"There is nothing you can do to make me change my mind, Laurent." Amanda stated as she stood casually in the open door of the refrigerator. Her hip cocked to the right and resting against the door as she took stock of the drink inventory. Sprite, bottled water, juice. Not a single drop of coffee in sight and she so desperately wanted an iced coffee. "I'm glad that you and your brother patched things up, but as far as I'm concerned, you stepped over a line that you should have never dared attempt."
"We all make mistakes, Amanda."
He sounded agitated, almost pissed. The sound of his voice alone had her head turning in his direction and the look she gave him was anything but friendly. It was down right filled with hellfire as those rich chocolate orbs latched onto him with severe intensity.
"I am very well aware of that. You're not a machine, even if sometimes you may move like one."
"Ah, so you've been watching the way I move my body."
She sighed in frustration. Ever since his little mishap with Melissa and his confession of being in love with her, Lau had practically been down right aggressive with his flirting even when he knew she had chosen Larry. "Why are you here? Again? When your brother isn't home?" She inquired, desperately hoping to change the subject.
"I wanted to talk with you about what had happened that night."
"I was there, Laurent. I know very well what happened." Fuck it, this conversation needed liquid encouragement. Amanda reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. She popped it open with a flick of her thumb, closing the door with her hip before leaning back against the counter to take a swing from it. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she wore ripped, paint stained jeans and what appeared to be one of his brother's older shirts that was also smeared with paint. What art piece was she working on this time?
"I can be petty sometimes, belle. When she told me that she had caught you in bed with my brother, I desperately wanted both of you to hurt, to feel the same pain that I felt in that moment. I acted instead of thinking."
"If you're looking for forgiveness, it is not mine to give."
"But it is, cherie. I have wronged you. Larry has managed to forgive me."
"He is your brother. He loves you more than he loves himself. You are his partner in crime. I don't think there isn't anything he wouldn't forgive you for."
"No, belle, you don't understand. He has forgiven me for hurting him, but he has not forgiven me for hurting you."
"Okay." She stated in confusion. "What do you expect me to do with that information?"
She was frustrating him to the point where he desperately wanted to pin her up against the wall and kiss her senseless. As each second ticked by, he was seriously contemplating doing just that. As it was, he found himself moving closer to her, almost stalking her as if she was his prey. He supposed in a way she was. He watched her through hooded eyes as she backed up against the kitchen counter, nearly knocking her beer into the sink as he blocked her in.
"What do you want to do, bebe?" His voice had dropped, deepening to a sensual purr.
Amanda swallowed hard. At one time, she had imagined something like this, but now that it was happening, she was beginning to panic. When Laurent had barely given her the time of day, she had shoved her feelings for him away. She had settled for becoming friends with him instead of fantasizing about what would never happen. Yet, now, here she was in a relationship with his brother. The one man who had, over the years, treated her with any semblance of respect. Now that she was happy, content, the man she had lusted after was hot on her heels, begging her for forgiveness and a second chance.
"What I may have wanted to do at one point, Laurent, isn't up for discussion. You knew how I felt for years and yet you never gave me the time of day. You had your nose so far up those model's asses that you never saw the real me. Not that I blame you, but look how far vanity got you. It's not the way someone looks on the outside, Lau. It's how someone treats you and respects you."
"You think that I didn't respect you, princess? You were my best friend."
"And yet then all those beautiful women came sniffing around, who was left in the dust to nurse a broken heart? Who was put on the back burner so you could have some drop dead sexy woman on your arm for premiers? Me. I was left. Larry became my shoulder to cry on. He treated me like the friend I was to him and not someone when they were in between women."
This time, it was her turn to stalk towards him, her index finger practically stabbing him in the chest as her anger rose. She had the satisfaction of watching his much taller frame back up. He bumped into the edge of the table, looking confused and unsure of what to do.
"For Christ's sake, Laurent, I was in love with you, but you were too god damned blind to see it! Or maybe you did see it and just didn't give two shits."
"That's not fair, bebe."
"Is it? What's not fair exactly? The truth?"
Lau growled lowly, taking a hold of the wrist that was point at him. His long fingers were gentle but firm and she wasn't expecting it when he pulled her roughly against the long lean line of him. She stumbled against him, nearly face-planting his chest.
"The truth is that I love you, Amanda. What I felt for you scared me. I didn't know how to react. I thought that it would go away, but it didn't. It grew and grew by the day, by the hour. When Melissa told me that you had been with Larry, I lost it. I fucked up, belle." He slid his free hand into her hair, fingers weaving around the base of her skull as he pulled her even closer. "You don't belong with my brother, cherie."
"Oh?" She knew that the tone of her voice, the defiance was quite possibly going to challenge the beast in him. She could see the shift of it in his eyes as he stared down at her from a foot and a half higher.
"You belong with me."
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