My Stepbrother the Dom (Stepbrother Romance)

by Arabella Quinn

  Marissa nodded. “They’ve got a real cute restaurant here, open to the public. I’ve always wanted to try it.”

  “Okay.”

  We parked and then I followed Marissa inside. She spoke to the man who approached us. “We have a dinner reservation on the terrace. Under Marissa Cooper.”

  “Right this way, ladies.” The man led us through an empty dining room and onto a beautiful terrace adorned with tiny white lights that overlooked a lake. There was only one table outside and it was set in spectacular fashion.

  We sat down and ordered wine. “This isn’t exactly what I expected.”

  Marissa agreed. “It’s definitely very romantic. I bet you wish you were with someone other than me.”

  “No, I’m glad I’m with you.” I laughed. “I like spending time with you. It is a bit overly romantic though.”

  Our wine was served. When the waiter left, Marissa smiled. “You know I love you, dear. I love both of my children very much.”

  I scowled. Why did she have to bring up Cole? “Yes, of course I know that.”

  “Well, I hope you remember it.” She stood up. “I need to use the ladies room before we order. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.” I took a sip of my wine. I had a feeling it was going to be an odd dinner.

  ~~

  At first, I thought it was the waiter standing next to me. “Can we have a few more minutes? My mom will be back in a moment.”

  “She’s not coming back.”

  I didn’t move a muscle. I froze. It was like every single muscle in my body seized up. The voice I heard was Cole’s voice, but I must have been imagining things.

  “Ava. Please. I know I don’t deserve it, but will you please hear me out?”

  That wasn’t something a random waiter would say to a girl. In fact, from the tremors that were starting to overtake my hands, I had the distinct feeling that Cole Hunter was standing less than a foot away from me.

  I was scared to look. I was scared that one look at Cole and all my resolve would melt away. He had already run out on me twice. I would be a fool to give him a third chance.

  His hand touched my shoulder. “Ava. I know I messed up. But my mom wouldn’t have brought you here if she didn’t know how lost I was without you.”

  I finally looked at him. My stomach clenched with pain. He was dressed up, and he looked so incredibly handsome. He also looked vulnerable in a way I had never seen in him before. But I couldn’t let myself be swayed.

  If I was going to see Cole, at least I was wearing something super-hot while I threw his lame apology back at him. I’d have to thank Marissa for that later.

  He was holding a single white rose. He held it out to me. “White roses are supposed to represent new beginnings. I thought maybe –”

  I snatched the rose from his hand. “Oh, gee. What does the card say? ‘To Ava, the biggest mistake of my life’?”

  He blanched. I had never quite known what that meant, until I saw it. He was starting to look downright sickly - just how I was feeling.

  I stood up. “I guess I don’t have a ride home anymore? Wonderful.”

  Cole looked miserable. “Mom is still in the parking lot waiting for the signal that it’s okay to leave. She’ll take you home if that’s what you really want.”

  “Thank God.” I picked up my purse and turned to leave.

  “Wait.” How could his voice still stop me in my tracks? “I didn’t want to do it this way, but would you please just hear me out? If you still want to leave after, I won’t stop you.”

  Why was I even giving him a chance? “Fine. I’ll hear you out. I’ll listen to your lame explanation. And then you have to leave me alone, Cole. I’m not kidding.”

  It was about thirty minutes and two glasses of wine later when I had gotten most of the story. I was still peppering Cole with questions, about my father and about the rape, when it finally dawned on me that Cole had been just as much a victim in all of this that I had been.

  He was talking about the District Attorney or something when I suddenly stopped him. “Cole, what does this mean for us?”

  He gave me that sexy smile that was always my undoing. “Well, that’s what I hope is the good part. The part I wanted to discuss before. I really didn’t want to go into all this dark stuff about rape and your father tonight. I wanted tonight to be about us.”

  “What about us?”

  Cole pulled out his phone. “Well, that depends. Can I call my mom and tell her she can leave? That you’ll be spending the night with me?”

  I suddenly felt shy. “Okay.”

  My answer produced another sexy smile from him. “Good answer.” He called his mom and told her she could go. “I was getting worried, too, Mom. She’s a stubborn one.”

  I rolled my eyes at his teasing. When he got off the phone, I put down my wine glass. “Cole, I still have so many questions.”

  “Can we just concentrate on us for the rest of the night? Besides, I think the waiter is going to go bonkers if we don’t order dinner soon.”

  Dinner was delicious and the setting was utterly romantic, but when I found out that Cole had a room reserved at the bed and breakfast for the night ‘just in case’, I was eager to finish our meal.

  When we stepped into the simple but elegant room, I was surprised to see a suitcase waiting. “Mom packed a bag of clothes and toiletries for you for the morning.”

  I was touched by the gesture. “Wow, she really had faith that this was going to go well. I guess this means we have her blessing?”

  Cole wrapped his arms around me. “She knows us both so well. She never doubted for a moment that we would work it out.”

  My hands slid around his waist and I pulled him close. “I guess I have more to thank her for than just getting me to wear this dress.”

  Cole looked me up and down. “I have to thank her too. Because you look so unbelievably gorgeous tonight.”

  I wanted to bask in my happiness forever. “Cole, I’m sorry I was – ”

  He put his finger to my lips. “Shh. It’s almost time to stop talking, because I want to show you exactly how I feel about you.”

  “Almost time?”

  Cole smiled. “Almost. Because first I want to tell you… I love you, Ava.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I had to clutch Cole tighter, because I was afraid my knees were going to give out. His words were completely unexpected.

  Tears welled up in my eyes. “I love you, too. I think I always have.”

  Those were the last words that we spoke that night, because Cole proceeded to show me exactly what he meant. We made love until the sun came up. It was tender and sweet and sensual.

  And when I was lying in his arms, after I was totally and completely sated, he kissed my forehead. “I forgot to tell you last night. My mom is filing for divorce. Do you know what that means?”

  “That the only parent I’ll have left is a blackmailing jackass?” I didn’t want to ruin our peaceful moment, but I still hadn’t fully processed my Dad’s actions.

  Cole laughed. “No silly. It means that you won’t be my sister anymore.”

  I looked at him in astonishment. Maybe it was the stupid grin on his face, but his comment seemed to be about the most inappropriate and ridiculous thing to say as we laid tangled up together. I burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

  Epilogue

  Two years later…

  “It looks gorgeous, Ava. Let me get the mirror so you can see the back.” Marissa had my hair curled, twisted and pinned in less than thirty minutes. She had practiced the updo on my hair a few times before, following along with an internet how-to video.

  I held the mirror while Marissa slipped one last decorative pin into the back of my hair. “Right there. Perfect.”

  My eyes started filling with tears. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”

  A girl can be emotional on her wedding day, right? Because that didn’t even begin to describe the state I was in. One momen
t, I was overwhelmed with an almost manic joy and the next I was shedding a tear at the silliest thing that somehow suddenly seemed enormously sentimental.

  We had decided on a destination wedding – away from the stress and gossip of all our collective baggage. We weren’t exactly eloping, but with all the strange family dynamics going on, we had decided to keep our wedding as low profile as we could. We wanted it far away from home so that we could leave all our worries and troubles behind and just focus on our own happiness.

  In less than two hours, I would be Mrs. Cole Hunter. We were to be married on the beach without a lot of fanfare. Marissa had insisted on coming. Cole and I joked about not being able to keep her away, but the truth was that it meant the world to me that she would be there. And I knew that it meant a lot to Cole as well.

  Marissa looked at her watch. “We’re ahead of schedule. I’m going to run to my room to get ready. I’ll be back in plenty of time to help you get dressed. You, my dear, need to relax. Would you like a cup of herbal tea? Or maybe a glass of champagne would help?”

  My hands twisted nervously in my lap. “No thanks. Maybe I should go check on Cole?”

  Marissa put her hands on her hips and gave me a stern look. “No way. And he knows he’s in big trouble if he tries to see you again before the ceremony. I swear, the two of you - you’d think you hadn’t seen each other for years.”

  Just then there was a knock on the door.

  Marissa threw up her hands in exasperation. “If that’s him again…” She cracked the door open and peeked out. “Oh, perfect timing. I was just leaving. Make sure she doesn’t run off to see Cole.”

  Marissa turned back to me. “Ava, you have a visitor. I’ll be back after I get dressed to help you finish up.”

  The tall, elegant woman who walked into the room looked vaguely familiar. She smiled tentatively at me. “Ava, it’s Aunt Marie. Do you remember me?”

  I noticed the strong resemblance to my mother as soon as she said it. “Aunt Marie! What are you doing here?”

  She swooped into the room and gave me air kisses on each of my cheeks, so that she wouldn’t mess up my makeup. I hadn’t seen my aunt in years. She lived in Hong Kong and sadly my father had made no effort to keep in touch with my mother’s side of the family.

  “I hope you don’t mind, Ava. I caught wind of your wedding from your cousin, Grace – she saw something you posted on one of those social media sites. Your father didn’t know the details, but he put me in touch with Marissa. I hadn’t realized they were divorced.” She waved her hand. “Oh anyway. Hawaii is just a hop, skip and a jump from Hong Kong, and I couldn’t let you get married without being here. Your mother wouldn’t have wanted that.”

  I felt tears slipping from my eyes. “I was just thinking about my mom. I’m so glad you came. We decided it was best to keep the wedding very small, because… well, it’s all pretty complicated.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Aunt Marie handed me a tissue from her bag. “And all that complicated stuff? Marissa filled me in on everything. Bah, none of that stuff matters. What matters is what’s in your heart. And I hear, although she’s a slightly biased source, that you snagged a pretty great guy.”

  I smiled through my tears. “Cole is amazing. I wish my mother could have met him.” I bit my lip with worry. “I keep wondering what Mom would have thought about all of this. Not just about Cole and the wedding, but about the stuff with my dad.”

  “You look a lot like your mother, you know.” Aunt Marie dragged a stool over to where I was sitting, and sat besides me. “She loved you unconditionally, Ava. So, I know the only thing she’d ever be feeling is wonderfully happy for you.”

  Now, my nose was sniffling too. “Thank you, Aunt Marie.”

  Aunt Marie grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Let me show you what I brought, before we both start crying like babies.”

  She pulled out a white gift bag. “Do you have all your bases covered with the ‘something old, something new’ thing?”

  My mouth flew open. “I forgot all about it!”

  “Don’t worry,” Aunt Marie said. “I brought some things with me just in case. If you want to use them, that’s great. If not, well, I don’t believe in silly good luck superstitions anyway. We make our own luck.”

  She pulled out a tiny jewelry box and opened it. A pair of vintage pearl drop earrings surrounded with sparkling diamonds was nestled in the velvet liner. “These belonged to your mother. I know she would want you to have them.”

  My hand shook as I took them. “They’re absolutely beautiful. They would be perfect.”

  Aunt Marie dug into her bag again. “That’s something old, then. I also want to give you the matching pearl necklace. Marissa told me you already have a necklace to wear, so save the pearls for another time. They’re a little old-fashioned anyway.”

  I touched the angel pendant hanging around my neck that Cole had given to me for Christmas years ago. It was an inexpensive piece of jewelry, but it was worth so much to me.

  She continued, “Something new - I thought you’d have that one covered?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, “the dress, the shoes, the veil – they’re all new.”

  “Something borrowed, then.” She pulled out a flower-shaped crystal brooch pin. “I will loan you this pin, if you like. Marissa told me that the stems of your bouquet are wrapped in ribbon. You can pin it there if it doesn’t work with your dress.”

  I took the delicate looking pin from her hand, trying to keep more tears at bay. “Aunt Marie, this is all so wonderful. I can’t thank you enough for coming today and doing all this for me.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Hold your thanks for a moment. Wait until you see the ‘something blue’. It was your cousin’s idea.”

  I didn’t know my cousin well, but I did know that she was quite the rebellious teenager. “What is it?”

  She pulled out a small glass jar. “Metallic blue nail polish. You could always just paint your toes, so it’s not noticeable.”

  The idea of my bright blue toenails poking out of the sand put a smile on my face. “It’s perfect! Everything’s just perfect.”

  Aunt Marie leaned over and hugged me. “I’m so happy for you, Ava. You look absolutely beautiful and your mother would be so proud of you.”

  I smiled. My tears were finally drying up. “That means a lot to me. In the back of my mind, I kept feeling guilty about this. Like I was sneaking off to get married because I was doing something wrong.”

  She shook her head. “Everyone is very happy for you, Ava. I know you’re thinking about your father. Please don’t let him spoil your day. Frank was always so rigid and self-righteous – and look at all the things he’s done! It used to drive your mother crazy.”

  “I’m not sure I can ever forgive him.”

  Aunt Marie took my hand. “He expressed some regret when I spoke to him on the phone. But, don’t hold your breath. That man is impossible. Your father only sees the world in black and white. He never sees the shades of gray.”

  Her words made me smile. They reminded me of that movie I had seen years ago. The movie that had set in motion the events that led me to randomly show up at ‘Sanctuary’ one evening and meet Master Royce. What a strange world we lived in.

  Our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Aunt Marie stood up. “I’ll get it.”

  A few moments later, she returned holding a package. “It looks like a wedding gift. Unless you need anything, I’ll leave you to finish getting ready.”

  I stood up to give her another hug. “Thank you so much for being here today. I guess I’ll see you at the ceremony?”

  She glanced at her watch. “Absolutely. And it looks like you’ve got about an hour left; so don’t go thinking about contacting that gorgeous fiancé of yours. Marissa has got him under lock and key.”

  When Aunt Marie left, I glanced curiously at the package. I had time, so I decided to open it. It took some effort, but eventuall
y I got the shipping box opened. Inside was a gift, wrapped with wedding paper. I unwrapped the box and opened it. A note lay on top of the tissue paper.

  Dear Ava,

  I hope you will enjoy my gift to you for many years to come.

  May your love story never end…

  Betsy

  Tears were threatening to spill again just from reading her lovely note. Betsy was the only person who knew about Master Royce and April, but I hadn’t been back to the ‘Sanctuary’ since the day I had found out that Master Royce had quit. I wondered how Betsy could have found out about our wedding.

  I wasn’t expecting what I found when I unfolded the tissue paper. On top, sat the feathered Mardi Gras mask that I had worn at ‘Sanctuary’. And, underneath was the gladiator costume that Master Royce had worn.

  Everything came back to where it all started. I felt a smile tugging at my lips. It was a smile that never disappeared for the rest of the day.

  ~~

  I was finally alone with Cole and we were back in the honeymoon suite. The ceremony had been everything I could ever dream of. Afterwards, we took tons of pictures and had lots of champagne before Marissa and Aunt Marie shooed us away.

  “You look so gorgeous, Ava, it’s a shame that I have to take this dress off you.” Cole’s arms were wrapped around me.

  I was smiling up at him like a love-struck fool. “I’m so happy right now; I think I could just float away.”

  “Hey, you’re not going anywhere!” Cole was holding me tighter.

  One heated look from Cole and my romantic daydreaming turned to a smoldering need. I could never get enough of him.

  We undressed each other slowly, building to an unbearable anticipation while taking off the seemingly never-ending pieces of our wedding attire.

  “You are mine, Ava, now and forever.”

  He punctuated his words with a kiss - not a sweet kiss to match his words, but a rough and demanding kiss that left me breathless and inflamed by passion. His hand slipped between my legs and had me moaning within moments of touching my most sensitive places.