Chapter Five
“Now, for my proposed pact,” Anthony interjected, reclaiming the floor. “We have all reached heights of success that no one in our childhoods could have imagined, least of all us. We have faced the challenges presented to us and overcome every obstacle in our way. Now is the time to enjoy the fruits of our labor and embrace our new lives. I challenge the brotherhood to abandon their lone wolf ways that may have been necessary while paving the way for success but are now no longer needed. By this time next year, let there be no single man among us.”
Gabriel chuckled, “And what exactly does that mean?”
“It means you all have till this time next year to drop your Playboy games and find a good woman you can settle down and build a family with.”
Fernando groaned; not this again. Anthony and Hannah had been on him for years to settle down. Now, he was making it official with a pact !
“Look,” Fernando said. “I really admire the life you and Hannah have built together, but come on, this is not something we can make happen in a year, pact or no pact.”
“And, we’re just having a little fun. None of us are actually ‘Playboys’. We all have very good reputations even if we land in the tabloids with sketchy headlines from time to time,” Gabriel added, obviously feeling a little called out by his big brother.
“I think it’s about time for the fun phase to have passed, Gabe,” Anthony countered with an easy grin on his lips. “You’re all in your thirties. Some of you are getting very close to forty,” he added, looking pointedly at Julio, who was giving him the stare-down as if measuring him for his casket. “If this isn’t the right time to find a life partner, then I don’t know when else will be.”
Julio took a deep breath and shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about it myself. The whole player thing gets tiring at some point. Now that I am out of the Marines and life is my oyster once more, the future is looking very bright.”
“I would also like to point out the amount of wasted time and resources you boys are shelling out on all these different women who you know deep down you are not going to end up with,” Hannah said, leaning into her husband. “Each of you knows the importance of efficiency in your given fields. Your current romantic entanglements are not efficient. Just because you’re all billionaires doesn’t mean you can’t find time in your busy schedules to locate and woo the right women for you. You need to make it a priority just like you did every other goal that got you where you are today.”
Gabriel laughed, but it didn’t reflect genuine mirth. “Well, it’s not like these amazing women are just lying around somewhere waiting for us to propose, Hann. In our lines of work and with the status and reputations we’ve all built for ourselves, we rarely come across a woman who’s interested in anything other than our money, and they never seem to be the one who lights a spark. You and Anthony go a long way back before there was money and fame. It’s not going to be the same for the rest of us.”
“He’s right,” Enrique agreed, propping his arms on the back of the couch. “You and Anthony were in love with each other before you even realized it. You had years together as friends, and your love grew over time.”
Hannah blushed, and Anthony shrugged.
“I still think it’s doable,” he said. “You have the entire year. I firmly believe that the right woman is out there for each of you, but you have to be open to the idea. Work for it like you work for everything else important in your life. Actively seek her out. And when you find her, put the effort in to show her who you are and what you have to offer as a man, not just a billionaire.”
“You know what?” Fernando laughed, slipping his phone out of his pocket. “I could start looking for her right now. ‘Hey Siri, find me the perfect woman that will make all my dreams come true.’ Oh wait, you can’t do that? What? Hey Enrique, maybe you can write a program to help with the search?”
The men laughed, and Anthony shoved him lightly on the arm as he chuckled as well.
“It’s a pact,” Julio said, his voice still rumbling from laughter. “And once it’s a pact, we are all in. It’s what the Bad Boys Club does. Cheers!”
The champagne glasses were lifted into the air, gently tapping each other, before being sipped by each family member to show the deal was sealed and each person was committed to fulfilling the proposed pacts within the next 365 days .
“I thought we left that name behind,” Fernando blurted out after swallowing his drink.
“Just you,” Gabriel laughed. “Come on, it’s way better than your last suggestion of Beloved Brothers Circle. We’re not an old-man church fellowship group.”
“Oh no, that wasn’t his most recent idea,” Anthony interjected as he pushed a button that started to raise a large flat-screen television from its hiding place inside a cabinet. “His suggestion of the Benevolent Billionaires Collective was shut down so fast not many of you heard about it.”
“Can I add,” Julio said, turning to watch the celebrations playing out on the muted TV screen. “Compared to the pact Fernando proposed 20 years ago, I think these pacts are relatively easy.”
“Not this again. You exaggerate,” Fernando said. “I only asked us to read ten classics.”
“ Ten ,” Enrique emphasized. “That was one of the toughest years of my life. Why aren’t any of those old books short? I thought staying awake past the first page was hard, but trying to read all those books, on top of all the homework from senior year and dual enrollment, and working part-time at the Chuckles. I think I got less sleep that year than any other year of my life!”
“It really wasn’t that hard,” Fernando said, shaking his head. “Speaking of books , my latest novel, Wildfire, was based on Jane Eyre, you know? Did you read the ARC I sent to you?”
Enrique nodded and took a sip of his drink, grimacing at the pain in his mouth. “I always read your books, Fernando. Doesn’t matter if it takes me months to finish.”
There was a look of genuine appreciation on Fernando’s face, and Hannah smiled at him. “ Wildfire was your best work this year. I saw the bookstore had a difficult time keeping it in stock. I’m really proud of you.”
“Thank you, Hann. I put a lot of work into that novel. I was very pleased to see it was received so well, although it sat at number two on the best-seller list for months.”
Gabriel sighed, draping his large arm over Fernando’s shoulder. “That’s my problem with this guy. He doesn’t know how talented he is. After all these years of grand success and dozens of awards, he still gets surprised when his books do well, and number two isn’t bad.”
“Easy now. Don’t make a grown man blush,” Enrique teased.
Fernando nudged his brother in the arm, “Yeah, well, I need to come up with a plan for the coming year for how to deal with Marie Lautner. She’s my biggest competition and keeps knocking me off number-one bestseller. I’ve got a whole media empire behind me, and I’m a little tired of being at number two thanks to a faceless woman.”
Enrique stiffened beside him, and a look of… something, maybe concern or worry, came over his face. Fernando wondered what it was about Marie Lautner that caused such a strange reaction in his otherwise aloof brother.
“I haven’t read the book yet,” Julio said in response to Fernando. “Did you send me a copy?”
“I did, but now that you’re home, I’ll send you a hardcover version. I know you prefer real paper to reading on a screen,” Fernando said. “I didn’t know when you would be back or where you were heading, so I didn’t ship it yet.”
“Well, he’s home now,” Anthony chimed in, wrapping his arm around the smaller man and pulling him tight into his side. “And he better stay home, at least for a while. The girls need time to get to know this mysterious uncle they have never met and might be confusing with Santa Claus since they receive random gifts with his name on them.”
They were still laughing when Hannah tapped her wedding ring against her glass, causing a tink, tink, tink to echo through the room.
“It’s almost time,” she announced, glancing at the screen and pressing the unmute button on the remote. “Let the countdown begin.”
The family counted down with the TV host, and then the room erupted into “Happy New Year” as fireworks exploded in the night sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Glasses clinked together, hugs with shoulder pounding were passed between the brothers, and kisses were pressed to Hannah’s cheek. Fernando smiled; his heart was overflowing. This was the best time of the year.
Usually, he looked forward to meeting the challenge posed in the New Year’s pact, but this year, he was filled with trepidation. He didn’t have time for an adventure, and he didn’t want a wife and family. Love? Yes, of course, he wanted love. Family? He didn’t have time for that. He was spread so thin now he was exhausted all the time. Wife? The thought of opening himself up to a woman just to have her walk away from him was terrifying. Maybe flying wasn’t his biggest fear after all. Maybe Hannah was right and abandonment was?