“What’s wrong?” she asks, instead of answering the phone correctly.
“Nothing, maybe everything,” I say, sniffling.
“I’ll kill him,” she says. She knew that today was the day, and I made sure she invited mom out for shopping so I could seduce him. God, what was I thinking? I didn’t do a very good of seducing him; I don’t think.
“It’s my own damn fault,” I say, launching into the story without taking a breath. When I finish, Brynn doesn’t say anything. Instead, she just laughs. “What? What’s so freaking funny?” I hiss angrily.
“He doesn’t think you’re spoiled; he wants to spoil you. All guys, rich or poor, want to spoil their girl. I’m pretty sure it’s in their DNA, and if not, they teach it when boys and girls split up in health and learn about our bodies.”
“What? How do you know that?”
“Brendan told me. Mom told me. Autumn told me. Gran told me. Now, you’ll tell someone, and it’s a word-of-mouth thing.”
“Unbelievable. Now, what do I do? I think I broke up with him.” Again, she laughs. “You’re getting on my nerves with that laugh,” I say, not finding this amusing at all.
“He asked you to marry him after two seconds. He’s not going to let you break up with him, not over this, not over anything. Trust me,” she says.
“But,” I begin, but she cuts me off.
“I’m only going to say this because you are my sister and I love you, but also because you to hear this. You are spoiled. You have to know that you are. You’re the youngest. Mom and dad, especially dad, bend over backward for your every whim. I’m not saying they don’t do that for me too, but they don’t do it for the boys. We don’t know what a hard day’s work looks like, nor do we really understand what the guys do all day. Yeah, they tell us, we get memos, but we don’t have to do what they do all day. I wouldn’t want to. Can you see yourself breaking knee caps, or shooting someone? I’m asking you, Bella. Can you?”
“No, I can’t,” I reply, knowing that she’s right.
“Exactly, we saw what mom’s role was in dad’s life, Bells. Besides being a badass mama bear, she is dad’s most trusted confidant, ally, lover, therapist. He loves her so hard too. We thought it was so gross and weird when we were younger, but you get it now, don’t you? She runs his household, so he doesn’t have to worry about it. It seems old-fashioned, and maybe it is, but he couldn’t do what he does without her. She does it all, and you will too. You just have to realize that what you’ll do for him is just as important as what he does for the family. I know you, I know you’re thinking the worst, but Alonzo has been doing this for years now. Trust him when he says he knows what he’s doing.”
“You’re right,” I reply, sighing.
“You get that there is something in this family that makes sure we are happy in love. If life were like a paranormal romance novel, I’d say we get fated mates, but of course, that’s not it. Either way, it’s magical, and I wouldn’t squander my chance at happiness over something that might not even happen.”
“You’re right.”
“I know. Now, go fix it. We’ll g shopping tomorrow for a dress. A Christmas day wedding? You really are so freaking dramatic.”
“I know,” I say. There’s a loud banging on my door, and I look over at it to realize that it’s still locked.
“I bet that’s your Romeo right now. Call me tomorrow,” she says, hanging up.
I move to answer the door. On the other side, Alonzo is standing there, fists raised, ready to bang on the door again.
God, he’s so hot when he’s angry. Even though his anger is clearly directed at me, I know he’d never hurt me. He’d die first, and I’d die for him.
Fuck, I’m all over the place.
He pushes into the room, causing me to back up to give him space. He closes and locks the door behind him. When he turns to look at me, his eyes are dark, and he looks so imposing. I shiver, but not in fear. I want him. Desire pools between my thighs, and my mouth goes dry. I try to speak, but nothing happens. We stare at either, ready for what’s next.
CHAPTER 5
ALONZO
“Would have been okay with it? Would have been?” I ask when I can finally speak. Her words from before playing over and over in my head. Would have been? She has got to be out of her fucking mind if she thinks that I’ll ever let her go.
She’s mine now.
Those sexy little sounds she makes when I eat her out? Mine.
The little fucking moans of delight she made when my cock was several inches down her throat? Mine.