Mine Forever (Book 3: The Billionaire’s Obsession Trilogy)(6)

To her credit, she hadn't been a bitch to him, hadn't raised her voice  or thrown a tantrum. Shit, he wished she would. Maybe he could generate a  lot more anger at her to help him through his current torment.

The only thing that really pissed him off was the fact that he did trust her. He just didn't want to talk about that.

"You look like a man who's ready to attend his own execution. What's the  matter, little brother? Getting tired of Kara? ‘Cause if you are I  would gladly-"

"Touch her and you die." Fists clenched on the desk in front of him,  Simon leaned forward, the threat of fratricide on his face, as he  watched his brother saunter across his office. "Don't you fucking  knock?" He knew Sam was goading him about Kara, trying to push his  buttons. In reality, his brother would never come near her again. Sam  had made that perfectly clear to Simon when he had apologized for his  behavior at the party. However, it didn't stop Sam from trying to  irritate the hell out of him.

Sam shot him a cocky grin as he dropped into a chair in front of Simon's desk. "Why would I? I own the company."

Simon decided that the only thing worse than owning Hudson with Sam was  the fact that they had both had an office on the same floor. "Last time I  checked, so did I," he snapped back at Sam, not in the mood for his  older sibling's bullshit.

"I'm older. It gives me seniority." Sam propped his Italian leather-clad feet casually on Simon's desk.

Simon waited, watching his brother relax back into the chair. The  bastard. Leaning forward, Simon swept one muscular arm across the desk,  knocking Sam's feet into the air. "Get your damn feet off my desk!"

Really, was there anything more amusing than watching a man in an  immaculate designer suit flailing his arms like a baby bird, trying to  catch his balance before his chair flipped over? Simon didn't think so.  Not when it was Sam fluttering his arms while his chair tilted. The only  thing that would have made it better is if his brother had tipped the  chair over and landed flat on his ass.

Sam's feet found purchase on the floor. He glared at Simon as he opened  the buttons on the jacket of his perfectly-tailored suit and leaned  forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Was that really necessary?"

It was Simon's turn to grin, his smile evil. "I thought so."

"It's not my fault that you made the mistake of falling in love and now  you're miserable. Shit, I thought you'd be happy now that she's living  at your place again." Sam sat back and laced his fingers over his  stomach, his expression grim.

Simon's head jerked up. "Who said I love her?"

Rolling his eyes, Sam replied, "You didn't have to say a damn thing. I  think I figured it out when I ended up practically blind from the  swelling when you beat the hell out of me just because I touched her."

"That doesn't mean I love her," Simon grunted. "And it wasn't because you touched her. It was the intent."

"When was the last time you thrashed me because I touched a woman?"

"Never."

"Exactly."

Simon sighed. "Kara and I had a slight disagreement." Okay, for him, it  was more than slight, but he didn't mention that to his brother.

"About?"

"She wants me to trust her. Tell her about the incident that left me  scarred." Simon's voice was hoarse. "She thinks I still have-" he  hesitated before choking out, "issues."                       
       
           



       

Eyes narrowing, Sam asked, "And do you? Still have issues?"

"No! Hell no! For Christ's sake, it happened over sixteen years ago." Simon answered quickly. Too quickly and too defensively.

"Time doesn't necessarily make everything go away, Simon." Sam answered  thoughtfully. "Maybe you should just tell her. Maybe you need to. Is  your silence really worth losing her? She obviously loves you, and  whether you want to admit it or not, you love her too. Guess you just  need to decide if she's worth it." Sam leaned forward, spearing Simon  with a sharp glance. "Don't fuck up. You'll regret it for the rest of  your life if you do."

Pain? Regret? Sorrow? For a fleeting moment, Simon could see every one  of those emotions reflected in his brother's eyes. By the time he took a  deep breath and opened his mouth to ask his elder brother about it,  Sam's expression had turned indifferent and apathetic. Simon snapped his  jaw closed, recognizing the look on Sam's face, the unequivocal signal  that meant his sibling didn't want to talk about it.

"She's being unreasonable." Simon grumbled, returning his attention to  his current problem. He wouldn't push Sam to share his pain if his  brother didn't want to.

"Admit it. You love her." Sam crossed his arms and shot Simon a knowing look.

"She's stubborn."

"You love her."

"I trust her. I tell her everything else."

"You love her."

"Fuck!" Simon slammed his fist down on the desk so hard that the solid  oak shook on its foundations. "She makes me crazy. She makes me happy. I  think she's so beautiful that I want to just sit and look at her for  hours. One minute I'm perfectly sane, and the next I'm totally losing  it. She couldn't give a shit less about the fact that I'm rich, and I  think the woman is blind because I swear she doesn't even notice that  I'm scarred. The way she looks at me sometimes makes me feel like I'm  ten feet tall. And she's looking at me. Not the billionaire, not the  wealthy executive. Just the man. She can be as stubborn as a damn mule,  but I even like that because she's determined. Smart. Kind. And she puts  up with my cranky ass, accepts me exactly as I am." Breathless from his  tirade, Simon sucked in a trembling, uneven gulp of air. He slumped  forward, his anger spent. "So, yeah. If these wild lunatic, possessive  feelings for her that I have every fucking minute of every day are  love...I'm screwed. I'm can't even imagine having to live my life  without her." Voice vibrating with emotion, he looked up at his older  brother, his expression tortured.

"Then don't." Sam answered simply, his brow lifting, meeting Simon's  questioning glance. "We built this company together. We started in a  crappy, one-bedroom apartment, bro. Now we're wealthy beyond our wildest  dreams and a major player worldwide. If you can accomplish that, you  can handle this." Sam's voice went from serious to teasing as he added,  "Pull your head out of your ass and solve the problem."

Simon lips curved up in a small smile. He hadn't heard Sam say those  words in years. It had been a frequent statement back in the days when  they were still building Hudson. If one of them got stalled in the  business by a roadblock, the other would deliver a swift kick to the  rear with those exact words. It had become their mantra, but they hadn't  needed it in a very long time. They had plenty of employees who were  paid very well to solve those problems before they ever got to Sam or  himself. "Sometimes I think that I'd rather rebuild a whole business  than to have to deal with this."

Sam shrugged. "Business is business. It's not always easy, but the  outcome is fairly predictable. Relationships are messy. You have no  data, no statistics. Nothing to justify taking the leap, except for  emotion." Sam shuddered, as though the thought of jumping into a serious  relationship was akin to torture.

"Then why in the hell are you telling me to do it?" Simon pierced his brother with an irritated glare.

"You need her." Sam stood abruptly and buttoned his suit jacket. "But if you ever decide you don't want her-"

"Don't start!" Simon rumbled, his voice lacking venom. If he had  realized anything today, it was the fact that his brother had his own  secrets, a woman in his past-very likely Maddie, judging by Sam's  strange reaction to the curvy redhead-who still haunted him. He  suspected that whoever she was, she was the reason that Sam went through  women so fast, so unemotionally. Sam was trying to fill a void, trying  to forget. Simon shook his head, knowing that his elder brother was  smart enough to figure out eventually that it just wouldn't work. If a  woman got under your skin, she stayed there. Simon's whole world  revolved around Kara now, and no other woman could ever be a substitute,  could ever fill the black, huge vacuum she would leave inside of him if  she ever walked away.                       
       
           



       

Sam's charming smile was back. "You love me. You know you do."

"Not right now." Simon answered automatically.

Sam swaggered to the door, not a hair out of place, his suit and tie  undisturbed. No one would ever know that he had just watched his younger  brother practically have a nervous breakdown before his eyes.