Page 10 of His Christmas Gift

“What did I tell you about talking about her like that?” Jasper turned his back on the crowd to let his full anger out. “Try it one more time and I guarantee you will be out of commission for a long time.”

“You’re seriously trying to turn her into freaking Cinderella? Good lord Jasp, she’ll never fit into this world. She’s completely hopeless and ridiculous. She can’t even handle a coffee run. How the hell do you think she’ll handle an event where women drape themselves all over you?” Callum shook his head at him.

“Look around you Callum; Melissa put all of this together in a single day. Our mother, who grew up in this lifestyle, wouldn’t have coped half this well with that timeframe,” he countered, lowering his voice. “Stay away from her and hold your damn tongue the next time you want to start spouting off crap about her. She has more class in her pinky than Sonya will ever discover in her entire being. One more rude comment like that and you’ll be looking for a new job as well as your teeth.”

“The dumb girl doesn’t even know how to format a spreadsheet properly. You can’t begin to fix stupid like that with a designer gown and some pretty jewelry.”

Jasper didn’t bother to stop himself this time. He grabbed the front of Callum’s shirt, pushing him out into the foyer then on into the dining room away from the rest of the guests. He shut the door behind them and glared at his brother. Callum straightened his shirt and tie, his jaw tight as he stared back at him.

“Do not eventhinkthat I am remotely playing at this Callum. I don’t care what you think of Melissa’s business skills and neither does she. She’s not interested in a job in the company once her internship finishes. She wasn’t interested in it to begin,” Jasper said making his brother crack a full laugh.

“God you’re stupid Jasper. Take a guess at what she was interested in if she went after the internship then, and you’re falling for it completely. The girl lives in a hovel. So-what if she can manage to put together a fancy party or two? All she’s interested in is a quick marriage to a rich man so she can sit around doing nothing. She tried it on with me to start with, but I wasn’t fool enough to buy that innocent little girl act.”

“You wish she’d tried anything on with you Callum—that’s your real issue here, isn’t it?” he said seeing it better now. “I know completely her reasons behind taking the internship here and it has nothing to do with wanting a rich husband. You know nothing about her. You have no clue what she’s like, how amazing and intelligent she is. I swear, if you don’t stop, so help me, I’ll put you in the ground next to our father,” Jasper warned darkly, stopping as a waiter moved in to gather the remaining place settings on the table.

“You’ve lost your damn mind Jasper, that girl is going to destroy you if you don’t watch yourself. She’ll have you married in no time if you don’t wise up and see what she really is—a greedy bitch like every other woman out there.” Callum stumbled into a chair as Jasper’s fist connected to his jaw. “So that’s how it is?”

“Get the hell out of my house and don’t bother coming back to the office. Theonlyreason you had a job there to start was because you failed out of law school. Our father came to speak to me, for the first time in four years, in order to set you up in a job evenyoucouldn’t possibly screw up.” Jasper turned a dark glare towards Callum watching him tense. “The only reason you’re still there, is because he died not even six months later, and our motherbeggedmeto not let that happen to you. You think you’re owed the moon and I am sick of it. Let’s see how long Sonya sticks around when your bank account is depleted and you can’t afford nights out at Alexanders every week, can’t afford to buy Dom at the club to keep her inebriated. Mother’s not going to argue on your behalf any longer, she’s too happy with Fred to bother now. It’s time to grow up Callum but you’re not doing it on my dime any longer.”

“You can’t fire me or take away my trust, so get over yourself Jasp. You might think you’re above us all because you went against Dad, but you’re not.”

“The reason our father was so furious with me leaving is becausehewas bankrupt and I at least was bringing in clients and money,” Jasper said surprising his brother.

“You’re lying, he left me that trust in his will.”

“Your trust from our father is worthlessthan the paper it was written on, he was broke as hell when he died from alcohol poisoning. He drank himself into a coma because he knew it was about to come out in the news. That’s why Mother didn’t want me to let you go then, because she knew you were just like him, and she’d just buried one person she loved.” He saw Callum’s firm disbelief regarding it, but he didn’t care any longer. “I don’t want to see you again until you’ve grown up. Start acting like a twenty-seven-year-old man and not a seventeen-year-old boy, Callum. Don’t even think about going after Melissa. Hurt her, eventhinkabout hurting her, and I will see that your body is six feet under, instantly,” he added giving Callum a shove as he stepped up into his space before moving towards the door. “I’ll let Sonya know you have to be going. Don’t come back Callum. You’re not welcome in my life any longer.”

Callum followed him into the entryway. “I’m worth millions thanks to Dad’s trust. You’re just bitter he didn’t leave you anything in his will. I’ll be happy to stay away from that stupid job, especially if you continue to employ idiots like that girl in there.”

Callum didn’t duck fast enough to avoid the fist sent his way and he went sprawling across the floor, hitting the wall with a thud that drew the attention of the guests inside the room.

Jasper’s gaze met Melissa’s and he saw the shock she quickly tried to stifle as the others let out gasps and whispers. He moved into the room, looking towards Sonya so she was well aware who he was speaking to, “Callum has to leave, goodnight Sonya.”

“What on earth?” Ella gasped as they watched Callum pick himself up off the floor to straighten out his suit.

“You’re going to regret this Jasper, just wait and see,” his brother said to his back, but Jasper ignored it moving over to Melissa’s side with a smile down at her.

“Would you like more wine?” he asked seeing the waiter from the dining room bringing in a new tray of desserts and another bottle of it.

“The white goes amazingly with Jenny’s lemon petits,” she said calmly.

“I’m partial to lemon, you’ll have to show me which they are,” Jasper said settling his hand onto her back guiding her over for a new glass of wine.

He saw the waiter looking between them intently and wondered if Melissa knew him personally. If she did, would he tell her what he’d overheard from his brother? He didn’t want that coming from someone else; it should come from him, but not yet. He didn’t want the entire evening ruined because his brother was a selfish jerk.

“Is everything alright?” Melissa asked softly as the other guests began to mingle once again allowing them to move to the dessert table.

“It’s time my brother learns to make it on his own, I’m not giving him a free ride any longer. He’s angry with the way it’s happened and perhaps, erroneously, blames you for it happening. I’ve wanted to do this for ages; his attitude towards you simply showed me that it was more than necessary to make it now,” he said calmly smiling down at her as they reached the desserts. “You’ve nothing to worry over, Melissa. I’ve it all in hand, I promise.”

“Then I won’t worry about it tonight.” Melissa took a few bite sized goodies from the trays, setting them on the little dessert plates for them. Her heart raced in wonder as to the argument between Jasper and his brother, his warning worrying her a bit despite Jasper’s assurances.

She held up a lemon petit four with a smile for him. Her heart stopped when he leaned down, taking it with his mouth rather than his hands.

Jasper’s lips caressed the skin of her fingers as he caught her hand to keep her from snatching it away when her eyes widened a bit.

“Delicious, every bit of it,” he said softly not caring who saw what, he was going to make Melissa his in every way, he had to now.

Chapter 5

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