Billionaire Bachelors 7 ; The Billionaire's Final Stand(38)

"It looks like Dean did a great job of gathering all the information we needed, plus he spoke to all the receivers who had suspicions. Jack got away with about fifty-thousand dollars' worth of merchandise. He doesn't have a banking account, so where the money has gone is anyone's guess," Max said.

"Well, let's just fire him and write it off. It could've been a whole lot worse," Austin said with a sigh. He wanted to press charges just because it burned him that the guy was going to get off with nothing more than a job loss. He had to let it go, though.

The family was going through enough stress with Joseph still in a coma and his own life was filled to the brink with personal issues. It had been a couple weeks since he'd last had a moment alone with Kinsey. He was getting tired of her avoiding tactics. 

One way or the other, they were coming to a showdown. He could hardly wait.

"All right, guys, that's the last of the business. Now, tell me about your hot, or should I say, cold, romance with Kinsey," Trenton demanded, snapping Austin out of his musings.

Austin sent his brother a glare. He was a grown man and shouldn't have his brothers ragging on him about his love life.

"My relationship with Kinsey is …  well hell, it's …  complicated," he lamely finished.

Max and Trenton started laughing at his frustrated tone. He guessed he deserved it with the amount of grief he'd given both of them when they were having relationship issues. It didn't feel so good being on the receiving end.

"Are you losing your swagger, little brother? I've never seen you crawl before, but it seems to be a constant thing with Kinsey," Trenton mocked.

"My swagger is just fine. As a matter of fact, I have a list of available women just waiting by the phone for my call," he snapped. The thought of calling even one of them left him feeling empty.

"Yeah, but the one you actually want seems to think you're about as appealing as salmonella," Max added.

"You know, I seem to remember when Cassie had you crawling on your hands and knees, so you're not one to mock. And before you interrupt, Trenton, Jennifer was making you chase her all over the place," Austin smugly reminded his brothers.

They both just flashed goofy grins at him. They were so sickeningly in love, his comments didn't affect them in the least.

"Yeah, and look at me now. That unbelievably beautiful woman is mine," Max said, his chest puffing out. It was more than obvious Max would walk on water for her.

"Making Jennifer my wife is the best thing I've ever done. She and the kids make me realize why dad wanted us to find someone so badly. If you think Kinsey is the one, you need to hold nothing back. Don't let her get away because, trust me, it will haunt you forever," Trenton warned.

Austin sat back and waited while Trenton talked. He knew his brother's heart was in the right place, but he was sick of people telling him what to do. What was wrong with wanting to just live for the moment? As he saw it, nothing. He liked Kinsey. Big deal. Females came and went. Yes, he wanted to be with her, but not for the rest of his life.

He grabbed a beer and took a long swallow as Max joined in and said something inaudible. Austin decided he just needed to tune both of them out. Since they'd gotten married, they'd become too sentimental. The thing that scared the living crap out of him was he wasn't so emphatic in his bachelorhood convictions anymore.

Another large drink of cool liquid went down his throat. His brothers were messing with his head. He had to get out of there. Maybe he'd better go have a chat with Kinsey. Yes, that seemed like the thing to do.

"Look, both of you," Austin finally interrupted, stopping Max mid-sentence. "I don't know what I'm doing right now, but I like her, okay? It's not like I'm planning on bedding her at some cheap hotel, then throwing a fifty on her pillow. She's pig-headed, irrational, over-emotional, and a royal pain in the ass, but for some reason, I can't quit thinking about her. When I next need your opinion on the status of my dating life, I'll ask, but for now … "

"Okay, okay, we get it. Butt out," Max said, his lips turning up at the corners.

"Paybacks a bit-" Trenton tried to say.

"I get it. I'm sorry for all the grief I caused while you were chasing Jennifer," Austin interrupted.




 

 

"Hey, I wasn't chasing her. She wanted me," Trenton said, though they all knew the truth. Jennifer had taken one look at him and ran the other way. Trenton had quickly followed. It seemed all of the brothers had gone from running as fast as they could from anything that even resembled wedding bells, to sprinting down the aisle.

Was it their age? Was their mortality catching up to them? Austin didn't even want to think about that. He was only thirty-four, certainly didn't have one foot in the grave yet. It has to be stress, that's all, he reasoned with himself.