Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Angel
I start the coffee pot, my brothers’ eyes boring into my back. I fucking ignore them.
I don’t like what Gunner insinuated, which is a real fucking problem.
Gunner isn’t the smartest man on the planet, but his instincts are spot-on. If he’s worried about Promise’s motives, then he’s likely sensing something.
But my immediate instinct is to protect Promise.
What the actual fuck?
I have a plan, I know her place, and I don’t catch feelings just because I cum on a chick’s tits. And her ass…
I’m seeing their point.
“What was the last thing she said to you?” Axel asks me as the coffee begins to brew.
I hand him my unlocked phone, which now has her notes from the last day.
“You’ve spent a lot of time talking about her father.”
I shrug. “Yesterday he surprised her by telling her she was getting married in two days. She has questions.”
“But she slept with you last night?”
“No sex. Just fucking around.”
Axel grimaces. “You reek of sex.”
I know what Axel is angling toward. “I have that effect.”
Gunner’s brows draw together. “What do you mean by reek? Like he smells more than normal?”
Axel scoffs. “Jesus, Gunner. Do you ever fuck a woman who isn’t a whore?”
“That makes a difference?” he asks, seeming genuinely perplexed.
I shake my head. I don’t want to get into all the ways in which a woman who wants to have sex with you is better.
Gunner doesn’t like people touching him, even when he’s having sex. I think it’s why he only messes around with prostitutes. They are more than willing to just bend over and let him stick it in.
But all of that aside, messing with Promise might have been the best orgasms I’ve had in a while.
And Axel knows my silence is a problem. “So how did you do it?”
“Do what?” I ask, intentionally playing dumb.
“Get a woman who should be frightened half to death to get that hot for you?”
“How do you know she’s hot for him?” Gunner asks, clearly interested in a way I’ve never heard before.
“Go smell his face. He had pussy last night that was enthusiastic.”
I hold up my hand. “Stay the fuck away.” And then I glare at Axel. I’m getting tired of being questioned, and I’m playing this out regardless of what my brothers think. This is my show. “And I was persistent. And gentle…”
That makes Axel’s head pull back, his brow furrowing like he is considering that. “Why?”
“Because I like enthusiastic and because…” My jaw clenches. “I think Promise is right about her father. We’re criminals who never pretend to be anything else. But her father…”
“So why do the deal?” Gunner asks.
“Gunner, what the fuck? Are you back in nursery school? If I can get what I need out of Donald, we will not only be sitting on the top of the New York circuit, we’ll make inroads into being men like the Smiths.
I know you’re all having a great time, hitting people and driving fast cars, but eventually we’ll need a different plan.
” I throw my hands up and then spin back to the coffee, pouring a cup and taking a swig of the steaming hot liquid.
Then I pour a second cup. “Now one of you make some fucking breakfast, while I go check on my fiancée.”
“Fiancée?” Axel scoffs. “I didn’t think I’d ever see the day where one of us would marry.”
That makes me pause, because maybe some of Axel’s concerns with my marriage are about his own hangups.
I carry the coffee into the bedroom to find that most of Promise’s things are unpacked and in my closet.
I step in and see her unbagging the wedding dress. It’s strapless and fitted and even I pause, my brows drawing together. “That’s the dress your father picked out for you?” I ask as she hangs more clothes on the hanging rods.
She doesn’t look at me as one shoulder comes up. But I set down the coffees on the shoe shelves that are tucked on one side of the closet. I barely have anything on them, though one shelf is now filled with Promise’s shoes.
“Your clothes are lot more revealing than I thought,” I say as I look at all the sexy pumps.
She doesn’t answer, obviously, but she doesn’t ask for my phone, nor does she make eye contact. Instead, she walks out of the closet and into the bedroom, where she returns to a suitcase on the bed.
From inside, she starts pulling out products that she carries into the bathroom.
I stand there, knowing that I’m being given the silent treatment from the mute girl.
I don’t like it one fucking bit.
“Promise,” I grit out, grabbing the coffee and following. “What’s the problem?”
She’s putting stuff on the shelf next to the sink, shampoo and conditioner in the shower.
But that’s when I see the tears on her lashes.
Fuck.
“I’ll repeat. What is the fucking problem?”
Her gaze snaps up, her expression pained as she shakes her head. Then she goes to brush by me again to get more stuff.
“Stop.”
She does, pausing next to me.
“Take your coffee.”
She slowly takes the cup from my hand.
“Do you drink coffee?”
She nods.
“Take a sip.”
She brings the cup to her lips, slowly drawing in a bit of the hot liquid.
“You’re upset.”
Her shoulders slump. She’s still wearing my T-shirt, her adorable toes curling into the tile.
“About what Axel said?”
She gives the smallest nod. I set my coffee on the counter. I spend a lot of my day with women.
And there are times when they just have to talk until they feel better. I know I said I’m not a good man, and I’m not, but I know when I need to convince a woman to perform, and that’s what Promise needs to do today.
So I hold out my phone.
She nips at her lip as she takes another sip of her coffee and then sets it down. I see her draw in a tremulous breath. And then she takes the phone and starts typing.
I won’t lie. There isn’t any love between me and my father. And what he just did to me, giving me away like I’m a piece of furniture and not a person…but I don’t have some grand plan. And I don’t need to turn you against my father. He’ll do that himself.
I read over her shoulder, softly grunting. It all feels like the truth.
I pick up my coffee, taking another sip, even as I rest my hand on her neck. And then I lean down and kiss her temple. But this action is more gray. Is it for me or for her? “What about the clothes?”
They aren’t mine. Meaning, I’ve never worn any of them before and they aren’t what I would usually wear, they’re way more revealing and your suit for today isn’t right either.
That makes me pause. Is she correct about this?
Crossing the room, I start the shower. “Drink your coffee and then take a shower, sweetheart. I’ll be in in just a minute.”
And then I leave her to discuss with my brothers.
I return to the kitchen to find Axel scrambling eggs and Gunner buttering toast. It’s been a while since I’ve seen either of them in a task this domestic. It’s strange, but it also reminds me of the stakes.
Someday, we all might want far more normal lives than what’s been given to us. Though I seem to be the only one of us who cares.
“How’s blondie?” Axel asks.
“Pissed,” I answer, one corner of my mouth turning up. “But she says that the clothes that got sent aren’t right. That we are going to look out of place today.”
Axel’s head lifts from the pan, his eyes meeting mine. “Well shit.”
And I know he understands. There is nothing to lose from listening to Promise on this front, and everything to gain. “So I think we build in a little shopping time.”
“She’s not cutting my hair,” Gunner grunts. “I like it long.”
I know he doesn’t like being touched, but I’ll hold him down if I have to, if it means today goes well.
When we go to the country club today and stand in front of the press, I am going to look like I belong there.