Falling for My Brother's Best Friend

CHAPTER FIVE

Alec.

As I promised, I called my friend, and thirty minutes later, he was sitting in the living room waiting for Riley to come down. I’ve known this man for ten years, so when I ask him for something, he is always willing to help.

I stretch my arms above my head and place my feet on the coffee table. What is she doing? We called her down ten minutes ago. Is she having cold feet? Maybe she isn't ready for this just yet. However, she did say she wanted it to be over with quickly.

It seems I'm not the only one waiting patiently. Mike checks his watch; he is a busy man, after all, but he is too kind to say anything.

I tap my leg, a habit I've always had while listening to the clock on the wall behind me. I count how many times it ticks: one, two, three... I manage to reach thirty before she finally comes into view.

Wearing a pink pajama set with her hair in a messy bun and her face clear of any makeup, she looks beautiful. Wait… since when have I thought my best friend's baby sister was beautiful?

I shake my head to clear the thought. Just as Mike stands and extends his hand to her, he says, “Hello, Mrs. Reed. I'm Mike Flannigan.”

She politely shakes his hand and replies, “Reed was my married name; I'm Riley Taylor now.”

He bows his head. "My apologies, Miss Taylor. Shall we take a seat and get started?"

She follows his instructions and sits across from us just as Jackson and Stacey enter. Mike looks at the four of us while Stacey hands Riley a cup of hot chocolate.

"Would you like your family to stay?" he asks.

She looks around the room, and I can feel her anxiety. However, she sits back in her chair, holding the hot cup in both hands. "They can stay," she finally says.

Stacey sits on the arm of the chair, looking down at her. "Are you sure? We can leave, Rye. This isn't any of our business."

Riley nods with a small smile on her lips. “I feel better with you here; besides, you already know what happened.”

Stacey nods and turns to Mike, placing her arm around Riley's shoulders.

“Right then,” he declares, grabbing his briefcase and pulling out some papers. “So, it's my understanding that you would like to file for divorce. Is that correct?”

Riley bites her lower lip, her eyes fixed on the cup in her hand. She seems nervous, even though she has no reason to be. “Yes,” she replies.

“You don’t need to tell me why you want this; it isn’t mandatory. All I’m going to ask is how you want to proceed.”

Her brow furrows in confusion. “I'm not sure what you mean.”

He clears his throat and leans forward. "Do you want a financial settlement, or would you prefer to just get it over with?"

Stacey, her voice filled with venom, speaks up. “She’s going to take that bastard for everything he has!”

I watch as Riley's eyes widen. “What? No, no,” she exclaims, placing the cup down on the coffee table. “I don’t want anything from him; I just want this to be over with as soon as possible.”

She clasps her hands as she speaks. “Riley, he cheated on you! Don’t let him get away with it. Don’t forget everything you did for him—who paid for the flights to Chicago and the mortgage on the house he’s now living in? You paid for everything while he was trying to get his business off the ground, and when it finally hit big, he never gave you anything in return.”

They both look at each other, neither backing down. “Because we were married, what was mine was his, and what was his was mine.”

She shakes her head. “He never saw it that way, sweetie, and you know it. When was the last time he took you out to dinner and paid? What about when he wanted you to accompany him to events?” She turns to Mike. “She wants to,” she insists.

“No disrespect, Mrs. Taylor, but it is Riley's decision; we can't force her to do something she doesn’t want to.”

She glares at Mike. One thing about this woman is that she wants what is best for the people she loves, and I can't disagree with her. I believe she should get every last penny. However, as he said, we can't force her.

A moment passes as her eyes scan each one of us before she sighs. "You know what? Forget it. We'll go ahead with the financial support."

He starts writing as he speaks: "There is no prenup; you didn't sign any papers stating that you would receive nothing in the event of a divorce." She shakes her head while taking a sip of her drink.

For the next hour, he reviews all the legal proceedings with her. He warns her they may need to go to court if he refuses to sign or agree to anything, followed by a caution that the process could take up to four months or even longer, as he is currently residing in another country.

I hope he doesn’t come to London. She may not be my family by blood, but she is family nonetheless, and he has broken her heart. If I see him in person, there’s going to be a problem, and I would rather have Riley not hate me because I made her ex-husband bleed.

“So, I'll see you tomorrow,” Mike asks as he makes his way to the front door.

Oh no! I forgot all about the work Christmas party. It's also Secret Santa, and I have no idea what to get the person I'm partnered with, even though I’m the boss.

Mike is the head of legal at my company. I hired him when I started the business, and ever since, we have been good friends.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” I would rather spend the day with my deadbeat father than go, but I keep that to myself—no point in bringing anyone down because I’m being a scrooge.

As he leaves through the door, I turn back around to go upstairs when I see Riley in the kitchen, her shoulders slumped. I should leave her alone and let her have time to herself; however, I find myself heading toward her.

“Everything okay, little mouse?”

She jumps at the sound of my voice, spinning to face me with her hand against her chest. “God, Alec!”

I raise a brow. “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

She leans against the counter with a sigh. “It's alright.” She bites her lower lip, her eyes dropping to the floor.

Stepping closer, I place my hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s overwhelming, but it will be over soon.”

She shakes her head. “It's not that. I just didn’t expect to be getting divorced at the age of 27. Am I even doing the right thing?”

Damn right she is! How can she even question it? I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to my side. “Of course you are. Tell me, little mouse, do you really want to stay with someone like that?”

She looks up at me through her long lashes. “No, but I also don’t want to be alone.”

That’s what she’s worried about. I shake my head as I look back at her. “You will have no idea what it's like to be alone. You have your family to help you through this—including me.”

One side of her mouth tips up. “Thank you for helping me get a solicitor.”

I give a single nod. “No need to thank me; it’s the least I can do after what you’ve been through.”

She goes silent, and I take it as my cue to leave. Dropping my arm, I turn toward the door. “Al,” she says, making me pause in the doorway. “I’m sorry for saying you aren’t family.”

She wasn't wrong. I'm not where I should be; I should be with mine. However, that will never happen. "Don't worry, I'm a big boy. I can handle it," I said.

She smiled, and my heart skipped a beat, taking me off guard. In a panic, I turned back around and left, just as an idea popped into my head. I need a plus one for tomorrow night, and I think a Christmas party could cheer her up since she loves this time of year. Abandoning my original plan to go to my room, I found myself heading to the living room, where I found Jackson and his wife watching a movie.

I took a seat across from them, leaned back, and braced myself. "I have a work party to attend tomorrow, and I need a plus one,"

He looked over at me, a smirk playing on his lips. "I don't think I'm a good fit for you, mate."

With a chuckle, I rolled my eyes. "Not you, dipshit." I would the banter ; it would help me forget about the terrible event.

"I was considering taking Riley with me, but I wanted to check with you first."

He stared at me, and I couldn't tell if he wanted to punch me in the face just for asking. “Why not take Julie?" he asked, a look of suspicion on his face.

His question caught me off guard; I hadn’t expected him to bring her up. Julie is my ex-girlfriend. We broke up two months ago because she was pushing for marriage, which I’m not ready for. Besides, we were only together for six months—who gets married that quickly?

I've been avoiding her, but no matter what I do, she always seems to appear out of nowhere. I give him a "you can't be serious" look before saying, "You know what, I'm sorry I asked. I just thought it might distract her from everything that's happening right now, but I can always find someone else."

I look past Jackson and see Stacey staring at me, her eyes searching mine before she touches her husband's arm. “You know, my love, I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

Inside, I'm cheering; she has finally sided with me. He looks at her, then at me, "If she tells me whether you tried it with her friend or not, I’m going to cut your dic..."

She interrupts him. “Baby, you know he would never do that. He may be a male slut, but he knows she’s off-limits.”

I point at her and say, "What she said—I swear im just trying to feel happier than she is right now. I won't leave her side, and I promise to keep her safe."

“Fine, you can take her, but! only if she wants to go. Please don’t let her get too drunk; she’s a lightweight.”

I laugh, knowing she got drunk off just one glass of wine, but then again, it was her first time having alcohol.

"I place my hand over my heart. 'You have my word.'"

He punches me in the arm, and I'm so used to it by now that it doesn’t even bother me when it goes numb. While he goes back to watching his movie, I sit with a smile on my face. Tomorrow might not be so bad after all.