Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 63

DEMI

I had thought I would be more excited to visit Ashal’s penthouse but more than anything, I feel a twinge of worry. It started when Olivia called me out of the blues yesterday. I didn’t know what to make of the private number so I took the call.

"Who’s this?"

"It’s Olivia."

My heart leapt. "Olivia Dunn?"

"That’s right." Her voice sounded firmer and slightly harsh.

"Hi, Olivia. How are you?" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"How do you expect me to be when you’ve got nothing better to do than to poke your nose in other people’s affairs." She spat with venom.

"Woah, watch it. Why are you being so rude? You’re the one who cried for help and asked your friend to find me." I can’t believe her. She might be putting up a brave front to hide Ashal’s wrongs out of fear but that doesn’t make it right for her to lash out at me.

"Fine, I admit I pranked my friend. I was just having a squabble with my partner back then. Every relationship has their ups and downs. Couples fight and make up all the time. Eliana was making a big deal out of it so I indulged her and pretended to be a damsel in distress. I tasked her with finding you as a potential savior only because I knew she couldn’t pull it off. I didn’t think she would fall for it. I didn’t expect she’d go this far."

"She’s a smart woman, Olivia. I don’t think she is incapable of recognizing a joke. If she didn’t think you were in serious danger, she wouldn’t have tried to find me to help you."

Olivia chuckled. "Danger? And what could you possibly do if I was actually in danger? Are you some kind of police detective or an undercover ninja? Don’t you see how senseless it all sounds? You’re just a woman with no real power or influence. I bet you cower in fright when your in-laws bark orders. How could you possibly help anyone?"

"Olivia..."

"I don’t even know you besides what I read in the news." She huffs out a breath to calm herself. "Listen, I called to tell you to stay away from Eliana. Stop encouraging her to chase shadows. I’m enjoying my relationship. I am not in any kind of distress. If you’re so bored of your wifely roles, find a hobby. Don’t try to play sherlock Holmes and interfere in other people’s lives. Worry about yours."

I let her rant, wondering why she was lying through her teeth after we finally got a chance to talk.

"If you ever try to contact me again or blow up my quiet life by mentioning my name on popular blogs, I’ll make sure I involve your in-laws and tell them what you’ve been using your free time to do."

That call still replays in my head. When I told Liam, he merely suggested that I focus on my visit to Ashal’s house.

While I am getting ready, Anna’s message beeps in. She can’t make it. A new wave of disappointment washes over me.

I think of giving her a call to convince her to come along but her message is vague. It only tells me that she is still mad at me and isn’t ready to talk. I decide against putting any kind of pressure on her. Maybe this time, I should listen to her for a change. If she has an urgent matter to attend to, I should respect her wishes.

"Thank you so much for doing this, Ashal. I really needed to get out of the house for a bit."

"You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do to remedy your birthday." I shoot him a thin smile and focus outside, watching the lush green palms and skyscrapers zipping by.

"What happened to Anna?"

"She can’t make it."

"Oh, that’s sad. She would have had so much fun." I nod glumly at his words. "Cheer up, Ashley’s going to be there. I made sure he cleared his schedule for this. I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable at the house."

"Why won’t I be comfortable with just you?" Something about the face he makes causes me to shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just that William is still in town and being an old friend of ours, it didn’t sit right to let him keep staying at a hotel while he’s visiting Danvarr so I invited him to stay at my place." My eyes are already the size of saucers as Ashal drops the bomb on me. "I thought having Ashley over would make you feel comfortable being around him and my other brothers."

"W-William is at the penthouse?"

"Yeah, he’s sort of living there at the moment."

The air suddenly starts constricting in my throat. William is at the penthouse? Oh crap, I didn’t expect this. I take in huge gulps of air and pray I don’t sweat bullets when I get there.

I can’t trust William to keep his mouth shut about our past and with the quads around, he could try to get back at me for my alleged betrayal. He might give the brothers fresh reasons to suspect me.

Then again, there’s no way Ashal will let William stay at the penthouse alone with Olivia who is pretty much a secret to everyone outside the family, including me and William. Could that mean he had her moved or does he keep her in a different house? My forehead starts coating with sweat as I wonder what exactly I will be walking into at the penthouse.

"Are you okay?" Ashal asks, watching me.

"Not really. Now, I kind of feel like I am crashing a boys’ night. Maybe it was wrong of me to insist on visiting."

"Nah, it’s fine. It’s just one visit"

"Anna’s absence is really weighing on me. I don’t want to ruin your fun night with the boys with my sour expression and my low spirits. Maybe we should reschedule?"

"C’mon Demi, it took a lot to convince my brothers to allow this." I burrow my hands between my thighs and make a good show of my disinterest in his explanation.

"You were just excited moments ago though. Is this about William? I’m so sorry, Demi. I honestly didn’t know the two of you had history and I didn’t..." My eyebrows slash up at his words. "...Know you were going to ask to visit the penthouse as your birthday wish. I can’t ask him to leave because we are literally the only friends he has in Danvarr and..."

"How did you know that?" I ask, cutting him off.

"Um, Ashley mentioned it to me after William mentioned it to him."

William told Ashley about her past relationship? What is he trying to stir? Trouble obviously. Now, I’m really uncomfortable with this visit. It feels like a setup. How long has Ashley known and why hasn’t he brought it up with me even once? How am I supposed to be chill around my ex, my husband and my husband’s identical brothers in one house for over four hours? I clear my throat and scratch my neck.

"Ashal, I really think we should reschedule."

"Too late. We’re already here." The long, winding road ends as a huge electric gate opens. Ashal follows a narrow driveway with lush greens by the sides till we stop in front of a mini hill. The glassy penthouse sits atop a rocky path. I blink at the huge house with white and gold accents and glass walls. It’s beautiful but this isn’t the house I remember being dragged to.

"Ashal turns off the engine and looks at me as he unbuckles his seat belt. "Excited yet?"

"Ashal, this house is different. This isn’t the same place..."

"You said you wanted to visit my penthouse aka my play pen; this is it. I come over here with my brothers all the time to just chill and have mad fun like we’re teenagers again. Sometimes, adulting gets exhausting. This is my escape."

I join him to step out of the car. "I thought we were headed to the house..."

"...where we dragged you off to when we first met?" He chuckles as he leads the way up the rocky steps. "Nah. That house is smaller and desperately needs renovation. This," he says pointing at the house ahead of us, "...is more like it. Isn’t this what you wanted? It’s a confluence of serene nature and opulence. Come on in, you’ll be blown away. I had the house prepped just for you."

My heart skips as Ashley and William meet us at the entrance. Ashely hugs me. William waves in greeting. How are they so cool around each other if William spoke about my past relationship with him? Was he vague in discussing it or did he attempt to be a kind human and choose his words carefully so as not to hurt my marriage? The latter doesn’t sound like the William that accosted me at my party but I push back the thought and focus on the present.

Inside, I stick close to Ashley while Ashal gives me a mini tour of the living area with buttery yellow sofas that are as soft as pillows. Flower pots with fresh plants add to the vibrant pop of colors inside the house. Expensive art collections deck the walls. We take the stairs all the way to the first floor. Beautiful music drifts along the halls.

I run my fingers over the glass railings upstairs as we peer down at the living room. Ashal pulls my hand excitedly while he takes me around, opening doors and showing me several bedrooms, bathrooms, a gym, a sauna and so much more.

I feign excitement to mask my nervousness especially given the way William has been staring at me. Ashley tags close, his eyes shuttling between Willam and I. I get tingles every time I try to imagine what could be going through his mind.

"That’s Lily." Ashal points to a young lady in a button up shirt and black pants hunched over what I assume to be lunch in progress, in the kitchen. A small apron is wrapped around her waist.

"She manages this place. She’ll assist you with whatever you need." The pretty lady beams brightly at me and mutters pleasantries.

"Where’s everyone else?" I haven’t spotted Ashton and Asher. I don’t care where Asher is and I frankly don’t want him around but having Ashton here might ease my mind a bit. "You said ALL your brothers were going to be here."

"Asher and Ashton are tied up with other engagements. I don’t think they will be joining us." Ashal replies casually, then clapping his hands together, "Ok, what games were you thinking, Demi? I’ve got Basketball, tennis, pool, card games, video games, VR, you name it." They all turn to look at me.

"Maybe we should start simple with Question tags or never have I ever, you know, to get her feet wet. Charades and card games might be daunting for her."

Ashley cranes his neck to look at William. "Why?"

"Well, she isn’t much of a game person." He chuckles lightly but no one else finds anything he said funny. I give him a scorching look while Ashley tries not to be the jealous husband.

"Years have passed between you two, Will. Things have changed around here. Why else would she specifically request for a game night if she isn’t into games?" Ashley shoots me a sunny smile but it fails to reach his eyes.

"You’re right. I stand corrected."

"I can answer my own questions, William Thorpe, thank you very much. I’ll appreciate it if you desist from making assumptions about my life. Like my husband clearly said, years have passed between us. A brief high school relationship that ended six years ago doesn’t make you an expert on all thing Demi, okay?"

I didn’t realize how furious his presence makes me till I snapped at him. A moment of awkward silence passes as everyone stares speechlessly at me. A genuine smile crinkles Ashley’s eyes as he takes my hand.

"What would you like to do first? It’s your birthday present after all."

"Can we eat first? I’m starving!"

Ashley looks up at the other gentlemen. "We’re eating first."

While we have our late lunch, Ashal breaks the awkward silence by asking William about himself.

"Uh, I inherited my father’s business, obviously. I’ve managed to scale the business over the last four years. We’ve been setting up branches in different states. I didn’t just come to Danvarr for fun and games, I am also scoping out the business scene here to see if I can set up a branch as well. I’m loving it so far."

"That’s good. How about the home front? Got a wife, girlfriend, crush???" Ashal winks at him but William’s countenance drops. I try not to choke on my food and politely accept the water Lily pours me from the water pitcher. She stands close by, ready to step in and assist us however she can as our lunch progresses. Ashley polishes of his smoked eel and sips his wine but I can tell his ears are primed for William’s response.

"Nah, fell in love once and got burned badly. I’m not ready to delve back into the dating scene. It will be bad and distracting for my business right now." His voice drops an octave and his eyes droops as he adds, "I’m not fully healed yet." The fake smile that stretches Ashley’s lips makes me uncomfortable. "How about you, Ashal, are you seeing anyone? I’m keeping up with the mystery girl talk online. What’s that about?"

Ashal exhales. "Everyone always wants to get into other people’s business. Well, I am not dating at the moment either. There’s just so much on my plate that I can barely entertain a committed relationship right now. I met an amazing woman at a club recently and we hit it off instantly. It’s been a while since that happened and I wanted to spend some more time with her even though we aren’t serious or anything. Hence, I invited her to Demi’s birthday party. It was perfect to retain her anonymity which she doesn’t play with. I didn’t expect all that ruckus from the media."

"How’s she taking it?"

Ashal flashes his phone at William. "I’ve been blocked. That’s how." They both chuckle at that.

"I’m sure you’ll find love, bro." Ashley says, tapping his brother’s hand.

"I’m assuming you mean YOU have found love, right Ashley?" My fingers curl around the stem of my wine glass as I take yet another sip to distract me from William’s stupid questions. Ashley glances at him with a surprised air.

"I mean, I read up on how you and Demi came to be married. You know, like you mentioned. I understand you initially kicked against the marriage but she was persistent. Have you guys finally grown on each other and fallen in love?"

"Do we strike you as a fake couple, William?" Ashley’s face hardens. I watch his fingers tighten around the fork and knife in his hand. The gold rims catch the light and glint dangerously. William laughs.

"I didn’t mean that. I just find it weird when love happens too fast, especially between two people that never wanted to be a part of each other’s lives to begin with..."

"Okay, Will, that’s enough." Ashal tacitly warns him with a look. I can’t believe they invited this guy. What else did hey expect from my ex if not sour grapes?

"Look, I mean no disrespect guys. You don’t have to be embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?" I repeat.

"Yes, Demi, embarrassed. I know you resented everything your husband stands for so I am shocked you expect me to believe you’re head over heels in love with him after what, four months? You’re not even his type but Nicola Grey, ooh, now that’s more like it. Right Ashley?"

"Fuck you, William!" Ashley pushes back his seat as he rises, drops his cutleries with a clatter and heads outside. I rush to follow him but Ashal offers to go speak to his brother instead. He gives William a searing look before dashing out after Ashley. I squeeze down on my napkin and glare at William who reclines in his chair to sip his Chardonnay.

"Are you happy?"

"Are you, Demi? Is that the best you could do? I know what it’s like when a man is in love with a woman and I can say for a fact that Ashley isn’t in love with you. He isn’t even excited by your presence. You’re nothing more than a necessary appendage for the cameras. You know I am telling the truth."

"You don’t know anything!"

"I do. He is still very much into his ex. Can’t even keep his hands off her at his own wife’s birthday party." He clucks his tongue in disgust. At the shock in my eyes, he proceeds with a sly smile. "How long have you been enduring them together? Is that what you signed up for, Demi? Why are you clinging to him when he openly disrespects you in full view of the entire fucking country?"

"Ok, I can’t deal with your crap. I can’t." I turn to Lily. "I need to use the bathroom."

"The ones downstairs are out of order but you can use the one in the first bedroom upstairs by your left."

"Thank you." A cold sweat breaks atop my forehead as I take the stairs. William is definitely trying to sabotage my plans and I can’t let him. I have to figure out a way to get rid of him before things spiral out of control.

Above the stairs, I can see Ashal and Ashley in a heated argument regarding William. What did they expect? If they knew him as well as I did, then they should have expected him to be nothing short of a prick.

However, their distraction works for me as I make my way to the bedrooms. Maybe this will cut our evening short and I can go home and leave this drama behind but before that, I need to follow my hunch and see if I can find anything that connects Ashal to Olivia.

I know for sure that Olivia didn’t mean anything she said to me on the phone. I also know Eliana didn’t exaggerate anything. Olivia had sent me that text about me not being the first daughter-in-law of the family.

It was definitely a text from her with the initials, O.D which stands for Oliva Dunn. That message can only mean that she is the first and there’s only one brother who visits one of his properties almost every day, enough for me to suspect that he does so to check on his secret wife.

I don’t know how much of a fool Ashal thinks I am to buy into that crap about his mystery woman being someone else. Every hair on my body can tell he was fibbing. He has to know where Olivia is.

I start at the first bedroom, pretending to be wandering around curiously. Though I didn’t see any in the bedrooms while Ashal gave me a tour, I suspect there are hidden cameras and don’t want to come off as one snooping. There has to be because how else would he monitor his property if he doesn’t spend so much time here?

I admire a portrait on the wall, casually run my hands over the furniture and peek into drawers. If they happen to watch the tapes again, I’ll pass for a harmless guest admiring things in the room rather than a suspicious one frantically going through other people’s things. When I hear footsteps outside the door, I try not to panic.

"Mrs. Demi, do you need any assistance?" Lily calls out from outside the door. I step into the bathroom and flush the toilet.

"No, thanks. I’ll be down soon."

"Ok."

"Is my husband back in yet?"

"No ma’am. He and his brother are still outside talking."

"And Mr. William?"

"He got started on a video game."

"Ok. Thanks. I’ll be down soon."

"Alright, ma’am. I’ll lay out dessert." Her steps retreat. I whip out my phone, turn on the faucet in the bathroom and call Anna. It’s unlike her to not even check on me once. There’s hardly any service around here. I try her and Ashton’s phones but neither goes through. Must be because we’re so far into the hills.

Then I hear the bedroom door open.

"Hello? Lily, is that you?" No response. I turn off the faucet and yank the door open only to find William staring at me.

"What the hell are you doing in here? Aren’t you satisfied with all the trouble you’ve caused? If you had any pride left, you’d pack up and leave Ashal’s house. You don’t expect him to continue to accommodate you after the stunt you just pulled, do you?"

"Accommodate me? Why would Ashal need to accommodate me? Do I look like a pauper to you because I am not on Danvarr’s richest 30 under 30 list?" He chuckles. "I just bought a property here. I don’t need nothing from nobody."

"What are you doing in here?"

"You’re not the only one who requires bathroom breaks." He puts out a hand to block me when I head for the door. "You can’t keep running away from me, Demi. You owe me a shit ton of explanations and twice as many apologies."

"I don’t owe you anything Will so get over yourself." His hand snakes around my wrist and holds me in place. "Get your hands off me!"

"Why did you marry him? He never even wanted you to begin with. He is a fine, astute businessman but you’ve never been driven by those. I can tell from your body language that you are not into him just as he isn’t into you. Was this a forced marriage or something more?" The look in his eyes as he emphasized the last point makes me uncomfortable. William still won’t budge when I try to free my hand.

"Le me go, William. Ashley is mad enough as it is. He won’t take it lightly if he finds you manhandling me like this."

"You and I both know he wouldn’t give a damn. You are not Nicola so he wouldn’t exactly miss you. Tell me, do you let him touch you? Do you let him kiss you with the same lips and tongue he uses to give Nicola an orgasm?" I give him a resounding slap that fails to faze him but I manage to pull my wrist away and make a run for the door.

"You’re pathetic Demi. I can’t believe I once thought you were special."

I ignore the insults he continues to throw at me and try to pull the door open but it refuses to budge.

"You should be especially ashamed for marrying into that family. You know exactly what I am talking about. Your parents must be rolling in their graves, unless they’re just as avaricious as you are!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP FOR ONE SECOND!"

"Don’t give me that attitude." He says, coming to slam me against the door. "You said you wanted to talk privately so here I am. START TALKING. Tell me what the fuck you’re doing with a man like that knowing fully well that he continues to cheat on you. It’s disgraceful, Demi."

"What? What do you mean I wanted to talk privately?"

"Don’t act like you didn’t request Lily to tell me to meet you up here to clarify things. Why else would I come here? Contrary to what you believe, I am not interested in stalking you and your cheating husband."

My eyes dilate in shock. I try to turn and try the door once more but William shoves me back in place.

"It’s locked!" I yell at him. "The door’s locked and I never asked for you to come up here."

The anger in his eyes slowly burns out. He jiggles the knob and confirms it but rather than figure out a solution, something dark flits across his eyes. Chills run up my arms. Nothing good ever comes from Will having that look in his eyes. He turns to glance across the room till his eyes linger on the massive bed.

"Well, isn’t that convenient?" He whispers, his breath fanning my neck.