“They can long for us for all they want. This is Dad’s business, and I am going to treat it as such.” Brent left no room for argument in his voice, and I nodded as I glanced around at their faces. We went over a few other things, making a point of that at least once a month. Communication was essential even as we lied about our recreational relationship with Veronica.
Brent sat down in our office, looking at me for a moment. “Do you think she’s causing herself problems?”
I thought about the question for a moment. Veronica was sleeping with women and men, and if she chose the wrong person, it could get ugly. I was mostly bitter that I couldn’t join in with the girls that she was with per Brent, shrugging after a few moments. “If she does, it’s not on us. We replaced Cici, right?”
“We can’t blow through assistants and have them keep being gorgeous women, Bran. It’s going to be so obvious at some point what we’re doing.” He gazed at me as I smirked.
“Good luck telling her to change. She is happy being who she is.” I got off on the fact that she told me about the others, particularly the girls. Last night we’d been together at the hotel, just Veronica and I and the talk alone kept me going for longer than usual. She was a try anything kind of a girl, and the stories were fantastic. I was careful to use a condom with her every time, but the girl pushed my buttons.
“Just be careful,” he reminded me as I nodded.
“Always am,” I assured him before we settled back into the work day.
CHAPTER 11
Brent
The weeks passed, and we were soon flying to California for the conference. Veronica left the day before to meet up with friends so it was just Brandon and I seated in first class that Friday morning. I thought about it, realizing that we’d never flown coach. Dad gained his wealth quickly and took good care of his family with it.
Brandon sent one last text before takeoff, shoving the phone into his pocket as he leaned back. He was out late the night before, and I’d noticed that he was going towards his old ways a little more over the last few weeks. He was still actively sleeping with Veronica; we both were, but he seemed like he was moving towards the old lifestyle. “Where were you last night?” I asked him as he closed his eyes for a moment.
“I met a new bartender at Scores. We spent the night at her place,” he replied as he settled back in the seat. “I knew that I could rest on the flight and we don’t have anything until the thing later.” There was an appetizers and drinks gathering tonight so everyone could get to know each other, but the actual conference didn’t start until the morning. “Hell, we could probably miss that.”
“We should establish ourselves, Bran. Let’s go for a while and see who else is there.” I knew that we had some big shoes to fill. Veronica was aware of it as well, even though she sounded busy.
“Yeah, sure,” he grumbled as he let out a sigh. I knew that he was tired and I dropped the subject as we took off for the flight, thinking about the last several months. It had moved so fast even though I still missed Dad so much. Mom seemed to be easing back into life, spending time with friends and laughing a bit more. I never expected her to date, though, which was a shame. She was beautiful and had a lot of life left, but she and Dad were in love. She couldn’t replace that, and he saw that she would be set up for any kind of life she wanted years ago. I knew that she wanted to focus on Ashley and the fun things that were scheduled for the next couple of years of her school, not making her lose out on anything.
I yawned and closed my own eyes. My sister was at a party, and I didn’t sleep until she got home, well aware of the types of guys at those parties. Brandon and I were them once, and we didn’t always have a lot of compassion for the girls that we hooked up with. She came in at one as expected to find me on the couch, shaking her head with a scowl on her face. “Waiting for me?” She asked in a low tone as I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sixteen, Brent.”
“You know that he always did, right?” I asked as we shared a sad look. “I just like to know that you’re safe, Ash. I worry about you.”
“I know to stay away from the kinds of guys that you and Brandon were…are…whatever.” I gave her a sharp look, and she shrugged, a frown marring her beautiful face.
“What? You have a reputation.” I shrugged, knowing that she was right. “I don’t see Brandon waiting for me.”
I’d made her promise to be careful. I told her to call me if she needed anything and I would drop everything to help her.
We left the conversation on a positive note, and I finally collapsed into bed for a few hours of sleep.
We landed just after noon and rented a car to drive to the hotel. I think we were both still tired, but we had time after we checked in to rest if necessary. I was surprised when the rooms were three right beside each other, with doors in between. That would be convenient, reminding me to send Veronica a text to see when she would be arriving.
I selected the room on one end to get my things put away, hanging some things up and putting stuff into the drawers. This was a luxurious room, spacious with a huge bathroom that offered a bathtub meant for relaxing. It would be a nice place to rest with Veronica later, a thought that made me laugh. Would we take turns? I dropped onto the bed after piling up the pillows, closing my eyes again as I wondered how this was going to go.
I woke up to laughter coming through the door, blinking as I looked around. I looked first at the clock, seeing that I had over an hour to get ready as Veronica laughed again. I stood up and walked into the other room, seeing her straddling my brother on the bed as her fuchsia-tipped hair brushed against his shoulders. She was wearing a pair of tight denim pants and what looked like a white shirt as he pulled her face to his for a long kiss. “Nice hair,” I remarked as she giggled against his lips.
“I think it’s hot,” Brandon murmured as he kissed her again. He let his hands drift down to her back, sliding up under the shirt as he pushed it up over her body.
“Don’t we have something to attend?” Veronica asked as he laughed. He unclipped her bra and pushed that off, revealing her firm pink nipples as I walked over to the bed.
“Plenty of time,” Brandon assured her as he rolled her onto her back. He leaned down to suck on her neck as a hand unbuttoned her jeans, that I tugged down her legs as she laughed at us. This woman drew me in no matter how many others I slept with and Brandon gave her one more kiss before he scooted up her body. She took him into her mouth eagerly as I crawled between her legs to taste her, finding her already wet for us. I made her come as Brandon shot into her throat before moving beside her on the bed. Veronica rolled to her knees, offering herself to me as I reached f
or the box of condoms and slipped one on before taking her.
We got ready for drinks after we rushed it along, and Veronica dressed in a black cocktail dress and heels, fixing her make up as Brandon and I slipped into suits. We left our individual rooms to keep things looking normal and headed down to the bar, where I recognized a few faces from the magazines. While there were a lot of shipping companies in the world, only a handful of them were as successful as M&P. There were about fifty people there, and my brother and I made the rounds, meeting a lot of friends of Dad while we watched Veronica flirt her way around the room. She was beautiful with the bright hair, charming the room as we talked shop and sipped whiskey.
It wasn’t the party that we were used to, but it was pleasant for the few hours that we were down there. I felt like we knew enough about the other attendees to have a good weekend of this before we headed back to the room. The next morning started early, and we wanted some rest, hearing Veronica slip into her door. We were in the middle bedroom, feeling enough of the alcohol to want her again when she walked into our room dressed in a something lacy and tight. “Do you know how many men were drooling over you in that bar?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” She asked as she closed her door and walked over to us. “I have to hear it from every woman in the office at home about how gorgeous you boys are, you know.”