Page 53 of Bourbon Wishes
"She certainly thinks it is."
"She's got it all wrong." I squeeze my eyes closed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm in love with your sister, man."
He snorts like he doesn't believe me, which just pisses me off.
"She's the best thing that ever happened to me or this vineyard," I growl. "I fucked up today, but that doesn't change how I feel about her. She's the reason I breathe."
"And you're the reason she sounded like her heart was breaking," he snaps back at me. "So excuse the fuck outta me for not believing you."
"You talked to her." I swallow hard. "Is she…fuck. Is she okay?"
"What do you think?"
I think I'm in hell without her, that's what I think. And I think maybe she's in hell without me right now, too. She needs me. Maybe she's pissed. Maybe she thinks she wants space…but it isn't what she needs. Iknowher. She needs me right now. She needs me to put everything back in order and ensure she knows that she isn't losing everything.
"I'm coming to get her," I warn Caleb, pushing away from the post. "I'm bringing her back."
"You can try. But Constance isn't going a damn place she doesn't want to go," he says.
"She wants to be here."
"We'll see."
"Goddammit," I growl, furious when he hangs up on me. I'm in the process of redialing when a text message comes through. It's an address.
Fuck.
He's actually going to let me see her.
Either that, or he's sending me on a wild goose chase.
By the time Ipull up outside of the address Caleb texted me—a sprawling mansion in Beverly Hills—it's after midnight. I'm anxious as hell to talk to Constance. I also know I only have one shot to get this right. I thought about that the whole damn drive…about what I stand to lose if I can't convince her to come back to Santa Maria where she belongs.
Frankly, I'm sweating goddamn bullets when I step out of my truck.
A shadow moves on the massive porch, separating from a column.
"Jesus," I mutter as the man I assume is her brother starts down the wide steps to meet me. He's a goddamn bearded, tattooed giant. And he does not look happy to see me.
"Are you Bastian?" he growls, his blue eyes narrowed on my face.
"I fucking hope you're her brother," I mutter, eyeing him sideways.
"What are you going to do about it if I'm not?" he taunts, smirking at me. "Maybe I'm the guy her brother brought to meet her since her dick of a boss made her cry."
My hands clench into tight fists. "I will rip your fucking arms off and beat you with them." He may have thirty pounds and a few inches on me, but I grew up on a vineyard. It's hard workfrom sunup to sundown, 365 days a year. And I don't intend to fight fair.
"You wish you could," he scoffs, looking me up and down. "She would fall for a dick in a suit."
Yeah, this is definitely her brother. There's too much animosity coming my way for him to be anyone else. And as a motherfucker with two sisters, I know damn well that shit only comes from a brother pissed that some asshole made his sister cry.
"Where is she, Caleb?"
"Not your business. I haven't decided to let you see her yet." He looks me up and down again, his arms crossed over his barrel chest. "You owe me answers. If I like what you have to say, then you get to see her."
Fuck me.
"Fine," I growl. "What do you want to know?"
