No Denying You(3)

“You know,” Suzy began, “I hate to be the one to point this out again, but Brant is kind of a stud. I’ll grant you, he’s all over the place personality-wise, but in the ass department, he has got it going on. You could bounce a quarter off those firm cheeks of his.”

“My God, Suzy, no! Stay away from the light! Just hang on; I’ll call nine-one-one and get help for you right away. Do you feel dizzy? How do you treat a stroke brought on by bad taste in men?”

Suzy roared, causing heads all around the deli to turn in their direction. “Honey, my taste is just fine. Everyone else agrees with me. If you guys would just have angry office sex, you would both feel better. He works so much that I bet he hasn’t gotten laid in ages. A bad case of blue balls will make a man cranky as hell.”

Emma dropped her head in her hands. “You did not just say that. My lunch is about to climb back up my throat. Ugh! It’s hard enough to work with Mr. Sunshine without thinking of him with ball issues or even worse, having sex with him. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!”

Suzy raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical over her denial. “Never say never, my friend. I pretty much said the same thing about Gray, and then I went and married him. He seemed just as uptight as Brant in the beginning, but nothing could be further from the truth.”

“That’s not the only problem Brant has, though,” Emma protested. “He annoys me in so many ways that I spend part of every day fantasizing about ways to kill him and dispose of his body so I don’t get caught. This is bad, but I’ve even wished he didn’t have a brother or sister so there would be no one to miss him if he did disappear.”

Suzy gave her an admiring look. “You’re kind of a scary person sometimes, Em, but I like it. I had a few thoughts of choking Gray in the beginning, too, but never seriously pondered ways to hide his body.” Pointing to the to-go box on their table, she added, “That’s probably cold and soggy by now. I told you to order it after we were finished.”

Emma gave her friend an evil smile and said, “People who don’t get their own lunch don’t have much say in how their food arrives. He’ll just send me down the hall to the microwave anyway.”

“Knock, knock.” Looking up, Brant was surprised to see his sister, Ava, standing in the doorway. “Where’s Emma? You didn’t run her off, did you?”

“No such luck. She’s gone on one of her usual long lunches. She should be back in about three hours, give or take a few minutes.” When Ava settled into one of the chairs facing him, he knew this wasn’t just casual chitchat. Ava was more of a pacer and she generally got right to the point. The fact that she seemed nervous made his stomach roll. It was his job as her older brother to worry about her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, unable to hide the concern in his voice.

Ava sighed. “It’s Alexia.”

He looked at her blankly for a moment. There hadn’t been any mention of that name in a couple of years, and it hit him hard to hear it now. Had something happened to her? Almost afraid to ask, he said, “What about her?”

“She’s getting married, Brant.”

For a moment, he was back to that day two years ago when his world was rocked to its foundation. Alexia Shaw had been the daughter of a business associate. They had met at a party, and he had immediately been drawn to the shy beauty. After spending years avoiding any serious involvement with the opposite sex, he was officially smitten. Alexia had been homeschooled and a naive twenty-one-year-old when they met. They had started out as friends, but after the first few months things had progressed quickly and they had sex for the first time.

Alexia had brought out a softer, more relaxed side of him that he showed very few people. After dating for a year, he had proposed and she had tearfully accepted. Their wedding was three months away when she made a new friend at the office, Josie. At first, he was glad. Her family had been so protective that she didn’t have any close friends, and he thought it would be good for her.

Things had started off innocently enough: a movie here and there or a shopping trip. Unfortunately, under Josie’s tutelage, things progressed into trips to clubs, bars and God knows what else. Suddenly, his sweet Alexia was staying out all night or coming to his apartment drunk so that her parents wouldn’t know. Sometimes he would go for days without hearing from her. She stopped returning calls and when he did catch her, she was vague and distant. Of course he had tried talking to her, but she didn’t seem to care about his feelings.

Things came to a head one evening. Several times during dinner, she had texted someone. When he asked, she said that it was Josie. She excused herself near the end of the meal to use the restroom. He quickly paid the check, more than ready to leave. He saw Alexia propped against the wall outside the bathroom talking on her phone. As he approached her quietly from behind, he heard enough to know that she was talking to a man. The sexual elements of the conversation were still seared in his head to this day. She finished the call and turned around. He saw a momentary flash of guilt before her expression turned defiant. He motioned her in front of him and they walked outside. When they neared his car, she whirled around, almost shouting, “Go ahead, say something!” When he just looked at her in shock over the scene unfolding, she sneered. “Ohhh no, Brant Stone would never air his dirty laundry in public. What would it take, honey, for you to lose control?”

He had put his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. But her eyes were wild and her movements jerky. “Alexia, take it easy.”

Her laughter was shrill enough to make his hair stand on end. “I think you’re calm enough for both of us. I’ve had to live like that my whole life, and I don’t want to do it anymore.” Brant was even more unnerved that her manic behavior had settled into something almost sad but resigned.

When he protested, trying to convince her to get in the car so that they could return home to talk, she had put her hand on his cheek and smiled at him affectionately. Her anger had evaporated quickly, leaving only sadness in its wake. “It never will be the place.” She took off her engagement ring and handed it back to him. “You’re a good man, Brant, a much better one than I deserve. I never would have gotten out from under my father’s thumb without you. Because of you, I can finally be me.”

He’d felt his world collapsing when Josie’s car pulled up beside them and, ignoring his pleas, she simply shook her head and opened the passenger door to her friend’s car. He’d stood rooted to the spot long after the taillights had faded away. In the days to come, he had tried to reach her, but she had officially severed ties with him. It appeared that she had cut her family out of her life as well. In the blink of an eye, his entire future had changed—and he had had no idea what had caused the landslide.

From then on, he kept to himself and licked his wounds in private. After all, Alexia was right—he did not lose control . . . ever. His grandfather had drummed that into them from an early age. Always control the situation and those involved.

Maybe it was a lesson he had learned too well, but he didn’t know how to change now . . . it seemed safer not to. He ended his business relationship with her father, which was a relief to them both, and moved on. He was a survivor; he always had been.

“Brant . . . Brant, did you hear me?”

He jerked, shaking off the memories that Alexia’s name had brought rushing back. “I . . . How do you know that?”

Ava gave him a wry smile. “How do I know everything? Mac, of course. His company still handles security for her father’s company. I guess Alexia is back in the family fold again and getting married. Word is that her parents approve of her choice. I just didn’t want you to be caught by surprise if the announcement shows up in the paper.”

His head was spinning and his sister knew him well enough to recognize it. Hell, he, Ava, and Declan were all masters at hiding their feelings. When their parents had been killed in a plane crash, they had been raised by their grandfather. It wasn’t that he was unkind to them; he was just rather indifferent for the most part. His business was his life and if you were looking for affection, you were out of luck.

Wearily, he ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks for letting me know, but it was a long time ago. Of course Alexia would have moved on, just as I have.” Ava gave him a look and he knew she was dying to comment on his last statement, but she let it go. She was never one to press the point on past pain because she damn sure didn’t want anyone doing that to her.

“All right, just letting you know.” Looking at her watch, she stood up. “I’ve got to get back to work. I’m watching Evan tonight for Declan and I have a ton of work to get out of the way before I go over there.”

Brant looked at her in surprise. “You’re babysitting?” Not that he thought Ava wasn’t capable—she just had a tendency to distance herself from long interactions with anyone, even family.

He had expected an insult in return but was surprised when she said, “It’s the closest I’ll ever get to having a child.” With that, she turned and left his office as quickly as she had entered.