Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who asked for more of this series. It has been some time since I have updated it and I hope you enjoy where I am taking this story line. Please be gentle with my grammar as I do not have a proof reader for this series as yet but I’m working on my own self-editing skills. I hope you enjoy it. .~ellie
Peri closed the document she had been working on and sat back in her chair. Nik sat on the other side of her desk looking haughty and far from the friendly woman she was when her brothers were around.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Peri asked feeling like she should make an effort with this woman for Josh’s sake.
“You, my dear are crying out for a makeover, and I have decided to help you,” Nik said magnanimously.
“I’m not the glamorous type,” Peri shrugged. “I think I will pass on the make-over, thank you,” She replied in a clipped voice. Her insecurities rising to the surface making her, even more, self-conscious in the face of Nik, who was in Peri’s mind, one of the most stunning women she had ever seen.
“For fuck’s sake, I am trying to help you here,” Nik said heatedly. “You don’t fit in here. Not with the family or our friends. Josh and I live a certain image to protect and you,” she gave Peri a withering look, “Just don’t fit into that picture.”
“I see,” Peri whispered. As always when backed into a corner Peri wanted to flee, she opened her drawer to retrieve her purse and phone on the pretext of having a prior engagement to attend but as she looked up at Nik and saw the smugness the woman felt in cowing her, she straightened her back and picked up her phone. “Maybe I should just check with Josh. I think he likes the way I look and he is not that good with change, but I am sure you know that being his twin and all.” She smiled sweetly at Nik and began to dial Josh’s number.
“No, don’t bother him at work. I can talk to him tonight,” Nik said grudgingly. “What about lunch then? You obviously eat,” she said in a condescending tone while eyeing Peri.
“Look, I get why you’re here. We both love Josh, and it would be better if we got along but if you think I am going to sit through a lunch where you do nothing but insult me, make snide remarks and try to bully me into admitting that I don’t belong with him, you are very much mistaken.” Peri couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. She didn’t stand up to women like this, she just shut up and took whatever was said and internalised it. This woman, however, was threatening her relationship, her work and everything that was good about her life and she didn’t want to give up any of it.
“Well then, there is a bit of a fight in you then,” Nik arched an eyebrow. “Good. I was beginning to think he had lost his mind completely.”
“Why don’t you just tell me why you are here,” Peri aid sighing loudly.
“Like you said, it would be better if you got along. We could be friends and trust me when you get to the farm, you will need all the allies you can get,” She said enigmatically.
“After everything that’s happened, I don’t exactly trust you, Nik. You could twist anything I say or take me somewhere or to meet someone that Josh wouldn’t be happy with,” She placed a hand on the research lying on her desk. “It’s a complex family history you have, and there are lots of landmines around for me to step on.”
“What if I get someone else to come?” Nik countered. “It’d have to be Pete at the moment I am everyone else’s shit list right now.”
“I guess,” Peri gave in as the pieces finally clicked into place. The family was mad at her for interfering in Josh’s relationship, and she was trying to make it right again with them by befriending her. She still didn’t trust the woman but with Pete there it wouldn’t be so bad, she reasoned. She’d tell Josh about it tonight in any case and if he had a problem she could just cancel.
“Great,” She picked up her phone and called Pete immediately. “Peri won’t even have lunch with me unless we have a chaperone, could you come into the city for an hour or two?” Nik purred into her phone.
Peri listened on, stunned that she had meant today and picked up her phone to message Josh. It was one of those times where she knew he would want to know where she was.
“He’ll meet us there in about fifteen minutes,” Nik said, “I’ll just let Lio know we’ll be going out.” She stood and walked from the office as Peri’s phone came to life in her hand.
“Have a good time, call me after,” was the answering text from Josh punctuated with a love heart. Peri gathered up her purse and phone and followed Nik out into the auction house. Dante frowned at her, but Lio smiled and wished her luck as they left for lunch. The women didn’t speak as they walked side by side through the city a small restaurant off the main street. They were shown to a small table, and Nik ordered a bottle of wine for them to share over lunch.
“Could we have some water too please?” Peri asked as the waiter turned to leave.
“Of course,” he smiled and nodded before walking away.
Peri wasn’t about to let Nik get her drunk and manipulate her into saying or doing anything she might regret. She hoped Pete would hurry up and get there. As soon as the thought entered her head Pete walked in and turned toward their table with a smile. Then to her surprise, Ben appeared behind him.
“Ben’s here,” Peri said in her surprise, and Nik jumped turning around to look in the direction of the entrance.
“Damnit, I thought Ben was busy today,” Nik grumbled.
“Ladies, always a pleasure,” Pete bent to kiss their cheeks.
“Good to see you again, Peri,” Ben followed suit before turning to his sister. “What’s this all about, Nik?”
“I’m just trying to do what Mama wanted, get to know Peri and be friends,” Nik shrugged.
“And you called Pete because?” Ben prompted her.
“Because she wouldn’t come to lunch with me without a chaperone, I don’t know what she thought I was going to do to her,” Nik said innocently. The waiter returned with a jug of water and the bottle of wine interrupting the conversation and offering service to the men.
“Crowns please,” Ben nodded, and the waiter left again.
“I’ve never been here before what’s good on the menu,” Peri said trying to divert the conversation from the previous topic.
“They do a great risotto here, would you like me to order it for you?” Pete asked.
“The chefs special is amazing. You should both try that,” Ben suggested pointing at a chalkboard on the wall.
“Sure,” she said after reading the board. “I like risotto, but the chef’s special sounds great. I’ll try the risotto next time.” She smiled at Pete.
“One to Ben,” Nik chimed in.
“Gotta let him win a point now and then, he’s not pretty when he pouts, unlike Wah-Wah,” Pete chuckled.
“Pffft, you wish you were this pretty,” Ben countered rolling his eyes. “So you felt you needed a chaperone?” Ben asked Peri.
“Let’s just say I am more comfortable getting to know you all in a small group rather than one on one,” Peri tried to shrug off the topic.
“Still she doesn’t say anything,” Ben looked at Nik, “What did you do? Tell her she needed to go on a diet and offer to take her to a salad bar?”
“I did no such thing!” Nik was indignant under the scrutiny of her brother.
“She didn’t,” Peri came to Nik’s defence. “It’s just better if we all try and get along so here we are.”
“I’m sure there is more to it than that,” Ben continued to stare at Nik who looked back without wavering at all.
“We got off to a bad start but I think we understand each other better now,” Nik said easily.
“Let it go, Ben,” Pete said easily, “Let’s just enjoy lunch and the company.”
They ordered food and settled into lunch. Once Ben had dispensed with his overbearing brother routine, he was good company, and Peri found herself relaxing and enjoying the time away from work. She was careful to pace her wine drinking with water, unlike her lunch with Antonia. It was toward the end of the lunch when Nik looked up panic stricken and bounced from her seat almost knocking it over and hurried toward the entrance where a small group of women had just entered.
“Well that answers that question,” Pete chuckled and placed a hand over Peri’s. “It seems you were right to request a chaperone.”
“Who is it?” Ben asked not recognising any of the women who had walked in.
“The tall, leggy one is Sabrina. Josh’s old PA, who,” Pete started to explain.
“Yeah I know the story,” he frowned and turned back to Peri. “How about you tell me exactly what Nik said to you before inviting you to lunch?”
“Its fine,” Peri said, “I’m used to it, and they are right I don’t fit into their world but for some strange reason Josh likes me the way I am so I don’t need their makeovers and fashion advice. Let’s face it I am not the glamorous type.” She said it with a smile, but all the insecurities she had about her figure and height were making her feel ill as she realised what Nik’s intention had been. Public humiliation could have crushed her and made her give into Nik’s makeovers and harsh words. “She probably doesn’t even realise that you would recognise Sabrina from when you picked me up for lunch that day.”
“She probably doesn’t at that,” Pete grinned at Ben. “Let’s see how this plays out shall we?”
“My thoughts exactly,” Ben chuckled. “Not a word that we know,” Ben winked at Peri. “So how about some dessert, since you listened to me for the main course how about I tempt you with some fabulous Crème Brulee?”
“I couldn’t eat another thing, I’m so full from lunch,” Peri patted her belly feeling its roundness and deciding to go on another diet in the face of the beautiful people she was surrounded by every day now.
“I’m so sorry, just an old friend I haven’t seen forever,” Nik gushed as she resumed her seat.
“The way you rushed off I thought you’d seen Papa,” Ben chuckled.
“God forbid,” Nik grumbled and took a gulp of her wine.
“I better get back to work,” Peri said into the silence. “Thanks for lunch Nik, I’ll take you out next time,” she smiled and went to rise.
“Not having dessert with us,” Nik said with a slight smile, “That’s probably for the best.”
“We had a vote while you were gone and decided against dessert,” Ben said darkly frowning at his sisters comment. “I’ll walk you back, Peri. I need to see D. anyway.”
“No, you can’t,” Nik exclaimed making all three of them turn to look at her. “I wanted to talk to you about the holidays. I was thinking of just going home for one or two days rather than a week.”
“Come over for dinner tonight, Emily is making that gnocchi you like,” Ben said with a shrug. “I’ll give her a call. We’ll expect you around six.”
“I’ve gotta go as well. Do you need a lift, Nik?” Pete offered.
“No I think I will do some shopping, I don’t get an afternoon to myself very often,” Nik said. “You should come with me Ben, it’s been ages since we just hung out, and let’s face it your wardrobe could use some updating.”
“You wish you looked this good,” Ben chuckled. “Come over tonight and we can hang out with Emily and the kids.”
“Alright Peri, let’s get you back to work,” he stood. “bonus is leaving Pete with the check,” he chuckled and helped her navigate around the table.
“Wait,” Nik said.
“Is there a reason you don’t want me walking Peri back to work?” Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.
“What? No,” Nik said quickly.
“Something is obviously up with you, so I’ll stay a bit, and Pete can walk her back,” Ben said with a frown.
“I don’t need a babysitter, it’s only a few blocks for goodness sakes,” Peri laughed. “I’ll see you all next time there’s a family lunch.” Seeing Ben about to argue with her she put a hand on his arm and said slowly. “I’m fine, honestly.” She knew what was going on and knew what to expect after Nik had worked so hard to keep Ben from walking with her.
She turned and walked from the restaurant blinking into the bright afternoon sun. Walking quickly, she looked around as she went assuming Sabrina would be lurking somewhere along the way to make a public scene. What they didn’t realise is that after years of living with Andie there was little they could say to her that hadn’t been said before. Had she been at lunch and trapped with Nik a scene could have been crushing, as it was she was prepared.
She was about to turn the corner into the main street on which the Auction house lay when Sabrina stepped out of a shop and into her path.
“So the little mouse lives and lives well by the look of it,” Sabrina sneered. “Haven’t you come up in the world. I bet your white trash mother is loving riding on your coat tails and fucking a whole new class of men.”
“Aww no one to bully in your new job that you have to come looking for your old punching bag? Go ahead, nothing you can say or do can hurt me now,” Peri sounded stronger than she felt and she pulled her shoulders back fighting the urge to run away. “You know she’s just using you, right? She has no power over who Josh dates or sees. Do you think he will want you after the way you treated me? What do you think he will do to Nik when he finds out she sent you to do this?” She paused as Sabrina stared at her with unbelieving eyes. “You didn’t think this through did you?”
“You stupid mole, Josh will believe Nik over you. They’re family, twins, and in that family blood is thicker than water every time,” Sabrina seethed. “So you need to get the fuck out of his life, or we will destroy you, your reputation, your job, everything, and you will have nothing.”
“I don’t have time for this,” Peri turned to walk away, and Sabrina grabbed her arm and reeled her back toward the shop entrance.
“No one’s here to save you now you fat cow. No one even notices you on the street I could murder you here, and no one could care less. You are a forgettable, ugly, fat fuck and Josh will wake up one day and realise that you are the worst kind of white trash.”
“No one may notice me but they certainly notice you. Do you think we didn’t see you at the restaurant?” Peri laughed. “You think Pete didn’t recognise you when Nik practically jump out of her skin when you arrived. What happened? Ben showed up and ruined your plans so she told you to ambush me here so she could deny all knowledge? She won’t back you up, your expendable in her life. She will save herself and leave you out to dry, just like last time. Josh will hate you for this.”
“You know nothing,” Sabrina spat. She was still angry, but a shadow of doubt had crept into her thoughts.
“Walk away Sabrina,” Peri said without emotion. “Go live your life and I will do the same. Tell Nik to fight her own battles. Josh likes short, fat and frumpy. Louisa has more of a chance with Josh than you do regardless of what Nik wants.” She shrugged her arm free of Sabrina’s grip. “You know he has eight brothers right? They are all tall, dark and handsome just like Josh. Maybe you should ask your good friend Nik to introduce you to one of them instead. I doubt she would but you could ask.” She turned then and began to walk away. She had only walked a few steps when she realised she had pushed the woman too far.
“You don’t get to walk away from me you fucking bitch,” Sabrina yelled and when Peri turned to look at her Sabrina slapped her so hard she knocked her from her feet making her head spin. She fell heavily onto a patch of broken flagstones and pain flared through her hip and back.
“Go ahead hit her again?” A male voice cut through the pain and dizziness Peri felt, and she looked up seeing Dante hovering over her before helping her to her feet. Emilio stood a small distance away with his phone in his hand. “Assault charges always stick better if there is more than one blow.”
“Speak of the devil’s,” Peri mumbled standing unsteadily beside Dante. The blow had caught her entirely off guard.
“Now Sabrina,” Emilio said. “You have two choices. You can come and talk to us about this little tiff, or I can send this video directly to Josh and drive Peri to the police station to press charges.”
“You see why he’s the nice brother, I would have sent the video already,” Dante shrugged.
“I’m fine. It’s okay,” Peri said. “I said some horrible things I probably deserved it. Just let it go,” she paused and looked at the twins, “Please. It’s fine really. It was as much my fault as hers.”
“No one deserves being hit like that you fruit loop,” Dante rolled his eyes. “Let’s have that little chat shall we?” He said to Sabrina, who nodded woodenly not comprehending how this had gone so horribly wrong. It was supposed to be easy. She would insult the mousy little freak and threaten to expose her as the white trash she was, and the girl would run away like she always did and hide in some research basement somewhere. She let Emilio take her arm and lead her up the street to the Auction house.
*****
Pete followed Peri from the restaurant calling Dante as he cleared the doorway, and then he stepped back into the shadows beside the door and waited.
“May as well have dessert then while we’re here,” Ben said taking his time to look over the menu despite the fact that he knew it by heart. After ordering for them both, he sat back and looked at his sister, “So why don’t you tell me what was so important that you needed me to stay?”
“I don’t get why everyone likes her, even Dante,” Nik complained.
“And Dante doesn’t like anyone,” Ben finished the line for her. “I don’t get what your problem is. She makes him happy that’s all we care about.”
“If she came from the wrong family you wouldn’t say that,” Nik accused.
“She doesn’t. Nor is she a gold digger or a journalist or any threat to the family,” Ben said. “You think Pete, and I haven’t checked her out? We even looked into the deadbeat father. So I’ll ask again, what’s your problem?”
“She’s fine if you like fat, nerdy bookworms,” Nik said with disgust. “Josh needs someone more worldly who can fit in with our friends and the places we like to go.”
“Like Sabrina,” Ben offered. He smiled as he tried to give him a confused look. “Don’t play Dumb Nik, it doesn’t suit you. I know about the PA you told about Josh and Peri to get her fired. We all do now, even Josh.”
“What’s wrong with wanting more for him? Sabrina’s great, she has great taste goes to the same clubs and restaurants. She comes from a nice family” she said listing all the things Peri was lacking.
“Then you date her,” Ben laughed. “You’re more in love with her than Josh will ever be. Didn’t you ever notice he has a type, and she is not it?” He stared at her. “Josh likes the quiet, bookish girls, the clubs and beautiful people are what you like and what he puts up with for you. ”
“Don’t be stupid,” Nik scoffed.
“Did any of your glamorous friends last more than one night with Josh?” Ben smirked. “Recall any second dates?” Nik frowned as their dessert arrived. “I hope for your sake that you sent Sabrina home earlier because Josh will never forgive you if you have tried to break them up again.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nik said stunned and not having to pretend.
“Pete recognised her when you almost knocked the table over to get out to see her,” Ben watched his sister carefully and gave her credit for speed at which she recovered her composure.
“It’s no secret that we’re friends. I thought it might make Peri uncomfortable, so I told her to have lunch somewhere else. I’m trying to be nice to her just like Mama said,” Nik explained away the incident easily.
“No problem then. And you kept me from walking Peri back to work because you wanted to have this little chat, nothing about the holidays or any other drama?” Ben inquired.
“Aren’t I coming over to your place tonight to talk about that?” Nik finally began to worry.
“Sure, the kids are looking forward to having Aunty Nikki over for dinner,” Ben chuckled and picked up his phone which had buzzed, and a moment later Pete walked back through the restaurant door.
“What’s he doing back here?” Nik frowned slowly realising things had gotten out of her control.
“Fuck Nik, what were you thinking? I was prepared to accept it was just a chance coincidence Sabrina being here, but she’s assaulted Peri all because you stopped me from walking her back. You can’t possibly have thought this would be okay on any level,” Ben was more than disappointed in his sister, he was furious, but he held his anger in check.
“I didn’t send her after Peri, I sent her way from the restaurant, you saw me,” Nik’s voice held an edge of panic. Pete placed his phone on the table and gave Nik the earphones. She paled visibly as she listened to the recording and while it wasn’t the best quality she heard enough to know she was in deep trouble even before she saw Peri tumble to the ground and heard Emilio’s voice. “I didn’t ask her to do that,” Nik said weakly.
“I doubt that matters now,” Ben said. “If I were you I would go to my house now and spend some time with Emily and he kids. Josh won’t look or you there and if he does he won’t make a scene in front of the kids.”
“Josh has seen that?” Nik asked quietly.
“Not yet, I don’t think, but I doubt that Dante will keep it from him, do you?” Ben asked reasonably.
“Why did you do it?” Pete shook his head,
“I didn’t do it. I sent her away from the restaurant you saw me do it,” Nik repeated her denial. “I’m not responsible for what she did after that. She’s had a crush on Josh for forever she is upset that he chose Peri over her. It’s not my fault, I didn’t do anything,” Nik had no other way to go other than to continue to protest her innocence. “I’ll go and apologise to Peri and everything will be fine.”
“Close but no cigar,” Ben said.
“True, it was a good effort,” Pete nodded. “You slipped up, though if you didn’t do anything why would you apologise? The Nik I know would be spitting mad and ready to take Sabrina’s head off for saying shit like that.”
“She’s broken hearted. Women do dumb shit like that all the time when their heart broken,” Nik shrugged. “I didn’t send her after Peri I’ll bring her to see you tomorrow, and we can sort the whole mess out, Josh will understand, trust me I know him better than any of you.”
“If you say so,” Ben stood up. “The offer is there for dinner still, Emily will be expecting you.” He leant down as if to kiss his sisters cheek but murmured in her ear instead. “Stay away from Josh and Peri tonight,” the threat was clear in his voice.
“God there is nothing to worry about,” Nik huffed. “I’ll see you for dinner tonight.” She stood and gathered her bag.
*****
“I just want to go home and forget it happened. They’re all making a mountain out of a molehill,” Peri complained into the phone. “Tell Dante to let me go home please Josh, he’s silly, I am fine.”
“So she just accosted you on the street for no reason?” Josh was confused.
“She’s mad about losing her job, she doesn’t have a fabulous boyfriend with a huge family to help her out,” Peri tried to play down the reason for the confrontation. “We both said some horrible things, and honestly, I’m more than a little embarrassed by it. I just want to go home and have a long hot shower and crawl into bed.”
“Put Dante on the phone,” he said after listening to her story. Peri handed the phone to Dante.
“Yo Lil’ bro,” Dante said in his easy going tone.
“Let her go home she’s had a rough day,” Josh with an air of frustration.
“No can do until Pete checks her out. Then I will drive her home and tuck her in myself,” Dante looked meaningfully at Peri, who began to protest.
“It got physical?” Josh asked in disbelief. “Never mind I’m on my way.”
“Yeah that didn’t work out the way you planned did it?” Dante passed back her phone. “You should have just been patient now Josh knows and it wasn’t me that told him. A win for me, bad news for Nik.”
“He doesn’t need to know that part. Gosh, I’ve dealt with worse bullies at high school. Just drop it. It’s not a big deal,” Peri said for the hundredth time.
“Our family doesn’t work like that,” Dante said. “How’s your face?”
“I doubt there is even a mark now,” Peri shrugged. In truth, her hip hurt badly from where she had hit the ground, and she considered that there might be more than just a bruise but she wasn’t about to tell anyone when they were over reacting in this way.
“Ben wants a word or ten,” Pete grimaced at Dante as he entered the small office.
“Great,” he rolled his eyes.
“Can I go home now that Pete is here to declare me healthy?” Peri asked before he left.
“Josh is on his way, her fault not mine.” He put his hands up as if in surrender.
“You called Josh?” Pete sounded surprised.
“Of course, I called Josh, his brothers have taken me hostage, and I want to go home. This is ridiculous, we had an argument, it’s over, no big deal. Everyone needs just to let it go,” Peri was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the feeling of being trapped here with all these people. She was used to looking after herself, Andie had never been a hands-on sort of parent, and she had always been able to escape into solitude and lick her wounds when hurt or upset in the past.
“That was a pretty big fall you had, how are you feeling?” Pete asked sensing her anxiety.
“I’m fine I just need to go home,” she sighed and seeing his frown shook her head. “I’m an only child with parents who barely acknowledged my existence growing up. I need to get out of here, and away from all this fuss, please let me go home.” It hadn’t even occurred to Pete that he or his cousins were the source of her anxiety.
“Okay, but then you let me examine you properly. You hit the ground pretty hard from what I saw,” he agreed.
“Yes, anything you want yes, just get me out of here,” Peri went to stand up and winced as her hip flared in pain as she rose to her feet.
“Your fine huh?” he shook his head as he moved to help her. “Where does it hurt?”
“I fell on my hip, but it’s fine, look I can move my leg it’s just a bruise. I was just sitting for too long before moving it again,” Peri hastened to reassure him. His fingers dug into her hip, and she winced again but moved her leg as he instructed to show there was no serious damage.
“No bump to the head or anything else to worry about?” he asked stepping away to make sure she could put weight on her leg without wincing.
“I’m fine honestly,” Peri said again grimacing as she tried to bear weight on her sore hip. At that moment Josh burst into her office and looking up into his worried face, she burst out crying for the first time since the incident had occurred.
“I’m sorry, it was all my fault. I feel so bad. I’m so embarrassed about all the fuss. Please take me home,” she cried into his chest as his arms wrapped around her.
“It’s okay, I’ll take you home now,” he crooned stroking her back and murmuring softly into her ear. He looked over her head to Pete, who shook his head.
“She’s hurt her hip, I’d like to look at it properly so I can take her and you can follow after you’ve talked to Ben,” Pete said softly, but his demeanour and body language told Josh that this was not negotiable.
“No, please. Just let me catch a cab home, my home,” she whispered in a ragged breath. “You can call Andie to meet me there. She turned back to Pete. Ice packs and rest and if it’s not better in the morning, I’ll call you I promise.”
“What the hell happened?” Josh’s confusion turned to anger.
“Let me take her home and you can get the whole story from Ben, I’ll wait with her until Andie gets home,” Pete said picking up Peri’s wallet and purse from the small couch. “Come on, Little Red, you can call Andie from the car.”
Peri took a step and winced making Josh pick her up in his arms again and walk with Pete out to the street where he loaded her into the car promising to come as soon as he could to check on her. As soon as they moved away he stalked back into the building to his brothers office bursting through the door angrily.
“Someone better tell me what the fuck happened and why none of you called me when she was hurt?” He stared at three of his brothers noticing Sabrina in the corner of the room. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
“Here,” Dante passed Josh his phone, “Press play and you’ll understand.”
Josh watched as the camera switched on to show Peri walking up the street towards it and Sabrina come out of a shop to stop her. He watched as the camera got close enough to pick up the voice of Sabrina calling her white trash and insulting Andie. He was quite proud of the way Peri had stood her ground, reminding him of his first meeting with her. Then he heard her reference to Nik and did a double take. He continued to listen as Sabrina threatened Peri and grabbed her as she tried to walk away only to threaten her again.
“Why did you let her walk alone if you had seen her at the restaurant and why was the video rolling instead of intervening and stopping the argument before Peri got hurt?” Josh’s anger was, even more, palpable in the room now as he lifted his head to face his brothers.
“She was holding her own, she wasn’t taking any of the shit Sabrina was saying, the crazy bitch moved so fast once Peri walked away that we couldn’t have stopped it,” Emilio defended Dante, who he knew, should have stepped in earlier.
“I’m not the bad guy here, she was winning that argument, and it would have been a victory for her after what happened at your firm,” Dante said. “I wasn’t going to step in before she said what needed to be said.”
“Well you’re here, so you obviously know the whole story,” Josh turned to Ben.
“One of you show her out if Peri decides to press charges in the morning the police can pick her up,” Ben indicated Sabrina, who Josh totally ignored as she was escorted from the room.
“What do you mean if she presses charges?” Josh shouted, “She can barely walk.”
“She said she was fine,” Dante spluttered. “I was in that office with her the whole time until Pete arrived.”
“She hurt her hip when she fell,” Josh grumbled stony-faced.
“Here’s what I know,” Ben said indicating that Josh should sit. He went through the strange call Pete got from Nik and how he had tagged along for lunch surprising Nik, who had asked Pete to chaperone. He mentioned the odd way Nik reacted when she saw Sabrina enter the restaurant and her explanation for it. Then the way he had tried to walk Peri back but Nik had delayed him with several excuses until Peri left determined that she didn’t need an escort from Pete, who had no reason to walk that far. Pete called Lio, and the twins got there a few moments before the argument happened.
Sabrina was a bit shocked that Nik had denied all knowledge and had tried to make it seem like a happy coincidence that Sabrina had been there today. Seems Nik was counting on the fact that Pete had never met Sabrina because Sabrina had said she didn’t know Pete. He saw her that day he went to pick up Peri for lunch from your office, but he had just never been close enough to her to have to introduce himself.” Ben explained.
“Who else knows?” Josh asked.
“Just Pete and the twins,” Ben said carefully. “What do you want to do?”
“Nothing,” Josh said coldly. “Nik will learn the lesson needed trust me. Sabrina will be out of our lives after Nik betrayed her like that and probably make sure that she loses face with her friends. Don’t tell the family. We don’t need another fuck up like what happened to Lucy.”
“Nik went too far,” Dante cut in, “Mama warned her what would happen. She deserves what she gets.”
“Peri blamed herself and was crying while apologising to me when she left. I’m not going to let her blame herself for a big family drama, and she would. There are better ways to deal with my loving sister.” His voice was hard and cold when he spoke of Nik. “I’ll let you know if Peri decides to press charges but I doubt it, she hates drama like this.” He understood now why she had begged to go home, and that was precisely where he needed to be. He stood, and looked at his brothers. “Thanks for sorting it out, but there’s a woman I love who needs me right now.”
Ben watched his youngest brother carefully gauging his reaction. He could see the bunched muscles and the tight jawline of a man barely holding his anger in check. Dante opened his mouth as if to speak again but Ben cut him off with a look.
“Call me in the morning and let us know how she is feeling,” Ben said, “I’m sorry Josh.”
“Not your fault,” He said in the same cold, unemotional voice pausing at the door. “I think it’s time I became a family man,” he added meaningfully. “We’ll talk on the weekend.” Then he left closing the door behind him.
“Nik’s not gonna like that,” Dante whistled.
“Not one bit,” Ben chuckled. “I imagine she’s not gonna like a lot of things Josh does in the next few weeks.”
“Josh seemed calm when he left, what did I miss?” Emilio asked as he came back into the office.
“The beginnings of greatness,” Dante laughed, “And we’re going to have front row seats.”
Dante admired his little brother. Unlike himself, Josh had never been impulsive or reactionary, he thought things through and knew exactly what needed to be done in any given situation. He had to admit he was impressed with the restraint he had just shown them all in his reactions to the incident.
*****
Josh pulled up outside Peri’s house and sat in his car. He knew who Nik was inside and out and despite all her flaws he loved her as he had their whole lives together. He realised now that to her he was just another person to do her bidding, defend and support her against the family and do as he was told. He wasn’t angry so much as hurt. He knew from what Peri had told him about her life that she had experienced far worse than the verbal lashing Sabrina had dished out or the slap. Although he wasn’t happy about it, it wasn’t worth the family drama and the effect it would have on Peri to make a big deal out Nik’s involvement. He knew how to deal with his sister now that she had shown just how little she cared about his happiness. He was sure that by the end of the week she would understand just how much of a mistake she had made by trying to remove Peri from his life.
There was a tap on his window, and he realised he had been sitting there for a long time sorting out his feelings about his sister. He popped the locks and Pete climbed into the passenger’s seat.
“You’re freaking Andie out sitting out here for so long,” Pete said warily trying to gage Josh’s mood. His temper was well known within the family and Pete was half expecting an explosion.
“Yeah, I was just thinking. How’s Peri doing?” Josh asked quietly surprising Pete.
“She was happy the moment she got home. The perfect patient. She has a big bruise on that hip but other than that she’s physically fine. She’ll need to rest for a few days. It will be pretty sore. She’s upset that she caused drama in the family for you,” Pete explained. “She blames herself entirely.”
“I know, I’ve asked the guys not to tell the rest of the family, I’ll deal with Nik in my own way,” Josh’s voice had hardened again as he spoke. “It’s not worth the drama think about what happened to Lucy. I don’t want Peri to be the catalyst for another scene like that. She’d never forgive herself or me for letting it happen.”
“Sure, whatever you want. I’m not about to let her off the hook so easily, but I can do that with a cold shoulder as well as anything. If Ben and I step back she may find herself regretting her actions a little more than usual,” Pete agreed.
“My thoughts exactly,” Josh nodded. “Thanks for looking after her,” he jutted his chin toward the house indicating Peri.
“From what I saw she doesn’t need much looking after, she can hold her own. She’s more worried that you are upset than anything. She’s a keeper,” Pete gave a half smile. “If she was anyone else’s girl I might have made a move on her myself after she charmed the family at lunch that day.”
“I warned you not to kiss my girl again, right?” Josh chuckled for the first time since receiving Peri’s distressed call.
“Yeah, but just so you know if you ever fuck it up with her, all bets are off,” Pete grinned.
“Speaking of which I better get in there and make sure Nik hasn’t fucked it all up for me,” his face clouded over again, and he got out of the car and walked around to where Pete stood. “Thanks,” he embraced Pete and walked into the house.
“Hey Andie, sorry to get you to come home early from work, I didn’t want her coming home to an empty house when she was so upset,” Josh bent to kiss her cheek as she let him into the house.
“Of course honey,” Andie patted his back. “I haven’t quite worked out what exactly happened.”
“She ran into Sabrina in the street when she went out for lunch, and they got into it. Peri was talking back for once you would have been proud of her, until she got hit and fell over,” Josh explained the general incident.
“Oh dear,” Andie looked sad. “She’s been so happy since starting her new job I thought, well it doesn’t matter what I thought. She’s stronger than anyone realises.” She looked worriedly at Peri’s door. Her guilt over how she had treated Peri in the past resurfacing.
“She is indeed,” Josh forced a smile to his face. “I’m just gonna make sure she is okay for myself.”
“Oh yes, go, go, go,” Andie shooed him away from her.
“I’m so sorry, Josh,” Peri said as he walked through the door. “I never meant to cause you so much trouble, I should have gone a different way, or walked faster or something, I should never have said those awful things to her.” She began to cry again the tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at him.
“You did nothing wrong, stop apologising,” Josh soothed her gathering her into his arms and holding her close. “It’s over and gone, and unless you want to press charges, no one will mention it again.”
“Really?” Peri looked up at him blinking.
“Really,” Josh smiled. “The balls in your court, I’ll have words with Nik, but there won’t be any family drama, no one else will know what happened, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want to cause problems between you and Nik. I don’t know why she doesn’t like me. We have barely spoken to each other. Just let it pass, if we could just forget it happened I promise I will try harder to be her friend.”
“It’s not you. Her problem is with me. Nik’s never had to share my attention before, and she doesn’t like it,” he smiled. “You have done nothing wrong. We’ve done nothing wrong. Nik will either learn to accept that we are going to be together forever or she won’t, but that is her choice, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.” He kissed her then for the first time since arriving.
“I love you,” Peri whispered as the kiss broke. “I’m so sorry I ruined you day and caused all that fuss with my call but your family can be so overwhelming. I’m not used to having people care if I get into an argument or not, let alone go to all the trouble they went to for me. I guess I just freaked out that I had caused it all and I just wanted to come home, be in my own space and forget it ever happened. They wouldn’t let me, so I called you. You’re the only person I wanted to be with and talk to about what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a good day or bad day. You’re the one I want to be with all the time and talk to about everything,” Josh smiled widely and genuinely. “So about this hip injury,” he smirked and ran his hand down her body.
“Doc Pete gave me some lovely painkillers,” she said and a small grin appeared on her face.
“Then is my turn to play doctor and I think a full physical is necessary before I sign off on his diagnosis,” he murmured as he kissed her his hand working to remove the short nightgown she wore. He kissed along her jawline and down her throat. “No more apologies, you have nothing to apologise for,” he placed a finger on her lips, and he continued to kiss down over her breasts.
Peri sighed and leant back against the pillows closing her eyes and losing herself in the sensations of being with him. He turned her slightly as he kissed down her belly to see the bruised hip Pete had been concerned about.
“Shit what did you fall on?” he leant back in surprise taking in the vivid dark red and purple discoloration of her skin that sat in a large misshapen circle over the side of her hip and part of her of her lower back.
“Is it that bad?” Peri grabbed the sheet to cover herself self-consciously. She could feel the bruise but hadn’t looked in a mirror to try and see it properly. “I don’t remember I was turning toward her when she hit me then suddenly Dante was there helping me up.”
“You don’t remember falling?” Josh frowned at her worry etched on his face.
“It all just happened so fast. I was stunned that she did it. It took me a moment to realise I wasn’t standing up anymore,” Peri admitted. “I didn’t hit my head or anything like that.” She tried to soothe the lines out of his face as he stared at her. “I’m fine honestly. I hardly feel it at all now.”
“That’s obviously the painkillers helping you. You’re going to feel it tomorrow,” he moved back up the bed and wrapped his arms around her. “No going into work for the rest of the week, rest and heal.” Peri began to protest, and he chuckled kissing her. “They have survived for years without you there to help them; they can survive a few days.”
“I will be bored at home. You know that this isn’t the first time someone’s tried to bully me into doing something,” she said softly and looked up into his face. “It was the first time I stood up for myself, though, and that’s because of you. I feel quite good about standing up to Sabrina.” Peri reached up and stroked his cheek, “I don’t know how I ever got so lucky, but nothing she said could change what I feel for you.”
“I’m relieved about that,” Josh grinned. “I would hate to have to chase you down and make you see sense.” He kissed her lightly holding her close. “Why were you so upset when you called me if you felt that way?”
“Your brothers had made such a fuss, and I knew they blamed Nik because of the lunch and the way she didn’t want Ben walking me back to work. He said it was because he wanted to see Dante about something but she kept making excuses for him to stay even after he organised for her to go to dinner at his house tonight,” She said quietly. “I don’t want to be the cause of problems between you and Nik or them and Nik. I hated calling you at work but the more they kept me trapped in my office the worse I felt about causing problems and I just wanted to go home.” She blushed then. “I was so embarrassed by all the fuss. I’m used to dealing with things on my own, and your brothers took charge and wouldn’t listen to me when I told them that it was my fault.”
“None of what happened was your fault,” Josh said frowning at her.
“I said some horrible things to Sabrina,” she admitted feeling her face burn with guilt and embarrassment. “I pushed her too far before she slapped me and that’s when it all went pear-shaped I was fine until your brothers showed up.”
“You were hurt,” Josh argued, “You weren’t fine. You don’t have to do everything on your own now. I know it can be overwhelming, but my family is very important to me. I understand your not used to it, but it can be a wonderful thing to have people to call on when you need a hand. It can also be a pain in the arse when they interfere, but mostly they mean well.”
“So you won’t be mad at Nik? Peri asked tentatively.
“I’m mad at her,” he admitted. “Not mad enough to make this into a bigger deal than it already is but she crossed a line with me, and it will take some time to repair the damage done over the last few weeks,” he said honestly. “I can forgive her for how she treated you if that is what you want, but she has totally disregarded my feelings and I am not too big to admit that it hurts that she would treat me this way. My anger at her has little to do with you and more to do with how she has treated me. You may have been the catalyst but my issue with my sister is not your fault, this has been brewing for some time and I will make that very clear to her.”
Peri considered his words. In all of the drama, she hadn’t considered that he might have been hurt by Nik actions. She had no brothers or sisters, but she knew how she felt every time Andie had let her down or pushed her into something she didn’t want. She understood his feelings and now that he had explained how he felt she was mad at Nik herself for the pain she had caused him.
“I understand,” she said softly snuggling into his chest.
“Good,” he grinned and ran his hand down her back and groaned. “Now that I know you are recovering, I need to go and finish what I was working on when I left work,” he checked his watch. “If I stay here much longer I will end up doing more damage to that hips of yours.” He leant over the side of the bed and retrieved her nightgown. “Why don’t you and Andie have a pizza and movie night and I will be back later to tuck you in.” Josh helped Peri dress and carried her out to the couch.
Andie seemed relieved to see them smiling and readily agreed to a movie night offering to cook for Peri rather than get pizza.
“I love you,” Josh murmured into her ear as he kissed her goodbye. “I’ll let Dan and Lio know you won’t be in tomorrow, we’ll negotiate the rest of the week,” he said firmly.
“I will be okay in the morning,” Peri protested.
“Show your mother your hip and I bet she will agree with me, or should I just get Pete to come back?” Josh gave her a look that said he knew she would not be fine in the morning.
*****
Josh got back to the office in record time plans that he had been working on for months coalescing in his mind as he drove. He smiled as he saw Louisa look up at him in relief. He had rushed out so fast she had worried there was an emergency. He signalled her to follow him into his office and closed the door behind them.
“Have you enjoyed working for me so far?” Josh asked, and Louisa looked up at him in surprise.
“I love it, and I am picking everything up as fast as I can. I’m sorry if I haven’t got the hang of everything yet,” she said in a panic thinking that he was sending her back to the research section of the company. “I’m learning so much I will get better I promise.”
“You’re doing a great job,” Josh reassured her quickly. “What I meant to ask was, are you happy as my assistant? Do you miss the research and your friends down on the lower floors?” he saw the confusion on her face. “I need you to be honest, nothing you say to me will affect your job here at the company. I am more than happy with how quickly you have gotten up to speed.”
“I love the work, talking to the authors and organising your schedule. I like the variety of things I get to do,” She seemed to hesitate. “It was great when Peri was here, it’s taken me a while to get to know the other people on this floor.” She paused and he looked at her expectantly so she continued.
“Honestly, I’ve never felt like I belong here. I am not like the other girls. It’s like at school; here you have the beautiful and glamourous popular kids and down there you have the nerdy and bookish geeks, and I am not nerdy enough to be totally comfortable down there but I am not glamourous enough to be up here. I need the in-between group that like pizza and beer nights,” she laughed.
“What I’m about to tell you must stay just between us at this time,” he said in a quiet voice. “I’m considering a change. There is a small boutique publishing house I have been investigating. It will never be as big or as glamorous as this place, but I think I could make it into something competitive on a smaller scale. I’d like you to come with me when I leave. I can’t offer you the opportunities that this company can, but I can throw in the odd pizza and beer night,” Josh chuckled.
“You’re leaving?” Louisa was shocked.
“Not yet and it’s best if you don’t say anything before I make an offer on the business I have in mind. I will need someone who knows how I operate to help me when I do make the move, and I would like that person to be you. You work hard and pick things up quickly. You have done what I have asked to the letter without improvising if you were unsure. You do not presume to speak for me with the clients or senior partners. You are one of the best assistants I have had here,” he said honestly but knew the flattery couldn’t hurt his cause. “Think about it if you like but don’t take too long.”
“I don’t have to think about it. You said the magic words, pizza and beer,” she laughed easily. “Just let me know when we are making the move, and I will do my best to work everything out for you.”
“Thanks, you’ll be the first to know trust me. For now, can you clear my calendar for tomorrow, I need to take a personal day,” Josh said with a wink. “You can call me if there’s anything important.” He moved behind his desk and pulled out a leather folio from a locked drawer. “I think I have just enough time to get to the bank. Thanks, Louisa, I’m glad you’re on board.” He pulled a card from the folio and picked up his phone.
“Whatever I can do to help,” she said and quietly left his office.
“Hey Marco,” Josh said into his phone, “I’m on my way down to see you, can you wait for me please I am racing out of the building as we speak.” He followed Louisa from his office and headed for the elevator. “Yeah I’m at work so I will be there in less than ten.” He closed his phone and stepped into the elevator. He wasn’t sure he was ready to make this move, but it was necessary to make his point clear with his sister.
Like a man on a mission Josh quickly moved through the city streets and walked into the old building and the office of Marco. He’d gone without a lot of things over the years in favour of helping his sister to achieve her dreams. It wasn’t fair the way his father still regarded the girls as needing less than their brothers expecting them to marry well and have babies to ensure the continuation of the family. Josh had always allowed Nik a certain amount of access to his trust fund account as well as a credit card that he paid for on a monthly basis. He could afford it between his family allowance and his trust fund which were additional to his weekly wage, he had never been able to deny her anything, until now.
He signed the last form effectively cutting her off from the extra support he had always given so freely. If she couldn’t respect him and give him the same unconditional support he showed her, he had no reason to continue the farce. He imagined her face as she realised she would have to survive on the small allowance she received from the family and the income from her boutique which usually ran at a loss. He knew she wouldn’t understand his reaction to this incident, but he wasn’t going to be the one to explain it to her. When he saw her again, he would treat her with the politeness and arms-length affection he would use on any relative.
“What do I tell her when she comes in here screaming like a banshee?” Marco asked delicately. “You let her get away with too much for too long, and she won’t like suddenly being cut off.”
“Indeed, I have, and that is changing as of this moment. Tell her the truth. Tell her that I came in and cut her off. She can take it up with me,” Josh chuckled understanding Marco’s worried face. “It’s time she started living her life instead of mine.Thanks for staying late for me,” Josh stood and held out his hand. Marco took it nodding and came from behind his desk to walk Josh to the now closed and locked doors.
“Anytime, your family are important members of our community,” he said easily. Nodding to the security guard, he let Josh out and went back to go through the security check with the senior staff.
Josh pulled out his phone and called Ben as he walked back to his car. “Hey, thought I would call by for a few minutes if you’re home,” Josh said without preamble.
“Sure but you should know I invited Nik for dinner tonight, not sure if she will show up, though,” Ben said warily trying to gage Josh’s mood.
“I don’t care,” Josh shrugged despite his brother not being able to see him.
“Alright see you when you get here, you can tell me how Peri is when you get here,” Ben said realising she must be okay if Josh wasn’t by her side.
“Pete’s given her some pretty heavy painkillers so she will sleep most of the night,” Josh chuckled. “See you soon.”
Josh considered what he planned to say to Ben. He knew Ben would back his business plan but he liked to show he had considered every angle before asking for such a large investment from the family. He considered going it alone, being his own boss and not being beholden to the family way of doing business. It was what he, and Nik had talked about for so long, breaking free of the shackles of the family. He had put off becoming a family man far longer than any of his brothers had but now confident that he had found a woman that could accept his family’s traditional ways he was not as concerned about joining the family.
He pulled up in front of the large riverfront home. If he had his choice he wouldn’t live in the city, he’d be happy in a home like his Uncle Andreas, looking out over the wineries and mountains of the hinterland. He was barely out of his car when the door burst open, and his nephew ran down to greet him wrapping his arms around Josh’s legs.
“Zio,” he yelled happily as Josh hoisted the small boy up into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re here. I need your help.” His face turned serious, and he lowered his voice.
“I know that’s why I came,” Josh said equally seriously. “I told you I can feel it when you need me, and I will always be here.” He had started up the stairs before Ben arrived at the door to welcome him. “We’ve got some important business to discuss,” Joshua said with a perfectly straight face, “Can we use your office?”
“I see, sounds serious,” Ben scratched his cheek. “Dinner is almost ready so better be quick then,” Ben said stepping back from the door and letting them through.
“Are you staying for dinner, Zio?” BJ asked.
“We’ll have to ask Mama because she wasn’t expecting to have a feed me as well,” Josh said noncommittally as he carried the boy through the house. “Where are your sisters?”
“Getting dressed up because Zia Nikki might be coming too,” BJ rolled his eyes in a perfect impression of his father. After five daughters Ben’s wife had finally presented him with a son who suffered daily under the effects of living with so many sisters. Reaching the office, he sat the little boy in the chair behind the desk adjusting to its highest setting before taking a seat n the other side.
“I almost five now,” BJ began leaning his forearms on the desk and clasping his hands as he had seen his father do.
“Practically middle-aged,” Josh said seriously and received a roll of the eyes.
“I’m starting school next year, I’m not a baby anymore,” he said emphatically.
“Indeed,” Josh agreed nodding.
“You have to make them take the training wheels off my bike,” BJ said in a pained voice. “I ride Alexander’s bike all the time without them. I can do it. You have to tell mama she won’t listen to me, and Papa just does what she says. Girls are sooooo bossy.” He shook his little head as I this caused him grat pain.
“I’ll talk to Papa tonight, and we’ll take those trainers off. It’s important for us men to stick together on matters like this. You’re a young man; you need your ride to look cool. I get it.” Josh said supportively. “Leave it to me, I’ll make it happen.” He leant across the desk to shake hands with the little man still keeping a straight face. “Come to think of it, you might be about due for a bigger bike this Christmas maybe we should think about a letter to Santa, if he brought you one without training wheels, then there wouldn’t be a problem anymore.” Josh considered if crossing Emily was a good idea right now.
“About that, do you think Santa knows everything we do? I mean, well, do you think if your sister was mean and you accidently did something mean back, he would understand that right?” The little boy looked worried.
“Geez mate it would have to be a pretty special letter,” Josh sat back in his seat and scratched at the stubble on his face. “I tell you what, I’ve got a friend who is really good at writing letters, what if I bring her over to help you out with that?”
“A girl?” BJ said with disgust.
“She’s the best letter writer I know and if you want that new bike…” Josh left the sentence hanging.
“You’ll still talk to Papa tonight won’t you?” he asked hopefully.
“Consider it done. Now we better get to dinner before they send the girl’s to look for us,” Josh pulled a face.
He stood and held his hand out for his nephew to take before walking back through the house to find the family gathered in the massive kitchen.
“The men have returned, let’s eat,” Josh announced with a grin and received a dishcloth thrown at him by Ben’s wife, Emily.
“Need I remind you that you are outnumbered here,” she laughed. “Nik will be here shortly then we eat,” she said and turned back to the pot she had been stirring.
“Call us when it’s ready,” Ben said and shepherded Josh and his son from the room.
“We need to fix this kid’s ride Ben, even the wimpy kids are picking on him about the training wheels,” Josh said meaningfully, “He’s almost five, nearly a man. I’m thinking of buying hi a razor for Christmas and teaching him to shave.” BJ giggled, and Ben bent down to look at his son and run a finger over his cheek.
“You could be right but hold off on that razor for a bit longer, the training wheels, on the other hand, we can fix,” Ben chuckled. “How’s Peri?” he asked as they walked through to the garage where the kid’s bikes were stored.
“You should see the damage to her hip. It’s the biggest nastiest bruise I have ever seen. Pete’s given her some painkillers so I expect she will sleep most of the night,” Josh said. “She’s with her mother.”
“Geez, I’m sorry Josh. Are you sure you don’t want me to do anything,” Ben said the concern evident in his voice.
“Trust me, it will be better my way,” Josh said unemotionally. “We can talk about it later. I brought my prospectus for you to look over. This isn’t a spur of the moment decision. It’s been brewing for a while. Now that I have made the final decision I’d like to resign from where I am and get going on the new business as soon as possible.”
“Then do it, I trust you have a good plan,” Ben shrugged. “I’ll still go through it with a fine-tooth comb, but you wouldn’t have brought me anything that wasn’t worked to perfection first.”
Ben had wondered how long it would take for Josh to break free of his domineering twin and he wasn’t surprised that Josh already had a plan for his future. He was a control freak and the only person who had ever been able to get him to change his mind about anything had been Nik who he had doted on his whole life.
The training wheels took minutes to remove much to BJ’s delight, and they walked back into the house to find Nik standing in the kitchen.
“Great now we can eat, I’m starving,” Josh said as Ben nodded at Nik.
“I’m glad you came,” Ben said, “The girls have been looking forward to seeing you.”
“Everybody sit,” Emily carried a huge pot of gnocchi to the table and began dishing it into bowls for the children passing the plates around the table. Rather than sitting in his usual spot beside his sister Josh swapped seats and sat between BJ and the youngest of the girls, making them laugh all the way through dinner.
“I’m sorry I can’t stay,” Josh announced as the meal ended. “The thing we talked about is on your desk, Ben. I left it then after my meeting with the little man.” Josh grabbed up BJ and began to walk to the door. He got as far as the car before Ben cleared his throat and indicated he should put the little boy down and walked with Josh to his car.
“She worried,” Ben murmured, “She was unusually quiet dinner.”
“She should be worried, I imagine you will see a lot of her in the near future,” Josh said without explaining why. He didn’t believe anyone in the family knew about the financial support he had been giving Nik. He doubted she would care if he gave her the cold shoulder for a while, after her recent actions, but she would care about the money. He saw her approach from behind Ben and hugged his brother, “Thanks for everything. Give me a call tomorrow, I am taking a personal day to look after the patient.”
“Who’s sick?” Nik asked coming to stand with the two men.
“Peri’s badly hurt,” Josh turned his cool gaze on his sister.
“I heard about that, who knew Sabrina was such a nutter,” Nik frowned.
“See the right thing to say there would have been to ask how she was doing, or if Pete had seen her, but you couldn’t even manage that. You can lie to everyone else Nik and have them believe you but don’t even try it with me,” Josh said his voice hard and her shock at his abrupt reply evident. “Don’t worry I won’t tell Mama or anyone who wasn’t there to see it for themselves, but if you ever disrespect me again, all bets are off. I love you Nik, you’re my sister, but right now I don’t like you very much.” With that, he got into his car and sped off leaving her stunned and open-mouthed beside Ben.
“You hurt him Nik. You didn’t hurt or scare Peri, who is a lot stronger than you gave her credit for. You did that to Josh. He’s been hurting since you messed up his workplace and got two women fired. That hurt and sense of betrayal only got worse when you brought Mama to town. He was mad at you, not her when they argued at the restaurant. Then the scheme today went too far. He’s over being mad or sad or even caring. You have made it abundantly clear that you didn’t consider how he would feel if Peri left him.” Ben said sadly feeling for them both. He had thought them inseparable for life much like his other twin siblings. He wasn’t sure either of them would get over this rift now.
“I didn’t do this,” Nik whispered into the night.
“Even if you weren’t behind the incident today, and I am sceptical about that, you started it rolling by telling Sabrina about their relationship in the first place. Not once in all these episodes, that we know for a fact were your doing have you apologised to Josh or tried to get to know the woman he loves. You have disregarded how he felt entirely in favour of Nik knows best.” Ben wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but the evidence was overwhelming. “That’s why he is so hurt.”
Nick seemed to pull herself together and turned to walk back into the house with Ben. “He’ll get over it, he always does,” she said with a tight smile that showed she wasn’t as confident as she sounded.
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t be holding my breath,” Ben said sadly. It was going to be a tough time for Nik without Josh to constantly run interference for her. He may love her but he would have encouraged his parents to arrange a marriage for her years ago if not for Josh. Her self-importance was beyond measure and she had pissed off all of her siblings long ago
*****