Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MICHAEL
There’s a heaviness in my chest as I finish dressing and sit down on the side of the bed to pull on my socks.
I lingered in the shower longer than strictly necessary because I wasn’t ready for the day to begin, but there’s only so long I can hold it at bay.
The slice of sky I can see through the bedroom window is a bright, clear blue.
The sun is shining. And I need to turn on my phone to find out who’s coming to take Win away from me, and when.
I’m not ready.
The last few days have been a gift. Being around a man who relishes moments the same way he devours my desserts has been refreshing. He makes me feel alive in a way I’ve never experienced. Makes me laugh. Makes me want things I never thought I would.
He’s also stubborn, slow to trust and has a difficult time accepting help. But every time Win shared a piece of himself over the last few days, the explanation of why became a little clearer.
Compared to what he’s experienced, my life of guilt-soaked luxury was a picnic.
I never wanted for anything but approval and the freedom to make my own choices.
I lived in a gilded cage that was never actually locked, and was raised by a mother who loved me enough to take all the ridicule that came her way because of me.
When I got out of the shower and heard the music downstairs, I got a flash of what my life could be if Win was in it. Music in the morning. Laughter and passion every night.
The beauty of the image ripped the breath from my lungs.
I know he feels something for me, but it’s still so new, and Ken is right; I’m not sure where I’m going to end up at the moment.
Before I met Win, this was the last place I would have considered settling down.
Living so close to my brother and the life he’s built for himself felt presumptuous.
Particularly since we kept rubbing each other the wrong way.
His kids like me, though. And Win’s life is here.
I could make that life easier. Get the name of the man who’s been harassing him and end that asshole’s career. I could make sure he and his friends eat something other than frozen meals and takeout. I could be with him, if he’d let me. Whenever he’d let me.
Would that be enough, when this is what I really want? He and I, together alone, somewhere without distractions. Somewhere I can watch him fall asleep every night, safe in my arms.
I open the bedroom door and head for the stairs, only to pause on the landing. The kitchen where Win and I danced and baked and teased each other yesterday is now entirely too crowded. Bellamy and Jake stand around the island with Win, who’s plating… Did he cook breakfast?
Jake fills the silence easily, the way he always does. “She was adamant. It took me hours to explain that this is Grandma and Grandpa’s special anniversary, and not everyone knows the songs from an animated movie about singing demon hunters. Especially not one that just came out.”
“I do,” Win says unsurprisingly. “My classroom was obsessed with it before I left. They’re catchy songs. But I don’t think everyone would appreciate them. Tell her we can sing one or two of them together between sets.”
“You’ll be her new favorite person,” Bellamy bemoans. “Like I was, when she used to like Beauty and the Beast . But that’s ‘kid stuff’ to her now.”
“She’s a teenager,” Jake says. “She’ll love it again later. When she’s done hating everything her parents like on principle.”
“Tale as old as time.” Win’s words make them laugh for some reason, and I frown as I walk down the stairs, feeling out of the loop since I have no idea what they’re talking about.
Jake is suggesting Win meet their cousin’s partner Oliver, who he’s saying is some kind of professional dancer, when the dogs notice me.
They race toward the bottom of the stairs as if it’s been thirty years instead of thirty minutes since I took them outside.
When I squat down to give them a scratch, Mad leaps for the towel I was taking to the laundry room and steals it away, dragging it deeper into the living room for a victory lap.
“Hey, Uncle,” Jake calls. “Come taste this. It’s delicious.” He called me uncle almost as soon as he met me. He makes a point of it, just accepting me into the family. He’s a great kid.
A man, not a kid , I remind myself. Twenty-two with two college degrees and the same kind of steady, loving personality I noticed in his father. Penny, Wes and the boy they call Little Sean all idolize him, and I can understand why.
Even Win seems to like him, because he’s beaming at the kid, which simultaneously darkens my mood and makes me feel like a jealous heel.
When I move closer, Win hands me a plate, staring at my shoulder instead of into my eyes. Why isn’t he looking at me? Is something wrong?
“It smells good,” I offer gruffly.
He shrugs off the compliment. “It’s nothing like the feast you made yesterday, but it’s going to be a long day, so I thought I’d handle breakfast.”
“Thank you.”
I hate that there are people watching and he seems as uncomfortable and grumpy as I am. I wanted more time with him before this happened. I lean against the kitchen counter instead of joining the others at the island, then take a bite.
The moan escapes unintentionally. It is delicious. And comforting. And Win made it for me before these two showed up and forced me to share.
“Told you,” Jake says immediately. “I want the recipe.”
“It’s just eggs and leftovers, a few spices and?—”
“Dancing?” Bellamy interrupts with a wry curve to his lips. “Is that part of the recipe? Because we caught some of that show before you noticed us.”
Win was dancing to that music I heard upstairs?
He turns red and I find myself wanting to punch the other Demir in the room for witnessing a moment I missed. “Leave him alone.”
Bellamy and I glower at each other in silence until Win chuckles.
“Yeah, okay I definitely see the resemblance now.”
“Right?” Jake snorts. “Dad knew right away, but it wasn’t until I saw them side by side and they both frowned that I caught it. There’s no denying they’re brothers.”
“I’ve never denied it,” Bellamy mutters under his breath. “I just needed a minute to get used to the idea.”
The ensuing silence stretches until Win breaks it. “You said you wanted to talk to Michael about something before we head over to the lodge?”
“It’s family business, isn’t that right?” I say with a hard look at Bellamy. “About the texts I sent last night?”
He nods. No doubt that’s why he’s in the rescue party instead of Brady or Connor. He wants to confront me about them without his husband or family around. I wonder if he’ll deny it, or excuse his cousin’s actions.
If he was planning to be an asshole, would he have brought Jake?
Too late, I see the hurt in Win’s expression and realize what that sounded like. Family business. Damn it, I should have chosen my words more carefully.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I tell him, keeping my voice low, for him alone.
He sticks out his chin. “Sure, I get it. It’s either about the reason you quit your job, or whatever was in that will.”
“You haven’t talked to me about that in months, but you told a man you just met?” Bellamy sounds genuinely surprised.
“We met a while ago,” Win informs him shamelessly. I stand a little taller, glad he’s not pretending there’s nothing between us. “At your husband’s pub. You can imagine how surprised I was to be innocently wandering through the forest in a snowstorm only to have him pop up again.”
Jake and Bellamy both look suspicious, and I know exactly what they’re thinking.
“It wasn’t Ken,” I tell them. “I questioned him the other night.”
“You did?” Win and Jake ask simultaneously.
I shrug, feeling uncomfortable with all this attention. “We both know him, and I’d told him about our first encounter. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t consider the possibility that he was involved.”
Win’s eyes widen.
“Not everything ,” I rush to assure him.
Before he can comment, Bellamy curses. “You talked to Tanaka. You talked to Win. But you waited until last night to tell me—in a damn text —that the man my father trusted above all others has been embezzling and planning a coup with the same family you have to marry into to get your inheritance? Jesus, brother, we need to talk about your priorities.”
Win’s expression transforms to outrage. “Wait a minute. That’s what your father put in the will? He’s trying to force you to marry someone? Is that even legal?”
“Man, that’s cold.” Jake shakes his head. “He was always nice to me. And he supported Dad’s wedding to Bell. I can’t believe he’d do that to his own son.”
“Ali must have convinced him or manipulated him somehow,” Bellamy says, looking torn between anger and disappointment. “He was getting old. Maybe he was confused.”
My laugh sounds bitter. “I don’t think he was confused at all.
He wanted something they had, and they wanted a Demir for their daughter.
I was the bastard spare and convenient. I may not have known him that well, but he trusted Ali, and I definitely know him.
He’s always wanted to be the one calling the shots.
That’s why I reported to him. I found the dirt on prospective investors, and he liked the idea of having that much knowledge at his disposal. ”
“If I wasn’t so pissed off for him, I’d be making popcorn right now,” Win mutters to Jake as they both stare at me and Bellamy.
“I’d be eating it,” Jake replies with wide eyes. “This is like that Succession show or something.”
“Oh, I haven’t seen that yet. Is it good?”