Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alexei
We were six hours from Brian getting here. His flight was supposed to land at any minute and then he would make the long drive to the estate in upstate New York. I hated it, I hated him, and dammit, I hated myself. All of this was a mess.
I shared a wall with Audrey and at night, she and Carina talked and planned. I could barely hear their muffled voices through the thin sheetrock. Thank God for old homes that were redone poorly. They, unfortunately, didn’t speak of anything of importance, but I listened all the same, like a creep, just in case. I hated myself even more for it.
“Are you ready for Brian to get here?” I didn’t need to strain that hard to hear Carina. At least she talked loud. Getting Audrey’s response was going to be harder to pick up until I heard her groan.
“I don’t know, he doesn’t know that he’s staying across the hall from me, which shouldn’t be an issue.”
“It’s not like you’ve spent the night with him before,” Carina agreed. I pressed my ear against the sheetrock even harder. If I could have put my head through it, I probably would have.
What the fuck? She’d never slept in the same bed with him before? They didn’t live together? Who got married after five years of being together without doing those things first? Who was this pussy? I couldn’t wait to meet him. I hated him, but I was going to love what was about to happen next.
Four A.M. and I was Brian’s welcoming party. Ace insisted that he be the one to welcome our new guest but I told him not to worry and get some rest. Unfortunately, he hadn’t listened and he was waiting in the foyer with me.
“Why are you so chipper to meet Brian?” Ace lifted a brow.
“I’m not, I just figured I would let you get some rest.”
Ace rubbed the back of his neck. “First, I’m not sleeping knowing that Carina can’t be in the bed with me.” Yuck, but okay. He was a goner. “Second, I’m not going to let you murder Audrey’s fiancé and bury him in our mother’s gardens.”
I grinned at my brother. “Oh, you thought I was going to murder him?”
“You were absolutely going to sic me on him,” Dimitri said from the shadows. His sudden voice and appearance startled me and not much did, but our creepy-ass brother knew how to be quiet.
I regarded my brothers with boredom. “I honestly hadn’t thought of it, but I do plan on giving him a hard time.”
Ace and Dimitri groaned together. He would be running with his tail tucked between his legs by the next morning. I would show Audrey that she deserved better than this pussy ass bitch.
Brian exited our blacked-out SUV and smiled at the driver. “Thanks so much, man.”
“My pleasure,” Jordan, our driver, tipped his hat before he sat Brian’s dark brown luggage down on the steps.
The welcoming committee which was only supposed to be a party of one, quickly became a party of all the Cristof brothers. Ace was fuming, but I thought it was nice. Nice in the way that we were all going to scare him off. Ace was the only one that didn’t want that to happen, for some convoluted reason. He was so fucking blind to what a loser Brian was. I hadn’t even met the guy and I knew he was shit.
Much to my surprise, Brian greeted us with a smile and zero fear. Ugh. I guess he got points for that. Nothing else though. When he walked up the steps, I stepped forward first with my hand outstretched. When he wrapped his weak fingers around mine, I yanked him forward. “So this is who our Audrey is marrying.”
Oh, I was going to put it on so thick. Thicker than peanut butter. He would be swimming in it and if I had my way, he would drown. His smile faltered slightly at my words but he recovered quickly. He was a lawyer, after all.
Before he could say anything, Ivan reached forward and slapped him on the back hard. He stumbled a step, our hands still connected. I helped straighten him out. Ivan grinned like a psychopath and I could appreciate it. The rest of the brothers didn’t want to see Audrey end up with a loser either. “ We’ve been enjoying Audrey, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
I thought I was going to be the one laying it on thick. I raised a brow at my brother who was usually bored with anything and everything. For the first time in years, he appeared amused. He was definitely just as psychotic as Dimitri.
It was Griffin’s turn. “She’s such a gem. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her. You picked such a wild flower.”
Why hadn’t I thought of recruiting my brothers before now? This was genius. With every handshake and comment, Brian was knocked down a peg. His shoulders slumped forward slightly as we walked him up the stairs.
“I know you probably planned for a romantic morning with your fiancé but I hate to break it to you, Grandmother will not allow the sharing of beds between unwedded people in this house, so,” I kicked open his door with a little more force than I intended. “You’ll be across the hall from her. Girls on one side,”
“Guys on the other,” Griffin grinned as all the brothers went to our side of the hallway. Everyone but me. It was funny how fate worked, or rather my mother, as I was the only one left without a room on the guy’s side. I was of course placed with my room butting up to Audrey’s. I leaned against my door territorially and his eyes skipped between my room and his fiancé’s quickly. He was a smart man, if not a little slow. He would catch on, if he hadn’t already.
“Brian?” A sleepy Audrey had my blood running molten. If only it were my name she was saying so breathlessly. “I didn’t realize you were getting in so late.”
She hadn’t seen me yet and exited her room in a pair of little shorts that showed off the underside of bright red, lace panties. I thought my blood was molten before, it was worse. I didn’t think it could get any worse. She wore a matching lace bra thing and a sliver of tanned skin was on display right above her shorts. Her hair was slightly messy from sleep and her bare face was glowing. If this was what she looked like waking up, what did she look like going to sleep? After being thoroughly taken care of? What did she look like as she came apart under my hands?
I stopped the thoughts before they could continue their downward spiral. This would get me nowhere. Brian watched me notice his fiancé and his mouth turned into a deep frown. I waggled my fingers at him just as he grabbed Audrey’s hand and yanked her right into his arms.
Game on .