My Way to You (Brothers in Law Book 1)

by Lyndell Williams

  “Yes, sir.” Simon stretched his hand It was ignored. “Please, may I have it?” He almost snatched it out of the pervert’s grip, but there was his career to think about.

  “Oh, yes. Here you go.” The man smiled until his eyes were slits. His body shook with a chuckle, chair squeaking as he turned to the others. “Let’s get this young man back to his phone call.” The entire room exploded with laughter.

  Simon peeped sideways at the gray-stripped carpet and shoved the phone in his pocket. The abundance of ceiling-to-wall windows behind him and along one side of the room didn’t keep it from closing in on him. The idea that another man ogled even a picture of Regina, his Gina, pricked at his nerves—as did being the butt of the room joke.

  The situation even garnered a smile from Rameez, who reclined in his seat and watched his acolyte squirm. He eventually straightened and flicked a pen he took from the table in his hand. “Shall we let Mr. Young off the hook and allow him to give us his suggestions?” Everyone complied with Rameez’s recommendation. The room stilled, and Simon returned everyone’s attention away from his half-naked fiancée and to the business at hand.

  The rest of the meeting went well. Simon and Rameez worked seamlessly as a team. It wasn’t long before all parties were satisfied and ready to move forward. The two of them then spent some time talking with people as the room slowly emptied.

  “You did a great job, Simon.” Rameez walked around the row of abandoned leather swivel chairs and patted him on the back. “How about dinner? Oh, wait.” He rubbed his long-stubble beard. “You have an important call to get back to, right?”

  Simon crossed his arms and shifted his weight. “Thanks, and I’m sorry about that.”

  Rameez filled the room with a bout of laughter. “Hey, it broke the tension, didn’t it? So, glass half-full.” He prodded Simon to the door and down the hall.

  The two men entered the empty elevator studying their phones. “How long have you been engaged?”

  “How long have I been here?” Simon leaned against the back of the elevator and scanned his surroundings. Longing clenched his chest. He was lucky Regina hadn’t thrown the ring back at him right there on the D.C. streets when he told her he was leaving. They’d been engaged less than three hours before work separated them. A project expected to be eight weeks turned into more than ten. Fortunately for Simon, she was bearing everything a lot more patiently than he.

  “Seriously? You got engaged and then flew here?” Rameez continued pushing at the screen of his phone.

  “Basically. I was on my way to propose when you called. That’s why I needed another day.”

  “I didn’t know. I appreciate how hard that must’ve been. As salam Alaykum.” He walked towards the front of the elevator and continued his phone conversation in Urdu. The tone in his voice made it clear that it wasn’t a business call. His smile when he turned confirmed it. Simon couldn’t understand a word of the language, but he recognized a few English ones like “engaged,” “New York” and “unbelievable.”

  Simon’s phone grabbed his attention.

  Regina: Almost done? I’m falling asleep.

  Simon: Can you hang on a little longer? I’ll make it worth your while…and mine. Btw, no more sexy pics. Someone saw one.

  Regina: I guess you better be more careful about who has access to your phone.

  The notification light flashed in the corner. Simon couldn’t help but smile and open the latest piece of titillation. Like the others, it didn’t disappoint.

  Simon: Continue to be naughty, and I’ll have to punish you.

  Regina: Promise?

  He raised his eyebrows. She was not usually the type to send sensual pictures or be so suggestive in her texts, but their time apart changed that. The things she normally reserved for when he was front, center and rock-hard took the form of erotic messages. He responded in-kind, but it increasingly made it harder to be apart. Any more time away from her would kill him.

  “Wa alaykum salam, jaan.” Rameez tucked his phone in his dress shirt pocket and swayed with the halting elevator. “Well, my wife has ordered me to let you leave for New York immediately.” He disappeared into parking garage.

  Simon’s shoes clicked against the concrete as he lightly jogged to catch up to Rameez. “I’m sorry? Your wife what?”

  “She wants me to let you go home. She thinks I’m a monster for keeping two people in love apart for so long.”

  “It’s my job.” A message notification binged.

  Rameez stopped and turned. “And you’ve been great at it, which is why I chose you, but I can handle things from here. Besides, there’s some ground work for another case I want you to do in New York before I return. So, you can catch a flight back to your fiancée and make my wife happy.” He opened the rental car trunk and dropped his message bag inside.

  Simon set his backpack next to it. “Really, Rameez, I can stay and finish whatever work needs to be done.”

  “You don’t miss—-Regina, right?”

  “Yes, and very much.” Another ding.

  Rameez shut the trunk and fumbled with the fob. “Then it’s settled. You go to Regina, and Dilshad will come here.” The usually stoic attorney’s face lit when he mentioned the name.

  “Your wife’s coming here?” Simon peered over the black sedan. Things were getting more confusing.

  Rameez swung the door open and shot his eyebrows upward. “Yup.” He leaned against the roof of the car with his hands. “I’ve been trying to get her to visit for weeks, but she didn’t want to leave the kids and overwhelm the nanny. I told her your lovesick sob story, and she demanded I let you go, which means I have stay longer,” Rameez held his hand against his chest, “all alone.” He shot his finger at Simon. “You were just what I needed. She’s booking a flight as we speak.”

  They settled into the car. Rameez started the engine, grinning at Simon. “You get your fiancée. I get my wife.” He pulled out of the parking stall. Sunlight filled the car as he drove into the Singapore street.

  Simon read the thread of messages from Regina, each expressed an increasing irritation.

  Simon: I’m sorry. Something came up.

  Regina: Everything okay?

  Simon: I need to talk with Rameez. I think you should go to sleep. I’m sorry.

  Regina: You owe me, Young.

  Simon: More than you know. I love you.

  “I’m telling you, Simon,” Rameez shifted gears, “I plan on keeping her to myself for as long as possible.”

  “Huh?” Simon closed the message app. “Yeah.” The car went silent, and he busied himself checking flight times for New York.

  Chapter 29

  Red Line

  “No, ma.” Regina craned her neck over the refrigerator and yelled at the phone on the counter. “Simon and I don’t want a big wedding.” Her stomach growled and then churned at the sight of the kimchi jars. Why did I decide stay here? The apartment made her feel closer to Simon while he was in Singapore, but the food selection left a lot to be desired. Exhaustion overwhelmed her the past few weeks, so shopping was out of the question, until now. Eggs. I want eggs.

  “I understand, Regina. Your father and I want you to be happy, but ever since word of your engagement got out, a lot of people have hinted about wedding invites.”

  “I’m sure they have, but dad’s business associates and your colleagues will have to simply deal with the disappointment of not attending.” She eyed the bottle of water after drinking from it. This must be old. “Except Professor Murphy. I like her.”

  “She’s on the list. I really think you need to reconsider the venue.”

  “Sorry. I’ve wanted to get married in the gazebo since I was a little girl. It’s were I had my first pretend wedding with Mateo.” Memories of Mateo’s wet kiss on her cheek flooded her mind. Simon, of course, would give her a better one. “Besides, things are complicated enough with you demanding Reverend Banes officiate with Judge Kelly.”

  “Reverend Banes
is our family clergy. He baptized you. How could you expect him not to marry you?”

  “And Judge Kelly was Simon’s father’s best friend who watched over him after his dad died. We’ve been over this, ma, and you both get what you want.” Regina leaned back and scrutinized each cabinet as she opened them. They didn’t offer any way to curb the hunger or nausea. “What I want is to keep things as modest as possible. The backyard is over an acre. You can certainly fit more than enough people.”

  “I’ll do my best. Simon’s guest list isn’t very long, so we can take from his side.”

  Regina went into the bedroom and pulled one of Simon’s sweatshirt over her head. She’d developed a habit of wearing them the past few days. “Yeah, he didn’t invite many of them. Most of his mother’s family lives outside the country and as for his father’s,” she jumped and pulled to clasp her jean’s over her bulging belly, “let’s just say that Simon closed the subject.” I haven’t even been eating. How the hell am I gaining weight?

  “Subject closed. I’ll send you the list to finalize before it goes off to the caterer.”

  Regina left the front of her jeans open and pulled the sweatshirt over them. It’s time to arrange some visits to the gym with Toni or else Simon will come back to more of me than he expects. “Sounds good, ma.”

  “Now, did you two decide on the honeymoon?”

  She grabbed the keys off the counter. There were eggs to be had. Her stomached demanded them. “Yes, we wanna go to the Caribbean, but the dates are shaky. They may need him at the firm right after the wedding, so we’ll have to save the honeymoon for later.” She strode out the apartment door, pausing to brace herself against the wall before trudging down the hall.

  “Just make sure you schedule it around your period. You don’t want your honeymoon ruined.”

  Regina stopped halfway to the elevator. She swallowed hard and panted as fast as her racing heart. My period? When was the last time I even had it? She was never one to put little dots on a calendar, and with everything swimming around her—haters, a new job, a wedding, and her fiancé an ocean away—keeping track of her monthly “friend” was not on the agenda, until now. “Okay, ma. I’ll make sure.” She tried to control the trembling in her voice.

  “Is everything all right?”

  She gripped her forehead and swung back towards the apartment. “Umm, yeah, ma.” It couldn’t have been that long ago. Regina bit her lip and switched directions back to the elevator. “I have to go.” Nerves, nausea and plain fear made her head spin. She fell against the wall and dropped the phone by her side. Squeezing her eyes shut, she back tracked over the months of making love to Simon and times she couldn’t. The reasons were few, Instagram, Marcus, illness, Singapore. The last time she’d remembered having to turn her amorous lover down because of biology was a few days during the week of the cocktail party. That would mean… She stared at the ceiling as a myriad of calculations and dates swished inside her head.

  She pushed off the wall and braced herself back against it, waiting for everything to stop spinning. “You’re being dramatic.” The hall and empty elevator became her audience. “You used condoms every time.” She closed her eyes. “Oh, no. The last time we were together the friggin’ thing broke, but I took that pill.” Regina’s earrings hit the sides of her shaking head. “Just take a test and get back to being scared about real stuff.”

  ***

  The pink box landed with a tiny thump on the marble bathroom counter. Regina tilted the long slip of paper towards the overhead vanity lights and held a bunch of coiffed coils in her fist. For the second time in some months, she squinted at fine-print instructions from a package that held her life in the balance. “Put the tip in urine for five seconds,” she mumbled while holding one corner of her bottom lip between her teeth, “wait three minutes?” Things rattled inside the bathroom draws she flew open while searching for something to pee in to find out if everything was about to drastically change. She slammed the last one shut and leaned on the vanity holding the pregnancy test instructions in one hand and the tortuous white stick in the other. “Nothing. I shoulda went back to my apartment.”

  She raced into the kitchen. Her chest panged with guilt as she took a sparkling square drinking glass from the complete set of Simon’s pristine cabinet. Casualties were necessary. After counting the required time, she capped the test and swiped her phone to set the timer for three minutes. It wasn’t necessary. Two red lines appeared in the tiny window before the app opened on the screen. She set the phone down next to the test.

  The stick rattled on the vanity, shaking from her weight as she braced herself on it and stared at the matching tile floor. “Son of a bitch.” She glared at the two lines mocking her then jumped at the buzzing doorbell and the phone’s vibration resounding through the bathroom. Hairs stood on the back of her neck at the words on the screen.

  Simon: Hey, babe. It’s me. Open the door!

  Her astonished face gawked back at her in the mirror. “You gotta be kidding me.” She slowly walked towards the door.

  “Gina?” Simon’s muffled voice passed into the quiet apartment.

  She squealed and rushed to unlatch the door. “Simon?” She threw her arms over the pillow around his neck. “You’re home?”

  Simon dropped his bag and grabbed the door jamb. “I’m home.” He balanced and drew her closer. “Rameez took pity on me,” he said between kisses, “and asked that I get some work done in New York.” Strong hands pressed her against her beloved’s chest. “So, I booked the next flight back and got the hell out of there.” Regina’s heart quickened as soft lips tickled her neck and her fiancé’s hands squeezed her round bottom.

  Her head swirled with a befuddling mix of disbelief and passion. “But, why didn’t you let me know?”

  Simon dragged the large suitcase into the apartment on its wheels with one hand and carried shopping bags with the other. He left everything in front of the closed door along with his coat and gathered her back into his arms. “Surprise. Now,” he lifted the hem of her sweatshirt while walking deeper into the apartment, “I’ve been waiting for months to get you in bed.” The sweatshirt fell to the floor. He pecked the soft mounds of her breasts. “And if I remember correctly, you are in line for some punishment.” He seemed determined to keep his lips on some part of her body. Lips, face, neck, shoulders and breast all tingled from his intoxicating caresses and nips.

  Giggling each time he led her into another piece of furniture, she finally stopped their progress. “Why don’t I just turn around?”

  “Or,” he lifted and straddled her thighs around his waist. “We can do this.” He strode into the bedroom and fell with her on the bed. Clothes cascaded to the wood floor, and the two were soon entwined in a long-awaited embrace. Simon stroked her coils. “I’ve missed you so much.”

  Regina closed her eyes and reveled in his caresses. “Me too.”

  He turned to the nightstand and opened the drawer. “Ah, no condoms?” He kissed her shoulder. “I think there are some in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

  Regina’s eyes flew open. The test! “No.” She bolted straight and pulled a confused Simon back down on the bed. “No,” she smiled and rubbed his chest, “I can get them. I want to freshen up a little more anyway.” She slid off the bed.

  He pulled her hips. “No, Gina,” he moaned burying his forehead in her abdomen, gliding his nose from side to side, “I want to smell and taste you, not a bunch of perfume.”

  She clutched his shoulders and leaned her head back. He could make her forget everything with a few words or a single touch. She pushed away and backed into the hallway. “Don’t worry. You won’t.” Once in the bathroom, Regina looked at the two red lines. Maybe I should tell him now? Oh, we don’t need condoms. You already knocked me up.

  Her heart jumped at the sound of creaking from the bed and Simon’s footsteps. “Gina? Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, everything’s fine.” She shoved the test and instr
uctions in the box and buried them in the back of the bottom draw, ironically on the huge box of condoms. She pulled a few out. I can’t tell him now. All I want to do is be in his arms.

  “Let’s go, woman.”

  She pointed at her reflection. “Shut up.” She dashed out of the bathroom. “I’m coming.”

  ***

  Regina shivered and wiped the drops of water cascading down her neck from her wet hair. She tied all but the front mass of coils in a tight bun and tucked them under a silk scarf and cap. Simon stirred in the bed. She let out a sigh when he stilled and his chest rose and fell. She’d managed to arrange meeting Toni for breakfast and couldn’t risk waking the slumbering ball of libido. He’d insist that she return to bed, an offer she would be hesitant to refuse even with morning sickness.

  I gotta get out of this bedroom and somewhere I can think. Regina grazed her lips against Simon’s cheek and slipped away.

  ***

  Ten minutes later, she slumped against the diner’s door. Aromas greeted her nose and caused renewed waves of nausea that had waned when she got off the rocky subway. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the cold glass. Life sucked.

  “Gina.” Toni waved at her from a booth all the way at the other end of the diner.

  The black and white tile pattern on the floor added dizziness to the nausea. She trudged between people perched on padded chrome stools at the counter and eating at booths, shielded from the morning sun by a blue-striped awning outside the row of windows. “Hey.” She plopped on the burgundy vinyl and closed her eyes.

  “I hope this breakfast emergency is urgent enough to justify leaving my warm bed and hot husband.” Toni’s spoon clinking against the steaming mug assaulted Regina’s ears.

  “Yeah, thanks for coming.” Regina scanned the table for the offending odor making her empty stomach roll. “I need to eat something.” She raised her hand then massaged her aching shoulder. A result of some creative positions the previous night.