My Ex-Boyfriend’s Brothers: Chapter 16

“Iwanted to apologize for yesterday.” Brad had waited until our breakfast orders were dropped off to start in on why he wanted to see me. “I didn’t exactly keep a cool head when I saw you with Jackson.”

I paused with a bite of pancake halfway to my mouth. I hadn’t planned on talking about Jackson with him. Ever. Luckily, Brad had never needed me to carry on a conversation.

“He’s just… I tried to keep you from the worst of him when we were together. He’s vile, Maggie. That motorcycle… The job… He’s just not a very good guy. When I saw you on his motorcycle, I was worried he was trying to mess things up. He loves creating trouble. I don’t even know why I invited him. It was definitely a mistake made in a softer moment of mine.” Brad sighed deeply. “You can’t trust him. I could tell you a hundred stories of him slipping in and out of my life just to make a mess and run out again. I shouldn’t have been short with you, though.”

His words left a nasty taste in my mouth. Out of the two brothers, I’d trust Jackson more than Brad over and over again. Jackson, with his motorcycle and his job, whatever the hell that meant, was a thousand times the man Brad would ever be.

“You’re doing amazing, you know? Christina loves you. Everything I’ve seen has been great. You’ve grown up so much in the last three years.” Brad leaned over and patted my hand. “Thank you.”

Well, he’d officially surprised me. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, unsure of what I was going to say until it was coming out. “I’ve always been good at my job. Thank you, though.”

He waved his hand and laughed. “Of course, of course. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

I ate a big bite of pancake and washed it down with a few gulps of orange juice. Part of my resistance to Brad had become eating in a way he didn’t approve of. Sugar with more sugar? He was probably dying to tell me that the pancakes were going to go straight to my ass. I took pleasure in knowing that he was most likely internally cringing. For him to think I’d suddenly become good at my job since we split was a slap in the face. It just showed how little he’d paid attention to my work when we were together.

“I just meant to say that you’re doing amazing work. I’m glad I chose you to do this for us.” Brad gave me his most diplomatic smile. “Everything seems to be going perfectly.”

I put my fork down, deciding to handle the photography change head on. “Actually, there was a slight hiccup with the photographer. It’s already sorted out, though. The photographer I booked apparently double booked himself. His other booking was for a fashion event and he was unwilling to cancel it. Luckily, I ran into Ryan and he showed me some of his work. He volunteered to take over. I think he’s going to be even better than the original photographer.”

Brad’s face twisted from diplomatic smile into a deep scowl. “What?”

I sat back in my seat. “Did you not hear-”

“After I just complimented you for doing a good job, you tell me that? Let me guess, you messed up scheduling the photographer I wanted and now you’re getting Ryan to do it? He shoots animals and hotels, Maggie! He’s not a fucking wedding photographer! It’s the most important day of my life and you managed to fuck up the most important thing!” Brad dropped his fists to the table, causing the silverware to rattle. “Ryan. You want Ryan to capture my most special memories. I don’t even know what to say.”

“If you don’t know what to say, maybe you shouldn’t say anything.” Luke’s smooth voice came from behind me. “Is there a problem here?”

I was mortified at having been caught getting chastised by Brad. It was embarrassing enough as it was but having Luke witness it made it even worse. I sat stiffly in my chair, refusing to glance back and see the pity on his face.

“Apparently, Ryan is going to be taking photos of my wedding.” Brad shook his head and let out a humorless laugh. “Ryan. This is unacceptable, Maggie. You need to fix this. I’m not paying you to-”

“You’re not paying her at all.” Luke had moved closer to me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his body. He grazed his knuckle over the back of my neck so lightly that I wasn’t sure if he’d meant to do it until I felt it a second time. “If there’s a problem from now on, Bradley, you come to me and I’ll handle it. Understood?”

Brad’s cheeks went red in the way they did when he was pissed but couldn’t express that anger. He stood up abruptly and shook his head. “I have things I need to be doing anyway.”

I remained stone still as Luke walked around the table and took the seat his little brother had just vacated. “You’re paying for the wedding?”

Gregor appeared in my vision as he cleared the plates in front of his boss. “Good morning, Ms. Maggie.”

“Give us a minute, Gregor. Please.” Luke smiled kindly at the giant man and then focused his attention on me. “I’m paying for parts of the wedding. I didn’t want Brad to cheat you out of what you deserve. When I saw what you were charging him, I stepped in. He would’ve let you charge him half of your normal rate, which is already a small percentage of what someone else would’ve charged to plan this wedding. You’ll be receiving your entire fee, including a bonus to make your pay fair. You deserve it, Maggie.”

I cleared my throat as it went bone dry. My mouth, my lips, every part of me felt like I hadn’t had a drink of water in weeks. There he was, so powerful and sexy, ensuring that I was paid a fair price for my work while dressed to kill in a bespoke navy-blue suit. He looked every bit the badass CEO that he was and he was appreciating my hard work.

“Ryan is a great fill-in photographer, by the way. He’s talented.” Luke stood up suddenly and held his hand out to me. “Take a walk with me?”

I looked down at the rest of my breakfast. “I should-”

“Gregor make you better breakfast. Gregor won breakfast battle.” Gregor pulled my chair away from the table, nearly dumping me out of it. “You take walk with Mr. Luke.”

Luke grinned as he caught my arms. “Gregor seems eager for us to get out of his hair. You’d better come with me.”

I caught Gregor winking at Luke and had to smile. I was still in shock about Luke’s revelation but I wanted to spend more time with him. I wanted to know why he cared about how much I charged Brad and why he was so eager to give me his money. I let him rest his hand on my back and lead me outside.

“Do you want to hire an employee to help you with the business eventually?” Luke pointed to a path that led around the side of the lodge. With mountains looming large in the distance, the morning promised a beautiful, warm day.

“I mean, sure. Of course. It’s not easy to do everything on my own. It’s just not my focus right now.” I glanced up at him. “I’ve heard rumors about you, Luke. No one has ever said you were a sucker in business. Why are you turning down the discount I offered and trying to pay me more?”

His smile was secretive. “I do what I want, Maggie.”

I grunted. “Now you sound like Jackson.”

His laugh was a happy one. “That’s not always a bad thing.”