I’ve been restless all week. I’m used to not hearing from Alexander during the day, but I always know he comes home to me. Even when we don’t talk for days, I know it’s me he falls asleep with. Now that he’s on a business trip, there’s been no contact between us at all. I’m tempted to call or text him, but he told me not to bother him unnecessarily, and I don’t want to overstep. I didn’t think I’d miss him… but I do.
“Earth to Elena,” Luce says.
“Sorry, I zoned out again.”
He shakes his head at me, annoyed. He’s been updating me on his love life, and all it’s done to me is make me worry about my own. I sip my tea and lean back into my regular chair at our local coffee shop.
“Your mind is as absent as my brother is.”
“Have you spoken to him this week?” I ask, unable to help myself.
Lucian shakes his head. “Nah, but I know he speaks to Mom every day. Hasn’t he called you?”
I shake my head. “Do you think he’s just ignoring me?”
Lucian shrugs. “I dunno. Maybe he finally figured out you have a huge crush on him and it freaks him out.”
I slap his arm lightly. “Shut up.”
“Don’t worry, baby sis. When it comes to emotions, my brother is a bit slow.”
I roll my eyes. “We’re the same age, moron.”
He shrugs. “I’m like, three months older.”
“Whatever.”
It hurts just a little that Alexander does seem to have time for phone calls, yet he hasn’t even texted me. I wish I’d told him I’d come with him when he first mentioned the trip, but I’m too scared. I’m too scared my mom might need me, and I’d be too far away.
“Elena, you remember our pact, right?” Lucian says, snapping me out of my thoughts. “It’s childish, I know, but still…”
I nod, my expression turning serious. Lucian always knew about my crush on Alexander growing up. We used to fantasize about becoming siblings when I’d marry his brother, and we’d made each other countless promises just in case it ever actually happened. Even though most of our promises were childish, there’s one I know Lucian will want me to keep.
“I will always keep your secrets, and I will try to never be caught between your brother and you,” I promise him.
He grabs my hand and presses a kiss to the back of my hand. “I knew I could count on you, princess. I wish you hadn’t done it, because I don’t want to see your beautiful heart break. And honestly, my brother wouldn’t recognize love if it hit him in the face. But since you went ahead and married him, we’d better come up with a way for you to win my brother’s heart. The next time he goes on a business trip, he’ll be so in love with you that he’ll be calling you every second he’s got.”
I groan, this has disaster spelled all over it.
“You know the way to a man’s heart?” he asks.
I nod. “Through the stomach,” I answer.
Lucian shakes his head. “Nope. It’s through his dick.”
I blush and look around me, but luckily no one is sitting near us. “God, Luce.”
Lucian crosses his arms and nods at me. “Tell me, what is your sex life like? Don’t you dare leave any of the juicy details out.”
I blush. “Really, Luce? I can’t.” I say, shaking my head furiously.
Lucian grins. “So he has at least fingered you then?”
I slap my fingers over his lips. “Shh! Are you nuts?”
“Have you seen his nuts yet?” he mumbles through my lips.
I kick him, and he groans, putting his hands up in defeat. I let him go and look around warily, terrified of being overheard. “Yes, and yes,” I admit, begrudgingly.
He grins like a maniac. “Tell me everything,” he says, chuckling.
“There’s not much to tell,” I say. “We, uh, we sleep together a few times a week. Other than that, he… he touched me at Vaughn’s.”
“Holy shit. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him so mad before. Tell me exactly what he did.”
I groan, he’s never going to let this go unless I tell him the whole story. So I do. I tell him about Vaughn’s, and I end up telling him about the time Alexander forced me to my knees between his legs right before he proposed, and the time he caught me in the tub. By the end of it, Luce is equal parts amused and equal parts amazed.
“Well, damn. He caught you in the tub? I had no idea my robot of a brother could be that passionate.”
I blush and nod.
“Damn, so why the hell isn’t he trying to sext you, or you know, have full-blown phone sex? Do you think he’s avoiding you because despite everything he says, he doesn’t want to use you? Maybe he grew a conscience over there.”
I smile, I can’t help it. Luce always wants to believe in the good in people, and though he’s the first to admit that his brother isn’t perfect, Alexander is still the person he looks up to the most. “That makes no sense. He was very clear on the terms when we got married. He’s a bit nicer now, but he still doesn’t hesitate to remind me that he owns me.”
Lucian shakes his head. “Alec isn’t as ruthless as he thinks he is. I bet you’ve shaken him already. No one has ever triggered his protective instinct like you always have, even when we were younger. He could have easily waited a couple of weeks or months to formally marry you, but he locked you in the second he could. It’s not like you’d have ran off with his money and refused to meet the terms on your end, yet he refused to wait. Alec is never impulsive, but he wanted you. I doubt he even realizes it himself.”
I look up at Lucian in surprise, scared to even believe his words. “He told me he needed to marry anyway, that your grandfather requires it before letting him take his seat on the board. He told me not to expect much, and not to expect romance. That he only married me for convenience.”
Lucian nods. “That’s true, I’m sure part of it was convenience for him. But do you really think my brother would marry anyone just for that reason? He wouldn’t have married you if there was no way to make things work between you two, but he probably doesn’t want to acknowledge to himself that he feels that way. Besides, he has a few more months until my grandfather retires. He didn’t really need to rush into marrying you. He could’ve waited until your wedding ceremony, but he didn’t.”
I frown, lost in thought. “He was fulfilling his end of the bargain by taking care of my mother’s bills, by taking me in. It does make sense that he’d want me to fulfil my promises too. I think signing the marriage papers was really just another contract to him.”
Lucian thinks over my words, neither of us able to figure out Alexander’s behavior. “You know what you need?” he asks. I shake my head, too scared of what kind of nonsense might come out of his mouth this time.
“Something sexy.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s your plan? Your mother’s stylist already took care of all that. Every single one of my nighties is sexier than anything I’ve ever worn.”
Luce ponders my words and shakes his head. “No. You need something sexier than that. I’m dead serious when I tell you that the way to his heart is through his dick. Come on, we’re going shopping.”
Luce grabs my hand and drags me to the closest lingerie store, and I know I’m in a whole world of trouble.
