Four Brothers and a Bride

Chapter 107: Chapter 107

ASHTON

I can’t believe how many times I have lost to the new record holder today. My gloved fingers tighten around my steering wheel as I finish second place yet again. Racing is supposed to calm my nerves, not kindle the flames of my anger. I think I feel worse than I felt before getting behind this wheel. While the new guy jumps out of his car basking in the euphoria of finishing in first place, I remain inside mine to take deep breaths and calm myself.

Ashley isn’t moving out anymore and while that is a relief, I am still royally pissed at his habit of pinning the blame of his faulty marriage on me every time he gets bored or frustrated with Demi. I have to talk to him about that. We have to iron out our issues.

If he is still doing this while I am engaged to Mila, nothing’s going to stop him from throwing those accusations even after I get married and with Mila’s level of crazy, Demi will only suffer more. I can’t allow his erratic behavior to cause any more damage than it already has.

Liam starts walking up to check on me. I get down from my car and begin to walk away.

"Hey." He calls, jogging to fall in step with me. "Your driving skills are amazing, champ. We were almost neck and neck."

I turn to him. "I finished second. It’s just a car race and I am an adult. Give it a rest, new guy."

"The name’s Liam."

"Don’t care."

"I heard you used to be the reigning champ around here." Now, I halt at his words. "I understand if you’re feeling a bit slighted over the losses today. I’ve been there. It doesn’t mean you’re not as good as you thought. You might just be distracted today. I know distraction is the biggest reason why I come in second. I Just wanted to put it out there." When I turn to him, he is walking back to his car.

"Liam!"

"Yes?"

"You’re a hell of a driver." I admit to him. "Distracted or not, topping you wouldn’t be a walk in the park even for me."

"Thanks. Still, I’ll love to race you once you have a clear head."

"You bet."

I leave him and while I walk away, a ghost of a smile seeps into my face. Maybe the new guy isn’t a proud prick like I was during my time as the new guy. Mila offers me a bottle of water and helps me with my gloves.

"You’ll get it next time."

Again with the sugarcoated words. I am not down with this today. I guzzle the water.

"Losses aren’t unnatural. Besides, I do this for fun not for sport. There’s no need to get too upset with losing."

"Says the guy who was royally pissed when I beat him thrice in a row." She laughs at the look on my face. "Who’s the new guy?"

"Why? You want to race him too so you can gloat?"

"Wow, so much for not being pissed."

I grab her when she turns away with an angry face. "I’m sorry. My head is aching. I have a lot on my mind. I don’t mean to be an ass." I kiss her neck. "Forgive me. I am not fun to be around right now. That’s why I told you not to come. I didn’t want you to see me like this." She whirls to cup my face with her hands.

"We are going to be married soon. Whether I like it or not, I’m going to see all the different versions of you. There’s no need to hide the ugly parts from me." She kisses my lips. "Besides, I’ve barely seen you since our engagement party. You’re always busy. I knew I would grow grey hairs if I continued to wait for you to come to me so I decided to track you down and spend the day together."

"The day?"

"Yeah, too small?"

Too much, too soon. I remember the two weeks she spent at the mansion and how it was equal parts fun and draining. Beyond that, I have a lot of things to do and appointments to keep which she can’t be present for.

"I can’t promise the day. Maybe we can raincheck. I have a lot of things to get done and honestly, you can’t be present for my meetings. Why don’t we reschedule. I promise I’ll treat you to a fun date, wherever you want and whatever you want to do. Please?" She scowls at me. "Come on, you know I wouldn’t bail on you if it wasn’t unavoidable."

"Fine but I won’t take no for an answer next time though."

lower lip between my teeth as a tease before ravishing

have to meet

"A what?"

at my startled expression and chuckles. "Why do you look so ashen? What do you expect to follow an engagement party? Wedding prep of course. We have to start making the arrangements super early if we want to have a spectacular wedding as early as three months from now. We have to book our venues, place our orders before our favorite vendors

is she even saying? Father said we didn’t have to have

seat. "What’s with the hurry? We just got engaged days ago and now you’re talking wedding

are you saying? How is it too

that train by our parents. It sucked the fun out of our friendship and made every date seem like a chore. I always felt like we missed out on building

did you want

actual wedding to be hurried. I want us to take our time to revel in this phase of our relationship. Let me enjoy you as my fiancée and vice versa. Let’s take this time to learn more about each other that we didn’t get the chance to while dating.

Jimmy Choo shoes. "It does but I don’t know if I believe you, Ashton.

and falling head over heels in love with each other. I don’t want to walk you down the aisle because our families want me to. I want to do it because I can’t imagine anyone else walking towards me. Please Mila, this is how you’ll get the best of me in this relationship. If we get married three or six months from now, you’ll be getting a man who isn’t obsessed with you yet. Would

me you’ll work with

"I promise me."

savoring her

to your phone at all times. You know how much I overthink when you

pass her bag to her. "Tell your father I said hi." I don’t mean it but it means something to Mila whenever I remember to be

and I; Liam. He forces a smile when our eyes meet and waves creepily at me. I ignore him and grab my

booth in the café. Though it’s a little packed for my liking, I rely on my dark sunglasses to help me blend in. Keith comes in at exactly two pm, finds me and slides into the

averse to people or something?" He

You could have chosen somewhere a

you yet, Mr. Rollins. Besides,

what answers would you be

on the questions you ask but before you begin, you

"That seems fair."

some burgers and drinks to our table. Keith dives into burger with a big bite. I am not hungry. I just want

did you come to learn that your lost sister could be my foster sister, Zoe?" He keeps his eyes trained on me even as he eats. He wants to gauge

friend who knows about my lost sister and the tip led me to your family." I lean on the table. "My turn.

shakes his

find that

can’t reach out to her if I wanted to see her." He notes how my facial muscles relax at the explanation. "You just asked two questions in a row. Here’s my second question.

calculated, like he is trying to test my truthfulness. Keith continues to watch me. I have a

"Cat got you tongue?"

She was only a baby. That’s the much

he pauses his food and

Do you really plan on helping me reunite with Zoe or is this

"Those are two questions..."

Finding Zoe is very important to me. If you aren’t going to

to be sure that I am not making a mistake or falling for lies. In the end, it all depends on what Zoe thinks. She hasn’t gotten back to me. If she wants to see you, I’ll arrange a meeting. If

told Zoe about

"I did."

her to hide even better. She wouldn’t want to see me. She has every reason to be scared of me. Keith must indeed be out to waste my time.

to help me while you await Zoe’s response. I need her documents from the orphanage where she stayed before moving in with your family.

"No, they don’t."

also burn

"They don’t have them but I do. The

give them to me? I just want to know what her real name was

wasting your time. The orphanage also called her a name because she wouldn’t speak when she was brought in. Trust me,

"Who brought her in?"

and downs his drink. "That’ll be all for today, Mr. Rollins." My hand shoots out and clamps down on his wrist before he can move. His eyes dilate in shock at the sight of mine with my shades off. "What is this? Have you lost

asking you that, Keith. Do I look like a joke to you? You brought me out here to munch on a burger and waste my time? How many more of these five

Going by what I have heard, I should have kicked you out of my father’s land the first day we met but I chose to give you the benefit of doubt. I was wrong. You don’t deserve to know the gem that is my sister. She’s better off without you and your family." He lurches to his feet, glaring at me. "We’re done with this conversation, Mr. Rollin. Stay away from my home and

direction of the door where his parents have