AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wanted to banish the name Theo from his vocabulary, never to be uttered again.
I always needed a moment to collect myself before spending time with Dex. We were having dinner with his mother, who I adored, and again my thoughts drifted to Theo. I learned a great deal about him once I found out they were brothers. In some weird way it made me feel connected to Theo to hear her tell stories about their childhood. She loved her boys, so I had questioned her endlessly under the guise of wanting to know about Dex. Clearly she didn’t realize what an asshole her other child had become, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her.
“Alright, I’ll be out front. Hurry up.”
My spine stiffened at his rudeness. I nodded at his words and grabbed the report in my hand. One quick stop to my father’s high-rise office and I could hand deliver the update on his newest acquisition.
As I grabbed my briefcase off the floor, Theo stepped into the office. His dark eyes lit up when they landed on me. His hair was longer than I remembered and his beard looked fuller. “Penny, I won’t be in tomorrow. But, I can come back the next day. How close are you to finding someone?”
Shit. I hoped he wouldn’t ask me that question. Truth of the matter? I hadn’t even looked. Didn’t plan on it. I missed him, and as selfish as it made me, I wanted him here. “I’m sure I’ll find someone soon,” I lied. “I know how much you hate hard work.”
“Yeah, nothing’s been hard in quite some time.”
“There’s a million fish in the sea,” I said, avoiding his eyes. Why did he have to mention being hard? “Hopefully you’ll reel in a nice one.”
“I’ll try. Saw Dex, that’s fun.” He shook his head and a few long strands of black hair fell into his eyes.
“Theo…”
“Do
n’t bother.” He turned to leave as I stepped closer.
“I didn’t know he was your brother,” I whispered as he slammed the office door.
Horrible. I wanted to rush into Theo’s waiting arms, kiss him and make it all better, and tell him all about the nightmare I’d been living. That couldn’t happen, though.
Pushing Theo out of my mind, I gathered my things and quickly walked out the front doors to see Dex standing by his BMW. He opened the door, and I slid into the passenger seat.
“I don’t like the idea of Theo working here,” he said as he slammed the door, barely giving me enough time to get all of my body parts inside.
When he hopped in the driver’s side, I hesitated briefly before answering, “Would you rather bartend instead of him? I needed someone.”
His laugh was loud and sharp as it echoed off the leather interior of his little sports car. Cringing, chills skated over my body. His laugh irritated me, he reminded me of a hyena. I hated him, and hanging out with him made the hatred intensify, if that’s possible.
“Just please drive,” I whispered as he stuck the key into the ignition firing the car to life.
***
“Here are the reports you asked for,” I said, handing the crisp white papers over to my father’s pudgy fingers.
“Thank you, Penelope. Where are you two lovebirds off to this evening?”
Really? I tried to hold back the bile making its way up my throat as I narrowed my eyes onto him. How could he sit there and act as if this situation wasn’t forced on me?
“We’re heading to dinner with my mother. At my club,” Dex answered, smiling a toothy grin.
Oh yes, “the club.” We would be dining at the illustrious country club Dex was a member of and never let anyone forget it. My eyeballs mentally rolled themselves at the prestigious club with loads of important people as members. He’d told me all about it, endlessly, and if I heard about it one more time I might scream.
As we left my father’s office and headed off downtown toward the country club by the water, I sat back and gazed out to the stars twinkling in the sky. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could do this.
Pulling up to the ritzy club, with its wealth hanging in the form of garlands wrapped around the columns made my head ache. We stepped in unison up the steps to the entrance; together, as a death march to our faux engagement. This wasn’t my future.
“Dex, Penny, hello,” June, Theo’s mother, called out to us.
“Hi, June.” I swiped at the watery remnants of my fallen reminder of what I lost as it slid down my cheek.
June hugged Dex, then me, and her warm smile held me captive. Her smile, an older form of Lucy’s, made tears well in my eyes.
