Page 38 of The Marriage Negotiation

"Are you an idiot?" Zaq asked, putting into words what I was thinking. I knew my brother could be a complete bastard, but I never thought he was this dumb.

Peter's head snapped back and began turning red. "You can't talk to me like that!"

"I can talk to you any damn way I please."

Peter glanced between then two of us for a moment and then he seemed to change right in front of my eyes, becoming less hostile and almost pathetic.

"How could you marry my brother, Zaq?"

"I was going to marry you, Peter," Zaq admitted. "But then you ran off with your mistress to go on the honeymoon that I had planned and paid for. You left me standing at the altar. That means we are no longer getting married. Ever."

"But I'm the one you were engaged to. I'm the one you were supposed to marry. You love me. I know you do. Feelings can't change that quickly."

"I never loved you, Peter," Zaq stated vehemently.

"You did," Peter insisted. "I know you did." He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Zaq's hand, pulling him away from my side. "I know you still love me. Divorce Patrick and we can go get married. It'll be just like it was before."

"You mean when I was miserable?" Zaq shook off Peter's grip and moved close to me once again before letting out a little snort. "No thanks."

Rage mottled Peter's face as he waved a hand at me. "You're going to chose this...this janitor over me?"

Zaq grinned mischievously, sending me a wink. "I like janitors."

I really adored this man and his sense of humor.

"Peter, Zaq has moved on," I told him. "It's time for you to move on as well."

"No, I don't accept that," Peter said quickly. He tapped his finger into his own chest. "He loves me. He's going to marry me."

"Why, Peter?" Zaq asked. "You're not even gay. Why in the hell would you be so insistent that we get married?"

"What does being gay have to do with getting married?" Peter shouted.

I just stared at him.

He couldn't be serious.

"Gee, I don't know." Zaq crossed his arms. "Because I like sex?"

"I don't care who you have sex with," Peter snapped. "That's not the point of marriage."

"Have you lost what little brain cells you have left?" Zaq asked. "Unlike my parents, I actually believe in being faithful to the person I married, which means I will only be having sex with my spouse. That also means my spouse needs to be a man because I'm freaking gay!"

Zaq turned around to face me, tossing his hands up into the air. "Why am I even trying to have this conversation with him?"

Yeah, I had no idea.

"Let's go."

I was all for that.

I grabbed Zaq's hand and started leading him toward the front door. "If he doesn't leave or continues to cause a disturbance," I told security as we passed them, "call the police."

The three guards nodded at the same time, one of them saying, "Yes, Mr. Scotton."

"You can't leave," Peter snarled. "I'm not done talking to you."

I held up my middle finger in a universal sign, telling him to go fuck himself. I was done with this asinine conversation. I wasn't going to give Zaq up for anything, especially not my stupid brother.

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