Four Brothers and a Bride

Ashton?

"Ashley, please."

She struggles to free her hands but | clamp down hard on them.

"You toldthings between you guys was simply platonic and here you are trying to give yourself to him while

still being married to me! How could you try to fuck my own brother? How shameless can you be?" My voice is a

low hush in spite of the fury vibrating within me.

on

"Cat got your tongue?" | grab her by the lapels of her shirt now. "What would have happened if | didn’t stop? If

Ashton were here and he didn’t stop? You would have given yourself completely to him, wouldn't you? Why? Why

him and not me? Why not the man you're actually married to, Demi?"

| let her go and get down from the bed. | won't allow it. Women keep toying witheven when | try to be a

gentleman. This is all | ever get; betrayal. They're all the same.

"Ashely, I'm sorry. | wasn’t thinking."

| slap her hands off me. "Don’t complicate this any further by lying to my face. You knew exactly what you were

doing. You desperately wanted to sleep with Ashton tonight. If he had cin here and not me, he'd already be

inside you by now."

"Ashley..."

"Don’t. call. my. name." | growl in anger. "I trusted you Demi. When you insisted that sex shouldn't be a part of

our marriage contract, | didn’t question it. | respected your boundaries despite how difficult it got with each

passing day. Do you have any idea how much I struggle to keep my word to you? | was a perfect gentleman all

for you and this is how you payback? You've been lying to my face this whole time. MY BROTHER? It had to

be my own brother?"

| gasp, covering my face with my hands. "I am so disappointed in you right now, and in my brother too. You both

have been fooling everyone this whole tacting like your feelings for each other are nothing to be concerned

about."

"Please, it's not Ashton’s fault. He's never even kissedbefore. | don’t what got over me. | had a bad day and |

guess | was seeking comfort. | wasn’t thinking..."

"YOU SHOULD HAVE CTO ME! | AM THE ONE YOU'RE MARRIED TO GODDAMIT!"

| create a distance between us to rein in my emotions. "You know | would have fulfilled your needs without

judging you for going back on your word. | rushed in here worried about you when | heard from one of the maids

that you refused dinner and had puffy eyes like you've been crying. | should have known you were just pining for

my brother."

| shake my head in disgust. "Mother...do you have any idea how much this could upset her? And father, he won't

go easy on Ashton because he knows how stubborn Ash can get when he wants something. He'll give him a

tough tand it will all be your fault. You have no idea what you've done."

Demi’s eyes cloud over and she dips her head, crying softly. "I am sorry." She repeats over and over again till it

starts grating on my raw nerves.

"Saying that over again won't change the fact that you aren't truly sorry. You're just sorry you got caught. If |

hadn't been here, you and Ashton would probably have hidden the secret of this night from everyone." When her

teary eyes look up at me, | refuse toswayed by them. "Tellyou two haven't actually done it."

"Ashley..."

"Swear it!"

"I just told you he hasn't kissed me, ever. That night in your room was purely an accident and you know it."

| know it but right now, I'm starting to doubt everything. This all hurts more than | am admitting. My wife might

be in love with my own brother! Even worse, Ashton may just have strong feelings for her that transcends sexual

attraction. Am | supposed to pretend to be cool with this bullshit simply because of the nature of my marriage to

Demi? Hell no!.

They're about to makea laughing stock in Danvarr for the second tand | won't allow it. Once bitten,

twice shy, right? I'll do what I can to stop this madness. Demi can’t get with any one of my brothers; that’s

fucked up. A stranger may sting my pride but my brother? That hurts my soul.

| make a resolution instantly. Thankfully, | was able to convince Ashton to distance himself from Demi. Now, it's

Demi’s turn to keep to her contract and not bringinto disrepute through her actions.

"Here's what's going to happen." | begin through clenched teeth as Demi stares up at me. "You'll stay the heck

away from Ashton and you will not give him any reason to think he’s got a shot with you. He's your brother-in-

law, not your friend. Hence, you'll only treat him as such. You'll honor our contract and givethe respect | am

due. In return, I'll try to forget this night ever happened so we can all move on with our lives without

unnecessary pain, strife and complications. Are we in agreement?"

Demi sniffles. "We are."

"Make no mistake. This is your last chance. If you givea reason to suspect you and Ashton ever again, we're

through and you'll be blamed for everything."

"I understand." She rises to her feet. "Thank you, Ashley for being so mature about this."

Mature or weak and stupid? | step up to her with darkened eyes. "Don’t thankyet. You have a long way to go

to convincethat you and my brother aren’t up to no good every t| turn my back."

My eyes intentionally dip to her lips. | can understand why Ashton keeps coming back after that accidental kiss

between them in my room. My lips are still tingling from her touch.

When I lean down to peck her forehead, her whole body tenses. She must have sensed how annoyed | am as she

returns a halfhearted peck on my cheek. | cup her chin kiss her slowly on her lips. Demi tries not to show any

discomfort and even kissesback. We carry on with the slow kiss until | back away. It’s nothing as exciting as

the one we shared earlier obviously but within me, | am relieved she showed great restraint and didn’t reject me.

I run a hand over her jawline and pull her towards the bed.

"Come, tellall about your day and what made you cry earlier." Demi quietly joinsin her bed.

ork

When | open my eyes, slivers of sunlight filters into the room through the wide window. | look down to find Demi

purring softly on her corner of the bed. She looks so peaceful in her sleep.

Details of the previous night stir up in my head. We had spoken late into the night. What had started off as a

tense conversation ended up with jokes, laughter and a goodnight kiss. Demi even fell asleep holding my hand. |

know it's nothing but | feel good knowing she trustedenough to fall asleep within her room. | continue to

watch her sleep with a smile. | wish I could get used to this sight every morning. Just then, her lashes flutter

open.

"Morning."

She's surprised when | kiss her hair. "Get ready and cdown for breakfast." She gives a small nod as | get off

the bed. Her eyes followtill | wink her before letting her have her room back.

I've had far more interesting nights and exciting mornings but somehow, all of that pale in comparison to seeing

Ashton’s face at breakfast. The truth is | can’t really tell if it's his ‘Il don’t give a damn about anyone so do well to

avoid me’ face because he had promisedlast night or if he really can’t care less that | spent the night in

Demi’s room.

| am certain he knows by now that | didn’t sleep in my bed. | wonder what he must have imagined transpired

between Demi and I. Yet, | don’t feel bad at all. While his male ego might have taken a hit over last night, mine

wasn't left out either. For that reason, | refuse to give any details about my night.

Demi focuses on mother and makes light conversation as she has her breakfast. Afterwards, everyone begins to

disperse for work. | embrace Demi and peck her on the cheek.

"Have a nice day at work."

"You too." She says with a small smile. She slides into her car and | help her shut the door. Mother beams at us.

After Demi leaves, | glance over at Ashton. He's sporting dark glasses to compliment his checkered shirt and

black leather pants. He almost looks like a Kpop idol right now. He doffs his cap atbefore taking off in his

Mustang. | follow suit, smiling satisfactorily all the way to work.

ork

"Did you hear me, Ashley? How could you sit there and say nothing?"

I rub the ache in my temples. "Nicci, | only called you here for your creative input not for gossip."

"Gossip? Even with the video | showed you? Wow." Eyes flashing, she grabs her purse and lurches to her feet. "I

am slighted by your word choice, Ash. Do well to remember that | am a high grossing top model in Danvarr.

Simply because | have a thing for you doesn’t mean you get to talk down on me."

Exhaling, | toss my head back in my chair and press my eyes shut.

"It's my fault for trying to be a good friend and call your attention to what your adulterous wife has been up to.

When you do get stoff your precious work, head over to Rahl’s books and ask the young man at the

counter how frequently your wife haunts that place with her lover during her lunch breaks and weekends. | just

hope Billion-Err doesn’t get the scoop before you do."

My eyes flashes open as Nicci stalks away. | didn’t want to encourage her speculations by voicing my concerns

earlier. However, | did find the guy holding Demi’s hand at the bookstore in Nicola’s video oddly familiar. I'm

certain I've seen him before somewhere. | shut my eyes and think harder.

Eureka! It was in front of Demi’s aunt's house, the night | went to drop Demi off after we were forced to kiss each

other in front of our entire family for publicity. He had been waiting on her that night.

Something unpleasant settles in my gut. Could Demi truly be having an affair with that stranger? | thought

Ashton was the only man she was attracted to. Could there really be more to this?

With Nicola’s warning still ringing in my head, | grab my phone and dial Demi’s number. It’s already lunch tat

the HQ. If she isn’t at work, then she might have gone off to have lunch somewhere. | just need to confirm her

whereabout.

"Hi." She sounds a little nervous.

"Hi. I'm sorry for calling out of the blue like this. Are you at lunch?"

"Yeah. I'm grabbing a bite with Anna, catching up, you know."

"Okay. That's good. I'm just heading out myself. Have fun."

"You too."

| hang up and replay her responses in my head. It all sounds pretty normal and had Nicola not gotten it into my

head that Demi is seeing someone on the side, | wouldn't be here trying to find something suspicious about

Demi’s responses.

No matter how hard | try to be the bigger person, | give into my insecurity and decide to pay a visit to Rahl’s

books. A young chap beams excitedly atas | walk into the small store with dark sunglasses on.

"Welcsir. How may | be of service?" When | take off my glasses, his eyes widen with shock. "Mr. Rollins.

Pleasure to have you at our humble store." Eager to please, | decipher. | let my eyes skip over the basic display

of cookies and cupcakes. The coffee smells fresh at best.

"I need to make an enquiry."

When | leave the store, my mood is completely ruined.

"So, you don’t really trust her after all."

| glower at Nicola who is perched on my car with hands on her hips. She replaces her sunglasses on her face.

"Don’t worry. | only cto see your face when you confirmed my ‘gossip’. You owean apology and I'll only

accept it in a steamy bathroom." Winking, she stalks off into a waiting car and leaves. | exhale sharply and call

Asher.

"Hey, is Demi at work? I've been trying to reach her for lunch but her line isn’t going through."

"Really? She left a few minutes ago. Is it urgent?"

"Kind of. | just wanted to have lunch with her. You know I've got to get close enough to get to her phone if | am

going to tap it."

"Right. Um, she usually has lunch at a fairly new restaurant where her best friend Anna now works. I'll send you

the location."

"Alright. Thanks."

While | head over to the restaurant, | plague myself with thoughts of what else Demi could be hiding from me. |

silently hope and pray Nicci is dead wrong. | don’t know what | would do if this guy turns out to be more to Demi

than he should. Why would she keep him a secret and meet him discreetly if their relationship is pure?

| hit the breaks and pull up silently at a corner of the road. A quick glance at my wrist and | realize her lunch

break is almost up. That explains why she’s leaving the restaurant right now. She hugs Anna and blows her

kisses before getting into her car. | watch with relief as she swings her car onto the road and takes off back to

work. Nicci was wrong. She was merely having lunch with her best friend. There's no strange man in sight.

My eyes dilate as a young sprightly fellow exits the restaurant shortly after Demi. He's draped in khaki pants, a

black shirt and a face cap intentionally angled to hide his face. When he cranes his neck to survey his

surroundings before getting into his car, | catch a glimpse of his face. It's the sman!

It can’t be a coincidence that he’s just had lunch in the srestaurant as my wife. Did they plan to meet up

there and not the bookstore because Nicola busted them the last time? Is Anna also privy to their relationship?

| slam my hands on my steering and glare at the black sedan as it drives by me. I'm not going to stoop even

lower than | already have by tailing the man. Demi will always leadto him when | am ready to follow him up.

With a loud oath of disgust, | turn my car around and head back to work.

She's been fooling me. She’s been fooling everybody into thinking she’s ssaint. On one hand, she was

falling hard for my brother and ledto believe it was platonic. Now, | just discovered there's another man in

her life as well.

"Demi Branson, you're full of surprises." | shake my head with a wry smile. "Now, you'll get the biggest one from

me. Just you wait."

| wait till dinner is done. Mother insists on the family seeing a movie together and at father’s behest, we all

indulge her and watch Pride and prejudice again. It’s mother’s favorite movie and she has seen it a hundred

times. Yet, we all pretend to enjoy it every twe re-watch it.

Demi makes a lot of commentary about the movie as she watches with mother. | watch her with hooded eyes a

few rows behind her seat at the family theatre. All | can think about is the little surprise | have planned for her

tonight.

On our way back to our rooms, | bid everyone goodnight and request to have a word with Demi in my room. She

seems hesitant at first but follows me.

"Ashley, what's wrong?" Her voice is edged with worry as she watchesshut the door. "What do you want to

talk about?" | gaze upon her sweet and innocent face. | could try to ask her about the strange man but we're

way beyond that courtesy now, especially when | know she'll just lie about him anyway.

| head over to my drawer and retrieve a brown envelop from it.

"Here." | say, handing it to her. Demi collects it nervously from my hands.

"What's in here?" She asks, pulling out the stack of papers within. Her eyes widen in shock as she reads the

heading.

My face is completely devoid of emotion now. "I had our marriage contract revised. It’s up to you to either accept

my new terms or I'll gladly give you a divorce." A small smile tugs my lips. "If you accept the terms, you and |

will be about eighty-five percent close to being a real couple by all standards. If you do decide to leave, | can’t

promise you a quiet and clean exit from this marriage. It’s going to be odious, messy and tearful but only for

you. I'll require an answer first thing tomorrow morning. Now, get the hell out of my room!"