Page 32 of Captivated By You

“Jesus, Johannes. I told you to call Dad.”

“And I will.”

“Too late. He called me and I told him you were here. He’s on his way back.”

“If he’d have let me know he planned to visit, I wouldn’t have flown up here. Thought he was still on vacay with Mom for a few more days.” He downed half the juice, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“He got antsy.”

“You mean he tugged on Mom’s last nerve with his inability to relax and forget about work for ten whole seconds, and she ‘suggested’ he return home.”

I couldn’t help but smile. All three of us—me, Johannes, and Penn—knew our father’s weaknesses and his strengths all too well. If I grew into half the man my father was, I’d have done well. My biggest fear was failing to reach the high standards he expected.

“Something like that.”

Johannes set the juice on the kitchen counter and began digging through his purchases. “So, who’s the chick?”

I pressed Send on an email to the board and closed the laptop. “What chick?” I knew precisely who he meant and forced a note of nonchalance into my tone. Johannes had a habit of messing with other people’s things, just for shits and giggles. And while Kiana wasn’t mine, and nor was she a “thing,” the less she came into contact with my brother, the better.

“The one with the whiskey eyes, great tits, and curvy ass who showed up here this morning.”

“Oh, her.” I stood and grabbed myself a juice. “She’s the new intern at the hotel.”

He arched a brow. “Care to tell me what an intern was doing turning up unannounced at your place?”

“If it was any of your business, I’d tell you. As it isn’t, butt out.”

“Ohhh.” Johannes laughed. “Who’s been a naughty boy, Ash?”

“Fuck off.”

“Aha! I knew it. Principles be damned when you see a great piece of ass you’d like to chew.”

“I am not chewing anyone’s ass.”

“Liar. I can read a room, Ash, and the way she looked at you.” He fanned himself. “Phew. Is she dynamite between the sheets? With those lips, I bet she sucks cock like a pro.”

I didn’t mean to do it. I shouldn’t have done it. And I’d spend many months, possibly years, regretting it. None of those things stopped me from slamming my fist into Johannes’s face.

“Fuck!” He clutched his nose. Blood oozed between his fingers. “What the fuck, Ash?” Dashing to the sink, he hung over it while he ran the faucet and dampened a cloth. He pressed the cloth to his nose. “If it’s broken, I’m gonna snap off your fucking dick.”

“Oh, stop being a pussy. It isn’t broken.”

“Doctorandasswipe, are you?” He dropped the cloth in the sink and gingerly touched the bridge of his nose. “That fucking hurts.”

“Serves you right for being a prick. And for talking shit about a woman you don’t even know, and an employee of Kingcaid to boot.”

“And your new squeeze.” He smirked and then winced. “Christ.”

“She isnotmy new squeeze.”

I knew Johannes enough to know better. The more I came back at him, the greater his interest would grow in Kiana. Or rather, me and Kiana. And that couldn’t happen. Not this side of Lucifer swapping hell for heaven. Johannes not only liked to play with other people’s things, but he also loved to destroy them. And I didn’t mean “play” in the sense that he’d hit on Kiana. Bro code was a real thing. But he’d prod and poke and taunt her until one of us exploded. And then he’d sit back and enjoy the fallout.

It was who he was. He hadn’t always been this bad, but a near-death experience changed people. Some for the good. Others, like Johannes, for the fucking awful.

Yet, still, I loved him.

The utter jerk.

---