Four Brothers and a Bride

walked down the hall to take the call. She was panicking Ash, something about an article on Billion-Err and your

parents calling to threaten mine. | just took longer trying to assure her that you and | are together. I'm sorry. |

wasn't trying to escape.

Her voice breaks off as she cries harder. | sigh in relief.

| hear Ashal demand for her phone and possibly look through it. He probably goes through her call log and

confirms her words.

Sir, she did askto go get a tissue from the men’s room but | couldn't find any either.

You left her by herself?

I'm sorry sir.

| hear the sound of Ashal’s fist ramming into something followed by a grunt of pain. It was probably the

speaker's jaw. Olivia is still crying in the background. | cut the call to let my brother get a grip of himself. | am

satisfied that the danger is averted and Olivia is still with us. I'll call Ash later when things have simmered down.

"Was that Ashal?"

| whip my head to find mother behind me.

"Yes mother."

"Is everything alright over there?"

"Of course it is." | hook an arm around her shoulder. "He and Olivia are having a dinner date at home. | just

called to tell him about the situation here so he can be extra careful and keep close tabs on her. She has no clue

what's going on either. They're enjoying lobsters."

Mom's smile stretches across her face. "I'm glad their relationship is getting better. | just want my son to be

happy, ALL of my sons." Mother tugs at my cheeks. "How are you and Demi?" The evasion is so quick I incline my

head to stare at her lovely face.

"We're good."

"Are you really? | couldn't help but notice the tension between the two of you after you invited your ex to your

wife's birthday party without being considerate of Demi’s feelings."

"Okay. Firstly, | didn’t invite Nicola. She must have gotten whiff of the news from her father whom father

graciously invited and accompanied him. Secondly, Demi has no romantic feelings forthat could possibly

have been bruised by Nicola’s presence. However, | do accept that | could have handled the situation better and

not allowed Nicola conduct herself so brazenly in front of my wife, thereby embarrassing Demi on her birthday. |

am still making amends for that."

"So, you two are still fighting?"

"I wouldn't call it that but she’s been a bit distant lately. | am working on it, mom. You know | have my way with

women, especially strong-willed ones like the one you hadmarried to."

Mom smiles. "Don’t act like you don’t find her attractive." She sighs heavily. "She’s guarded because she’s still

getting to know you. Women like Demi are like that. I'm certain with time, you two will connect as a couple."

| say nothing as mother pecks my cheek and returns to the living room where | had left to go answer Ashal’s

desperate call. | watch my brothers conversing. Ashton has a laptop on his thighs as he rubs minds with Asher

about how to handle the Billion-Err problem.

Father is making calls in his study but it’s not about the sissue. It's purely a business call with a very

important associate. | peer up the stairs. Since her birthday, Demi barely comes down for anything unless

mother insists.

She's been frosty towardsfor obvious reasons. | wouldn't blher. Contract marriage or not, she’s still

entitled to givean attitude especially when | openly disrespect her in public.

| shouldn't have gotten drunk at the birthday party. | let myself be an easy target for my ex and from the stories

William has told me, Demi has every right to givethe silent treatment. Nicci had gone too far that night.

Could Demi have seen us having sex? What if someone else saw us?

| make my way to her room and rap softly on her door.

"Demi? It's Ashley. Do you have a minute?"

She takes her tto drag her feet to the door and unlock it. "Yes?"

"Aren't you going to invitein at least?"

Demi tosses her head in a sidelong glance at her messy room. "No. I'm unboxing my gifts and reorganizing my

closet. It’s a huge mess in here."

"I don’t mind."

"I do." Her clipped response and dry look almost discouragebut | maintain my resolve to apologize to her for

the umpteenth time.

"Hey, | am deeply sorry about Nicci at your party. You have to believewhen | tell you that | never invited her.

| wouldn't do such a thing knowing how uncomfortable she makes you feel."

"Uncomfortable?" Demi reiterates with a slight frown. "Are you assuming | feel threatened by your side chick?"

She laughs softly. "That's cute. | bet she wants to believe that too but no, | am not uncomfortable having Nicci

around. Your family obviously cherishes her and father is still good friends with her dad. I just wasn’t comfortable

with her shameless display at the party in front of the guests who know the history between both of you. It was

embarrassing for the family as a whole and the last thing | want is father blamingfor anything that happened

at the party, like the secret wife thing we're facing right now."

"I understand. | still wanted to apologize though. Don’t worry. None of it will cback to you. I'll make sure

father doesn’t pin any blon you." | angle my head, shoot her a sunny smile and turn to leave.

"Is it true?"

"What?"

"Is it true that the woman Ashal was hanging out with was Olivia Dunn?"

"How can you believe that? Ashal doesn’t know anyone by that name."

"I know but it's just so strange because | am the one she tried to befriend. Why would she cto my party and

not try to see me?"

"Don’t beat yourself up about anything. There was no one by that non the guest list. Simply because

someone dropped a ndoesn’t mean there's any truth to it. Ashal isn’t married as you know. It's all just clout

chasing. Those desperate people will say anything to win the stupid contest."

"You're right. I'm so silly for falling for that. Olivia couldn't have been at that party because | didn’t invite her. |

can’t even find her contact anymore." Demi shakes her head. "So, who exactly was Ashal vibing with that night?

Cto think of it, | haven't exactly seen him cozying up to any woman. He also doesn’t have a girlfriend. | am

just curious to know who the mysterious woman is."

"Why? Are you keen on winning the contest too?"

"Of course not. | am a part of this family. | don’t deserve to be in the dark like all the others out there so tell me,

what's the lucky woman's name?"

Suddenly, her mood has perked up with this line of conversation. | am grateful she’s in better spirits but | can’t

tell her anything concrete. Olivia is one of the Rollins family’s well-kept secrets that Demi sadly can’t be trusted

with, ever.

"It's sgirl he met at a club a few weeks back. They hit it off really well so he invited her to the party as a

plus one. They're not serious though. It was just a fun night together but | don’t think they plan on seeing each

other again."

"Oh."

"Yeah. She must be mad at the exposure her attendance is garnering. She hates fand prefers to lead a quiet

life."

"Sounds like she and | are fated to be best friends forever." There's a wistful look in Demi’s glassy eyes as she

finishes her statement.

I squint at her. "Are you still beefing with Anna? C'mon Demi, did you really expect her to hang by your side all

night like a handbag? She’s a young woman. It’s not unnatural for her to want to mingle and make new

connections." Demi scowls.

"I have no problem with her mingling. I'm mad at her for disappearing on me. | couldn’t find her for most of the

night and she isn’t tellingthe whole truth. She’ll caround. We'll be fine but for now, | just need some

talone."

She shuts her door in my face. | am not mad. | am actually glad that | managed to distract her from her fixation

with Ashal’s mystery woman by bringing up Anna. Ashal finally callsback and | walk away to take his call.

ork

"Don’t ignore me, Ashley. You wanted it as badly as | did. Don’t stand there and act like you were actually drunk

while you kept hammering yourself inside me."

"Can you be any louder and vulgar?" | snap at Nicola in my office. "Would you like a megaphone to announce to

the entire country that | fucked my ex at my own wife's birthday party?"

Nicola shrugs her shoulders and looks away. | abandon the new fabrics | am inspecting for a new dress | want to

create and toss everything aside.

"I'm sorry." Nicci chimes.

"No, you're not. We both know that. You cthere knowing fully well what a tight spot you'd be puttingin.

You also wanted to steal the spotlight from Demi, didn’t you? You just couldn't help yourself." She leaps up from

the couch and walks over to me.

"| wasn’t trying to steal anything from her. Demi can’t hold a spotlight even if it was beamed on her. It's not my

fault everyone foundmore interesting to feast their eyes on, including you." | slap her hands off my face.

"You won't do that ever again or | will have you banned from attending my family events."

"You can’t do that."

"Is that a dare?" My eyes pierce her angry ones. She pulls back with hands akimbo.

"You're barking up the wrong tree once again, Ashley. Your wife doesn’t give a shit about you. Plus, she’s not as

innocent as she looks. Didn't you notice the weird energy between her and your friend, William?"

When | continue to look dumbfounded, Nicci shakes her head. "I can’t believe you didn’t notice. There's

definitely something off between them or maybe something happened between them. Demi was very

uncomfortable around Will and he acted very smug around her too. | saw them speaking in hushed tones at the

party. | even saw him pull her by the hand once but she fled the scene. | tried using my charm and salcohol

to coax William into spilling the truth but it didn’t work."

"Now, you're trying to make things up about Demi? Grow up, Nicci."

"I can’t make this up. You know | don’t tell lies about things like this. Don’t you recall the last twith Demi and

the that guy at the bookstore? You also didn’t believeuntil you did. | was right, wasn’t I? | am convinced that

| am also right about Demi and William even though all I have right now is a hunch. You should do well to pursue

this and get to the bottom of it before it blows up in your face." She grabs her bag. "How soon can | expect the

dress to be ready?"

"Five days. These fabrics don’t cut it. I'll have to place a new order."

"Fine. I'll be back by then, unless you wantsooner." She winks seductively atbefore leaving.

| try to immerse myself back into my work but can’t seem to find my rhythm. Nicola’s words keep echoing at the

back of my head. | can’t ignore them because | also did see how uncomfortable Demi acted around William when

| first introduced them.

William is a charming and funny guy. | can’t imagine why Demi would have anything against him. The fact that

they had gone to school together makeseven more curious. What could possibly have happened between

them that makes Demi want to be anywhere else but in the sroom as Will?

| don’t care if they were old flames back in high school. That was a different tin their lives and long before |

cinto the picture. | just hate that Demi wouldn't confide inabout that so | don’t appear insensitive by

making her life difficult with William's constant presence around me.

Well, I'll excuse her secretiveness for now because she has legitimate reasons to be pissed at me. We'll circle

back to this issue at a later date. For now, I'll handle Will and figure out a way to get the truth out of him.

| call Will to invite him for lunch since he is still in Danvarr. He happily accepts my invitation. | settle into work

and try to focus. | guess | get carried away because that’s exactly what William walks into when he strolls into

my office at noon.

"Wow, speople really get into their work." He casually utters with a smile as he takes in my crowded desk,

the piles of fabric on my couches and the mannequin | am currently using to get a rough sketch of my design by

pinning fabrics on it. | rise to my feet and take off my glasses.

"Hey man." | greet him, shaking his hand firmly.

"Nice place you've got here."

"Forgive the chaos. Right this way." | usher him into a lounge area and while he helps himself to a seat, | offer

him a drink and call for our lunch to be brought up.

"I didn’t like the way things happened back in my hso | wanted to treat you to a sumptuous meal before you

leave Danvarr."

William sips his scotch and reclines in his seat. "Oh, | am in no hurry to leave this beautiful country."

"Really?"

"Yep. It's been wonderful these past few days. | think | might linger for a while."

I don’t know how | feel about him sticking around when his whole life and business is in a different country.

However, | don’t attempt to question the man’s decision or challenge them. Our food is brought and served.

William smiles at the large spread of intercontinental dishes in front of us and nods satisfactorily.

"Why would | leave when people here treatto the best of everything?"

"I'm glad you're having a swell time. | couldn’t entertain you properly at my hbecause my wife also required

my attention being her birthday week and all. Plus, she’s not really a fan of yours anymore if you get my drift."

Will squares his shoulders with a twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, no, | actually don’t get your drift." He sets his scotch

aside and stares at me.

"Demi doesn’t seem to like you as a person anymore. It's not unnatural to grow apart from people you spent the

better part of your formative years with. If | had known this sooner, | probably wouldn't have invited you to her

party. We would have just hung out elsewhere and the awkwardness between both of you at hwould have

been avoided." Will chuckles slightly.

"Did she say that?"

"She didn’t have to say much with her words." | say, using my chopsticks to mix my pasta and the sauce. "l am

her husband. | can tell when she isn’t comfortable having a certain person around her. In your case though, she

actually voiced her concerns. | know you two have skind of history but she’s moved on now and hates being

reminded of that period in her life."

"I doubt that."

"Why do you?"

"Well, she didn’t mention it towhen we talked."

"You two had a private conversation?" Will smacks his lips as the flavors of the meal hits him.

"Yeah. She needed closure, | guess. Our breakup was emotionally exhausting. | guess I also wanted sthings

demystified too. It’s all good now. We're cool."

So, they did date in high school. For how long? | wish Will would be a fount of information and spill. Why would

Demi still be affected by him after so many years? Could she still be nursing a heartbreak? Could she still have

residual feelings for him?

Will eats and watchesin silence.

"Are you enjoying the food?" | ask him to dispel his suspicion of my discomfort with his new revelation.

"Yeah. It's delicious."

After he leaves, | struggle to not call Demi and clarify sthings. William has successfully raised more

questions in my head rather than answer the ones | already had in there.

Sighing, | return to my office to find a bouquet of flowers delivered on my desk. Wondering who could have sent

them to me, | shuffle up to my desk and pluck the card from the fragrant flowers.

It can’t be Demi. She’s not much of a romantic, especially not from my standpoint. It could be Nicola but | doubt

she’ll swallow her pride and sendflowers merely hours after we part ways. If she had, she’d be here to make

sure | know it's from her. A few other side chicks cto my mind as well as fans and secret admirers as | read

the little note attached to the flowers.

[C'mon boy, you know you liked it all those nights we shared together. | am the reason you're so good at it with

women today. Why haven't you been sending flowers of gratitude like this one to the early grave you sent me

to? Don’t makeexpose our little secret- Tobias]

The card slips from my hand as | stagger backwards in a shocked haze, almost breathless and panting for air.