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“Too late now.” I sipped on my whiskey.
Christian and Dominic were in town for some business. They had come through to my office for a quick visit. Now I regretted letting them come. One of them at a time was annoying. But the two of them together were almost insufferable.
“This will only end in disaster. I am telling you this right now.” Christian piped up from beside me. “It’s astounding how you both deal with women.”
“Hey, I am happily engaged, thank you very much.” Dominic defended himself. “Did Stella and I start out wrong? Maybe but look where we are now. Gabriel is just playing with fire at this point. Your nanny? Really?”
Christian turned to me. “And why could you not get someone else to play your pretend fiancé.”
“If I had known you two would be so vocal about this I wouldn’t have told either of you.”
“You didn’t.” Christian sipped on his scotch. “I had to find out from him.”
I glared at Dominic.
He held his hands up in defense. “I was trying to figure out a way to talk you out of it. Christian is better at that stuff than me.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “You both understand that I need her. The judge will grant custody to me once she sees that my life is stable. That I am a rooted man.”
“And what if Brianna falls in love with you?”
I waved him off. “Brianna will not fall for me.”
“And what if you fall for her?” Dominic leaned toward me. “What if you end up wanting to marry her for real and she wants nothing to do with you? You would not only ruin your work relationship but you will fuck up her personal life.”
I looked at him like he had lost his damn mind. “Have you met me? Besides, Brianna is not even my type.”
Images of her long red hair and crystal blue eyes filled my mind. There were certain moments when the sun hit her just right that you could see small flecks of gold in her irises.
I had first noticed two days ago when she had come to the office to retrieve some money for something. It has thrown me for a second.
“The woman could be a model. She is exactly your type.” Dominic retorted.
“Are you calling me shallow?”
“Yes.” Both brothers said at the same time, causing me to scowl.
Well then.
“Brianna and I have come to an understanding. We can both be professional. Your lack of faith is inspiring, friends. Do you really not think that I can handle this one?”
“Yes. Which is exactly why we are saying this.” Christian put his whiskey down. “You said you would never marry Adriana. I told you it would end in disaster but you didn’t listen to me. Now here you are divorced with a child in between. She is using your son as a pawn to get you to fall into line.”
I tightened my hold around my glass. “And that is why I need to get full custody of him. Hence my plan.”
“Be careful.” Christian warned. “Women have a tendency to be vindictive when they are scorned. And you taking away Adriana’s last name privilege has left her vengeful. Brianna seems like a good woman. Don’t let her suffer for you and your ex-wife’s sins.”
Christian and I stared at each other. Neither one breaking. I hated to admit it but the man was right. Brianna was innocent in all of this.
Dominic cleared his throat. “We just want you to be careful. Michael is involved in this. You know we love him.”
I let out a heavy breath. “I know.”
There were only two days until Brianna and I made our debut as an engaged couple. I knew that we were headed into the danger zone. There would be live fire coming from all angles.
My parents. The press. Adriana.
All eyes would be on us and she would have a lot more pressure on her. I knew I couldn’t shield her from everything but I would do my best to protect her from the lethal attacks.
