Chapter Six
Josh
“You okay?” Ares asks as I methodically chow down on chow mein. Peking Town has the best noodles in the city, and carbs never fail to make me feel better.
I feign nonchalance. “Yeah. Dad had a ‘chat’ with me, but considering the situation, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
” He thinks I might be fucking up my life and not living like a true Huxley.
Where do you think I failed? But I swallow the question along with the noodles.
My suspicion is that he wants me to pull my head out of my ass and find someone I can imagine my future with, the kind of woman who would be worthy of belonging to the family.
Except who could be the one? He might be right that I’ve purposely avoided suitable women, but—
Want a hug?
Klein’s voice keeps ringing in my head. The offer felt like an escape into sanctuary, but she’s totally off-limits.
The firm doesn’t have a rule against interoffice dating, but it’s definitely frowned upon because of so many ways things could go wrong.
And she always calls me “boss,” like she can’t imagine me as anything else.
The soft gesture in the office was her pitying me because I probably looked like absolute shit after the talk with Dad.
I should know better than to confuse the charming blush on her cheeks and the bright smile she gifts me every morning with something more intimate.
“What the hell was that about with Sarah?” Bryce scowls as he picks up a lobster chunk with a set of ivory chopsticks.
“Who?” I ask. He handles divorce, so he tends to get a fair number of highly emotionally clients who sometimes lose control in public.
“Sarah Norwal. The banshee in your office today. I thought my clients were bad, but…” Bryce squints at me. “You didn’t know who she was?”
“Not really. Besides, Ted called her Nelly, then Sally.”
“That’s Ted.” Ares shakes his head. “But shouldn’t you remember her name? I mean, you slept with the woman.”
I scowl. “I doubt that. She left no impression. At all.”
Bryce swallows his lobster. “Then how did you check if she was the one? Don’t you need to use your dick radar?”
“I think it’s more like a probe,” Ares says.
I sigh. “Sometimes my brain can tell without having to go that far.”
“Hopefully this won’t impact your performance eval,” Ares says. He knows my tendency to downplay things to avoid worrying him and Bryce.
“I just got a warning not to have a repeat performance.” I don’t want to get into the details.
“How’s Fiona, by the way?” I change the topic before my brothers can probe too deeply.
They’re great at cross-examination. I can handle one, but when they tag-team?
Yeah, not putting myself through that. “Still suffering from morning sickness?” It’s been about three months since she found out she’s pregnant.
Bryce is crazy about her and the coming baby.
He shudders. “The only thing she wants to do is sleep and sleep some more. She avoids eating as much as possible. Apparently, the smell of food makes her nauseated. She can tolerate about a cup of dry cornflakes a day, but anything more than that…”
“Makes sense. It’s your child, after all,” I say.
“Hey now! I was an angel,” Bryce protests, and throws a wadded paper napkin.
“At least she isn’t craving celery sticks topped with key lime pie, like Queen’s friend,” Ares says. His wife’s name is Lareina, but he adoringly calls her Queen.
Bryce gags a little. “That’s disgusting.”
“Could be worse. Canned tuna and broccoli,” I say. “That’s what Jeremiah ate when she was pregnant.”
“Ugh.” Bryce shudders. “I guess I should count my blessings that Fiona doesn’t want to eat bowls of boiled brussels sprouts.”
Even though he acts like Fiona’s food choices are the end of the world, if she told him that’s what she wanted, he’d get it for her like a hopeless simp. It’s fascinating how love has changed him. Just a few months ago, he swore he hated her.
I didn’t trust her, either. I even put a bug and a tracker on her. Bryce was furious when he found out.
I study my twin. Has Dad ever said that he didn’t act like a true Huxley?
Or are things different with him because he’s living his life the right way?
We even put our poker nights on hold because Bryce can’t bear to stay away from Fiona more than he has to, and we can’t host it at his place since the smell of food would bother her too much.
So instead, we’re meeting for dinner. That way Bryce can eat without triggering her morning sickness.
Ares’s expression grows serious. “Mom hasn’t tried to reach Fiona since the pregnancy, right?”
“No. If she had, Fiona would’ve told me.” The muscles in Bryce’s jaw flex.
Apprehension slithers down my spine. It isn’t like Mom to be so quiet.
She isn’t known for patience or subtle finesse. But then, she never had to suffer the consequences of her actions because her mob boss father Vincent shielded her.
Perhaps his actions created her belief that she’d be able to push her brother Harvey aside and take over the mob when her father passed away.
When Vincent wanted to extend his criminal empire from Nesovia to the States, she decided seducing and marrying Dad in a whirlwind romance was the way to go.
Huxley she burst into tears and confessed everything.
Mom had been supplying Jessica with party drugs.
All she had to do was tell Mom what she wanted to know about my life, nothing complicated or bad.
But then it escalated to having to hand over photos and stories, the kind of slices of life Mom couldn’t get a hold of easily.
Then the drugs in my drink because Mom wanted to see me without my noticing.
My mind went white, then red with rage. Uncontrollable tremors ran through me, and—swearing I’d kill Mom—I went home and grabbed Akiko’s sashimi knife. Although I didn’t go through with the impulsive plot, I did dump Jessica.
The only person I told about the incident was Grandma Catalina, although I didn’t mention my fury-induced plan to murder Mom.
Grandma said she’d deal with it. But I’ve never had a serious long-term girlfriend afterward.
I kept an eye on Bryce’s girlfriends as well—I didn’t trust them to not sell him out either, even if Grandma was “dealing with it.”
After all, the family thought they’d taken care of Mom, but it didn’t really work.
I felt the need to do something about it without sharing what happened and freaking out my brothers.
Ares was already so damaged he couldn’t even date, and Bryce only coped by getting a golden retriever that loved him unconditionally.
“I thought Mom would make a move by now. She tried to drug you to create a baby,” Ares remarks.
My mouth twists in distaste. She hasn’t changed her MO. Actually, that MO runs in the family. Harvey tried to drug Ares before, ostensibly to hire him. The Dunkels don’t seem to realize drugging a Huxley isn’t the most effective means of convincing us to do their bidding.
“Yeah, but maybe she gave up after I let Harvey have our sonograms,” Bryce says.
My jaw drops. “You gave that son of a bitch sonograms of your baby? Why?”
“It was a figurative flipping of the bird. Mom wanted to use our baby to earn brownie points from Vincent.”
That man’s apparently become sentimental with age and ill health. Too bad he hasn’t keeled over. For some reason, assholes seem to live forever. Probably not even Satan wants Vincent in hell.
Bryce continues, “I’m thrilled that my wife’s pregnant, and I’m pretty sure it happened when Mom drugged me. But that doesn’t mean I forgive her.” His jaw hardens. “I’ll never forgive her.”
Ares pats his shoulder. Bryce carries guilt from the kidnapping—that Ares got caught trying to help him escape. I carry it, too, but do my best not to show it too much because it bothers Ares. He did it so we’d be spared some trauma, not live with the weight of self-blame.
“She won’t stay down for long,” Bryce says. “Harvey warned me that she isn’t just fighting to take over the mob. She’s also fighting for her life. Vincent might not be so forgiving if she had anything to do with their younger brother’s death.”
“I wouldn’t put any stock in what a snake like Harvey says. He’s probably mixed in enough fiction and exaggeration to manipulate us. He’d do anything to take over from Vincent,” I say.
“Regardless, Mom’s a ticking time bomb. And she won’t tick forever.” Ares turns to me, his eyes concerned. “I’m worried she’s going to shift her focus to you.”
I shrug. “Let her. I’d love a chance to tell her what I really think about her.” For some reason, she hasn’t tried to mess with me since her failure with Jessica, at least not that I’ve noticed. No notes, no calls, nothing.
You’re just like me.
Fuck you, Mom. If I’m really like you, I hope I get to end you.
Bryce gives me a narrow, penetrating look, then scowls. “Don’t try to be a hero. She’s been patient, but when she’s pushed too far, she pushes back. She hit me when she got frustrated at my lack of cooperation.”