Chapter 9
Asher
I wanted to be in the office when Alyse arrived this morning for her first day, but I have a standing monthly breakfast with my brothers the last Monday of the month that none of us likes to miss unless absolutely necessary. I’d completely forgotten about it until reviewing my weekly calendar last night after what was undoubtedly the hottest phone sex I’ve ever had. Alyse surprised me. And it takes a lot to surprise me. I knew she had a hidden sex kitten underneath that perfectly proper persona.
I intend to explore that further.
Much, much further.
So as much as I wanted to be there with her, I also couldn’t skip tradition. We’re all so consumed with our own lives and our own work that, besides the time I spend with Conn in the gym, this is one of the few times we have uninterrupted brother time together. This is one time we try to keep our discussions personal, leaving work at the door.
For the first time, Luke has joined us.
“Hey, Luke,” I say as he takes a seat. Conn, Gray, and I have been here for at least fifteen minutes. I guess as much as things change, they also stay the same. Luke was always perpetually late. I have to wonder what else about Luke is the same or if his rough life has changed him into a person I’d no longer recognize. He arrived just before dinner on Thanksgiving and took off after I beat everyone’s ass at laser tag. The only time we really got to talk was when we were shooting baskets. Even then it was only surface discussion. He spent quite a bit of time with Mom though, and she was beaming ear to ear until I left on Saturday.
Molly, our regular waitress, sees another person has joined us and heads over to take Luke’s order. But instead of talking, she stands there looking at Luke before looking around at the three of us. I understand why. I almost laugh when I remember the Sesame Street song that I used to be so fond of when I was a kid—Silence, haters.
Luke is definitely the one thing here that doesn’t look like the others. He’s dressed in black from head to toe, complete with well-worn black boots and a leather jacket. Hell, he looks like he belongs with an MC versus sitting with three businessmen dressed in tailor-made suits. The only thing he’s missing is a patch and the name of his club on the back of his bomber. He fits Sons of Anarchy to a fucking “T.”
“Hi, darlin’,” Luke drawls, winking and placing a hand at the small of her back. “I’ll take a coffee, black. And bring the pot. Come back in a few and I’ll be ready to order.”
“Uh, okay.” She slowly turns and walks away, but looks back several times, brows drawn, trying to figure out this conundrum. For the year we’ve been coming to this little hole-in-the-wall diner on the corner, down the block from our office building, Molly has never seen us with a fourth to our little party. She knows we’re all brothers and knows we own GRASCO Holdings. Hell, she even knows Gray is engaged. She should probably be invited to the fucking wedding. She’s practically family. I’ve not spent as much time with one single woman since I kicked Natalie’s ass out as I have with Molly. I’m hoping to change that with Alyse, though.
“Luke, how’s the relo going?” Conn asks.
“It’s coming. I found some cheap office space on the south side of town. I need to hire another guy because Johnny doesn’t want to relocate from Dayton to Chicago. Then need to figure out a place to stay. It’ll be a while yet before I make the move official.”
“I thought Livvy’s portion of the lease was in your name?” Gray asks, taking a sip of his coffee. “You just renewed it a couple months ago. Why don’t you stay there? You’re responsible for the rent on it anyway, unless you sublease it.”
Huh? Something else I didn’t know. How many ways is Luke tied up with Livia, soon-to-be Mrs. Gray Colloway? Gray seems completely neutral on the issue, like we’re talking about paint color or something. I wish I knew what the hell happened with those three.
Luke shrugs noncommittally. “Been thinking about it, but I’m not sure I want to room with a chick. Especially that one. She’s a little high strung.”
Gray laughs. “She is that. But she’s also pretty hot.”
Luke smirks. “Don’t get me wrong. I’d worship at her church any Sunday. I’m just not sure I want to live in the temple full-time.”
“Mmmhmm,” Gray hums, eyeing Luke like he knows he’s full of shit. Luke flips him the finger and I almost sigh because things seem to be getting back to normal slowly but surely between the four of us. It’s nice.
Molly comes back with Luke’s coffee and we place our orders. Most of our breakfasts here are spent in harmless flirty banter with Molly. She’s a cute enough blonde, probably mid-forties. Never been married. We tip her well and she takes good care of us. This time, however, it’s almost like Conn, Gray, and I don’t even exist. She cannot tear her eyes away from Luke. He’s playing her like an expert bassist as we all watch and laugh and learn.
“Wow. You’re smooth,” I tell him when Molly finally leaves.
His face turns serious. “Had to be in my line of work.” That’s the first time Luke has said anything about his past and suddenly the mood at the table takes a sharp dip.
“So,” Conn starts, looking at me. “You’ll never believe who I saw Saturday night.”
“Who?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. “That little redhead that you’ve been trying to deny you’re dating?” Not since Nora Cantres, the redheaded beauty that Conn had a thing for in high school, have I ever seen him settle down with one woman. She broke his fucking heart our senior year when her family moved and she broke it off. I’m pretty sure he liked her more than he tried to let on and she jaded him for a future Mrs. Conn Colloway. Which is too bad, because Conn would be a great husband and father. If he’d just let himself find the right woman.
You should take your own advice, Ash.
“I’m not dating her. I fucked her. You know my rule, Ash. In and out. Anyway…” He pauses, looking at me pointedly. My senses are now flashing bat-phone red, because I know that look. I know what he’s going to say, but I have no idea how it can be as she doesn’t even live in Chicago. To my knowledge she still lives in Detroit and Conn came back to the city on Friday.
“Natalie.”
“Fucker,” I mutter under my breath. “Why do you insist on bringing her up when I continually ask you not to?”
“Because you need closure.”
I look away from Conn to Luke and Gray who are raptly watching our little exchange. I want to tell them both to fuck off. Luke has no idea who Natalie is—was—to me and the last thing I want to get into before I see my sweet Alyse for the first time in days is fucking Natalie. Her very name is associated with heart-wrenching agony. Hell, when we first moved to Chicago and I had to hire an assistant, one of the most qualified applicants was named Natalie. I burned her resume. No fucking way am I going to be surrounded day after day by someone who has a name that reminds me of the woman who blew shards of adulterer straight into the center of my heart.
I shift my gaze back to Conn. “I have all the closure I need.”
His lips thin and he shakes his head. “She said you were having an affair.”
“Are you fucking kidding me here? She’s the cheating whore.” My voice rises, causing several sets of eyes around us to turn our way, but I hardly notice. I’m only staring into the traitorous ones of my twin, who it feels an awful lot went Robert The Bruce on me. “I’m not sure how I could possibly misconstrue the fact that she had her legs spread for another man in our bed. It was pretty fucking clear.”
It was classic Natalie to try to deflect her adultery back on me. She repeatedly accused me of cheating, and I never understood it. I never gave her any reason to think that.
What Conn doesn’t know is there were definite red flags that I simply ignored, so I was far less than inclined to believe a fucking lying word that came out of her mouth. Conn doesn’t know a lot of things about Natalie. They are things I’ll never tell another soul. I lost my entire future because of that woman and her selfishness and lies. Always with the lies. I was a patsy and I’m ashamed I ever thought of making her my wife.
“She claims they never had sex. She just wants a chance to talk to you and make things right.”
Why, after all this time, does she even care what I think?
“I’m sorry, Conn, but regardless of what happened after I left, having her pussy eaten out by another man is sex. At least in my book. She was committed to me. She should never have let another man lay a finger on her. Nothing happened that she didn’t want.”
I shake my head and stand, throwing my napkin on my unfinished plate. I skirt around the table, intent on leaving before my fist lands in my brother’s face, which will fucking happen if I stay here five seconds longer, but his words stop me cold, making me fume with rage. I have to hand it to Conn. He blindsided me in a public place so he would lessen his chances of ending up with a black eye and swollen lip.
“Your reaction proves my point. You’ll never be able to give Alyse what she needs if you don’t put this behind you, Asher. What happened with Natalie keeps you bound to the past. Cut her loose, man. Move forward.”
I feel something being pushed into my hand. I look down to see a scrap of paper with a phone number on it.
“Call her. Free the chains.”
I should drop it to the floor, but Conn will just take another opportunity to sabotage me, so I shove the conniving bitch’s number in my pants pocket and leave without saying a word or looking back.
I have every intention of watching it burn later. Maybe I’ll even toast marshmallows over the roaring fire.