Chapter 32

~~ MICHAEL ~~

Standing in the shade at my parents ranch, I watched everyone arrive with their partners and children, and it made me feel lonely as hell.  I wanted Lily to be with me, standing beside me. Since her very soon-to-be ex had no idea about us or the fact that Lily was moving out, she’d asked me to be patient for one more day.  It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I’d agreed.  One more day couldn’t hurt, right?

“Bro, what are you doing hiding over here?” Sebastian questioned.

“I’m not hiding.  It’s hot,” I replied, then drained the beer in my hand.

He laughed.

“You two pussy’s having your own party?” Lucien asked as he walked around the corner with Ramon and Ruben.

“No, Michael was hiding out here,” Sebastian announced, then got out of hitting range.

“I was not hiding. I was having a quiet drink before I have to be social.”  I took the bottle of beer Ramon offered me and gulped about half of the bottle down.

“Are there going to be any hot chicks here today?” Sebastian asked.

“They’re all married,” I replied, causing Ruben to choke on his beer.

“Not all are married.  Wait until you meet his assistant.”  I was going to kill Ruben.

Sebastian paused mid-drink and looked at me. “Well Michael, you’ve been keeping a secret,” he looked to Ruben, “how hot?”

He looked at me then back to Sebastian.  “Curves, lots of them.  Long, dark, curly hair and boobs to fill….”

“You better stop right there,” I told Ruben when I actually felt like using my fist.

“It would seem that the hot assistant is already spoken for,” Lucien commented.

“If you’d seen them in the car after Michael’s accident, you’d have no doubt,” then he grinned. “In fact, I’d ask him what they got up to while locked in the hospital room.”

Lucien choked on his beer, while Ramon and Sebastian just stood looking at me.  Fuck.

“What?” I asked.  There was no way I planned to get into a discussion with my brothers about Lily.

“You’ve been on your own for six years.  You’ve finally hooked up with someone and you don’t plan on telling us, is that right?” Lucien asked.

I put my beer to my mouth and froze.  Lily was walking in my direction, on her own, and she looked sexy as hell.  The sun was behind her, which made her dress transparent.  She took my breath away.

“Who the fuck is that?” I came back to my senses at Sebastian’s comment and realized all four of my brothers were standing with me, staring at her.  Lily looked up and stopped when she saw the lot of us just standing there, probably with our tongues down to our knees.

“Michael, don’t just stand there, go and claim your girl.” My mother’s words brought me back to my senses.

“She’s mine.  You four can keep your hands to yourselves,” I growled out.

As I started to walk towards Lily her whole face lit up.  I heard my mother sigh behind me and a few snickers, not to mention Sebastian, who made a comment under his breath.

Before I wrapped Lily up in my arms, I quickly looked around for David and saw him disappear around the barn with his boss’s daughter.

Standing in front of her, I took her face into my hands.  “You’re stunning. Hell, I think I’m going to have to beat my brothers up for looking at you and drooling!”  I bent down and kissed her gently on the lips.  “I’ve missed you.”

She placed her hands on my hips and threaded her fingers through the belt loops on my jeans, then pulled me close, before she sealed her lips to mine.

As soon as our mouths touched, I slipped my tongue inside and fused it with hers.  Our bodies started to melt together when I heard more than one throat being cleared behind me.  With reluctance, I pulled my mouth from Lily’s and met her eyes.  She licked her lips, which dragged a groan out of me.

“You’re going to kill me today, you know that?”  I breathed heavily and dreaded having to introduce her to my brothers.

A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed what I already knew.  They were standing where I’d left them, but in a line, to meet my woman.

Lily followed my gaze and started to laugh.  “Come on, introduce me to your other two brothers.”

“Do I have to?”  God, could I sound any more pathetic.  CEO here, not idiot!

Lily slipped her hand into mine and gave a slight tug to get me moving.  “I told David I’m moving out and about the apartment I plan on looking at tomorrow.  He seemed…. okay I guess.  Which was a relief.”

“About the apartment….”

“Hey, get over here and share,” Sebastian shouted.

Lily laughed and walked towards my mother, who held her arms out to her.  “Lily, it’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you again too, Pippa.”  My mother pulled away and threaded her arm through Lily’s to introduce her to my brothers.  Why she needed to be introduced to those idiots was beyond me.

“Lily, you already know Ruben and Ramon, so this here is Sebastian, you may want to stay away from him.”

As Ruben roared with laughter, he received a dirty look from our mother.  She then moved on to Lucien.

Because of his accident, Lucien was badly scarred, from the tips of his fingers, up the back of his right arm, along the back of his shoulder and part of his side and back.  I was nervous for her to meet him because he would test her and if she failed he’d be cold, which would probably upset her, and then I’d have to hit him.

“Lily, this is my eldest son, Lucien.”  Lily held her hand out to him and of course he held his right hand out to her.  She looked down and then back up to his face before she took his hand, wrapped her fingers around his as they shook hands.  Lucien was surprised.

“I’m not afraid of you, Lucien,” Lily told him.

“I like you.  Next time I’m in the city, we can grab a coffee together and I’ll tell you all about Michael.”

No way was that happening.  She wasn’t having coffee with anyone but me.

“I would like that.  Don’t forget.”  Did she just agree to meet Lucien?

I frowned.  “Don’t get your shorts in a wad. I’m not poaching.”  With that, Lucien walked off.

My mother still had her arm through Lily’s, like they had been friends for years.

When I looked more closely, mom had tears in her eyes.  She turned to Lily and kissed both of her cheeks.  “Thank you for being kind to him.”

Lily looked shocked.  “I wouldn’t be anything else.”

“It’s just that since his accident, he’s locked himself away in that cabin he calls a home and I worry about him.  He needs a friend, and I think he’s chosen you.”

Was what my mother spoke to Lily the truth?  Was he lonely and in need of a friend who could accept him just as he was?  I hope that was all it was.  I really needed to stop being possessive or she wasn’t going to put up with it for long.  We also needed to have the ‘will-you-move-in-with-me’ talk.