“He’s left,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What?”
“He came down the stairs like forty minutes ago and walked out the door. I’ve been waiting for you to come down. I wasn’t sure what was going on with you.”
“He’s left?” I gasped.
Petra’s expression changed to one of pity. She could see the horror and anger on my face. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
One moment I was convinced I was in love with this amazing stranger who was going to change my life. And the next minute, I was alone again. No wonder everyone was staring at me. They all knew I had been abandoned immediately after sex.
Eight
Brendan
When I woke up the next morning with Rosalie’s beautiful body still on my mind—I knew I was fucked.
In the shower, I jerked off to her hard. I had no other choice. She left me hard and dry. I almost hated her for it, but not really. I couldn’t.
Every time I thought I could make myself stop obsessing over her—I’d see her face. How teary-eyed she looked when I caught her in the store room. I didn’t know what I had done. Was it my fault? What did I do to make her push me away and run from me?
Maybe it had nothing to do with me, but it sure felt like it did.
I was supposed to meet Tristian at our father’s office and discuss the meeting from the previous day. There was a lot to talk about. Even though we had managed to convince these guys to stay on with us, I was pretty sure our luck was running out soon.
Aldo already spread poison within our business associates and soon it was going to catch up with us. And if we started losing money now, it would have long term business consequences for us.
There was so much to discuss—but my mind was on Rosalie.
The girl who I would probably never see again.
I drank two cups of coffee to wake myself out of the fantasy of her. I needed to focus. I needed to forget about her.
I got to the house and tried to keep it—business as usual. Tristian led the conversation with our father, while I sat there trying to put my thoughts together.
Rosalie was still on my mind. It was fuckin’ unbelievable.
I kept picturing her next to me, staring up at me with those big blue eyes I would never forget. And that look on her face that reminded me of someone else.
Tristian gave me the chance to jump in on the discussion a few times, but I passed them up. I didn’t know what to say anymore. I’d completely missed the train.
I noticed how our father gave me a few glares. It was unlike me to not want to voice my opinion. Especially on a subject I was personally involved in.
He dismissed us eventually, saying he had a lot to think about and that we needed to come to a conclusion with Aldo soon.
I rushed out of the room, eager to return to my apartment and spend some time alone. But Tristian grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back.
“Come on, brother, we need to talk. Where do you think you’re going?” he said.
“I fucked that chick from last night,” I told Tristian as we lit our cigarettes outside.
We stood on the back porch of our family home together, looking out at the big manicured backyard.
“Yeah, I figured you were going to do that,” he said with a shrug. “What does that have to do with anything, though?”
He was right. It shouldn’t have had anything to do with my life. Rosalie was gone and I should have forgotten about her, but I didn’t. It proved impossible to forget about her.
“Well, I didn’t actually fuck her,” I added.
Tristian’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Things got hot and heavy in the store room. We were alone.”
“But you didn’t bang her?”
I shrugged.
“She left before that happened.”
“She left?”
Tristian was too shocked to even smoke his cigarette now.
“Apparently she had a problem with me.”
“What problem?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t explain.”
“Do you know her?” he asked. It was exactly what I thought too.
“No. I don’t think so. She didn’t seem to imply that either.”
“Then what was her problem?” Tristian asked.
“Maybe she has values or something. I don’t know,” I grunted.
Tristian watched me closely. He had a smile forming on his face now.
“So basically, what you’re saying is that you won’t be able to think straight until you fuck her.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“But that’s what you’re thinking.”
I said nothing because he was probably right. Tristian knew me better than anybody else did.
“I don’t know how to find her. I don’t even know her fuckin’ last name.”
“But you know where she works,” he said.
“And you think those fuckers at that place they threw us out of are going to roll out the red carpet for me if I go back there?”
Tristian laughed.
“Since when do you give a shit about red carpets? You want to find this chick, so go find her.”
My brother put the seed of an idea in my head. All this time, I didn’t think about going after Rosalie again. She didn’t want to see me.
But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t go after the answers I was looking for.
“I just want to know why she ran away from me. What is her problem,” I said.
“And you want to fuck her,” my brother added.
I shrugged.
Tristian slapped a hand on my back.
“Go find her, fuck her and get her out of your system. We’re in the middle of a war, remember? The last thing we need is your head out of the game,” he said.
He was right. I needed to find a way to get rid of Rosalie from my thoughts. A repeat of the meeting with our father wasn’t going to work. I needed my head clear if I was going to be of any use to my family.
I stubbed the cigarette out and gave Tristian a mock-salute.
I
