Chapter Three
After the final crumbs were licked from forks, the family once again cleared the table and adjourned to the living room for the final approach to midnight. Hannah poured champagne into long-stem flutes, and Anthony distributed them around the room.
“This brings us to the part of the evening’s festivities that we have all been waiting for,” Anthony announced, clasping his fingers around the stem of his glass. “As you all know, there will be two pacts this year –”
“Hold on,” Enrique frowned in confusion, cutting Anthony off. “I didn’t know that. Why are there going to be two?”
“Anthony sent a message last night in the family chat,” Fernando answered. “Did you check it?”
Enrique sighed. He was on a second date with the model he’d escorted to a red-carpet event two weeks ago. It was another failure, of course, because just like all the women Enrique had encountered, she had revealed over an extravagantly expensive dinner that she only had one goal in the relationship... what he could give her. Her time in front of the camera and strutting down runways was coming to an end, and she needed a plan B for maintaining her lavish lifestyle. She thought he would be the perfect man to bankroll it. She was very mistaken, and that meant he arrived home in a bad mood and went to bed without checking in on his family.
Enrique rubbed a hand across his jaw. The short, coarse hairs tickled his palm, alerting him that he had forgotten to shave before dashing out the door this evening. “I was busy,” he mumbled, glaring at his brother. Fernando was six months younger than him, but he always managed to seem much older and wiser than the rest, sharing leadership of the family with Anthony.
“Anyway,” Anthony continued. “There are two pacts this year because of Julio’s return. Due to his deployments, he’s missed his opportunity to propose pacts over the years. And now that he’s back, it only seems right that he gets to pose one this year.” Turning to Enrique with a mischievous grin on his face. “Enrique, drumroll please.”
Rolling his eyes, Enrique responded, “Really? I haven’t done that since I was a kid. Can’t a man live anything down in this family?”
“Oh, come on, Enrique,” Hannah laughed, “You know it’s all in good fun. Hyperactive tapping is nothing to be ashamed of, and for the record, you have not stopped; you just modified your tapping to a more professionally acceptable level. It got you into lots of trouble as a child, so naturally, your brothers will remind you of it now and then.” A wink softened her subtle reminder not to be overly sensitive.
“Fine,” Enrique muttered begrudgingly, handing his champagne glass to Gabriel before tapping his fingers in a fast staccato on the top of the table beside him.
With a tender smile gracing her lips, Hannah whispered, “See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Enrique smiled in return. She was right; performing the drumroll before the pact announcement had been his job as a child. He should be honored that Anthony had asked him to resume his role in the BBC tradition after so many years of trying to prove that he was too old and mature for such things.
“Julio, you have the floor,” Anthony said, gesturing to the dark-haired man, who nodded in response as all eyes focused on him.
“You know me, guys,” he said. “I’m all about having fun. But the true spirit of the pact has always been about how fulfilling it can in some way make us better. So, I gave my pact proposal a great deal of thought. We are all incredibly successful, and I think each of us is grateful for how much we have been blessed, but I also feel like we are letting the scars from the past continue to hold us back to some degree. I have been reading up on PTSD and overcoming trauma recently, and I think we all would benefit from looking at our fears head-on and working to overcome them. We are not broken, abandoned little boys anymore, surviving on the scraps and handouts of others. We need to put those sad children to rest once and for all. With that said, I challenge each of my Bad Boy brothers to face their greatest fear and go on an epic adventure while doing it before next New Year’s Eve.”
Surprise registered on each man’s face. This was clearly not what anyone had expected from fun-loving Julio. Enrique shifted uncomfortably and rolled his shoulders to relieve the tension pulling his neck tight. He enjoyed a good adventure. They were important for keeping him feeling young and provided a good incentive to stay in shape. His calendar reflected at least two each year for that very reason.
But Julio’s pact had panic racing through Enrique. He had a deeply rooted fear of heights and falling. He made sure all of his adventures included no heights that were above his eye level or any risk of falling farther than his body height. Even when he socialized, he declined rooftop events because they often had glass walls that made him extremely uncomfortable. When such events couldn’t be avoided, he made sure to stay away from the edges of the space.
As his brothers continued to converse around him, the edges of his reality blurred, a terrifying memory from his childhood coursing through his brain. He closed his eyes briefly, willing it to go away. It passed as quickly as it came, but it was enough to make his palms clammy with sweat and his heart race painfully. He hated that it was one of the few things from his past that he couldn’t get over or move past... control. The tiniest thought of falling and his anxiety skyrocketed .
“Rique?” Julio called, shifting everyone’s attention from himself to his brother. “You haven’t said anything.”
Enrique stiffened his spine and adjusted his feet beneath him while his well-practiced mask of indifference quickly slipped into place on his face before any of them could notice his discomfort. However, he missed the quirk of Anthony’s brow and Hannah’s look of concern.
“Nothing to say. You know I always honor the brotherhood pacts, and I love a little danger. Bring it on!”
“Not necessarily danger,” Hannah cringed. She was speaking to all of them now. “If Julio’s pact becomes dangerous for any of you, I suggest you abort the adventure immediately. This is supposed to help you grow, not get injured. I want all of my boys back home healthy and whole next year. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” echoed around the room.
Enrique grinned. Hannah was in the position of their older, well only, sister but had also filled the role of mother figure to them as well. She was empathetic and compassionate, allowed her emotions to be shown, and gave them unconditional love, but she was also not afraid to lay down the law when it was needed to keep her boys in line. It had been necessary as they were developing, transitioning from the bad boys they had learned to be into the respectable men they were today. Even as grown men, when the age gap between them was less significant, no one would dare cross her, as Enrique’s burning mouth continued to remind him .
“You don’t have to worry, honey. The boys will be careful, and there won’t be any significant danger,” Anthony assured, wrapping his arm around her and caressing her arm to calm her while he gave his brothers a knowing look. “Now, for my proposed pact. 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, and Enrique rubbed his forehead.
“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, Han. 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, taking weight off his suddenly weary bones. “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, using his fingertips to massage his temples, trying to stave off the massive headache he was getting. “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, Han. 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 sellers list for months.”
Gabriel sighed. “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.”
“I haven’t read the book yet,” Julio said in response to Fernando. “Did you send me the 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.”
As the TV host and his family counted down to midnight, thoughts of the two pacts for this new year filled Enrique’s mind. He certainly wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, even if it could kill him. He already knew who he was going to call to accompany him on this adventure to face his fears. Facing that particular fear was going to be tough, and he worried it would be more painful than he imagined. It would be important to have a close friend by his side when he did.
He wasn’t sure that Anthony’s pact was possible. Enrique knew he wanted to build a family with someone; he just didn’t see himself settling down anytime soon. He had to meet the right woman. There was no chance, even to fulfill a BBC pact, that he would marry someone he didn’t have one hundred percent certainty about .
The room erupted with shouts of “Happy New Year” as a kaleidoscope of colors exploded in the night sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Glasses clinked together with merriment and kisses pressed to cheeks. A tiny smile lifted Enrique’s lips at the scene. But deep down, he worried that for the first time since the pacts between his brothers began, he was going to fail. How did you look for love when you didn’t know what love really was?