Exposed King (Boys of Brisley 2)

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

The Pitch

The phrase “walkingon air” never made sense to me until now. Because that was exactly how I felt as Mia kissed me goodbye and went to work and I realized that I didn’t have to give her up. She loved me, the whole, giant, awkward, stupid mess of me, and I didn’t have to give her up.

I really was walking on air.

I’d told her that I’d swing by her house to talk to Dinora about everything when we’d have a little alone time, but there was someone else I needed to talk to first. For once in my life, I wasn’t looking for Sterling’s approval – I knew I’d do this whether or not he was on board – but there were details that only he could help me work out, such as what we were going to do about the job I’d been neglecting for months, anyway. And beyond that, I wanted his support.

So, I poured myself a cup of creamer and added a splash of dark roast, then curled up on the couch and called my brother.

“Busy, Ollie. What’s up?” he asked, sounding a little more harassed than usual – which was saying something.

“If it’s a bad time, I can call back later. I’m not in trouble or anything. As a matter of fact, it’s the opposite for the first time in my life, I think.” I shifted a little nervously as my brother told his assistant, Colin, to hold his calls for a while and to send Gianna to a meeting in his place. I had to admit, I was proud of him for letting someone else do something for once.

“Okay. Sorry about that, it’s been crazy around here. But you’ve got me for the next hour or so, unless Gianna is as scared of Mr. Kojima as you are,” he laughed. “What’s up?”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like Sterling to just drop everything like that unless I was in trouble, so I had a bit of a moment with it. “How’s Led doing? If I’ve got you for an hour, I want an update first.”

“She’s good. Her, Kylie and Kapri are planning some kind of a girls’ weekend, and I think she’s really excited to get out of Brisley for a bit. Guess that leaves me with Carl, though.”

“Don’t lie,” I scoffed. “You love that dog, and that dog loves you. He used to lay on your bed and growl at me when I tried to borrow your shit, remember?”

“Oh, I remember. He’s a good dog, he just keeps climbing up on the damned counters. He’s going to break a leg, and then where will we be?”

“Right back to where you started with him. How’s Dad doing? I feel bad I haven’t been home in a while to see him,” I said quietly. “He doing okay?”

“Yeah. He’s dying to meet the woman you keep telling us about, though. Any news when that’s going to happen? It’s not every day someone tames the Great Oliver Bishop,” he said.

I thought about that for a second. I wasn’t sure if she tamed me or if I’d tamed myself in my pursuit of her, but the end result was the same. “Soon, bro. That’s actually why I’m calling. I’m staying here, Sterling. Permanently.”

The silence that met my declaration didn’t surprise me in the slightest. But his next words? Those did. “Good for you.”

There was no malice, no sarcasm, no hint of condescension in those words. Not that my brother usually spoke to me like that, but I was used to a sharper big-brother tone. “You mean that?”

“Of course I do. She makes you happy, right? And I’m assuming since you haven’t called me freaking out or showed up on my doorstep drunk out of your mind, she hasn’t shown herself to be anything but good to you. A couple of years ago, I’d have yelled at you for wasting her time and dragging a kid into the mix, but now? You’re ready for this, Ollie.”

Tears welled in my eyes and I realized I’d absolutely been looking for his approval, like I had been every day of my life. “Thanks, man. I’m trying so damn hard to be better. I’m trying so damn hard to deserve her.”

“I’m really proud of you, Oliver. You know that, right? The Gam-Anon meetings, staying in jail to own your mistakes when you know I’d have been there in a second to bail you out, making good decisions ... I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of you.”

I’d waited so long to hear those words that I had to set the phone down to breathe, and maybe cry a little. It felt like the evil thing that had been sitting on my chest and weighing me down, holding me underwater for years was finally starting to lift, and it was fucking overwhelming.

It took me almost five minutes to chill out enough to start talking again, but it was easier after that. I told him about Dinora and her kids and how all of them would hopefully be moving in too, and then we discussed the job. He’d already effectively replaced me since I’d been gone for so many months, and then we talked financials. I had enough saved still that when I combined it with the profit I expected to make from my house in Brisley, I had more than enough to be a stay-at-home guardian for those kids at least until Jago and Valentino were both graduated and the other kids were older. I had some things to run past Dinora, but if all went as planned, I’d be able to take care of everyone while Mia went to school.

Not once was my gambling brought up. Not once did my angel of a brother point out that I might relapse and lose millions again on another bet, putting the entire plan at risk. He knew it, I knew it, everyone probably knew it ... but Sterling also knew me and knew that I’d never let anything jeopardize the people around me. It just wouldn’t happen.

So, I said goodbye to him after well over an hour and drove to the Perez compound to talk to Dinora. She was still in pajamas with her dark hair almost as wild as her sister’s, but the amusement in her eyes told me she already knew why I was there.

“Mia told you, huh?”

She nodded once. “Of course she did. Now sit. Pitch me like she hasn’t told me a damned thing.”

I didn’t really have a pitch to give her, so I took a deep breath. I rambled for way too long about how crazy I was about her sister, about her, about their kids. About how big and lonely my house was and my intentions. I told her everything – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and I looked her in the eyes and told her in no uncertain terms that I was going to marry her sister one day. “And I’m well aware that marrying her means marrying all of you, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Dinora raised her eyebrow as she checked me out, but not in a sexual way. She was sizing me up like she hadn’t already done that a hundred times. “So you want me to leave this house? To pack up my things and my boys and move into some snooty little neighborhood with you? We can’t afford that, Oliver.”

“Not yet,” I amended. “And even if you never could, I wouldn’t care. I have more money than I knew what to do with, but now I know exactly what to do with it. This isn’t charity, Nora. This is selfishness. This is me wanting all of you under one roof, under my roof. So I’d like to have the same conversation with you that I had with Mia, if that’s okay?”