having a relationship with anyone, even if it is me.”
Frustrated with the blasé attitude, I scrubbed at my forehead. “Stupidly, I find myself agreeing with you, but please, try to be pragmatic here; what if there’s a lover’s spat? Or, god forbid, this ‘relationship’ doesn’t work?” One held out hope. I rounded the bench and inched closer. “The conflict would displease both our father and Uncle Garrett immensely, and you being his daughter is no exception; another reason as to why you shouldn’t pursue this so-called relationship. I’m just simply throwing caution to the wind, little sister.”
She held up a hand in front of my face. “Well, big brother, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m no longer a child! I’m now an adult and have been for the last four years! So, you and that wind you blew in on can fucking butt out!” Seizing both bottles by their necks, she angrily spun on her heel and stormed off outside.
I stiffly twisted at the waist and trailed after her, my head shaking in disgust as she perched on the pet project’s knee and kissed him passionately.
“Stubborn. Like mother, like daughter.” Exasperated, I ran my hands through my hair before reaching into the stainless steel fridge behind me, grabbing a stubby of Carlton Dry. I twisted the top and threw the lid in anger. Icy cold beer was just the ticket.
Laying my forearms along the marble island, I continued sipping, observing Damien closely from afar. Watching as he pushed his sunglasses down his nose and followed Teddy with a wide-eyed gaze the moment she left her chair and walked towards the pool with my sister, whom he was presumably dating. My jaw tightened; right, time for that little chat with the pet project.
“So, Damien, is it? Ari Jaeger, Dominique’s big brother.” He eyed me suspiciously before cautiously shaking my hand. I almost burst out laughing. A punctured balloon had a sight more grip.
“I have a question for you, Damien.” Self-assured, I took the seat beside him, and casually leaned back in the cane chair, resting an ankle on my knee. “What are your intentions with my sister? Are you only fucking her? Or do you intend to string her along under the pretence you want a relationship all the while lusting after my girlfriend?”
“That’s three questions, and I don’t believe it’s any of your business, Ari,” Damien retorted smugly, covering his eyes with his sunglasses. Wimp. “Dominique’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions.”
I glowered. “I didn’t realise you could count, you impertinent little shit. Did you happen to include jackarse on your résumé when you applied to my father’s firm?”
“Presume whatever you want, I don’t have to answer to you and quite frankly, nor does your sister,” he argued rising from the chair and standing over me — attempted to anyway.
I looked up and laughed in his face. “You’re right; you don’t. But you forget one minor detail…”
He crossed his arms and smirked. “I’m sure you’ll enlighten me.”
“You answer to our father and uncle. Neither of them would be pleased to learn you’d screwed my sister over after you’d screwed her. It sounds as though your new job at my father’s firm might be very short-lived, especially if I have anything to say about it.” Observing as the realisation dawned on the pet projects smug face, I smirked triumphantly “Not so cocky now, are we?” I asked, swigging on my beer.
His puffed-out chest deflated. As I said, limp. “Look, we only just met, and we haven’t exactly talked about having a relationship. I assumed it was only going to be a one-night thing.”
My expression hardened. Rushing to my feet, I closed the gap between us placing Damien’s terrified face only millimetres from mine. “You either have good intentions, or you don’t? Simple.”
“I need to find out what Dominique wants first,” he nervously spluttered, tugging the short sleeves of a plaid shirt over his arms. “She might not want a relationship, and truthfully, neither do I. As you clearly stated, I have only just started at the firm…and besides, she was the one who threw herself at me!”
Outraged by the suggestive insults directed at my sister, I swung a fist, the impact sending him toppling backwards. Like the bag of shit he was, he dropped, hitting the timber decking with a resounding thud. “Now get out, before I throw you out!”
Touching his swelling nose, he winced. Then he proceeded to wag one of his bony fingers up at me. “Don’t even think about touching me again!” he uttered through clenched and bloodied teeth.
I snorted. “Or what, you’ll sue me? Go your hardest.” Glowering, I squatted; the pet project clearly required one of my stern warnings. I kept my voice intimidatingly low. “Are you incapable of saying no? You’re a grown arse man who has choices, and if I ever catch you sniffing around my sister again, you’ll be extremely sorry.”
Having heard the commotion, Dominique hurried from the pool and gaped, boorishly sharing her mortification.
“How dare you do this to Damien, Ari!” she screeched, squatting to give him a towel for his profusely bleeding nose. “Stop trying to run my life! You’re as bad as mum and dad! Actually, no rephrase that – you are worse than they are. And whom I see is my business, not yours!”
“Having a devil may care attitude won’t help anyone, Dom. Especially you, taking up with the impertinent one.”
Helping Damien up off the ground, she shot me a deathly glare. “I’m not interested in your opinions, Ari!”
“Of course, you aren’t,” I mocked unconcerned until I spun around spotting both Teddy and Poppy frozen to the spot. Their eyes wide after having witnessed the volatile argument unfold in front of them.
Poppy cleared her throat, excusing herself, “Um, I’m leaving you both to it. Good luck,” she whispered sympathetically to Teddy before disappearing inside.
“Thanks, I’m going to need it,” she uttered, grabbing the knitted cover-up from the back of the chair and slipping it over her head. Rigid arms folded over her chest, covering her soaked breasts from my wandering gaze. “Do I dare ask what that was about?”
“Damien made my sister sound easy,” I grumbled sheepishly.
She scowled. “So, your way of dealing with Damien was to punch him?”
“He deserved it.”
Her scowl deepened. “Nobody deserves getting punched in the nose, Ari.” Teddy exhaled roughly. “In case you failed to notice recently, Dom’s an adult now. Meaning she’s quite capable, and old enough, to make her own decisions. She needs to learn to make mistakes and to grow as a person without you. You can’t go controlling every aspect of her life, Ari, that caveman behaviour,” she purred, waving a hand in the air, “only pushes her away.”
A ghost of a smile twitched at my lips. Yep, Teddy had my number. “…Caveman behaviour?”
She bit down on her bottom lip as a feebled attempt to curtail her laughter. “Out of that entire conversation, that’s all you heard?”
“I’m a caveman, am I?” Tickled, I shook my head and chuckled. “Wow, never have I ever been called that before.”
Hazel eyes alight with amusement, begged me
