Under the Stars (Sequel to Across the Pond)

Chapter 43

I think I heard wrong.

No, correction. I want to believe that I heard wrong. For Brooks' sake. For my own.

But I ask to be sure. "I'm sorry. I thought you said Jimmy Daniels."

Brooks gulps, and that's all the answer that I need to know that I, in fact, didn't.

"I did," he hoarsely speaks.

I gape at him because I can't believe what I'm hearing.

I asked Brooks for one thing. I asked him not to start anything with Jimmy Daniels. Not because I think that the asswipe doesn't deserve it, but because it's not helping anyone.

Am I being a little selfish asking Brooks to not fight Jimmy because it'll jeopardize me working for him? Maybe a little. But I need this job to support my family. Is that selfish? Not at all.

Here I was convincing myself over the past month that Brooks Caldwell isn't the egotistical, self-absorbed golden boy that I thought he was. Man, was I wrong.

"Babe," Nico mutters to Bella. "Why don't we go inside? Leave these two alone?"

Bella follows Nico's movement when he goes to stand up, but she lets him walk to the sliding doors alone.

"Brooks, I swear to God, if you did something to mess this relationship up, I'll hurt you," Bella threatens with a finger in the air.

"BC," Nico shouts from a few feet away, giving her a wave. "C'mon, babe. Give them their privacy. They'll figure this out."

Will we, though? What's there to figure out? The facts are the facts. Brooks fought Jimmy Daniels. What more do I need to know?

I watch Bella make her way to the door, and she smirks at me when she passes. I force myself to smirk back just to show her that I'm okay, even though I'm really not.

Brooks inches his body forward and looks anxiously at me.

"Babe," he shakes his head, "it's not what you think."

"It's exactly what I think," I shout. "You fought Jimmy." I let out a breath full of disbelief. "For whatever reason, you fought Jimmy after I told you not to."

"'For whatever reason'?" Brooks repeats after me. "Rem, it wasn't for 'whatever reason'. The asshole was talking shit about you. To my fucking face. What did you expect me to do? Just let it slide?"

"Yes," I shout again.

"What?" Brooks asks, but he's more stunned than confused by my answer. "I was protecting you."

"No, that's the thing, you weren't."

"I wasn't? Really?" he asks almost mockingly.

"No," I respond. "If you were trying to protect me, you would've done the opposite."

"What? Sit back and let him run his fucking mouth?" Brooks shakes his head at me. "You and I have two different meanings of the word 'protect', Remi."

"Brooks," I inch my body forward to get closer to him, "I specifically asked you not to fight Jimmy. And you promised me that you wouldn't. You broke that promise."

"No, I promised you that I wouldn't fight him when you told me about him kissing you on the golf course. Which, want to know what? I should've knocked his face in for, but I didn't. Because I told you that I wouldn't. The shit that he pulled last night was a whole different scenario."

I can tell that Brooks is getting more and more frustrated. It's not that I don't appreciate him sticking up for me. I do, more than I can explain. But my situation with Jimmy is complicated. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even be working for him in the first place. But I need this job. My family needs me to have this job.