Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
JASON
Walking down the stairs, I try to push down the constant worry that’s been consuming me the last five days since Jasmine's breakdown. The first twenty-four hours were rough to witness.
As soon as Christian walked into her room, she started crying again until she fell asleep in his arms. I have never seen him look as grief-stricken with guilt; if he needed any confirmation of how much he fucked up, that did it.
Jasmine's therapy was Monday evening, and none of us left her side until she was ready to leave the room Wednesday morning. She hardly spoke and cried silently into her teddy or in the arms of whoever was holding her at the time. When she slept, it wasn’t peaceful; the nightmares she had woke us all as she thrashed and screamed in her sleep until she woke herself up. Even though we managed to get her to drink plenty of fluids, she couldn’t stomach food, so Mrs Brown made her all her favourite snacks and meals in small portions. The four of us cancelled all meetings and training to give her our undivided attention.
We all woke up on Wednesday morning and found Jasmine writing in a journal on her vanity table. She told us she was okay and wanted to carry on as best she could, and she has. If you were to see her now, you wouldn’t think anything was wrong. She’s smiling, laughing, and acting like everything is fine. But now and again, she starts staring into space, lost in her thoughts. Her nightmares have increased, and she’s back to having them nightly. As much as we all want to ask her what’s happening, we are giving her the time and space she requested. I’m surprised by Christian as he hasn’t tried to get out of her what's going on. But I think he knows better than to push any of our buttons right now.
Something tells me that Jasmine is not telling us anything because she worries about Christian and how stressed he has been. I believe her when she says she needs time to work everything out before telling us, but I also think she’s protecting him. She is sleeping in my room more than anyone else’s. Christian has also noticed and seems to be taking it a little personally, but what does he expect? He wasn’t here when she needed him the most; I was. He has stayed close since the whole ordeal, which could mean everything is taken care of, as he said.
On Thursday afternoon, when Mrs Brown and Jasmine took the puppy out for a walk, Maximus charged into Christian’s office and had it out with him. It wasn’t pretty, and for a moment, Sean and I were worried it would come to blows, but they managed to clear the air a little, at least. When Jasmine is around, you would not know they had fallen out. Over the last day or two, they have been civil and hopefully, tonight, they will be able to put their differences behind them.
Tonight is our stag party. We wanted to cancel it and spend the time with Jasmine, but she insisted we carry on as usual. Apparently, she and the girls will use the time to organise a few more things for the wedding and her hen party. It feels wrong to go out when she has been so troubled, but if it's what she wants, then that’s what will happen.
I walk into the sitting room, tugging at my shirt cuff and checking that the cufflink is positioned correctly. I’m not surprised the twins are already in here with a drink in their hands and dressed in trousers and shirts as they laugh together.
“Here you go, Jason,” Sean grins, holding a glass for me.
“Thanks,” I say, taking it. “You ready for this?” I ask, smiling at them.
“Hell yeah, going to be a great night,” Maximus laughs, knocking me with his shoulder. “It’s not every day you get to share your stag do with your brothers.”
He’s not wrong. Before Jasmine, I figured if I ever got married, I would have the three of them there as support, not as fellow grooms.
When I think about how I thought my life would go before our amazing, beautiful fiancée danced her way into our hearts, I can say getting married was the furthest thing on my mind. I was content to follow my brother's orders and help him build and protect the empire we have developed through a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and those haven’t always been our own. Sure, I loved to fight and had fun when I did, but I realised the business side of things was a better fit for me and started to concentrate on that.
But now, things are different; our lives have changed and will continue to do so as our family grows. It’s made me wonder if all the stress is still worth it. What if we took what we built, kept the legal stuff and stepped away from the weapons and illegal shit. Would it make Jasmine and our future children safer than they would be if things continue as they are? I can’t decide, so I haven’t said anything to Christian about my thought process yet. I need to work out an easy, safe route out of this life, if there is one.
“Everything organised at the club for tonight?” Sean asks, bringing me back from my busy thoughts.
“Yeah, security has been given a list of people invited. Calvin and the guys are guests, but they have loaned us a few of their people to help out our security. Personally, I think our lot will be enough, but Christian was adamant we needed more.”
He’s still on edge, even though he says everything is fine. I know him as well as I know myself, and I can tell when he hasn’t slept well or is overthinking everything. It’s embedded in him to analyse everything and to prepare for the worst. But sometimes, I wish he would just stop and enjoy the moment. But I don’t think it will be possible until he knows what to do to help Jasmine. It’s hitting him hard being unable to fix this for her.
“Yeah, well, you know what he’s like. He needs to relax now and again,” Sean sighs.
“Well, hopefully, he can relax a bit tonight and enjoy himself,” I smile as I hear giggling from the corridor outside the room.
Jasmine rushes in, looking happy in her leggings and one of Sean's old hoodies. Verity, Danielle King and Abigail Young walk in behind her, smiling.
“Why are you all still here? I thought you were leaving at eight?”
“Eight-thirty, Jazzy. We will be gone as soon as Christian graces us with his presence,” I wink as she leans against Sean's side. He wraps an arm around her waist before leaning in and kissing her cheek.
“Are you eager to get rid of us, Shorty?” Maximus asks, taking my glass to top up.
“Yes, we have things to organise which the grooms can’t know about!” Danielle answers from the sofa, where she and the other girls sit.
“Are you all staying tonight?” Sean asks, looking over the top of Jasmine's head to her friends.
We have three guest rooms on the floor above ours, which Jasmine's friends have stayed in a few times. Each has their own room and stays to keep Jasmine company when we are working away or if they are doing something together.
“And be here when the four of you come home drunk and want a loud orgy? No, thank you,” Abbi replies as Verity giggles behind her hand.
“Don’t be so vulgar, Abigail,” Christian declares as he walks into the room whilst shoving his phone in his pocket. “Are we all ready to get this over with?” he asks, looking around at us all.
“You could pretend you are looking forward to it,” Sean sighs, rolling his eyes as he takes a glass and hands it to our older brother. “Even if just for the three of us,” he adds. Christian's shoulders visibly slump a little as he realises tonight isn’t just about him.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m sure I will relax once I have a drink or two.” He knocks back the bourbon in his glass and holds it out for a top-up, a playful smirk appearing as he winks at Jasmine.
“That’s more like it!” Maximus laughs as he downs his own, picks up shot glasses from the small bar that are already filled, and hands them out. I sniff the liquor and realise it's the expensive tequila we keep for nights like tonight. He holds his glass out in front of him with a big grin. “Here’s to us showing others that no one throws a stag do like the O’Reillys.” My brothers and I tap our glasses against his before all knocking back our shots and laughing. I smile at Christian, who puts his empty glass on the table.
“Right, come on. There is a bottle in the limo with our name on it and a whole load of arseholes waiting to get us drunk.”
“Will there be strippers there tonight?” Verity asks from the sofa.
“There better not be since I wasn’t allowed to book any for Jaz’s hen party,” Danielle adds, giving us a look. If it weren’t for knowing she is all bark and no bite, I would sometimes feel slightly intimidated by that woman.
“Usually, that’s down to the best man, and since we are all each other’s best men, I can guarantee there will not be one,” Sean answers, looking at each of us as if daring us to say he’s wrong. We all smirk whilst shrugging, knowing how much it will irritate Jasmine.
“There better not be any strippers, or I will not be held responsible-” I cut her off by taking her hand and pulling her from Sean so I can wrap an arm around her waist whilst threading my fingers into her hair before kissing her until she is left gasping for breath.
“Why would we have a stripper when we are coming home to you?” I ask, looking into her eyes. “Which room will you be in later, Angel?” Even after only a few drinks, I’m ready to lose myself in this woman.
“My room,” she answers, smiling. “Do you think you will be joining me? Or will you be too drunk?” I let her go as Maximus steps forward and pulls her into his arms to kiss her with as much passion as I did.
“I don’t think I could ever get drunk enough to stop myself from fucking you into next week,” he growls as Jasmine melts in his arms. He grins before turning her around so she faces Sean and Christian, who both look ready to skip tonight and spend it buried deep in our woman.
“Will you be our stripper, Princess? Can we get a lap dance when we get back?”
Jasmine grips the front of Sean’s shirt and pulls him close to her.
“If you behave tonight, I will give you more than a lap dance,” she whispers just before his lips slam into hers.
“How is a guy meant to refuse an offer like that?” he teases, then kisses her lightly. “I will be on my very best behaviour,” he adds with a wink before letting Christian finally get to our girl.
“Will you be behaving, Daddy?” she asks, fluttering her lashes and looking as sweet as honey.
“No one on this Earth could take my attention from you, Sweetheart. Each and every one of us is a one-woman man.” Christian lets his lips brush against hers as he grins. “And we all plan on getting back and fucking you to the point you won't even be able to walk tomorrow.” Not giving her a chance to reply, he briefly kisses her hard before smirking and walking towards the door. We all follow suit, knowing it will be killing her to watch us leave, knowing we won't be back for many hours and by that point, she will be ready for everything we throw at her and more.
“Don’t forget the no-touching rule, Shorty. We will know if you do,” Maximus warns before closing the door and shutting the four women in the sitting room.
“Well, that was fucking hot!” we hear Danielle exclaim as we walk away smiling.
The four of us make our way through the house, heading to the front door where Terry and a couple of guards are waiting for us.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Sean asks quietly.
“She has promised to call if she's not,” Christian answers.
“We all know she won’t though, she would be worried about ruining our night,” Maximus points out.
“Which is why security will contact me if they see her upset or struggling,” Christian adds, coming to a stop beside Terry. “I thought I told you not to work tonight,” he points out, arching a brow at his friend, who is smiling at him.
“I’m not. You didn’t think I would be working on your stag do, did you? After all these years, you should know I will be partying with the rest of you. Let’s face it, we never thought you would find someone to put up with your shit, let alone all your brothers too,” he winks as Christian calls him an arsehole. Terry turns his attention back to the guards. “You know what to do here. Verity, Abbi and Danielle are all being collected just before midnight by Travis Donavon, Miss King's driver, Frank Laws and Mr Young Junior. Walk them to the car and check everyone is safe before leaving. If there are any issues, contact Layton, as he is the one with the phone tonight. If anything happens with Jasmine, you call Christian.”
Both guys nod and hold the door open as the five of us head out and climb into the limo. Terry and Sean start pouring each of us drinks as we sit back and take a deep breath.
“You all ready for this?” Terry asks, looking at us all.
“As ready as we will ever be,” Maximus replies, grinning from ear to ear. I think out of all of us, he is the one looking forward the most to this evening. He has always been the one to enjoy partying, and the rest of us are happy to drink a few bourbons and head home at a reasonable hour.
“Well then, all that’s left to say is happy stag do, you four!” Terry declares, holding up his glass. We all smile with a chorus of cheers and sip our drinks. All sharing a look that tells me we are all shocked that we are here, celebrating our future marriage to the woman of our dreams. It still amazes us every day, and we can't wait to get to the wedding in two weeks and marry the love of our lives once we have made it through tonight.