks my heart to know that Sean must have suffered through a very difficult breakup.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “I’m very sorry for everything, Scarlet. I really wished I had behaved differently.”

  “Even when Sean said he wasn’t going to change his mind, you continued to disrespect me, question his love for me, and made me feel unwanted and unloved at all times. I don’t have a mother of my own and I always thought of you as the best substitute. It broke my heart when you completely changed just because Sean wanted to marry me.”

  She played with the ring on her finger, pulling it up and down her finger. “Now I feel even worse.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Andrew told me that I was misbehaving often, but that just made me more upset. Then, the incident that happened on the plane—well, I admit that I wasn’t too happy about that.”

  I felt my cheeks redden. “I think Sean has always made it clear that he was a promiscuous person.”

  “Well, I always wanted him to be with a woman who was a little classier.”

  “Then you aren’t going to like me,” I said quickly. I’m not sure why I said that. It just came out.

  She sighed. “Scarlet, I’ve always loved you like my own daughter. This relationship just started on the wrong foot then progressively got worse. I can assure if you Sean told me the truth about Penelope from the very beginning, I would have been more than ecstatic that you two were together. I never thought you weren’t good enough for him, or even that Penelope was better than you. I was just confused by everything. Now t
hat Andrew and I know what Penelope did to him, we are both livid, especially knowing she tricked him into raising a child with her.”

  “That’s why he didn’t want to tell you the truth.”

  “Why?”

  “So you wouldn’t hate her.”

  She crossed her legs then adjusted herself in her chair. “My son’s compassion surprises me every day.”

  “That’s what I love about him most.”

  “He’s a sweet man.”

  “The sweetest.”

  “Scarlet, I would really love it if we could move past this. I’m really sorry for everything. You are a part of this family and I’m very happy that you two are getting married. I’m embarrassed and ashamed of my behavior. Please.”

  “We can but it will take a while for me to truly let it go. You hurt me a lot, Diane.”

  “I know, dear.”

  “But I want to make this work.”

  “I know this is wrong of me to ask, but I need to ask you to do something for me.”

  I looked at her, surprised by her audacity. Tears were bubbling out of her eyes and her sclera was turning red. She took a deep breath to hide the emotion but she was failing.

  “Help me get my son back,” she said with sob. Tears fell down her face. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to comfort her but I didn’t know if that was appropriate. “He hates me. He never wants to see me again after what I did to you. I don’t blame him. But please help me get him back. I’ll do anything. I love him so much. Please don’t take my son away from me.”

  Her despair tugged my heart. I leaned toward her and wrapped my arms around her, letting her rest her head on my shoulder. “I’ll try, Diane.”

  “Please. He’ll listen to you. I can’t lose my son. He’s everything to me.”

  I patted her back. “I can’t promise anything. You know how stubborn he is. But I promise you that I’ll try. I don’t want Sean to lose his family over this. He already lost his brother. I don’t want him to lose you too.”

  She squeezed me harder. “Bless you. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. I’m so lucky to have a daughter as compassionate as my son. Please bring him back to me.”

  “It’ll be okay,” I said as I patted her on the back. “We’ll figure it out.”

  She pulled away and wiped her tears away, composing herself. “I’m sorry about that. It just came out.”

  “It’s really okay.”

  “Andrew and I really want to be at the wedding. Please let us come.”

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a sniff.

  “Yeah.”

  “So, we’re okay?”

  I looked at her and nodded. “We will be.”

  “Thank you.” She stood up and I rose to a stand. We left the study and walked back into the living room. Andrew looked at us expectantly.

  Diane nodded. “Scarlet generously forgave me.”

  Andrew breathed a sigh of relief. “We are so sorry, Scarlet. We are truly happy that our soon ended up with an amazing girl like you.”

  “You don’t need to apologize, Andrew. You’ve always been nothing but sweet to me.”

  Diane averted her gaze, clearly ashamed of herself.

  Mike wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “So, are you sure you still want to marry my brother? He’s being held in custody at the police station, my mom is crazy, I’m crazy—it’s not too late to get out.”

  I wrapped my arm around his waist. “I’m here to stay.”

  “Damn. I was hoping I could steal you away.”

  “You couldn’t handle me.”

  Everyone laughed at my comment.

  Mike smiled at me. “Well, I’m not brave enough to have sex on a plane.”

  “You should try it. It’s fun.”

  My brother smiled at me, happy that I was finally being myself.

  Diane stepped toward Ryan. “I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce myself the other day. It’s very nice to meet you.” She shook his hand. “You have a wonderful sister.”

  He shook his head. “You’re getting a brat as a daughter.”

  She laughed. “Spoken like a true brother.”

  “Yeah. I hate her,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes. “My brother can be a real jerk.”

  “Shut up. You love me,” he said with a smile.

  “Not right now.”

  Diane’s eyes bubbled with tears suddenly.

  “Dear, what’s wrong?” Andrew said as he wrapped his arm around her.

  “Sean—I miss my son.”

  15

  When we got inside the car we were quiet for a while.

  “So is everything really okay?” Ryan asked.

  I shrugged. “I guess.”

  “His mom apologized, right?”

  “Yeah she did. She kept justifying her actions based on the fact that she didn’t know the truth about Penelope, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse.”

  “It’s not,” Ryan said. “Her behavior was unacceptable.”

  “I guess it will take me awhile to really move past it. The main reason why I decided to forgive her is because of Sean.”

  “He doesn’t want anything to do with them,” Mike said.

  “That’s exactly why,” I said. “I don’t want him to lose his family over this. I want this to work.”

  Mike looked at me. “I know you are persuasive but I don’t think you are going to be able to convince him with this one.”

  “I will. He’ll do ask I ask.”

  Mike laughed. “Good luck with that.”

  “I give him sex. Believe me, he’ll do what I say.”

  “When it comes to you, Scar, he can’t think clearly. He’s totally illogical. He was livid with my mom. I don’t think he’s going to let that go—ever. To be honest, I don’t blame him. If my mom treated my fiancé liked that I would have stopped talking to her a long time ago.”

  “Well, I don’t want that for Sean.”

  The cab stopped and we got out, entering inside the apartment complex. There was a line for the elevator so we just took the stairs off to the side. After we reached our floor, we walked down the hallway. A man was walking toward us wearing a hoodie and jeans. His face was revealed and was staring at me. When he got closer he looked away and kept going. The look made me feel uneasy. I was used to men staring at me in a sexual way, but the look wasn’t sexual. I wasn’t sure what it was. It didn’t feel right.

  Mike got the door opened and we walked inside. I watched Mike lock the door behind us before I felt myself relax. I knew I was being paranoid. Sean was scared that someone was trying to take me and Janice out, but if they were it probably would have happened already.

  Everyone got ready for bed. I went into Mike’s bedroom to sleep with Ryan and Janice, but I decided I wasn’t comfortable there. I came back into the living room where Mike was sitting on the couch. I brought my sleeping bag with me and placed it on the couch.

  “There’s a spare bedroom,” Mike said.

  “I don’t want to sleep there.”

  “Why don’t you sleep with Ryan?”

  “I don’t want to sleep there either.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want to sleep with me?”

  I crawled inside the sleeping back and pulled it over my shoulders. “I don’t want to say.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  “You’ll think I’m weird.”

  “I already think that.”

  “Well, you’ll think I’m weirder.”

  “Just tell me, Scar.”

  I stared at the ceiling while I spoke. “You remind me of Sean, and being near you helps me sleep. I feel like I’m sleeping with him in a way.”

  “That’s really weird.”

  “I told you.”

  “You can come closer and keep pretending,” he said as he winked.

  I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. I’m not attracted to you at all.”

  “Ouch.”

>   “It’s impossible for me to be attracted to someone else because I’m absolutely in love with him.”

  “My brother is a lucky bastard,” he said with a sigh. He lied down on the other couch and looked at the ceiling.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “We’re family. You can ask me anything.”

  I was moved by his openness with me. We used to be close before Sean and I got together, but now we were closer than we had ever been. It was nice. “Were you in love with the girl Sean slept with?”

  “Madly.”

  “You couldn’t forgive her?”

  “It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to be with me anymore. She realized she liked sleeping around, preferring the single life.”

  The knowledge broke my heart. “And that’s why you’re the same way?”

  “Yeah,” he said quietly. “It’s just easier this way.”

  “You’ll find someone that will never hurt you, Mike. I promise.”

  “Maybe, but I doubt it.”

  “You won’t know unless you start looking for a serious relationship.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Mike?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I love you.”

  He said nothing for a long time. “I love you, Scarlet. You aren’t just the greatest thing that happened to my brother. You are one of the greatest things that happened to me.”

  “Why?”

  “You make me want to change, to be a better person.”

  “Is that why you want to fix your relationship with Sean?”

  “Yeah. I see what you have with Ryan and I realize I want that. Sean and I haven’t been brothers or friends in years and it’s over something so stupid. And when I hurt you, scared you, I felt like such an ass. I realized that I wanted to be a part of your life as well as Sean’s. That’s when I knew I had to change.”

  “Mike, what did you do to Sean?”

  He said nothing for so long that I assumed he wasn’t going to answer. “You know I work on Wall Street, right?”

  I didn’t understand where this was going. “Yeah.”

  “Do you remember the name of the guy Penelope left Sean for?”

  “Yeah. I think it was Christian.”

  “Do you know where he works?”

  “No.”

  “Wall Street.”

  “So?”