Chapter Sixteen

Brick decided a week later that it was going to take a hell of a lot more than a half-assed apology for Fighter to forgive him.

“No,” Fighter said again, this time the man’s angry words were hissed.

“Why not?” Brick said gently, bouncing Elijah on his knee.

They’d spent the past seven days circling each other with distrust on Fighter’s side. However, Brick found a great deal of satisfaction over the fact that after the first few days, Fighter’s kids now adored him.

“Just think about it,” Brick said, shifting Elijah closer as the chubby baby played with the watch on his wrist.

“He’s going to break it.” Fighter waved at his wrist where Eli was pulling at a watch that probably cost more money than he could imagine. “Don’t let him pull.”

“I don’t care.” Brick brushed a kiss on the top of Elijah’s downy head. “I care more about him and Emma crawling on concrete. We need to have the floors carpeted in here, the hallway, and the rooms.”

“Except for the kitchen. That will need tile,” Fighter murmured, and then gnashed his teeth.

He was caving and he vowed a day ago, he would push back if Brick wanted to do any further upgrades. What the man had accomplished in the past week was mind-boggling.

“Yes, tile in the kitchen,” Brick agreed.

“Still no.”

“We can have training flooring put in the main room,” Brick said softly.

Fighter closed his eyes, popped them open, and tossed up his hands. Why did he even bother to argue? Even his own men had stayed out of Brick’s way. Which reminded him that Bishop did his typical disappearing act the moment Brick appeared with morning coffee and breakfast for him and the kids.

Mark was due back today and Fighter wasn’t sure how Brick, who’d become a daily fixture, was going to handle that.

However, he didn’t have time to worry about Mark and Brick. He had put off meeting Cook for a whole week. He’d called the man and told him that due to the break-in, he couldn’t meet at the moment. Cook had extended the meeting to one week. Now, Fighter was out of time. If he didn’t meet Cook and figure out a deal, he was going to be so screwed.

“Okay,” he finally relented.

“Seriously?” Brick smiled.

“Yes. Now, I need to drop the kids at the sitter’s. I have a meeting I cannot miss,” Fighter said, standing up. He lifted Emma from the dirty concrete, and Brick stood with Elijah. The chair didn’t creak or wobble because it was sturdy and covered with some sweet black leather—it matched the other four office chairs that had been delivered a few days ago, along with a brand-new glass surfaced desk. They’d fought over that, but again, Brick had won that round.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No!” Fighter couldn’t have Brick getting involved with Allen Cook. Fucking hell, that would be a disaster. No telling if Cook would try and harm Brick. The man may be stinking rich, but Cook was pure evil through and through. “Can you stay and help Bishop oversee the upgrades and order the carpet?”

Brick shook his head. “Bishop can oversee the contractors and we can pick carpet tonight after your meeting.”

Stubborn man! Ugh. Fighter stared at Brick, seeing that same tenacity he’d witnessed all week fill the man’s gorgeous gray eyes.

“Okay then.” Fighter thought fast. “Can you watch the kids for me? It will save me daycare money.”

Plus, this was a sign of trust.

The air stilled around them.

The only movement was Emma rubbing her cheek on his shoulder and Elijah figuring that he now wanted to play with Brick’s beard.

He could tell that Brick didn’t like being left behind, but also that the man understood the level of trust he was placing in his hands at this very moment.

It was a turning point for them.

“If anything happens, just ask Bishop.”

Brick squinted and plucked Emma from his arms, propping her on his free hip. “Nothing is going to happen.”

Fighter had the sudden insane urge to kiss Brick on the cheek. Instead, he rolled his eyes and kissed his kids.

“Be good for Brick,” he told Emma.

“She’s always my best girl,” Brick murmured, nuzzling a giggling Emma.

“You know how infuriating you are?” Fighter whispered along with a covert scowl to hide from the kids.

“I do.” Brick nodded with a satisfied smile.

Brick entered the bedroom he and Fighter had custom-designed for the kids with brand-new furniture and toys to fill almost every nook and cranny. Fighter had stopped him before he could buy the store out.

He placed a sleeping Elijah, wearing a clean diaper beneath new pjs, in the new crib and covered him with a fluffy blanket that Brick had ordered from Sax Fifth Avenue. He’d searched the internet to find the best one. So what if he’d spent a good deal of money, he had it to spare.

The foam beneath his feet sank a bit and he smiled down at the ABCs patterns. He’d ordered the colorful squares from a kid’s store, but it would be so much warmer in here once they got the carpet installed. Although, with the windows now redone and reinforced, it was a hell of a lot better.

Emma ran over and picked up some fat blocks to play with where toys spilled from a box along one wall. Brick closed the door and settled into the rocking chair that was kind of wedged in next to Emma’s new daybed.

This week had been filled with so many firsts, his head spun.

He could never go back to how it was before. Where he hadn’t cared about anyone other than his mom and Syn and a few key people at Cobalt. Now, Fighter and his two beautiful babies were a part of his family. Not officially, but that didn’t matter. Often, family was found when you least expected it.

Even if Fighter didn’t feel the same way.

Brick was going to do everything in his power to win Fighter’s heart. That same spark that had happened the night of the fundraiser had come back. And it wasn’t all one-sided either. He’d seen the blown pupils and rush of breath when they’d had a few moments alone. He craved the teasing light in Fighter’s eyes when he dropped his guard and laughed with him.

Pulling out his cell phone, Brick punched in his office number, dialing his right-hand man.

“Hey, Jenkins, look at the tail you put on Fighter and let me know where he ended up.”

“Hang on. Jaxon put Felix on it and Syn joined him yesterday.”

A soft knock at the door sounded before Bishop opened it and stepped inside. He closed the door and leaned against it.

“Don’t trust me?” Brick smirked.

“I trust you or I would have been in here the minute you left the office,” Bishop snorted. “I just wanted to find out how the stalker case is going.”

“Not in front of Emma.” Brick tipped his chin at the child.

“You’re right. Sorry.” Bishop sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “How’s Syn?”

“Like I told you yesterday, he’s better.”

Bishop looked away and gazed at Emma playing. “I’m glad.”

“He’s mad as hell…er heck.”

“What happened was screwed up.” Bishop rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Brick?” Jenkins’ voice came over the line and Brick jerked the phone back to his ear. “Felix said all is good, but there’s something you need to know.”

“What is it?” Brick asked, and across the room, Bishop suddenly held his gaze.

“He won’t say, but he wants to meet you later at the office,” Jenkins said.

“Okay. Thank you.”

“While I have you on the line, what do you want to do about the merger reports? I have three of them.”

“Wait until the mergers are complete and then send me the final reports.”

Bishop’s eyebrows lifted.

“Okay, will do,” Jenkins said and ended the call.

“Just how rich are you?” Bishop asked.

Of course, the guy had no filter, so why wouldn’t he ask that?

“Very.”

“Give me a ballpark.”

“It’s more than you can imagine.”

“I can imagine a lot.”

“Then it’s more than that.”

“Try me.” Bishop wasn’t giving up and Brick let out an annoyed breath.

“I run a multibillion-dollar company. Plus, I have four trust funds that were left to me.”

Bishop’s eyes became hooded and unreadable “And Syn?”

“The same,” Brick said. “So, if you want to come at my brother, you better be prepared.”

Bishop squinted. “Isn’t he out of my league?”

“If that’s the way you feel,” Brick said flatly. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

“What?”

“Having so much wealth?”

“Why would that bother me?” Brick glanced away, his eyes landing on Emma, who’d pulled out a busy box and was pushing the buttons. The songs and bells filled the air.

It didn’t bother him that Fighter didn’t have as much money as him because he knew that Fighter wasn’t after his money. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that he was damned sure Fighter was bothered by his wealth. And that was something that would take Fighter time to get used to.

“I know you like Fighter. It’s written all over your face. I see the way he looks at you when you’re not looking. Your money is going to cause problems.”

Brick’s heart rate increased. “Money doesn’t matter.”

“You say that, but you don’t really know.”

“You’re right,” Brick acknowledged. “But I can tell you that Fighter doesn’t care that I have money.”

“Oh, he cares,” Bishop argued.

Brick shook his head. “Money is not the reason he’s attracted to me.” Brick had seen the flash of desire in Fighter’s eyes.

“So, you no longer want sex for money?” Bishop said.

Brick glared at the smart ass. Okay, he deserved that and a whole lot more. It was apparent that Bishop was like the big brother Fighter never had, so Brick totally got the fifty questions.

“It was a dick move on my part. All I can say is that I let my past get in the way.”

“You let your past affect your future.” Bishop sighed and straightened from his slouch against the door. The man sounded like he could relate.

“You’re absolutely correct. I messed up.” Brick took the two blocks that Emma suddenly brought him and stacked them on top of each other. She climbed up on the daybed and knocked them over. There were numerous stuffed animals on the bed and she grabbed for her favorite white tiger.

“Don’t let it happen again,” Bishop murmured.

“I won’t,” Brick said.

Bishop opened the door as if to leave.

“Bishop?”

“Yeah?” The man didn’t turn around.

“If you want Syn, don’t let his money get in the way.”

“Who said I wanted him?”

The man left and Brick stared at the closed door for several long moments.