Billionaire Brothers 2 : Love Has A Name (44 page)

Trudy gave an obedient nod.

“Good. Now always remember that you’re mine, ‘cause I’m
done
sharing you. And don’t even pretend that’s not what you want, because I know you love me.”

Trudy’s eyes widened on a gasp. “How did you know?”

Tish sighed and released her grip on Trudy’s face, then straddled her on the banquette, cupping Trudy’s face gently in her hands and brushing her thumbs over her cheeks.

I edged closer, not wanting to miss out on the action. These two seemed to be lost in their own world.

“Because you told me … in your sleep. No one ever told you that you talk
a lot
in your sleep?”

Trudy shook her head and smiled. “No. Never.”

“Well, you do. Maybe no one tells you because that’s when you’re most honest and they don’t wanna let you know that you always spill the beans while you sleep,” Tish laughed. “But that’s how I know what I mean to you. So can you just
stop
pretending now?”

“Kiss me,” Trudy mouthed. “Please.”

And then they inflamed into a steamy kiss that made me feel a bit queasy.

“Um, guys?” I said tentatively, trying to get their attention. Over and done with this crazy night, I was dying to get home, but wasn’t about to get around a steering wheel after drinking three glasses of whiskey. No such risk would I dare take. “Guys?” I tried again. But neither of them so much as peeped in my direction. I suddenly felt like an interloper.

Not sure what to do, I glanced around the club, thinking maybe I could get a phone call at the bar. Knowing that Tish would be here with me, I’d left my cellphone at home.

“You okay, Axia?”

The hand that touched my shoulder startled me, and I turned to see Trevillo standing behind me, wearing a frown.

“Actually, no. I need to go home and those two seem to have forgotten that I exist. I’ve had too much to drink, so I’m not taking the risk of driving home.” I eyed his pockets, checking for a cellphone bulge. “May I borrow your phone to call for a ride?”

“No need to,” he shrugged. “I’ll take you home.”

“And leave your crew,” I smirked, as I glanced over in their direction. Nicole was consoling a blubbering Carla, and the rest of the crew were popping a new bottle of champagne.

“They’ll be alright.”

I watched him with skepticism, knowing damn well that this was
Trevillo
I was dealing with, and his ride offer was much too innocent. “How drunk are you?”

He laughed out. “I’ve only had two glasses of champagne. And I hold my liquor well. C’mon,” he grabbed my hand and pulled me off, “I know what you’re thinking, and I
promise
I have nothing up my sleeves this time. Just wanna make sure my future sister-in-law is safe and sound.”

“I told you to
stop
calling me that,” I hissed, as I followed him out of the V.I.P. booth.

Trevillo chuckled and wove us through the club. His long strides were hard to keep up with, so he brought my arm around his waist and hooked my fingers through his belt loops to keep me close when the crowd began caving in. Once we made it safely outside, he continued, “Don’t see why I should stop calling you that, when I know you
are
going to be my sister-in-law.”

“You should stick to the real estate business, Kinky Boy, because you suck at prophesying,” I quipped, nudging him to remove his big warm hands off mine so I could unhook my fingers from his belt loops.

He laughed, gazing down at me with an unreadable expression as he walked me down the people-lined sidewalk to his sleek black
Audi
. He plucked his car keys from his pocket and swirled them around his forefinger once, tilting his head to the side as he continued to stare down at me — why? With a terse shake of his head, he pressed the unlock button and opened the passenger door, gesturing for me to get in.

Once we were buckled down and off in traffic, he asked out of the blue, “What makes you think Love’s back with Nicole?”

“I’m just gonna skip over all the shady moves he’s been making ever since Nicole came back, and jump straight to today when he came to my workplace to ask me if I wanted to play third-wheel on a lunch date with him and Nicole.”

Trevillo coughed one of those ‘shocked’ coughs. “He did
what
? You’re joking, right?”

“I leave that to comedians.”

“Are we talking about the same person? Lovello All-Knowing, Rational-Thinking, Wiser-Than-King-Solomon Nelson?”

“Yep,” I confirmed on a laugh. “That same one.”

Trevillo threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh, his white teeth bright against the darkness of the car. “I think you’re making him crazy, Axia.”

“I’m innocent.”

“I doubt it.”

True to his word, Trevillo pulled no rabbits, eggs or roses from his sleeves, proving that he could, after all, be trusted. He drove me home at moderate speed with absolutely no flirting. When he wasn’t being a complete foul-mouthed douche, I actually liked him. He was nice. And
surprisingly
funny.

When he pulled up to my driveway, there, parked comfortably on the left as if it belonged there, was Lovello’s Bugatti. What the hell was he doing here? The lights were on in the house, which meant he was awake.

“Uh oh,” Trevillo teased. “Daddy’s home.”

Laughing at his silly expression and inflection, I flipped him the bird and hopped out of the car, then thanked him for the ride. He didn’t drive off right away, waiting for me to get inside safely, I guessed.

Opening my clutch, I took out my keys, but before I got to the door, it swung open, revealing all six feet three inches of Lovello, wearing nothing but black basketball shorts that hung low on his hips.

Thanks to the alcohol in my veins, I was fortressed and wasn’t bowled over by the man’s overwhelming sexiness. Why, oh, why did he have to look so damn delicious? All the time.
All the time
. It was painful. Utterly.

I heard Trevillo’s car gas off behind me, and before I could step a foot through
my
door, Lovello demanded, “Was that Trev?”

“That’s none of your friggin’ business.” I pushed past him, and the heat from his body that grazed me made me both aroused and angry at the same time.

The door closed quietly, and I could feel him looming behind me as I wobbled trying to unzip my thigh-highs. His nearness was making me so much hazier than alcohol
ever
could, and as my breath began quickening with need for him, I sent a silent prayer to God, begging him not to let me give in to this man tonight.

“Axia, were you
drinking
?” Incredulity laced his voice. He knew, of course, that I didn’t drink. At all.

With one removed boot in my hand, I whirled around to face him, pointing it in his face. “That, too, is none of your goddamn business! What’re you doing in my house, anyway? You’re not welcome here anymore, Nelson, so give me back my flippin’ keys and get the hell out!”

Lovello raked a hand through his hair. With bloodshot eyes, his face looked a tad weary. “Scream all you want, Axia, but I’m not going anywhere. Tell me, what were you out doing with my brother?”

I guffawed and threw up my hands in frustration. The boot slipped from my fingers and went skating across the tiled floor. “Even now, when we’re
not
together, you still wanna be possessive?! Still jealous of your brother? Yet, your current woman, Miss Polish and Shine Nicole is allowed to go clubbing with him? What the hell am I, your puppet?”

Lovello bit down on his lip in that sexy way he always did when he was trying to suppress a smile, and, as if he couldn’t help it, he turned his face away from me for a count of five seconds, then came back with a semi-serious face. “How and when did Nicole become my woman?”

Refusing to answer that silly question, I turned and walked away from him, awkwardly unzipping my other thigh-high in the process. “I’m not playing this game with you, Nelson. Tricks are for kids.”

I was suddenly swept off the ground, cradled in strong, secure hands and carried off to my bedroom. “What are you —”

“Shut up, Axia,” he whispered. Setting me down on the edge of the bed, he took over the job of removing my boot. “Is that why you’re trying to break up with me? Because you think I’m sleeping with Nicole?”

“Well you are, aren’t you?”

Sitting back on his haunches, he began massaging my feet. And I couldn’t find the voice to object, because I didn’t want him to stop touching me. I needed him like my next breath. “No, I’m not. I feel nothing for Nicole anymore, beauts. Swear to you.”

“Then how do you explain —”

“Coming home late without alerting you? Calling only once a day? Keeping a distance? Popping up today?”

When I nodded, he continued. “Because I was trying to get
you
back. The you that goes berserk with jealousy and has a temper fit when I don’t do things like call to say I’ll be late. The you that goes bat-shit crazy because someone complimented me on my hair. The you that shouts and screams and fights me. It’s how I know you feel for me.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

He released a heavy breath as his fingers kneaded my instep, pulling a faint hum from my lips. “Well, before we even saw Nicole that day in my building, I kind of had a, um, insecurity panic. I don’t know why, but I just felt that, well, maybe you were growing tired of me or something — seeing that I’m always around you, selfishly, in your space and in your face. I thought maybe I’d overwhelmed you with our fast-paced relationship and was losing you —” He stopped and sighed. “Okay, I’m lying to you. Sorry. I
do
know why.”

He took a breath. “I’d been going through your messages, and I see that you communicate with your ex — almost daily. Almost daily, Axia. It’s not that you talk to him that bothers me, it’s because you told me that you’d loved him. Then when I saw those messages of him wanting you back, I wondered if you felt the same — if you still love him, too. So, yes, I felt insecure, and I wanted to be sure that you need me, that you love
me
. That’s why I’d suggested we stayed home all day that day. I just wanted to spend some time with you to assure myself that what we have was still there. But as soon as the clock struck twelve, you were insisting we go to work.

“Then, when we ran into Nicole in my building, you were so indifferent about the whole situation. You weren’t even trying to make a statement that I’m yours. You just coolly left me with her. You were just … not
you
.” Avoiding eye contact, he brought his hands up the back of my leg, kneading away the tension from my muscle that the high heels had caused. “What was I to think but that you just didn’t care anymore. Because of
him
. You said nothing when I didn’t call to say I’d be out late. No argument,
nothing
. No reaction from you no matter what I did. Felt like you were just slipping away.” He moved on from one leg to the next, granting it equal treatment.
Dios, will I ever get used to his touch?

“Yesterday when I came by your gym, I was miserable as hell. But you were so damn happy without me, laughing and flirting with your staff. It pissed me off.
I’m
the one who taught you how to laugh.
Me.
And there you were, laughing … but it wasn’t me that was making you laugh anymore
.”
His chest rose and fell as he heaved a heavy breath, still refusing to look at me. “I was desperate. I thought if I asked you to come on a date with me and Nicole, you’d throw one of your crazy fits. Then I would laugh tell you I was just messing with you. But even then, you were indifferent. Until you finally said it, that you don’t love me. You confirmed it. But, as you can see, not even that can keep me away.”

Raking my fingers through his hair, I grinned, my heart expanding to the size of the room. “I thought you didn’t like my crazy fits.”

Lovello finally lifted his eyes to mine and chuckled. Rising to his feet, he lowered me back onto the bed, bringing down his firm frame on mine. “I don’t. But at least I know when you do it, it’s because you feel for me. Because you care. It’s how I mark the intensity of your love.”

“But I heard that Nicole’s at your office every other day. I just don’t understand…”

He shook his head. “Nicole pops up without notice sometimes. Think she’s just bored. She’s trying to get into real estate and is twiddling her thumbs for now while Trev pulls some strings for her with license and such. So, with nothing to do in the interim, she stops by sometimes to chat — which I rarely have time for — so I let her hang in the studio quarters with Carla. Nicole’s used to being taken care of, and she hasn’t much companionship since she’s moved back, because her two best friends have moved away. So I’m only trying to be there for her until she settles. But I swear to you, I’m
not
sleeping with her.” Lovello dropped his face in the crook of my neck. “I can’t lose you, Axia. I can’t. You’re like my pacifier. I need you to stay grounded and focused when work gets heavy. With you, my world is clean, organized and sensible. I’ve never
needed
anyone before. Ever. Until I met you…” He trailed off on a sigh. “I almost lost my mind when I came in tonight and you weren’t here. I thought you were probably seeing
him
—” He stopped abruptly and lifted his head, searching my eyes with his vulnerable ones. “What were you out doing with Trev?”