A Brother's Love

Alexia

Rolling to my side when I felt someone shift beside me, I buried my face deeper in my pillow. I didn’t want to wake up yet, I wanted to enjoy the warmth the sheets provided a little longer. I felt a hand on my side and glanced over my shoulder, blinking my eyes to see Easton hover.

“It’s a little over seven.” He whispered to me, “Didn’t you want to head to the shop on time today?”

It’s what I wanted but my body wouldn’t move. I shouldn’t have been so bold and challenged Easton last night. It was fun and we both enjoyed what happened but now I was regretting getting overly excited. My body was sluggish and all I wanted was to sleep until noon. Easton’s breathy chuckle made me groan.

“Come on, go freshen up.” He pulled away from me, “You’ll be upset with me when your brain finally does wake up. I don’t want to go through one of your episodes today. Things are going well between us.”

He sounded happy, cheerful even. I rolled to my back, taking in the man who was freshly showered and wore a burgundy colored suit with a white shirt underneath it. A black tie as straight as an arrow and clipped to his shirt. The fresh scent lingering around him smelled so good. It woke me a little, but I needed something more. I needed coffee.

"Coffee," I muttered.

He smiled, “I’ll get you some coffee. You go get ready.”

Smiling I held my hand up, letting Easton pull me up. I sat up in bed, his white shirt which I picked up last night and threw on carelessly and buttoned up swallowed me whole. Easton cupped my face in his hands and then slowly brushed my hair out of my face. The blonde locks messy and probably all over the place. He didn't seem to think I looked unattractive though. The darkened look in his eyes told me he was thinking of something else. We couldn't though. I did mention I wanted to actually work a normal schedule again. Easton listened and he was helping me achieve it. I liked that about him. He might be an asshole at times when he did care he did everything he could to make you happy.

“There she is.” He smirked, “You’re awake now, aren’t you?” He pulled away and walked to the door, “I’ll be back with your coffee.”

"Thank you," I called after him.

Getting out of bed I headed into our shared bathroom and got ready for the day. When I walked out of the bathroom again, feeling refreshed and more alive I noticed the cup of coffee awaiting me on the bedside table. A man of his word Easton was. Like promised Easton’s staff moved my things to his room. I got dressed in an oversized lilac colored sweater tucked into a short white denim skirt. I pulled on some long white socks and slipped into a pair of sneakers. I fixed my messy hair, keeping it down and kept my makeup neutral. Grabbing my coffee which I had been sipping off while getting ready I left the room with my bag in my hand. Pushing the strap on my shoulder, I met up with Easton in the dining room I noticed he was ready to head out.

“You’re not staying?” I asked him.

He met my gaze, “I have an early meeting.” He stepped to me and pressed a kiss to my temple, “We’ll have dinner together tonight.” He pulled away, something on his phone catching his eye, “What are you in the mood for?” He asked.

He was scrolling down his phone but I knew I had his attention.

“Thai food.”

He met my gaze, “I’ll make the reservations.”

His head of security who usually didn’t walk around so casually was by his side. I knew for sure that the man rarely accompanied Easton around. He had a team set up to do that. They were on guard now that Easton’s rival made a move. Those roses definitely made a statement.

“Is it safe for us to go out together?” I asked him.

Easton pocketed his phone, ignoring the men who were hovering. He grabbed onto my hips and pulled me to him, holding me close. He spoke to me in a low tone, his voice barely above a whisper. It sent shivers down my spine. Like an excited puppy, I enjoyed the affection given to me and leaned into him. I should play hard to get, I should give him a harder time to get what he wanted. Men like Easton loved that, didn't they? Yet I couldn't control my feelings.

“You’re my girl. I don’t care who knows about it.”

It sounded nice, but there were tons of things for us to worry about.

“What about Alex?” I asked.

His grip on me tightened, “He needs to accept the situation eventually.”

That didn’t sound like the big brother who controlled his younger brother’s life to ensure the man reached his full potential.

“Your parents-“

“I don’t care if they find out the truth.” He interrupted me, “Alex can complain about us all he wants. I do whatever the hell I want and they need to accept that.”

I smiled, placed my free hand on his firm chest, “That sounds like you.”

He chuckled, “Yeah?”

Standing on my toes I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, “Then let the whole world know about us. I don’t care either.”

Someone clearing their throat snapped us out of our little moment. Easton pulled away from me and turned to his head of security. He wasn’t the one who interrupted us though. I glanced over my shoulder to see Jake standing in the doorway.

“Jake?” I asked.

“Don’t you want to open up the shop on time?” He asked.

He was right, I did want to do that. I mentioned it to everyone apparently. Easton beside me seemed highly amused by the situation. His eyes were gleaming while a subtle smirk tugged on his lips.

“You two get along.” He stated.

I smiled, “We do and Jake apparently likes working at the flower shop.”

Jake made a face, but I think we all noticed he didn’t tell me that I was wrong. Easton straightened his jacket, leaned in to press a kiss to my temple and walked off with his team following him.

“See you tonight.” He called.

I had breakfast because Jake made me rush. Someone was eager to get to work, not that I was complaining. I needed the motivation to push through this lazy morning haze. The coffee did do the trick but someone constantly reminding you about your promises to yourself did wonders. I realized in that little moment that Jake was a better friend to me than Serena ever was. The fact that I felt guilty because I didn’t hang out a lot with her when I dated Alex back in the day made me hate myself now. Serena was replaced and I was grateful for it.

***

The restaurant Easton picked was thankfully not overly fancy. I didn’t feel that out of place, but it was odd having dinner with him while everyone kept glancing our way. He was wrong about the public losing interest. They were even more curious now that we’ve been spotted together a few times. Easton did try to make me feel more at ease. He talked about the flower shop, asking me a lot of questions. He seemed genuinely interested which I knew for a fact was bullshit. He referred to the shop as an expensive hobby once. He was just doing this to help me. It was appreciated. I was really getting into the conversation when something red and flashy caught the corner of my eyes. I glanced at whoever walked past our table, my breathing hitching in my throat. Within a second the head of security was by my side, his eyes on Easton’s.

“We should head out.” He suggested.

Easton glanced over his shoulder, meeting the gaze of the woman who liked to dress in red.

“Are you stalking me now, Alexia?” He asked her.

She smirked, “I’ve heard from a reliable source that this tactic messes with your target’s head.” A soft laughter followed, “Does it bring back memories for you?”

He clenched his jaw, the woman known as Alexia had the upper hand. I’ve never seen Easton off his game but she managed to do it.

“Leave her out of this.” He warned her.

Alexia took a seat at her table, sitting right behind us which was not a coincidence. She probably paid off the staff to get what she wanted.

“I wouldn’t hurt her, she’s cute.”

Easton rolled his eyes at Alexia’s teasing, “If you go there we’ll have serious problems.”

Alexia’s eyes trailed to me, “Oh, you think she’ll go for it?” She asked.

It was odd, it almost sounded like these two were on friendly terms. If I didn’t feel the hostility radiating off Easton I would have believed they liked each other a little too much. Easton sat straight in his chair and looked at his head of security.

“We’re leaving.” He announced.

“Yes, sir.”

We were on the move the minute Easton decided we had quite enough excitement for the night. Paying for the food, Easton kept me close to him. The minute we were in the back seat of the car, Easton pulled up the privacy screen by pressing a button and then turned to look at me.

“She’s going to mess with my head until she drives me insane.”

“She mentioned someone taught her that tactic, was it you?” I asked.

“Might have been.” He muttered.

The fact he sounded so reluctant to answer made me suspicious of the whole situation.

“Did you date her before this mess?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, “Don’t ask questions like that.”

That pissed me off, he knew a whole lot about me but when it came to him he preferred not to share. I thought we agreed we were sharing our relationship with the world. Yet right now it didn’t even feel like we were in a relationship at all. It was more like Easton controlling me the same way he controlled Alex.

“So yes.” I continued.

He leaned back in his seat, letting out an exasperated sigh, “No, I didn’t date that woman.” His look darkened but not in the way I liked. It was the threatening look he showed me when he kidnapped me and tied me to a chair in an abandoned warehouse, “I f****d her a few times. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

It wasn't but at least I knew why Alexia enjoyed playing around with Easton. He might be done with her but she was definitely not done with him. The fact that she shot him was her flirting with him in a dark and twisted way. I got myself into a messy situation yet I knew it was too late to get myself out of it. I just turned to look out the window and ignored the man sitting beside me.