Page 68 of Bossy Ex's Brother

“Come for me.”

She gasped and threw her head back, coming in a rush that was like a river flowing through her.

“I’m here,” I told her as she drew in deep breaths, her heart pounding out of her chest. “I’ll always be here.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

JANE

He wasn’t here.

I felt the nerves bounce around my stomach, but I didn’t want to let it show. The glittering chandeliers and the atmospheric mood lights set the place as an expensive venue. The VIPs were already streaming in, and the environment was pretty active. I smiled and greeted all the patrons, happy that they were able to respond to the invite. I knew they would. I hand-selected each of them after careful research to see who would not only be most likely to patronize this location but also become repeat customers. I’d sent out special invites to these men—and a few women—personalizing each as much as I could. We advertised Club Diamond as a place they can escape the humdrum mundanity of corporate life, a confidential place where they could get entertained by naughty pleasures and enjoy lavish food. The only rules were that the dancers were not to be touched or harassed.

And on the outside, everything looked perfect, like it was going according to plan.

The decorations somehow made it in time. I had a feeling Luca had something to do with that. And the fact that not only the Sauvignon Blanc but also bottles and bottles of moreexpensive wines were there. It must have cost north of a million dollars, but he hadn’t even mentioned it.

When I realized what he’d done, I nearly cried, overwhelmed with emotion. It was so touching. Well, that and all the little things he did to take care of me, the fact that he always came home and made sure I was fed, and even got a chauffeur to drive me around. Yeah, I knew it sounded ridiculous. I’d protested, but he’d insisted.

The man was determined to take care of me.

And I was becoming addicted to letting him.

I’d never been taken care of in my life. I was always the one taking care of others, but now I understood what it felt like to be looked after, kept, and possessed. Every time I thought about it, my heart ached with gratitude. I didn’t know if it was the pregnancy hormones, but there was a warmth in my chest every time I thought about Luca or imagined his wicked smile.

Was it any wonder that I was falling in love with him?

I took a deep breath, feeling the panic rise at the admission, but there was nothing I could do about it. I had to admit that the feelings inside me were growing day by day as he was becoming a fixture in my life. He was becoming an anchor at home too. All my siblings fell in love with him, and Bethany even did a complete one-eighty in her attitude because of him.

It started when I was in my room, under strict orders from Luca to rest. The nausea was acting up again, so I agreed to lie in bed.

Then, I heard a knock on the door, and I said, “Come in,” expecting it to be Luca.

But instead, Bethany stuck her head inside, asking sheepishly, “Hey. Can we talk?”

“Sure,” I said, confused. She didn’t sound like her usual antagonistic self, but then again, she had been very sweet to melately and downright cooperative. I was on the verge of asking her if everything was okay or if she was in some kind of trouble.

As she sat down, fear instantly popped into my chest. “Oh no, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.” She rolled her eyes. “Why do people always assume I’m the bad sister? And if you would recall, sis, you’re the one who’s pregnant, not me.”

“Fair point,” I relented, smiling because she didn’t say it as a jab, more in a matter-of-fact tone. “Alright, tell me. What’s on your mind?”

She swung her feet a little bit, analyzing her shoes as she spoke. “It’s just…I thought we should talk about, you know, everything. And maybe admit that I’ve been a little bit of a brat.”

“A little?” I responded with a snort, surprised at the admission.

“Maybe more than a little,” she said, shocking me even more. “But I thought I should explain to you why. I talked with Luca and….”

“Luca put you up to this?”

“No,” she said. “Well, he just made me think about it, and I wanted to explain it to you. So you wouldn’t think I was just acting out to piss you off or something. Well, some of it was that, but not all of it. Not most of it. Do you understand?”

I nodded, leaning back against the bed.

“It’s just that I feel like ever since Mom left, everything has been so hard on me. It’s like everyone either expects me to be like her…or like you. When I couldn’t measure up to you in school, they looked at me like I was a failure. And when I did something good, it wasn’t special because you already did it first.”

I frowned at her. “But I wasn’t that good at school.” I had a B average and hovered somewhere around the middle of the class in rankings.

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