Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 25: Chapter 25

ASHTON

My brothers and I are all seated in the second living room. We all arrived the mansion barely twenty minutes ago after getting Demi's cryptic call. Mom called this meeting at Demi's behest. I am still stewing over Asher's stupid action so for that, he actively avoids my eyes. Ashely and Ashal were the last ones to pull up ten minutes ago. Ashal looks slightly drunk because of the big, patronizing smile on his face as he does a little hand signal at Demi. If he was sober, he would be wearing a forlorn expression and definitely wouldn't be trying to draw any attention to himself.

Demi doesn't reciprocate or mirror his smile. She's standing firmly in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. Mother sits facing us, her expression flat and disappointed. I can already tell what this is about.

"I won't waste your time." Demi begins with a stern look. I haven't seen her this resolute and pissed. "I called mom here. I wanted her to be around when I issue this warning."

"Excuse me?" Asher snorts. "Warning?"

"Enough Ash, let her finish." Mom cautions him.

"I do not want any of you stepping into my room henceforth. You can consider it completely off limits." She continues, ignoring Asher's amused expression. "As you all know, I am unable to tell you apart. Some or all of you have repeatedly taken advantage of this fact to impersonate another brother in front of me. For this reason, I'm banning all of you from crossing the threshold of my room. Let's leave the madness outside."

"Are you really worried about our switcheroo or is there another reason you want to keep us out of your room?"

Demi glares at Asher. "I don't go to YOUR room so don't come into mine!" She replies. We are all wearing different outfits from work and for that reason, I am certain she can tell which brother is which right now. When her gaze falls on me, she gives me an icy look that hurts more than I care to admit. She must believe that I knew Asher was going to do that to her.

In my office earlier, she refused to leave until we continued our conversation from this morning. I did a poor job of hiding my shock at her accusations. My mind was reeling with thoughts about the nature of her conversation with Asher and the fine details of it. Demi instantly guessed that I had been impersonated. It made her very livid, which further worsened my curiosity.

Mom reiterates Demi's rule.

"I won't hear of this anymore. She is not some toy you all can mess with; she's officially the daughter-in-law of this family and deserves the respect she demands." Something about the ire in mother's eyes makes Asher swallow the retort on his tongue. Ashal is sobering up now as the light of cheer in his eyes has faded to despair. Ashley sits mute with a blank face.

Demi excuses herself. Mother moves to Ashal and cups his face in her hands while she probes him about his drinking. I leave for my room to stifle the urge to punch the smug grin on Asher's face. I'm not terribly surprised at how much of a dick he can be sometimes but right now, it's better to stay mad at him than the moronic alternative; vying for Demi's attention to clear my name. Why her validation is important right now eludes me. When the elevator opens to the first floor and I turn to head for my room, I find Demi keying in a passcode for her bedroom door. She spares me a glance, her eyes flat.

Everything I would like to say to her right now escapes my mind. Instead, I stand a few feet away from her, grinding my teeth in my jaw. She punches in the code hurriedly, suddenly uncomfortable. She can't possibly think I'll hurt her, can she? I wonder. The door doesn't budge as she keyed in the wrong code. Demi tries again, stealing a side glance at me. Now I am pissed at how uncomfortable she is being.

I take a step forward and she tenses.

"Stay back!" She yells with the five fingers of her left hand shot in my direction. You'd think she is about to shoot fire from them.

"Are you serious right now? It's me, Ashton."

"I don't care. Stay the hell away from me." She tries her code again, cusses when the door buzzes with a flash of red. Her eyes boggle as I close the distance between us and cage her between my arms.

"Breathe godammit. I don't bite." She reluctantly evens her breath. Then I turn her around so she's back facing her door. "My brothers will be here any second now. If you don't want them seeing us like this, you better remember that code, now!"

Demi inhales sharply and closes her eyes. When she keys in the code, the door flashes green and unlocks. She slips inside but doesn't shut it.

the code in case you

in my head, Branson. Go right ahead and change your code if you want to. If I wanted to see you, you'll need more than a

***

hair is wild right now as I forgot to run a comb through. Gris frantically

nuts? What makes you think that

your hair. Your hair always looks great except this morning. Unfortunately, I don't want our client thinking you just rolled out of bed and

client that we are trying so hard to impress

email. Didn't you check it?" Gris'

sofa, an elderly man and a sprightly young man turn to face me as I enter. I instantly recognize the elderly man. His face comes up on the news as frequently as my father's.

I extend a hand to shake his. Mr. Hugh is clearly disappointed by my tardiness and doesn't fail to register his displeasure with a condescending look

He grunts. "You've kept us here a

sir. I was unavoidably detained. I'll not waste your time any further. If you'll allow me, shall we continue this in the showroom? It's my understanding that you're looking to

my daughter." He jerks a thumb at the young woman who whirls to face us now. My jaw drops, then clenches. "Mila, I believe you can take it up from

give her. Her father lunges to his feet, a

problem." Gris nods in affirmation and graciously escorts Mr. Hugh

needed a way

"So, you brought daddy."

Gosh, I didn't want to use the 'family status' card but I had no choice. Look, out of respect for my father, you're

I ball my fists. "I'm guessing this isn't about a

one or dad would be pissed

and you're going to pick a car of your choice. I'll have the documentation done and

father said, the money is not a problem. I don't mind gifting cars to my employees every week if I have to. Point is, you won't stop seeing this face until you hear me out." Her arms are crossed defensively over her chest, a

Gris returns.

the rest of my meeting. I'm going out." I don't wait to clarify

to stay quiet all through the fifteen minutes car ride to a café downtown. Despite how much I swerve, she doesn't flinch. She sits comfortably with her legs crossed like a woman used to fast car rides. She twiddles with the seat belt and hums a tune softly as the car zips across town. I've never had a passenger princess that didn't hang on for dear life. Though I find it quite impressive, my mood

coffees and grab a

out coldly after our coffees are served. Mila sips hers, approves with a

really a polar

my

with her hands folded again. "It

"What?"

The dainty wrist watch you wear inside your sleeve. I've seen it in many of your on-screen interviews with your family. I was curious to know why you prefer that old thing over all the fancy watches you can afford so I might have done a bit of research." Seeing my expression, she hurries to add, "Don't worry, nothing interesting came up. I just spent so much time staring at it that I can recognize it anywhere, especially given the fact that it's broken and constantly tells the time as

watch.

a smile. "I heard about it at the spa. A group of ladies were talking about it and how they've left you lots of messages but you wouldn't reply unless they wanted to go out with

grab the mug

up the older you get. It's very exhausting. Hence, I wanted to go out and not get recognized for once. I wanted to eat a damn burger like normal people and slurp my coffee without judgment. With the constant demand