“Oh yeah. This one is from a local artist.” She walked up to it. “The artist has a lot of Picasso influence in her work. I fell in love with the piece immediately. The lighting is perfection.” The more she spoke of the painting, the less tense she seemed.
“Do you paint?”
“I dabble.” She shrugged. “I’m a Jane of all trades, master of none. Um, Derek told me you work at his company. That must be exciting. Big, fancy job. You get to wear cool clothes.” She pointed at my dress, which thankfully had a print that concealed mud stains.
“It’s great. It’s my dream job. And I get to bring the boss home. So.” I smiled at Derek, and he returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his chest to my back.
“How about we go meet Zack?”
“Do you mind if I wash up first? Maybe Ana can help?”
“I can do that.” She smiled kindly at me. The red in her cheeks was gone.
“Are you sure? I can wait.”
Ana glanced at me with pleading eyes. I gripped Derek’s arm and walked him toward the door. “I’m sure. I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
He kissed my cheek. “You can’t escape me forever.”
“I wasn’t trying to,” I said as he left the room with a wink.
“You two are so cute together. His ex-wife scared the shit out of me.”
I raised both eyebrows at her.
“Oh, I mean, can I help you with anything?”
“Sure. What should I wear?”
“You’re asking me? Okay.” She went to the walk-in closet, where all our clothes had already been unpacked.
Her eyes sparkled with tears when she pulled a silky dress I’d brought in case Derek and I went on a date. That was back in Arizona when I thought we’d be able to spend quality time together. I cocked my head, eyeing the huge empty bed.
“These are beautiful. How do you know what goes with what?”
I laughed. “I don’t really. My best friend runs a fashion blog. She’s the one who knows.”
“I love this one.”
It was a simple pink dress with tiny white flowers around the sleeves. It was very girly, but my friend said it made my boobs look good. So I brought it. Again, date night.
“So tell me about Zack.”
“Zack’s a doctor. He’s the best.” She bit her lip, eyeing the pink dress. “He’s Wesley’s twin. Flew in from South Africa.” Her eyes went big when she said that last bit. “He’s amazing. You’re going to love him.”
Why did I feel so much older than Ana if we were just a few years apart? I guessed when everyone around her called her Sweet Ana, she had no choice but to be just that.
“Let’s go meet him.” She stood and offered me her hand.
“I need to change first.”
“Why? You look beautiful in that.” She eyed me up and down.
“It’ll just take a minute.” I grabbed the peony-pink dress she’d chosen for me and dashed into the bathroom. I checked my face in the mirror. I had a bump, but my hair covered it well. This humidity made it impossible to have straight tresses. I applied concealer to my eyes to make them less puffy and let out a breath. I could only fix myself so much. This would have to do.
I walked out to find Ana waiting for me by the door. “Thank you, by the way. I really didn’t know you two were in here. I freaked out when Wesley showed up. I don’t want to see him. We had a big fight the other night.”
“I could tell you were flustered. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I have to face him sometime.”
“Is it something I can help with?”
“It’s nothing. But thank you for offering. And again, sorry to barge in on you like that.” Her face turned bright red as she opened the door and ushered me out.
I strolled down the corridor toward the grand staircase. I hadn’t noticed it before, but the house had two wings that split up at the landing. “I’m going to need a tour of this place. How you do know where anything is?” I turned to face Ana, but she was gone. When I spun around, I fell into a bear hug.
“Sister.” A guy who looked exactly like Wesley picked me up.
“You must be Zack.” I laughed when he set me down.
9
The Referee Calls Unfair
Derek
Only Zack could get away with hugging a woman he didn’t know. I’d spent six months drinking coffee next to Valentina without saying a word. I’d been afraid I’d scare her away. At the time, that was the worst-case scenario. Honestly, it still was.
I stupidly assumed everyone would love Valentina and that she would love everyone back. Admittedly, only one person didn’t have the reaction I had expected. Mom and I really needed to have a talk about us. About where we stood after all this time. It’d been years now. What could I do to make her understand that I had to go my own way?
“Are you okay?” I asked Valentina. Her cheeks were red, but she didn’t try to get away from Zack. Instead, she slapped his shoulder as if they were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while. She’d met Wesley, so she probably felt as though she already knew Zack. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those two were fire and ice.
“I’m sorry.” Zack put up his hands in surrender. “You ran into me. I was so happy to finally meet you that I went for it.”
“It’s fine. I’m okay with hugs.” Valentina brushed his arm again.
“You know when he first told me about you, I thought he’d met a real-life unicorn. I mean, look at his addled face. He can’t stop grinning.” Zack hooked hands around my waist and picked me up.
“Boys, not in the house,” Mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “Take it outside.”
“Oh my God.” Valentina giggled into her hand.
“You know, she’s right. Let’s take it outside, old man.”
Sparring sounded like a good idea right about now. I glanced at Valentina in her pink dress. She looked sweet and tempting all at once. If Ana hadn’t barged into our room earlier…
“You know what? You’re on, baby Zack.” Zack was three years younger than me, but with all the brothers we had in between, it felt like we should have a bigger age gap.
I took Valentina’s hand in mine. “I’d rather be having a different kind of physical exercise right now. But.”
“What are you guys doing?”
“Come watch me beat my little brother.” I pulled her with me toward the kitchen.
“Wait. You have a boxing ring here too?” Valentina shook her head.
“Why not?”
Wesley grabbed a bottle of bourbon as he followed us down to the basement level where the gym and wine cellar were. Mom stayed in the kitchen, working on dinner. After what happened earlier, I wasn’t about to send Valentina in for round two. She’d be safer staying with me. Though I still needed to come up with a plan to get Mom to change her mind about us.
“I get the winner.” Wesley raised his hand. He was out of his swim trunks, and in workout clothes.
“Do you want to be the referee?” He winked at Valentina. “These assholes cheat.”
“Sure. What do I do?”
“Make sure Zack doesn’t go for the family jewels.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “That’s his MO.”
“He lies.” Zack darted to the change room.
Had he learned any new moves while he was away? I’d never seen him this eager to get his ass kicked. When he came back, he had shorts and one of my old college T-Shirts on. Mom had a hard time letting go of our school stuff.
“Let’s go.” He hopped on to the rink.
“Shot?” Wesley offered Valentina a drink.
“No. I don’t do liquor.”
“Okay, I’ll take yours. We do drinks before the gloves go on.” He placed the four glasses on his palm and filled them on his way to the boxing ring. I took mine and knocked it back. It was good to be home.
“I’d like the referee to note that I’ve been awake for eighteen hours on a plane.” Z
ack raised his hand before he drank.
“I haven’t even touched you, and you’re already making excuses?” I shoved him. “Let’s see your new moves.”
“Who told you about that?”
“Please, why else would you challenge me the minute you walked in?”
Kickboxing had been my thing for a long time. Zack could never beat me. Wesley improved after he joined the marines, but I still gave him a run for his money. Zack threw the first punch. I let it hit me to get my blood going.
“Oh my God.” Valentina jumped off her chair and rushed to the cords.
“That stung a little. Not bad.”
“You talk too much.” He went for it again.
I ducked, then came up with an uppercut and a lead hook. Two years ago, that combination would have knocked him on his ass. But now he bounced on the balls of his feet, focused on his target. “Did that hurt?” Getting him riled up was the way to beat him. Hot head.
“Don’t break a leg now.” He blocked my roundhouse kick. I chuckled. He was serious about beating me. To my right, Valentina had her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. Maybe it would be better if we finished this quick. Zack advanced on me with a much-improved form than what he had before. My guess would be he’d been training in South Africa. As he always did, he went with a roundhouse kick. I blocked it, but before I could throw a cross, he switched his feet and did another roundhouse kick, lower this time, to my ankles.
“Nice.” If I hadn’t been sitting low, I’d be on my ass right now.
He smiled at me. Shit. He knew something I didn’t. Better finish it now. We both had the same idea. He threw a jab, cross. This time, I knew he was going for more of the same. He was an inch taller than me. In the time he’d been gone, his shoulders had gotten wider. But I’d been doing this longer than him. I did a front kick to his knee and swung around. My shin on his neck did the trick. Little brother went down on his ass.
“Son of a bitch.” He punched the canvas. “Admit it—I got closer this time.”
I offered him my hand and yanked him up. “If you hadn’t been about to pee your pants to use that double kick, maybe. You’re in your head too much.”
“My turn.” Wesley hopped on.
“Oh no. Come on, that’s enough.” Valentina pulled down the cords but didn’t jump on. “It’s not fair to fight them back to back. The referee calls unfair.”
Zack chuckled. “I don’t think that’s a legit call.”
“I’m making it legit.” Valentina met his gaze.
Zack put his hands up in surrender. “I don’t need another ass-whooping. Wesley?”
“I’m good. How about a shot instead?” Wesley turned to me. “Got business to talk to you about anyway. You’ll be more amiable if I’m not messing up your pretty face.” He hooked his arm around my neck.
“Shot sounds good.” I shoved him off me.
As if saying “children,” Valentina shook her head at me. “Jeez, this place is a real maze.” She gripped my arm as I ushered her down the hall to the wine cellar and the double doors that led to the lower level of the gardens.
“It was worse before. There was no open space at all. The basement was five different rooms that served no real purpose. We split it into two rooms with a great area in the middle.
“Admit it—you just wanted the booze right next to the gym.” Zack stood at the bottom of the garden steps and let Valentina go first.
Valentina stopped halfway and turned to me. “Do you mind if I go for a walk?”
“I’ll come with you.” I offered her my hand. Behind her, Wesley rolled his eyes.
“No, it’s fine. I just want to see something real quick. I’ll meet you up there.”
“Okay.”
Valentina skipped down back to the gardens. Wesley threw his arm around me and ushered me back to the upper terrace. “She’ll be fine. This place is a fortress, although we did see a fox the other day.”
“She’s an adult. Let her be.” Zack plopped himself on one of the Adirondack chairs.
Wesley disappeared through the kitchen door and came back with three glasses. He set them on the side table and sat next to me. “Drink up. You’re not gonna like what I have to say.”
“Out with it.”
“I’m passing on your proposal.”
“What? You realize I’m the client, right? I pay you.” I pointed at myself, then him.
“Yes. You pay me to make sure you have enough money to pay me the next cycle.”
“Did you talk it over with Mom?”
He shook his head and took a long swig of his bourbon. “No.”
“I think we should ask her.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? This is not a solid investment. High risk, well above what I’m able to tolerate. And if this were anyone else’s idea, you wouldn’t tolerate it either. You can’t keep losing your money because Mom wants you to.”
I braced my arms on my knees and met his gaze. In her day, Mom was good at her job. But lately she was all over the place, especially when it came to investments for me. Since I moved half my money over to her wealth management company, I’d been steadily losing money. I’d stayed because it was Mom. Now that Wesley was back and working with her, he’d been pushing back.
“I get that this is your way of saying sorry for leaving. I love Mom, but she has to let that shit go. She has to let you go.”
“I thought if we worked on it together, she’d come around.”
Zack leaned forward to look at me. “You screwed up, man. But it’s obvious you have no idea what you screwed up on.”
I rolled my eyes. “Enlighten me.”
“Mom doesn’t want your money. She wants you. Real quality time with you.”
“Says the guy who’s been gone for two years.”
“I’m saving lives. She loves that. I left for something bigger than us. To make a change.”
I sat back in my chair, downing the rest of my drink. Lately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep the people I loved happy. Just a few hours ago, Valentina was ready to leave me. Now, after losing millions to feed her portfolio, Mom and I had not made progress. Talk to her, Valentina had said. Was it really that easy? If the house renovation and investing a big chunk of my money into her company hadn’t done the trick, what could I possibly say to her to show her I was sorry?
“Why do you think she has this crazy idea that you and Anabelle should get together? She wants to marry you to the neighbor. Could she be more obvious?” Wesley sat back on his chair, rubbing the inside of his wrist.
It took a lot of guts to make this decision and follow through. He was good at what he did, though Mom kept dragging him down. Same way she did with me.
“All this time, it was about spending time with us?”
“Exactly. And for the record, before I left, I took Mom and Dad camping for a whole week. No cell phones, no Wi-Fi. Just us and a big case of booze.” He did a mic-drop gesture. “Boom. Quality time.”
“I’m here for thirty days.”
“Have you seen her? She’s in her element. She dragged Anabelle all over the place trying to get this house ready for you. Asshole, she flew to Italy to get you your goddamn marble tile.”
This was how Zack got away with bear-hugging strangers. He was a telepath or something. “Okay, Dr. Phil. I get it.”
Zack stood; he was on to something here. He wasn’t going to let it go. “Are you sure? Because I talked to Anabelle earlier.” He glanced over at Wesley, and he shrugged. “Our beautiful referee is getting the brunt of it. Why do you think that is?”
“I’m obviously failing today.” I rose to my feet to grab the bottle of bourbon. “Just tell me what else I’m doing wrong.”
“She’s the one keeping you in Arizona.”
I looked behind me over my shoulder. “My business keeps me there.”
“You know that’s not true.” Wesley met my gaze, daring me to lie to him.
“Unfortunately, brother, I don’t have
the answers.” Zack moved to the edge of the patio. He sipped from his glass, stretching his neck to see beyond the trees.
“I’m glad Zack was here for this conversation. I don’t know what to tell you other than you can’t keep throwing your money away on investments that don’t make sense. You might as well give her this house too. Why the hell not?”
Zack turned around, laughing. “Didn’t we just prove Mom doesn’t want money? Though that’s not such a bad idea.”
“It was a joke, not an idea.”
“She wanted to save this house for a reason. Dad couldn’t care less. And he’s the one that grew up here. Look at what she’s done just to have us all here again.” Zack had a point there.
I gripped a bunch of my hair. “I literally just told Valentina this was her house. What am I going to tell her? ‘Hey, I’m going to give it to Mom instead. Good news, she might be nicer to you if I do.’”
“I mean, I wouldn’t say it like that.” Zack regarded me as if my ranting made sense.
“You guys are no help.”
Mom walked onto the patio carrying a tray of cold meats. “I swear dinner is almost ready. We had a little incident in the kitchen. The gas line wasn’t connected properly.” She shook her head.
“It’s fine, Mom.” Zack put his arm around her. Mom’s eyes got a brilliant quality to them.
I rose to my feet to go find Valentina. It was getting dark, and I didn’t really trust her to be out there on her own. She’d already proven she could get lost on her own. Wesley stalked over to me and pinched my shoulders.
“Sit down,” he whispered in my ear. “Listen to Dr. Phil.”
“So, Mom, Wesley and Derek have something to tell you. Oh look, we’re out of crackers. Sit. I’ll get them.” Zack kissed Mom on the top of her head and left us to deal with our bad news.
“Derek wants you to keep Gram’s house,” Wesley blurted out. Coward. He couldn’t start with his bad news.
I glared at Wesley. When I turned to face Mom, she was in tears, hugging herself. She deserved to be here with us. “I mean, you already moved in.”
“Derek.” Mom walked around the chairs to hug me. “What a lovely gesture, but you know I can’t take this house from your new bride. It wouldn’t be fair to her. Where would your kids live?”
Unravel You: A Hot Billionaire Romance (Cole Brothers Series Book 1) Page 9