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“No.” Bosco was too angry to say anything else. “You can come back and sleep with me every night. You can drive there in the morning.”
I didn’t mind sleeping with him, but I didn’t like being told what to do. At all. “Asshole, my brother is getting married, and I’m spending time with my family. I don’t give a damn if you don’t like it. Get over yourself.” I rolled my eyes then gave him the cold shoulder.
“Damn…” Ronan was enjoying every second of this. “That was hot.”
I wasn’t putting on a production for his brother’s sake. I was standing up for myself because I refused to let Bosco take this away from me. “I’m really close to my family, and I’m looking forward to this. It’s nonnegotiable.”
Bosco rested his fingertips against his lips, considering my words with a hard gaze. “Then we add three days to the contract. That’s the best compromise you’re getting from me.”
Ronan shifted his eyes back and forth as he listened to us.
That seemed fair. “Fine.”
Ronan made the note on the contract. “He’s treating your time like money…every little thing counts.”
“Shut up, Ronan,” Bosco ordered. “You’re here to witness this, not give your two cents.”
“Fine,” Ronan said. “I’ll just give you my two cents when she’s not around.”
Bosco didn’t argue with that. “Anything else you want to tell me?” He turned his eyes back to me.
“No.” I didn’t have any other plans during our relationship.
Bosco grabbed the pen then added his signature. “Then we’re finished here.”
“You want a copy?” Ronan asked me.
“No.” I didn’t want to remember the moment I signed my soul over to the devil.
Ronan carried it to Bosco’s desk and put it in a drawer. “I’ll make sure my brother keeps his word. He’s a stickler for rules, so there shouldn’t be an issue. But if there is, I’ll be on your side.” He stood in front of the desk with his hands in his pockets. He looked at his brother. “I’ll leave you two alone.” He turned to the doorway to walk out.
Something must have been going through Bosco’s mind because he stood up and followed his brother to the doorway. “Ronan.”
Ronan turned around and gave his brother a serious look.
Bosco sighed, like he was restraining himself from some source of anger. “I’m sorry for barking at you. Not sure what came over me.”
I raised an eyebrow, shocked Bosco actually apologized for something.
Ronan grinned then tapped him on the shoulder. “I know you’re working on it. And I know you can’t see straight when it comes to this woman, so I’ll cut you some slack. Besides, I was giving you shit.” He winked then walked out.
I turned my head to the desk, and that’s when I noticed the picture that was sitting there. It was a picture of Bosco and Ronan along with an older woman. Judging by the color of her hair and eyes, it must be their mother. With a beautiful smile and tears in her eyes, she looked happy surrounded by her two adult sons.
I immediately forgave Bosco for being an asshole because the picture made my heart soften. He had a heart underneath all that aggression. It was there, even if no one could see it. Then he’d apologized to his brother in front of me, which was another curveball.
Ronan left then Bosco moved to the couch across from me where his brother had been sitting. He massaged his knuckles like he’d just punched someone. He stared at his hands as he hunched forward, his jaw clenched.
“Is that your mother?”
He didn’t look at the picture. “Yes.”
“She was beautiful.”
“I know.” A hint of pride was in his voice, buried deep under his anger. “That was taken a year before she died.”
I stared at the picture again before I turned back to him, watching him stare at his hands. “What happened that day? A birthday? A holiday?” I couldn’t tell what time of year it was because it was a close-up, but she seemed emotional in the picture.
“Ronan and I bought her a new car for Christmas. She used to drive this beat-up piece of shit, so we got her her dream car. A brand-new Mercedes.” He finally lifted his gaze and looked at the picture, the emotion absent from his eyes. “I don’t think she cared that much about the car, just the fact that we got it for her.”
“It’s the thought that matters, not the gift.”
He nodded. “I still have it. It’s in the garage. Didn’t have the heart to sell it.”
He seemed so cold most of the time that I forgot he had a huge heart. He rarely showed it. If I hadn’t known about his mother, I might never have realized it. “I’m sorry she’s not here anymore. I can tell you miss her.”
“Every day.” There was a hint of shame in his voice. “She could have abandoned us too, just the way our father did. She never did. Life was hard, but that didn’t stop her from being happy. Even though money was always a problem, I never felt unloved. She was a remarkable woman, and the world is worse off without her.”
