Page 50 of Her Wicked Husband (The Huxleys #2)
Bryce
Josh walks into my office. “You’re in too good of a mood these days. It’s creepy.” He hands me a coffee.
“And you’re being suspiciously nice to me. What do you want?” I accept the coffee. I’m not stupid enough to reject free caffeine that I don’t even have to lift my ass off the chair for.
“I’m thinking about hosting a family dinner,” he says, taking the seat on the other side of the desk.
I almost spit out the coffee. “ You? ”
“Yeah, me . Why?”
“Who are you? What have you done with my twin brother?”
“Shut up.”
Uh-oh. He isn’t even trying to come up with a better comeback. This isn’t good. “Are you going to prepare the food? Because—no offense—you’re really only good at eating it.”
“I don’t have to cook something to host a get-together. There are plenty of takeout options.” He spreads his hands. “Manny’s Tacos. I’ll even ask for extra jalapenos.”
I narrow my eyes. Maybe Josh has a fever. Although we’re identical twins, we differ in one thing—jalapenos. I love them; he hates them. Says they taste like spicy vinegar. Besides, when did he start hosting family dinners? Those are usually Akiko’s thing. “What do you really want?”
His mouth twists. “I just want to make sure you aren’t going to get fucked again. That shit-eating grin of yours? I know Fiona put it there, and I don’t trust her.”
“Josh—”
“You really need to watch your six.”
“I know what I’m doing. The only one I’m really worried about is Mom. Maybe Harvey.” I don’t like it that he still hasn’t cashed that check. Asshole . “Anyway, none of your worries matter.”
“You sure?”
“We’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t get pregnant.” Mom wants a baby badly. She was pissed that the girl I chose wasn’t one of hers, enough that she hit me. That’s never happened before. Even when she tried to kidnap me, she was crying about love.
She might get ideas if she sees Fiona’s belly growing.
She’ll want to my take my wife to Vincent and project a pretty, loving family.
Look what I brought, Daddy! Your great-grandchild to come.
Isn’t it amazing? To create the right picture, she’ll do anything to get Fiona to cooperate.
Kidnapping, drugging, torture—emotional or otherwise…
Nothing’s off the table. I’d rather die than have anyone harm Fiona.
There’s a knock at the door, and it simultaneously starts to swing open. Fiona walks in, carrying a small Bobbi’s Sweet Things box. I get up and go around the desk to run my hand along her arm. “Hi. What are you doing here?”
“Maybe she needs to sue somebody,” Josh jokes, an almost imperceptible edge beneath his words.
She ignores him and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I was out with Lareina for coffee, then we decided to get some cupcakes to bring over. Except…” She gives Josh a sidelong glance. “Maybe he doesn’t want any?”
“Nah. Well, maybe if you’ve got an extra…” He shrugs, although his eyes linger on the box. He’s a sucker for high-end baked goods, and he’s addicted to Bobbi’s nama-cream cupcakes.
Fiona places the cupcakes on my desk. “I bought four, so we can share. ”
His hands buried in his pockets, Josh stands next to her and studies the box, probably trying to see what flavor nama cream she bought. He adjusts his jacket and sniffs. “Strawberry. Damn.”
I smirk. That’s his favorite, but the little sticky labels on the individual cakes show three other flavors as well. I turn to my wife. “Which one do you want?” I ask, hoping she’ll stay. “How about the strawberry?”
Josh shoots me a death glare, which I ignore. He can have the blueberry cupcake, which is his second favorite. It won’t kill him. He’s a big boy.
“I already had one.” She smiles, but it doesn’t hide a smidgeon of shadow on her face. “And I’m feeling a little tired today. Think I’ll head home and nap.”
“You can nap here and we can go home together.” I start to gesture at a small antechamber where I keep a chaise longue for quick catnaps when I’m exhausted.
“But I brought the Maybach, and I want to drive it back.” She runs her hands along my shoulders. “Have these amazing cupcakes, and a more amazing day.”
I kiss her on the mouth. “It’s already perfect.”