Page 24 of Centurion

Con sat up, and his head cocked. Brando shook his head. “Oh, no. I’ve seen that look before. What are you going to do?”

“I’m in her apartment. I could find out who she is. I mean, really, who she is. She’s got as much money as we do,” he said as he looked around the study.

“And that would play to your advantage how?” Brando asked. “You start digging and find out shit she’s not willing to share with you, and you’ll drive a wedge between the two of you. You’ll never know if you two could hit it off. Don’t be you, dude. Don’t dig. This one time, let it go. Get to know her, and maybe, I don’t know, date her instead of investigating her?” Brando shook his head. “To gain her trust, maybe you have to be willing to trust her first.”

Con narrowed his eyes and glared at his brother. “Have you been taking more online classes?”

Brando shrugged. “I get bored sometimes, and you’re not the only genius in this family.”

Con leaned back in his chair. “It’s torture not to know.”

“Is it?” Brando mimicked Con’s position. “Just be normal for once, dude. You don’t have to know all the answers to this one. Let it go and have fun. If she comes around, you take that opportunity and run with it. No questions need to be answered now, maybe they never get answered. You’ll live through it.”

Con nodded. “You’re right.”

Brando sprang upright and held up his hands. “Holy revelations! Somebody get a marker and write this down! My brother actually told me I was right! This day will go down in the annals of Solomon history.”

Con laughed as his brother danced around his chair with his hands in the air, acting like the crowd was going wild. “Ah, screw you, dude.”

Brando stopped and pointed at the screen. “No, thanks.” And started dancing again. Con hit the key that terminated the video connection and then turned off their comm link. His shoulders shook from holding in his laughter at his brother’s antics.

He checked his systems again before closing the lid on his laptop and standing up. He pulled one of the books on law from the shelf and headed toward his bedroom. He’d take a shower, grab some sleep, and then hope like hell the woman of his dreams didn’t kick him out on his ass. If she didn’t, he swore to himself he’d follow Brando’s suggestion. Leave the questions unanswered and let what he hoped was between them evolve naturally.

CHAPTER 9

Jewell held her head while waiting for her brothers to come online in fifteen minutes. She still felt like crud, but she wasn’t throwing up anymore. Zane had taken a trip down the mountain to get something for her nausea. It wasn’t something they had on hand because neither of them was prone to getting sick.

Her personal cell rang, and she pried open an eye to look at it. Her mom. She picked up the phone and answered it. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, Button. Zane called and told me you weren’t feeling well. That’s kind of strange, isn’t it? I mean, you haven’t been off the mountain to catch a bug.”

Jewell leaned back in her chair. “That’s why we think it’s food poisoning. It was really bad, but it’s getting better.”

“Huh.” Her mom was silent for a minute. “May I ask you a personal question?”

Jewell blinked and held the phone away from her face. “Since when do you ask?”

Her mom laughed. “Honey, is there any chance you’re pregnant?”

Jewell straightened up in her chair. “Pregnant? No …” She glanced at her calendar. When was the last time she had …

“So, you’re not late?” her mom asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never kept track of that. It happens, and I deal.” Jewell frowned. “Besides, I’m on the pill.”

“The pill isn’t one hundred percent, honey. How about I call Zane back and suggest he pick up a couple of pregnancy tests? Just to make sure. You don’t want to take a lot of nausea medications if you could possibly be pregnant.”

Jewell frowned. “I can’t get pregnant, Mom. I would be a horrible parent.”

“That’s so not true. I see you with your nieces and nephews.”

“But a baby, Mom. I wouldn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t know how to teach a baby to be normal. What if they turn out like me? I’m not normal.”

“Oh, honey, you’re more normal than most of the people in the world. You have me and Zane and your sisters and sisters-in-law. You would have all the help you ever needed.”

Jewell was silent for a long time as she tried to process the conversation she was having with her mother. “Do you think I could be?”

“I don’t know, honey. I assume you and Zane have a healthy sex life, so yeah, it’s possible.”

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