CHAPTER 13 Brother against Brother
1570 Words
XAVIER’S POV
“What the hell?!” The word leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
I should have seen it.
The familiarity in his tone when he said her name. The way she froze. The way Kendrick’s expression shifted from confusion to recognition then to fury in seconds.
My brother.
Of all men in this city.
I loosen my tie roughly and step out into the hallway, my jaw tightening.
“Kendrick,” I call after him sharply but he doesn’t stop walking.
“Stop.”
He does and slowly turns around, eyes blazing — not shocked anymore, just angry.
“What the hell was that?” I demand.
He laughs—bitter, humorless. “You really want to ask me that?”
“You don’t get to disrespect her in front of our parents.”
“She disrespected me first.”
My jaw flexes. “You dated her. Past tense.”
“It was literally last month dude.” He paused, “I loved her,” he snapped, frowning.
The words land heavier than they should but I keep my face neutral.
“And she’s with me now,” I say evenly.
“Is she?” he shoots back.
He is oblivious to our contract. I agreed with mom and dad that it was best we kept the contract between just us three and I wish I could tell him that now.
An awkward silence stretched between us—a dangerous silence. Kendrick stepped closer and asked.
“Did you know?” he says quietly.
The question hangs between us and for the first time tonight, I feel the weight of it.
“Of course, I didn’t know.”
“Hold up” I pause suddenly as something clicks. “Don’t tell me she is the one you have been talking to me about.”
Kendrick’s face darkens. He looks furious—not just angry, but wounded.
“Of course she is!” he snaps, throwing his hands up in frustration.
“Please,” I say quickly, my voice shaking now. “You have to stop this. Right now.”
I swallow.
“You have to,” I repeat, this time pleading. “Now that I’m involved it would be a really messed-up situation”
“Well, that’s none of my business,” Kendrick says, straightening to his full height and looking me dead in the eye.
“Look,” I say sharply, “your actions will have consequences. You need to think this through. I’ve been trying to talk you out of it, but you wouldn’t budge.”
“She should’ve thought about consequences before she went and—”
I don’t let him finish.
I grab him by the collar and yank him forward, our faces inches apart. My heartbeat rises violently.
“Don’t,” I say, my voice low and lethal, “ever talk about her like that.”
“We haven’t even slept together before.”
On hearing that, Kendrick scuffled.
“Oh, and you expect me to believe that. Like you don’t f**k anything wearing a skirt” I pushed him and he staggered back, tightening his shirt.
He smiled a mocking, smug smile. The bastard knew that he had struck a nerve. I would’ve loved to wipe that silly smile off his face.
“Matter of fact, I should go have a private conversation with your ‘wife to be.’” He air-quoted mockingly with his hands.
He storms back towards the dining room, and I don’t stop him.
I’m too furious. I need space before I do something I won’t regret.
I clench and unclench my fists, forcing air into my lungs, trying to steady the violent rhythm of my heart.
How is it possible that the girl my brother has been ranting about for weeks is now about to become my wife?
I never connected the pieces. Not once. Even when Kendrick went on about how she broke his heart, I didn’t think—
I didn’t want to think.
He was genuinely hurt. That much was obvious.
But hurt doesn’t justify recklessness.
What exactly happened between them that pushed him to consider something so drastic without thinking through the consequences?
I thought about the possibility of them having slept together and my blood instantly boiled. For some reason, I became angrier— it’s not like our arrangement included that clause but I couldn’t help but be mad about it.
Dad walks in and turns to me.
“Walk with me,” he says quietly.
I know my mother is still in the dining room, attempting damage control with that composed smile she wears like armor.
She leaves my father to handle this—to handle me. But I don't think I need much handling, unlike Kendrick. He should be the one being managed because of his reckless and rash decisions when he is angry.
Jade has vanished.
Kendrick is likely still cornering Sydney somewhere, interrogating her like she’s on trial.
I follow my father into his study.
The door shuts behind us with a soft click, and silence settles thickly in the room.
He moves to the bar cart without a word, pours himself a drink, and doesn’t offer me one.
I watch the amber liquid swirl in the small glass between his fingers.
I could use one right now. I thought painfully.
“Do you still intend to go ahead with the contract, given the circumstances?” He asked, after clearing his throat.
Only three people in this house know the truth: my mother, my father, and me.
Sydney doesn’t know how close tonight came to disaster. Kendrick doesn’t know the marriage is strategic, even Jade doesn’t know the stakes but my father does.
“This arrangement was meant to be clean,” Dad says evenly. “Contained and strategic.”
“It still is.”
“Kendrick won’t see it that way.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
Dad’s eyes sharpen.
“You know how he gets when he gets into this mood. He’s unstable when emotional.” He says, trying to make me aware of the situation but I do understand, very much.
“I’m aware.”
“That girl hurt him.”
My jaw tightens slightly.
“He allowed himself to be hurt” I paused. “We haven’t even heard her own side of the story, we can’t just go along with Kendrick’s side. He isn’t even thinking straight” I said in distress.
Dad tilts his head. “Well, it’s impossible to do that right now. Emotions are so high right now. We have to wait this one out.”
He is right. Before tonight — before I knew the full scope of it — Kendrick came to me ranting. Angry and reckless, threatening to “teach her a lesson.”
He mentioned having something that could ruin her. Something careless and stupid.
I shut it down immediately. Told him to drop it and grow up. I remember his phone call when I was in the cafe, he was so filled with rage and made a lot of threats.
He cannot afford to follow through with his terrible plan. Not now. Not when she carries my name.
That makes his recklessness my problem.
“If he does something foolish,” my father continues calmly, “it becomes our problem.” Dad says, as if reading my mind.
“I won’t allow that.”
Dad studies me carefully.
“This is no longer just about securing the partnership.”
No it isn’t.
“If you walk away now,” he says, “this ends cleanly. Kendrick gets distance. The family avoids fracture.”
“And the deal?” I ask.
“We recover.”
He holds my gaze.
“I’m asking you again, Xavier. Do you wish to terminate the contract?”
Terminate? And end it before it even begins.
Remove her from the equation and the complication, Kendrick needs to grow up and handle rejection better. He is being childish and unreasonable.
So what if she decides to end a relationship? Like he hasn’t ended countless baseless relationships in the past.
Hell, he even ended his relationship with Sydney without hearing her out.
Something inside me hardens.
“No.” The answer comes without hesitation. Dad waits.
“I’m proceeding with the marriage, Dad,” I say evenly.
His eyes narrow slightly.
“This will create war in this house,” he says to me.
“It already has.”
“And if Kendrick escalates?”
“He won’t.”
“You’re confident.”
“Yes,” I say confidently.
My father leans back.
He isn’t a sentimental man. But he understands possession. He understands leverage. He understands that walking away now would look like weakness.
And I don’t lose. Especially not to Kendrick.
After a moment, he nods once.
“Then control your brother.”
“I will.”
As I turn to leave, his voice stops me.
“Xavier.”
I pause.
“If he’s holding something over her—”
“I know.”
“And?”
“He won’t use it.”
Not while she carries my name. Not while this family’s reputation is tied to her. Not while I’m standing between them.
I leave the study knowing one thing clearly:
Kendrick thinks this is about heartbreak.
It isn’t.
It’s about control.
And I intend to keep it.
- Writer
