Edge of Love (5 page)

I held up my engagement ring for him
to see.

His face fell. “Are you sure you want
to do that? He can be a pain in the ass.”

“
So can I.”

He stared at me for a moment, eyeing
the curves of my body. I realized that I was defying the one
request Sean asked of me—not being alone with this brother. I knew
I should get out of this situation just in case Sean came back
inside. “We should move to the terrace. Everyone is excited to see
you.” I made a move for the door but he grabbed my arm.

“
What do you see in him
anyway? Penny was smart for dumping him.”

I had no idea what was going on. His
brother had never acted like this before, but I knew I was pissed
regardless of the reason. “How dare you talk about your own brother
like that?”

“
I can say whatever the
hell I want.”

I glared at him then walked toward the
door again.

He grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
“Seriously, you want to marry that loser?” He held me close to him,
his face practically touching mine. At this point I was livid. Sean
was right; I needed to stay away from Mike. Even though his
behavior was peculiar, it was unacceptable. I felt the anger course
through my body. I wanted to punch Mike as hard as I could in the
nose. I glared at him. “I’m this close to kicking you in the dick
then screaming for help. I suggest you let go.”

He looked over my shoulder then
released his grip. He took a step back, and I was glad that I won
the argument. I still wanted to kick him in the balls anyway. That
asshole deserved it. I felt familiar hands circle my waist. My
heart started to beat out of my chest. Sean pulled me back and
pressed me against his body.

Sean glared at his brother for a long
moment, and his brother returned the stare with equal hatred. I
didn’t understand what they were saying, but it was clear a silent
conversation was taking place. Sean held me so close to him that I
could barely breathe. He didn’t look at me, but I knew his next
question was meant for me. “Are you okay, babe?”

I nodded.

Sean turned away then guided me toward
the door. I could feel his anger through his touch. His hands were
shaking with unbridled ferocity and his eyes shined with hatred. I
don’t think I’ve ever seen him this angry. When we came outside,
Sean helped me into my seat again then sat beside me. Mike emerged
from the house a moment later and he embraced his parents. His
mother kissed him on the cheek and Andrew hugged him tightly. Sean
and I sat down. We were both silent. When I looked over at him, he
was staring across the beach, ignoring his brother completely. I
grabbed his hand but he jerked it away quickly. I knew he was
livid.

4

Sean

To say I was furious would be an
understatement. I could kill someone. And I knew exactly who I
wanted to slaughter. Before we went inside to sit by the fireplace,
I removed Scarlet’s ring and put it on her other hand. I didn’t
want my mom to see it and start asking questions. The last thing I
wanted to do was celebrate my engagement.

My mom brought us drinks and snacks
and placed them on the table. The coldness of the ocean breeze was
chilling our skin, so we decided to move inside by the fireplace.
Penelope and I used to sit in here all the time. The thought of her
didn’t cause me any pain. I couldn’t care less about her. I wasn’t
sure why my parents liked her so much. Perhaps they had been just
as blind to her charms as I was. I hope that whore burns in
hell.

When we took out seats, I made sure
that I sat in an armchair so Scarlet couldn’t sit next to me. I
caught her look when she watched me. It looked crestfallen and
hurt. Right now, I didn’t give a shit how she felt. She denied the
one request I made. I had never asked her to do anything in our
relationship before, and the one time I do ask her to do something,
she blatantly ignored it. We had only been here for a few hours,
but this weekend already couldn’t get any worse. I looked at my
brother and caught him staring at Scarlet’s legs under her dress.
Now I really wanted to kill him.

Mike rose from his seat away from the
fire and took his place next to Scarlet. I knew he was trying to
piss me off. It was definitely working. Scarlet immediately looked
uncomfortable and she glanced at me, silently asking me what she
wanted me to do. I looked away and ignored her. She wouldn’t listen
to me anyway.

Scarlet rose from the chair then sat
on the bricks of the fire right beside my chair. She looked like a
dog sitting at my feet, but I was glad that she moved. I knew she
was trying to make amends from her earlier mistake, but I was still
too angry to grant forgiveness. When I took the ring from her
finger and slipped it on the opposite hand, she looked like she was
about to cry. Once again, I didn’t care. She knew I wasn’t ending
our relationship. I just didn’t want to tell our parents about our
engagement. I wasn’t in the mood for celebrating—at all.

I felt her eyes looking into my face,
but I didn’t return her look. Mike was the only one who noticed the
tension in the room and he blatantly smiled at me, knowing he was
triumphant in his attempt to piss me off. My parents didn’t seem to
pick up on the heat in the room.

“
Mike, how are things in
New York?” Diane took a drink of her wine and looked at her
son.

Even though my brother lived in the
same city as me for years, we never made the effort to see each
other. We saw each other in a bar one time, but neither one us
acknowledged the other. As far as I was concerned, Mike wasn’t my
brother. Ryan was more of a brother than he ever was.

Mike drank from his beer before he
returned it to the table. “Good.”

“
What have you been
doing?” My mom asked.

“
You know, the usual.” He
smiled at his mom. “Hitting the gym, the office, hanging with my
boys.”

Diane nodded. “Do you spend a lot of
time with Sean?”

His smile faltered for a moment.
“Yeah. We see each other all the time.”

I nodded. “Yeah.” I felt Scarlet
looking at me from the floor, but she didn’t speak up. I knew I
would be questioned about this conversation later. I wasn’t looking
forward to it. For the first time, I wanted to run away from
Scarlet. I had no interest in speaking to her.

My father leaned forward. “And how’s
Wallstreet?”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s pretty
much the same thing every day but different numbers.”

“
Why don’t you work for
me?” his father asked. “The company belongs to you and Sean when I
pass.”

I took a drink of my wine then
returned it to the table. “No. It belongs to Mike. I want nothing
to do with the company.”

Mike stared at me for a moment but he
didn’t respond to my comment. I would love to be the CEO of a
computer software company and be a millionaire, but if I had to
work with Mike, talk to him on a daily basis, then forget it. I
would rather have a simple life with Scarlet than deal with him all
the time.

My father stared at me but didn’t
comment. He turned back to Mike. “What do you say?”

Mike shook his head. “No. I like
Wallstreet.”

Diane sighed. “We have a million
dollar company and neither of our sons want it.” She shook her
head. “You two are odd.”

Mike shrugged. “We’ll offer it to our
children, and if they say no, then we’ll sell it and split it down
the middle.”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “But you
could make a lot more money just running the company.”

I shook my head. “We don’t know
anything about computers.”

Mike nodded. “I can barely figure out
my Mac.”

“
Well, I could teach you,”
my father said. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s save this
business talk for another night.”

My mom looked at him. “What would you
rather discuss? How about Penelope?”

I rolled my eyes again. My mom was
like a treasure hunter. She wouldn’t stop until she found what she
wanted. “Drop it.”

I could tell how annoyed my mom was by
my resistance. “Why won’t you just tell us, Sean? We’re your
family. We aren’t going to judge you. Did she break up with
you?”

Mike smiled at me. “Yeah. What
happened, Sean?”

I wanted to punch my brother in the
face. He already knew what happened because Christian, the man
Penelope cheated on me with, worked with him. He was just trying to
cause me problems. He was stirring the pot.

My mom continued her assault. “You
tell your brother everything and he doesn’t know? Come on, Sean.
Spill it.”

I set my glass down and rose to my
feet.

My dad already knew what I was going
to say. He sighed. “Dear, look what you did.”

I ignored his comment. “Scarlet and I
are tired from our trip this afternoon. We’re going to bed.” I
grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

My mom sighed. “You don’t have to
leave.”

I held Scarlet’s hand within my own
and pulled her across the living room, heading to the grand
staircase in the other room. “Goodnight.”

It was already late here in
Connecticut, but it was only nine in our time zone. Neither one of
us were tired, but I wanted to get away from my family. I never had
such a bad family trip and I just needed to get away. I felt like I
couldn’t escape, however. When we got back to our room, I knew
Scarlet would start arguing with me. Still, it was the lesser of
two evils.

As soon as we walked into our bedroom,
she started the assault.

“
Sean, I’m sorry, but let
me explain myself.”

I grabbed a sweater from my bag and
threw it on. I held up a hand to her then glared at her. “Just shut
up, Scarlet.”

Her eyes lit up in flames. I could
tell how angry she was. “Sean, don’t be a fucking asshole and just
listen to me. When I turned around—”

“
Save it.”

“
Sean—”

“
I asked you to do one
thing.
One fucking
thing
. And you couldn’t even do that?” I
walked toward the door and placed my hand on the
doorknob.

“
Where the hell are you
going?”

“
I’m getting away from
you.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me
toward her. I yanked my arm away and stared her down. I was furious
with her. I had never been angrier. It was a situation that could
have been avoided easily. I made one simple request and she
couldn’t honor it.

“
Stop being an asshole and
just listen to me.”

“
No.”

“
Sean, I’m sorry. It won’t
happen again.”

“
It doesn’t matter if it
doesn’t happen again. It shouldn’t have happened at all.” I turned
back toward the door.

“
You can’t just walk away
every time we fight. Marriages don’t work like that.”

“
Well, thank god we aren’t
married.”

She slapped me across the face. The
collision of her palm against my cheek stung, and I felt my anger
increase tenfold. She was lucky that I refused to hit
women.

“
Don’t ever talk to me
like that.” Her eyes softened in pain. I knew her reaction stemmed
from the fact that I removed her ring. She was afraid I was going
to leave her again. That just pissed me off even more. I admit that
I fucked up before, but I had proven myself to her already. She
could trust me. Right now, she wasn’t the trustworthy
one.

“
Fuck you,
Scarlet.”

“
Do you want me to slap
you again?”

I knew she wasn’t bluffing. “I’m
leaving. Don’t follow me.”

“
Well, I’m going to. Where
you go, I go.”

I marched to her and grabbed her by
both arms. “Stay in this room. If you want to make up for your
earlier behavior, then do as I ask. Don’t leave this
room.”

She twisted her arms away. “I’m not a
dog.”

“
I mean it,
Scarlet.”

“
Sean, please let me come.
I won’t speak. I promise. Just let me be with you.”

“
Then why do you want to
come at all?”

“
Just to be with you.
Please.”

I stared at her. “The only reason why
I’m agreeing to this is because you said you would keep your mouth
shut.”

She nodded.

I opened the door and marched down the
hallway. When I reached the end of the stairs, I took a different
route through the house and slipped out a different door. Scarlet
trailed behind me the entire time. When we were outside, I walked
toward the beach in the darkness. Scarlet stayed a few feet behind
me. I heard the ocean before I saw it. The crash of the waves
echoed in my ears. I found a place in the sand and sat down. I
stared out to sea and watched the whitecaps beat the shore. They
were the only visible images of the ocean. Birds cried overhead but
I couldn’t see them. Scarlet sat next to me, a few inches farther
away than she normally would. I didn’t look at her. I just stared
at the ocean and tried to clear my thoughts.