“Close?” he bit out.
She just nodded, the motion a little frantic, and moved faster over him.
“Come on, then. Fucking come for me. Fuck.”
Erica didn’t need any more encouragement than that. An instant later she was arching with the pleasure, her entire body shuddering. Mark’s vision went white, and then dark, and pleasure hit him like fireworks.
In the aftermath, he lay panting against the mattress with Erica sprawled across his chest.
“Well that wasn’t a bad way to make up.”
She laughed. “No. I guess it wasn’t. If that’s the way we always get over a fight, I think we’ll be okay.” Her head lifted, and she gave him a brief, less-than-chaste kiss. “Right now, though, I think I need a shower.”
Mark watched her stand, and then she held out her hand, inviting him without words to follow. He didn’t need to be asked twice.
Chapter 9
“Have you seen this?” Alex demanded, dropping the tabloid onto the kitchen counter with a slap.
Jamie hardly looked up from where she was feeding the twins their breakfast. Things had been tense between them since the last argument. Alex still wasn't sure what he was going to do about balancing business and family, and it seemed that Jamie wouldn't be speaking to him much until he decided. She hadn't been outright hostile, but she'd been less than friendly, and they hadn't made love in days. He could argue that he wanted her back at work, but she was in no rush to get back. She was mad, even though she wouldn’t admit it.
Not that Alex blamed her. She obviously felt like he valued work more than he valued her and their children, and it was getting to her.
The trouble was, he couldn't make himself just give up the company. He didn’t want to. Nor did he think he had to. No matter what he did, he was going to lose something, and he was determined that it wouldn't be Jamie. But he didn't want to lose any more of Reid Enterprises than he had to, and the last few days had been too hectic to step back from. Which meant, of course, that to Jamie it just seemed like he hadn't made any decision at all.
“What is it?” Jamie said finally when Alex didn't say anything else, looking up from the little jar of applesauce that she was feeding the twins from in alternating bites.
“This,” Alex said tightly, tipping the magazine up so that she could see the cover: a picture of Nicholas standing on the green at Mark's country club, chatting with Mark like there was nothing wrong between them.
Jamie's eyebrows lifted.
“Can you believe that he would do this to me?” Alex demanded, looking down at the cover again. He shook his head. “I really thought that we were getting along, Jamie. We were brothers again. But now he's going around spending time with Nicholas, of all people. I don't know what I'm going to do.” It was the deepest kind of betrayal in his opinion.
“Maybe you should take a breath,” Jamie said. “And actually give it some thought before you do anything rash. Because you are brothers, and he does care about you. He always has.”
“Oh, right,” Alex said. “He's always cared about me so much that he and my father never did anything to try to get me back after I left.”
“They did, too!” Jamie retorted sharply. “Or don't you remember all the times that Mark called you and tried to invite you to things? And the fact that your father wanted to see you before he died? I can’t speak for your dad, but Mark has tried. In the years I’ve known you, he’s always tried. It seems more like you were the one who refused to speak to them.”
That hurt. Alex turned to look at his wife. “You're going to take his side over mine?”
“When you're being unreasonable,” Jamie shook her head, “yes. I am going to. Because guilty until proven innocent isn't how we play around here, and you of all people should know just how much the press can twist a situation around. For all you know, he kicked Nicholas off the property immediately after that photo. Or Nicholas set the whole thing up.”
“He didn't,” Alex said, voice flat. “I read the story. Apparently Nicholas has been playing there for almost a week now, and bringing plenty of his buddies with him. Probably the same buddies he's trying to steal out from under me in his desperate attempt to ruin the company I spent my life building!”
“Calm down,” Jamie said, standing up and setting the jar of applesauce on the counter. “You're going to scare Benton and Lilli.”
Alex froze with his mouth open, already ready with a retort, but managed to hold back and not say anything. He looked over at his children, who were watching him with wide eyes like they didn't quite believe what was happening. They were too little to understand what fighting was, but it was clear that they understood enough to be startled and maybe even upset by his tone. Alex immediately regretted getting so loud.
“Sorry,” he said more quietly. “I didn't mean to scare them.”
“Just take a minute and think about this.” Jamie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter. “Your brother does care about you, whatever you may have thought at one time. And you know that he does because you've seen it every day since he's come back into your life. So don't immediately jump on the 'Mark is evil' bandwagon. Chill out and maybe actually try to talk to him before you decide anything, or you're going to regret it.”
She was probably right. Alex knew it. But it didn't make him anymore inclined to feel kindly toward his brother in that moment. Mark knew how he felt about Nicholas.
“Maybe,” Jamie suggested, sitting back down again, “he decided that letting Nicholas play at the club wasn't going to be a problem for you, since it doesn't actually affect your business. Or maybe not letting him play would cause more hindrance than help.”
Alex started at her. “Of course it affects my business,” he hissed, keeping his voice low. “That man has tried to destroy everything that I love. If you think that I'm going to just stand there and let my brother buddy up to him…”