Mistake: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (19 page)

"Perfectly, Mr. Williamson. I'm not trying to skate by as a friend of Mr. Forrester. I'm here to make something of myself."

"So be it. On that note, I have agreed to Mr. Forrester's idea that there be a separate fitness facility for staff as well as the normal guest facilities. Apparently, you are quite the accomplished lifter?"

"I try my best. In a conversation with Mr. Forrester, we both agreed that since this resort will not have the same year-round good weather for outdoor fitness that many of the Forrester Hotels have, he wanted to ensure the staff is able to maintain a proper appearance. Also, it saves us a ton of money on the health care premiums I heard."

Williamson nodded. "So I've heard as well. Very well. Please get with Miss Watanabe, she can show you a map to both locations. The guest facility is not ready for equipment yet, but I believe the staff one can be outfitted, if you do not mind a utilitarian room. For both of you, I have the budgetary details of your divisions already sitting on your company e-mails, along with your company laptops. Miss Watanabe has both. One final word on that. I know, at least according to the breakdown of the chain of command here, you two and Miss Watanabe are equals. Let me inform you that you most certainly are not. She has direct working experience in a similar posting, and from the words I exchanged with your father, Mr. Castelbon, she's very good. As such, she is going to be my
de facto
second in command here. She will be responsible for much of the day to day operations while I teach all three of you how to run a resort. So unless you think it is something she cannot handle, I want you to go through her for many of the questions you think of bringing to me. Understand?"

"Of course, Mr. Williamson," Julian said tightly, and I could see the cords of tension in the back of his hands. "Thank you."

"Yes, thank you Mr. Williamson," I said with as much decorum as I could muster as well. Julian and I got up and left the office, both of us staying silent until we were able to find Yuki's office which was down the hall.

"How'd it go?" she asked, trying not to smirk. Julian's response of growling and punching his hand into his fist I thought was a perfect answer for both of us. "That good, huh? Don't let him get to you. I called the last resort he worked at, checking up on him. He's like that to everyone until you earn his respect, then he's actually tolerable apparently."

"Great. So perhaps by the time I graduate and he retires we might have a reasonable working relationship," Julian said. "Whatever, I can deal with it. You and Krystal can keep my head straight, I know that. By the way, he said you had some laptops and stuff for us."

"Even better," Yuki replied. "You can thank Kimberly for these, but now the managers, instead of getting clunky laptops, are getting dual purpose computers. In your office or in your quarters, you can plug in the base and it works just like a normal laptop. But, you pop the screen out, and you have a tablet. Both of yours are setup, you just need to log your passwords into the system and you'll be walked through. It's a good system, your friend does good work Krystal."

"Thanks," I said. "But before anything else, I'd like to see our quarters. You know where they are?"

"Of course. Follow me."

T
hat evening
, after a light dinner at a local restaurant in Kennebunk , Julian and I were lying in bed together, although in a more domestic manner than I'd ever remembered us being before. I was reading a cookbook on my new computer, while Julian was on his older laptop, typing away at a paper he was writing. "Hey Krystal," he said as I was in the middle of reviewing some cod and haddock recipes, "what's your opinion on the role of classic gender roles in the modern world?"

I looked at him, not sure if he was joking or not. Instead, I found him staring at his computer, his face very intent and serious. "What are you doing?" I asked, setting my tablet aside.

"Psychology final. Most of the questions were easy, a lot of multiple choice, but there are five short essay questions that I have to answer too. This is the last one, and I wanted your input."

"Seriously?"

"Really. The instructor lets us take the final online this way, and I can get it done ahead of time."

I looked at the recipes on the tablet in my lap, and the computer in Julian's, and made a decision. "Can you save it and come back later?"

"Yeah, I have unlimited time until Friday at noon. Why?"

I pulled down the sheets that were covering me, and lifted my t-shirt up. "Because these are the gender roles I want to discuss with you right now."

Julian only needed a glance to agree with me, clicking his touchpad three times and closing his laptop with a forceful
thunk-click.
I had to admit, after our fight, it was a while before I let him back into my bed, and even longer before we made love again. For me, the wait was almost unbearable agony, but I wanted to make sure that when we had sex again, it was because I wanted him in my heart as well as in my body. However, between that, our busy schedules, and our travels, we could count the number of times we'd had sex since reuniting on the fingers of one hand. Now that we were settled in Kennebunkport, I planned on rectifying that as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, the long breaks hadn't dulled Julian's lovemaking skills in the least. Stroking my hair, he leaned into me, his soft lips teasing mine until both of us were grinning like Cheshire cats. "I wonder, should we keep it down, or just let it all loose?" he teased me, bringing his left hand up to rest on my ribs. "After all, we wouldn't want Mr. Williamson to call us to his office tomorrow."

"I don't care whose office I go to if it's because of how you make me feel," I teased back, resting my hand on his hip. He was wearing a light pair of sweat shorts, and I could feel the hard knob of his hip bone under my fingers. Julian still hadn't recovered from almost killing himself on the beach in Miami, and was easily ten pounds lighter still than when I first saw him deliciously naked. It wasn't that he was less handsome, just a bit smaller. Julian had gone from a super-ripped and muscular two hundred and fifteen pounds to a very lean one hundred and ninety five, and was now at just over two hundred. Still, I missed some of the raw animal power he had before, and wanted it back as soon as he could. "So how about we tear the roof off if we want?"

Julian's smile was the only answer I needed, and his mouth powerfully claimed me, kissing and sucking on the tender, wonderful points of my neck. I ran my fingers through his hair, encouraging him as he licked at the special spot just under the point of my jaw on the right side that drives me into utter incoherence. Within minutes I was writhing and mewling underneath him. Had I thought he was any less powerful than before, just because he couldn't lift as heavy a barbell? Boy, was I wrong. Pinning my body to the bed easily, he ravished his way down my chest to seize my left nipple between his lips, sucking powerfully until I was ready to scream, it felt so damn good. "Fuck!" I cried softly. "Don't stop!"

"I won't," Julian whispered in between kisses as he made his way across my chest to the other side, treating my right breast to the same amazing feeling as the other side. At the same time, his hands were busy, first tossing the blanket off of us and then pushing my shorts down until I could pull my legs out. I wrapped them around him, using my feet to push his shorts down to his knees. Julian lifted his head from my nipple to look down and smile. "Wow, you are in a good mood tonight, aren't you?"

"I should be. I have a new home, a new job, and a great man with me who loves me. What more do I need?"

"How about marrying me?" Julian said, his blue eyes looking intently into mine.

I felt my heart stop in my chest as I searched his face for any sign of deception, but there was none. "You mean it?"

"You've been the greatest thing in my life. You took me from self destructive darkness into light. You gave me joy, and showed me that love still exists in this world. I can't imagine having to live without you by my side. So yes, Krystal Aksoy, will you marry me?"

I nodded, tears forming and spilling down my cheeks as I smiled. "Yes Julian Castelbon, I will marry you. But before that, you have to do something?"

"What's that?" he asked nervously.

"Make love to me."

I could feel his cock rubbing against my thigh, and I wanted him inside me, but first I wanted to give him something special. Lifting my leg, I used a jiu-jitsu sweep to quickly turn Julian onto his back, giggling as he gawked up at me, although he clearly just moved with me instead of making me move all of his weight. "What was that?"

"That was called a scissor sweep," I taunted him. "Too bad we can't do any real scissoring. But I do have something we can do," I continued, climbing off of him only to swing my leg over his head and face his cock. I could feel the warm tickle of his breath on my pussy, and in front of me was the beautiful sight of his cock in front of me. I licked my lips, and grasped his warm, silken shaft. "I wonder who can make the other come first?"

Not that I complained, but Julian cheated, licking me first before I could even lower my lips to the head of his cock. Licking up and down his shaft, I trembled as Julian mirrored me, finding the deep folds of my pussy and stroking them with his tongue. The salty musk of his skin added to the heady sensation, and I quickly lapped around his head, teasing the underside on the bumpy little patch of skin where his circumcision scar left the only mar to his perfection. Thankfully it was also a very sensitive spot on Julian, and I could hear him grunt. Grinning, I opened my mouth wide and let his head slip between my lips, working myself up and down his shaft while he continued to lick my pussy.

I could feel him almost toying with me, and I knew what he wanted. I'd taken pride in my ability to pleasure him with my mouth, but I'd never attempted the one thing Julian's cock intimidated me, mocked me with. I let go of my fear and lowered my lips further and further, until the head of his cock brushed the back of my throat. I felt Julian pause as I dragged up and off swirling my tongue over the tip of his cock before easing my way back down.

What Julian didn't know was that I had a secret. Long ago, I'd learned to suppress my gag reflex, not on account of sex, even though it has plenty of advantages there, but in cooking. Choking down ingredients that make you want to gag is one of the things that I'd picked up to push my skills in the kitchen. From there it was easy to expand it to oral sex. I called on this secret now, sucking Julian deep, to the point I was before. I paused there, letting him think that was all I could do before swallowing him deeply. Julian's groan rumbled through his chest and out his mouth, a sound that told me that he'd never, ever had this happen to him before. Despite the constriction, I kept sucking until he was all the way in, letting my throat massage him momentarily before pulling off. "Hah!" I gasped as I came up for a bit of air. "How was that?"

Julian couldn't even reply, but instead flickered his tongue over my clit, driving bolts of electric pleasure through my body. I was glad he wasn't letting me go so easily, and I sucked him back in, bobbing my head up and down in long, deep strokes, letting him in over and over until I could feel the precum, sweet and slippery, slide over my tongue and down my throat. It was delicious, and I was hungry for more. Julian's nimble tongue created an erotic circuit between us, circling from my mouth to his cock, up his body to his tongue, where it coursed through my clit and up my body again. It built with every cycle, until I couldn't think any longer. I entered a state of animal eroticism that I'd never felt before, each lick and suck from my mouth mirrored by his, each explosion in my clit repeated on his cock. I felt my body tighten, dual explosions forming in both of our bodies until, with a muffled cry, my orgasm crashed over me.

At the same time, Julian's thick, heady come filled my mouth, flooding my tongue and completing the experience. I nursed his cock until he softened and was clean, enjoying the softness of his skin. "How'd you do that?" Julian asked after I dismounted and lay my head on his chest.

"What?" I said teasingly. I leaned in and kissed him, happy when he returned my kiss without any hesitation. Few guys were confident enough to do that. "Oh, you mean?"

"Yeah, that," he said, kissing my cheek. "What witchcraft did you learn to do that?"

"No witchcraft, just love," I said, laying my head down on his chest, listening to his heart beat. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Did you mean it? Do you really want to marry me?"

Julian's fingers reached down and lifted my chin to look him in the eyes. "Tomorrow, after work, we're going shopping for rings."

T
he space was empty
, raw concrete floor with fresh studs exposed on the walls and ceiling joists still visible, with pipes running between them. It was raw, it was bare bones, and it was perfect. I couldn't ask for a better staff gym if I'd designed the thing myself. "So you said my budget is what?" I repeated to Yuki, who was standing next to me with her tablet. We'd come down here to the basement underneath the kitchen area in order for me to get my first view of the staff gym, and to get an idea for how I wanted to lay things out. "I assume there is a budget, of course."

"Yes, but you won't like it," Yuki replied. "Five thousand dollars."

I blinked, stunned. Five thousand? I could spend five thousand dollars and not have a single complete thing. "Okay. Then forget the budget, consider anything over the budget a donation by me or something. Think it can classify as a tax write off?"

"I doubt it. This is a for profit resort of a multi-billion dollar corporation, not the American Red Cross. However, I doubt you need the tax write off. You're not going broke any time soon. So what are you thinking?"

"Two lifting platforms over there," I said, pointing at the one wall. "One of them will have just squat stands, the other a full on power cage. I'll give you the makers I want you to contact. Lots of free weights, and some specialty bars that I'll also send you an e-mail on. In the space on the right of it, a flat bench, and a Hammer Strength Incline Press, plate loaded. The next wall is going to be back, so lat pull down and two more Hammer Strength machines. This wall we're next to will be the cardio wall, with options for Concept 2 rowers, bikes, and a treadmill for those who insist on that. The fourth wall is going to have the legs and butt section, so a leg curl, leg press, glute-ham raise, and an extension."

"What's the big spot in the middle for? You've lined the walls, but this is a big room. Are you planning on anything in the middle?"

I grinned and nodded. "Yep. We're putting in martial arts mats and a boxing ring. Those joists look perfect for hanging a couple of heavy bags, and we'll still have space to put in a smaller ring. That should make Krystal happy for her training."

"I think that ring she's been wearing this past week has already made her as happy as she can be," Yuki said. "You should have seen her earlier this morning when we were reviewing the kitchen."

"Really?" I asked, chuckling. "You know Yuki, the ring is not as important to me as the fact that she said yes. You realize how happy that makes me?"

"I can see it," Yuki replied. "What have your parents said, by the way?"

"You can ask Dad himself when he comes to the resort next week. He and Sandra are coming to see how we're doing, a bit of a reunion, celebration, whatever you want to call it."

"Do you think that it would be appropriate for me to talk to them? I think Sandra is still angry with me. I wouldn't want to add any strain to your family gathering."

I shook my head. "Yuki, I suspect that by now, Sandra regrets her decision. I know my Dad does. Last time I talked to him, he's misses having you around. The person they hired is good, but doesn't have that same level of seamless anticipation you have. Also, I think he misses some of the business advice you gave him. You were well worth the salary."

"I know. I miss the Manor as well, but I'm excited about the challenges of this opportunity as well. Well, I like your ideas, and you said you'll get me the list of things. But we need to go upstairs and look at the part of your job that is supposed to generate revenue, the guest fitness facility. You'll be happy to note you have a one hundred thousand dollar budget there, not including the pool and swimming areas which have their own budgets."

"Great. You know Yuki, I'm going to be depending a lot on you for guidance on this dealing with budgets. I've gone most of my life not needing to worry about one."

Yuki chuckled and tapped at her screen. "New job, new place, still giving advice to a Castelbon. You should make me part of the family if you're going to keep this up another few years."

"You already are in my eyes, Yuki. Didn't you know that?"

For the next week, Krystal and I worked hard at adapting to our new jobs. Thankfully, my finals were over, and I had a three week break before the next round of my classes started up. My only concern was that, at what was possibly the worst time, Krystal started complaining of headaches and nausea. If it hadn't been for the three times we'd make love over the course of the week, I'd have started thinking she was losing interest. Yet when we did make love, it was perhaps even more passionate than it had ever been. I chalked it up to nerves and stress, and did my best to support her.

After getting through the work week, I could feel nervousness in my body as I waited for my father and Sandra's arrival. I hadn't seen either one of them since leaving the Manor for Miami, although I had at least spoken with Dad. He was, of course, disappointed in my actions. But for me, him saying he was disappointed was actually a great thing. One of the reasons I had acted up so much before, I think, was because I wanted my father to at least acknowledge me. While I know now that he did, it felt like most of the time he just passed me on to a lawyer or an assistant or someone else. He didn't get his hands dirty, and he never expressed emotion about it. Now, after admitting he was wrong by trying to be so cool and collected, it was refreshing to even hear him say that he was upset over something I did. I know, weird, right?

Dad and I had patched things up though, especially after he learned about Krystal and I coming to Kennebunkport. He'd even told me over the phone that he was proud of my hard work, especially in my college courses. Sandra, on the other hand, I was worried about. Each time I'd called, she'd been busy, although she and Krystal had talked at least. Still, I was afraid my stepmother/soon to be mother in law (God that was going to get confusing), was going to beat the hell out of me the first time she saw me.

Saturday morning, Krystal and I shared a quiet breakfast at a cafe near the harbor on Ocean Drive, waiting for Dad and Sandra to call. We'd agreed to meet outside the resort first, then see how things went. "Well, look at it this way," Krystal told me as we sipped our coffee, "at least no matter how bad it goes, we won't be the biggest scandal in town. Didn't you hear? W is supposed to be visiting his Dad at the Bush compound."

"That probably makes Dad only the second richest person in the town then," I joked in reply. "How will he take the blow to his precious ego?"

"Considering he did just fine when he visited my grandfather, probably not so bad," Krystal said. She sipped her coffee, then set it aside. "That's enough of that for me. Can't have too much of it for a while."

I looked at her, concerned. "Krystal, I've been worried. The headaches, the nausea, now you're swearing off coffee..... is everything okay? I know I've been distracted with my finals, and trying to get along with Mr. Williamson, and my new job, but, have I missed something? Have I upset you in any way?"

Krystal bit her lip, smiling, and reached into her bag. "I was going to give this to you after our parents arrived," she said, "but I can't wait any longer. Here, a little present for you."

She pulled a small box about four inches long from her bag, wrapped up like a birthday gift or something. Since my birthday wasn't for a couple of months, I'm a classic Leo supposedly, I wondered what it was. "Go ahead, open it," she said, grinning. "I promise, it's nothing bad."

I took the gift from her dubiously, shaking it from side to side. Whatever it was, it rattled inside the package, which was about the size of a watch, or maybe a pen or something. Finally shrugging, I tore off the wrapper to find a small wooden box on the inside. "I put it in there because if I hadn't, you'd have guessed it way too quickly," Krystal giggled as I searched for the latch. The brass latch was tiny, and I could barely work a fingernail underneath to pop it open, but when I did, the lid sprung up a fraction of an inch, and I lifted the cover to see what was inside. "Congratulations."

It took me a moment to piece together what Krystal said with the small, white object inside, capped with a piece of blue plastic. It looked like a white board marker to me, until I saw the small window on the side with two clear, dark red lines on it. It was then that I saw the brand name on the cap, and I realized what I was holding. "You mean?" I said, flabbergasted. "How long have you known?"

"I took the test for the second time yesterday," Krystal replied. "I wanted to make sure. But yes, I'm pregnant. I'm going to the doctor on Monday to find out how far along and all that other stuff, but I can't be too far along I think. I started getting sick soon after we flew to Miami to sign the papers with Dwayne Forrester. Remember that weekend?"

"Uh, yeah," I said sarcastically. "We didn't sleep at all, and let's be honest, we barely used the bed."

"Just twice. And then the shower, the floor, the balcony of the hotel....." Krystal continued, grinning. "Babe, I don't know which time it was, but I'd like to think it was about then. The math of my cycles lines up right about then."

I sat there, joyously stunned, grinning as I held the test in my hand. "Wow. I'm going to be a father," I said, then it hit me. I already was going to be a father, now twice over. "Whoa. What about Gina's baby?"

"I wanted to talk with you about that too," Krystal said. "I think the baby isn't yours."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Krystal related the conversation she and Kimberly had back in Chicago, and I shook my head as I realized how stupid I'd been. "So has our favorite little hacker been running checks on who it might be? Knowing her, I bet she has been."

"Of course," Krystal replied. "Nothing that could hold up in court, but lots of conflicting evidence. Julian, Gina has always been the Bohemian of the Aksoy family. Growing up, Daddy always told me to love my Aunt Gina, but not copy her in a lot of ways. I didn't understand at the time, but after I became a teenager and I saw how Gina is, I understood. There are a lot of nice words to try and buffer what Gina is, but basically Gina's a slut. I think that was part of what made me so angry at first when I found out. It's not the first time Gina's slept with someone I've been involved with."

"What?" I said, shame digging a knife into my stomach so hard I wanted to puke.

"High school summer boyfriend. I'd decided to spend the summer with Gina in Detroit, there were some places I wanted to check out, I met him, we hit it off, and right before I left, I walked in on the two of them right in her living room. Him and I hadn't slept together, but still, it took me a year to talk to her after that. At least with you, it wasn't like you were cheating on me, we weren't even together at the time. But still, it made the hurt more intense than it should have been."

I was going to reply, but my phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was Dad. "Hey Dad. Okay, great. We're at a cafe on Ocean Drive, called Frank's. I know, but it's good food. Yeah, we'll see you soon. Bye."

"How long until they get here?" Krystal asked. "I want to finish what we were talking about prior to them arriving."

"Five minutes, maybe. So, Gina's a slut, and her math skills are off."

"Yeah," Krystal said. "Normally, I wouldn't care, but this is our life now, Julian. She's going to want her baby to have access to the Castelbon fortune. As your firstborn child, they'd be in for a major slice of the estate right now."

"You want me to get a paternity test," I said. I thought about it. The money wasn't all that important to me, honestly. "Why? Not that I'm doubting Kimberly's word, but the money isn't important to either of us."

"No, but keeping Gina out of the Castelbon business is," Krystal replied. "She's gone through a lot of the money Daddy made for the Aksoys, and had blown most of her share of the company. I don't want her wrecking the Castelbon future as well. But regardless of the money for us, our child should have the choice. I want them to have the option to live at the Manor, and not just watch it get sold off because Gina pulled a fast one on us."

I nodded in agreement. "Okay. Let me get in touch with my lawyers, or at least the ones I last used in California. They may not have a license to practice in Maine, or Chicago, or wherever, but I'm sure they can put us in touch with someone who is. By the way, does Kim have any ideas on who the father is?"

"Well, based off of surveillance video and gossip blogs, Kim thinks it could be one of the starting linebackers for the Lions, a male exotic dancer who was at a bachelorette party Gina went to, or a plumber she hired. Kim's hacking skills are pretty good. Problem is, two of those men are already married, and two of them are pretty much broke."

"So she may have gone after the best payday," I said, a hint of anger in my voice. "Screw the consequences, screw what she did to us, just her and her payday."

"That's Gina. Now hush, this is a happy time, and here come your parents. I see your Dad's car."

I saw it too, a green Range Rover that Dad liked to use when fall and winter came around. They parked at the curb, and Dad and Sandra got out, both of them dressed like your typical middle aged Yankee. It was something I'd come to appreciate about Dad, he didn't try to be conspicuous about his money most of the time. They saw us inside the cafe and waved, and we waved back. I felt good, seeing both of them smile. It was a good omen.

"Dad, good to see you," I said when they came in. I stood up and hugged my father, catching him a little off guard, but he quickly returned the embrace. I let go to look at Sandra, both of us standing there a bit uncertainly. "Sandra, it's good to see you too," I said, opening my arms. She hesitated a moment, then we gave each other a hug, although noticeably less warm than the one I had with Dad moments earlier. "Please guys, sit down. We were just going to order breakfast."

"This place doesn't look like much," Sandra said as she slid into the booth. "Sorry, but it doesn't."

"I know Mom, but it's been written up plenty of times. The owner won a James Beard award before buying it from the original owner, Frank. He kept the decor, but really upped the quality of the menu. He's got some high quality comfort food."