Page 53 of The Marriage Negotiation

"He's not a toy, Peter. He's a human being. He doesn't belong to you if he doesn't want to be yours. Can't you get that through your thick head?"

"He was mine first," Peter sneered. "He'll always be mine."

My head snapped around when Zaq snorted. Considering the volatile nature of the situation, I didn't expect that out of him.

"We've kissed a couple of times, Peter. That's it. I was never yours. You wanted to wait for marriage, remember?" Zaq stepped up to my side and looped his arm through mine, smiling up at me. "Unlike Patrick, who is my legal husband. He's had me many, many times, and he doesn't just kiss me."

I tucked my lips in and pressed them together when I heard one of the bodyguards snicker. I wasn't going to mention it, but if Zaq did I would fully support him. Maybe Peter would get a clue this time.

I let go of my brother's shirt and stepped back from him, taking Zaq with me. I sighed sadly as I looked at my brother once again. "You fucked up big time, Peter. Mom and Dad aren't goingto be able to gloss this over for you. This time, you are going to have to take responsibility for your actions."

I wasn't sure how much time he'd do for stalking and attempted murder, but I knew Miles and Joe could help me make sure the charges stuck. I was done with letting my brother get away with everything.

"Your golden life is over, Peter. You're going to jail this time."

Peter sneered at me, a look I had seen many times. "You can't put me in jail. I'm your brother."

"Uh, yeah, I can, and I am. You tried to kill my husband, the man I love. I don't consider you my brother anymore."

It hurt to say those words, but they were the truth. I'd take Zaq over Peter any day of the week. Peter had never really been a brother to me anyway. He'd always just been a bully.

The police arrived before I could say anything more, but that didn't matter. I was pretty much done talking to Peter anyway. It wasn't like he was going to hear my words no matter how loudly I yelled them or how many times I said them.

He still thought he was invincible.

Peter was hauled away while an officer took our statement. My eyebrows shot up when Zaq produced a voice recording on my cell phone of everything that had been said. That had been pretty smart of him.

Before the officer could take the cell phone, I had him send me a copy of the recording. I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't get lost.

The sun was just starting to set by the time we began making our way back toward our condo. I glanced behind me at Jackson, who was walking just a few steps behind me.

"Did those other bodyguards work for the same company as you do?"

"Yes, sir," Jackson replied. "I called them in when you said you wanted to go to the park. I figured if Mr. Scotton wantedto confront you, that would be the most likely place he would do it since there weren't a lot of people around. If he hadn't confronted you, you never would have seen them."

Interesting.

"Thank you." Jackson calling in a couple of more bodyguards probably saved our lives tonight. I'd definitely be calling Alejandro and giving this guy a good review.

"It's no problem, Mr. Scotton." Jackson gave me a curt nod. "This is what I am trained to do."

"Hopefully, we'll only need you for a little longer," I told him. "I just want to make sure that Peter goes away for a very long time before I let my guard down."

"Probably best, sir."

The rest of the way home was fairly silent. Zaq's brow was creased as if he was thinking hard about something, but he didn't say a word. I figured he'd talk to me when he was ready.

I was worried that today's activities might have hit him harder than I first thought. It was unsettling to think today could have been his last day on earth if those guards hadn't stepped in. Zaq was probably thinking the same thing.

I needed some serious cuddle time to get over this.

Once we reached our condo I sent Zaq to take a shower and then headed for the office. I had a couple of phone calls to make. My first one was to get some expert legal advice.

"Hey, Joe, it's Patty. I'm sorry to bother you right now, but we've had a bit of a situation here and I need your input."

"Lay it on me."

I carefully explained everything that had occurred tonight, especially the fact that Peter had pulled a knife and tried to stab Zaq. I even sent him a copy of the recording Zaq had made.

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