Seth

My mother was an evil genius to have planned this entire charade. Yet she sat on Kat’s couch, sipping her tea while looking like an angel. My Dad still didn't look too happy with me, but he relaxed when he noticed my arm around Kat. Edward, on the other hand, was icy with me. We threw Saul under the bus, but he deserved it. He was a nasty bastard who hadn't averted his gaze from my naked wife while she was in peril.

“Oh, I’m glad you're here, . I don't understand any of this,” Sadie said as she stood up and looked at me in relief.

“Life can be unpredictable, but tenacity and communication are vital in a marriage,” my Dad said, but his eyes were on me.

“It’s all on me, Sadie,” I told my mother-in-law. “I’m working on ensuring I don't mess up again. Katya had every right to call me out for my behaviour.”

Sadie frowned at Kat, and I tightened my arm around her to pull her closer.

“But all this talk of a—divorce, I don't like it,” she said, pausing as if she couldn't bring herself to say the word.

“It’s on pause, Mum. You didn't need to come down. Like said, we are working things out,” Katya said as she placed her arm around my waist.

Instantly, a satisfied look entered my mother’s eyes as she took in our unified stance.

Mission accomplished .

∞∞∞

I kissed my mum as she was leaving, but she grabbed my ear and pulled on it.

“I did my part. You owe me my grandchild in nine months,” she hissed before she let me go.

I frowned and rubbed my ear to glance at my dad, who had a filthy smirk on his face.

“Get cracking, ,” he said.

My mum smiled at me and patted my cheek as she mouthed nine months. She twirled around, and my Dad held his arm out for her. The Jeffries had said their goodbyes and were waiting beside the lift. I shivered and shut the door but jumped to find Katya behind me.

“You should have given Saul two black eyes,” she growled, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Ah, you know he has a big mouth, love. He can't help himself,” I said because she knew all the stories from our childhood.

“How did you get here so fast?” she asked as her expression softened.

“I’m working from home most days,” I said with a smile.

“You are?” she said, shocked by my revelation.

“I don't want to be a part-time husband or Dad,” I said, trying to sow the seed for our children because my mother was fucking scary when she wanted to be, and the clock was ticking.

She smiled broadly before she hugged me again.

“Have you had lunch yet?” she asked.

I was another step closer to getting the divorce tossed out and giving my wife the family she once dreamed of.

“No, I didn't get the groceries in, and I’m starving,” I said, laying it on thick.

She tutted at me but took me through to the kitchen.

The stage was set. I had eyes in her bedroom, and her birth control pills were switched out. All I had to wait for was her egg to be released and her womb to ripen. Eliza could keep the apartment for all I cared because I only wanted my wife back home where she belonged.

∞∞∞

“And you expect me to take the fall?” Saul said.

“Well, mum will lie, cheat, and possibly murder to get a grandkid. It’s our word against yours,” I said, pouring another drink for us.

“Fine,” he said with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“What? No comeback or threats of payback? Are you even my identical twin?” I asked him while narrowing my eyes on him.

He had to be up to something .

A small smile appeared on his lips, and he stared into his glass of deep amber whiskey.

“Did you burn down the office?” I asked.

“No,” he said as his smile widened, and he got a dreamy look in his eyes. “Families should be together.”

“Oh, shit,” I said, gaping at him. “You met a woman. Is she real? Does she know you're a fuckboy? Sorry, that's what Katya called you in her emails.”

He snapped out of it to glare at me.

“I’m a reformed fuckboy, and it’s complicated.”

“What do you mean complicated?” I asked and remembered my Anti-Divorce list wishing karma and pussy whipping on him.

“She is married—for now,” he said with the same evil expression my mother had when she patted my cheek.

“You cannot break up a married couple, Saul,” I said with a frown.

“Her husband treats her worse than you treated Katya,” he said. “I would be saving her, but she doesn't know it yet.”

“Get out,” I said before adding. “Thanks for bringing the files over, but I want no part in your madness.”

“Hey, I was here for you in your time of need,” he said but quickly downed his drink.

“Yeah, ogling my partially clothed wife,” I said as I stood up. “Wait, how bad is the husband?”

“Bad and about to get worse,” he said cryptically as he put his empty glass on the table. “It’s all thanks to you that I met her.”

“Oh, no, don't lay this down on me. I want no part in it,” I said, following him to the door.

“It’s too late, . I’m in too deep,” he said as he grabbed his jacket and opened the door. “I’m glad things are going well with Katya. I might take a leaf out of your book.”

“She's a married woman, for God’s sake,” I snapped at him, thinking about someone making a play for Katya.

“Don't worry, bro, she will be mine soon enough.”

I cringed at what action he would take. The longest relationship he had was with a fuckbuddy in his mid-twenties. I was curious about who could have caught his eye. For all of our brotherly bickering, we had one another's backs, but sabotaging a marriage to steal a woman away?

He knew that I was doing everything to keep my promises to Katya. As I watched Saul reverse out of my driveway, I could only pity the poor woman who caught his eye. She had no chance against Saul. I closed the door with a sigh. I had my marriage to save and couldn't spend time thinking about a stranger.

∞∞∞

I lay tossing and turning, worrying about my brother. Plus, the fact that if he got arrested, he wouldn't be at work. I would kill someone if they tried to muscle in on Kat. We were over six feet. I doubt someone could kill him quickly. I should know because I tried to choke him to death.

“Damn it, why couldn't he have been a fuckboy a little longer?” I muttered before I reached for my phone.

I messaged Garrison, Warner’s investigator, who did our dirty work from time to time and asked him to make sure that Saul didn't request anything illegal. Then I mulled on how to get Saul to take it easy on his new lady. This was a new dilemma for me.

Garrison: More illegal than usual?

Me: Anything that Warner can't get him out of .

I replied because that was a broad scope. Now, to message Saul.

Me: You know what happened to me. Women's hearts are much more sensitive. We are analytical and wear blinkers, but women need an emotional connection. I broke that with Katya, and she shut me out. If this woman is your one and only, make damn sure she is done with her husband, or it doesn't bode well for you .

I still didn't agree with his decision, but he was my younger brother, and this was entirely out of character for him. He never took women seriously.

Saul: He is cheating on her, and she ‘fell’ down some stairs last summer. All I need to do is show her his true colours. I’m not as dense as you to neglect my wife the way you did.

I gritted my teeth. He was insufferable, but I felt a little better knowing he wasn't breaking up a marriage solely for his sinister objectives.