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.

in case you ever

Go right ahead and change your code if you want to. If I wanted to see you, you'll need more than a door to keep me out." I chuckle

***

run a comb through. Gris frantically digs into his bag and supplies me with a new hair brush. When I stare at him with a stunned

What makes you think that

thinking you just rolled out of bed and strolled to work like a typical nepo baby with no work ethic." Grudgingly, I snatch the brush from

client that we are trying so hard to impress

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

up here. A beautiful lady slicked in an orange three-piece suit stands with her back to me as she studies an antique painting on my wall. On the sofa, an elderly man and

Hugh, I am terribly sorry for keeping you." 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 at

to run a company, Mr. Rollins?" He grunts. "You've kept us here a whole hour and don't you go blaming

If you'll allow me, shall we continue this in

to face us now. My jaw

give her. Her father lunges to his feet, a huge bulky man with a protruding belly, and draws his

you've got. The money is not a problem." Gris nods in affirmation and graciously escorts Mr. Hugh and his bodyguard out. My gaze remains trained on Mila who

needed a way

"So, you brought daddy."

had showed up to talk to you, you would have had your security show me out. 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 still standing here talking to me.

scrapes at my pride. I ball my

I have to get one or dad would

documentation done and you'll be on your

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 statement

Gris returns.

I don't

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

and grab

our coffees are served. Mila sips hers,

is really a polar opposite

lances my pride.

her hands

"What?"

I recognized you. 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

sleeve over the leather watch. "How did

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 Will." Mila sighs and sips her coffee again. "Aren't you going to drink that before it gets cold?" She asks

myself, I grab the

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 to live, act