Egotistically Yours by Hayley Faiman

Chapter Thirty-Five

LAURENT

Walking into Lawrence’s place,I’m surprised to see a woman walk out of his bedroom wearing nothing but a T-shirt. She’s beautiful, but I honestly thought my brother was playing for the other team. I don’t care how many times he said he wasn’t, I thought that’s where his preferences aligned.

Now? I’m not so sure.

I arch a brow as I look at the woman standing in the hallway. Lawrence snorts, then shifts his gaze behind him and tells her to head back to bed, that he’ll be there soon. She frowns, her gaze flicking from him to me, then back to him before she nods once and turns away, following his orders.

I watch him for a moment, neither of us speaks. That is until the sound of the bedroom door closes. Then he clears his throat and jerks his chin toward the sofa. I watch as he sinks down, wearing nothing but a pair of athletic shorts, looking much like me, except shirtless.

“What the fuck happened?” he demands.

Lifting my hand, I look down at my knuckles and flex my fingers. They’re bloody and raw, but it was worth every goddamn second. Seeing Cody a bloody mess on the floor was fucking perfect. Then seeing the fear in Melody’s eyes, also worth it.

“I beat the shit out of Cody for coming on to Bethie,” I say with a shrug. “Enough was enough and he took it too far.”

“So, you went over in the middle of the night and what? Knocked on the door?” he asks.

My lips curve up into a grin. “I went around the back and walked through the unlocked door, then upstairs to their bedroom. They were fucking.”

“Laurent,” he snaps.

“Nope,” I reply back. “That fucker deserved it and I’m not going to feel bad about it, at all.”

“Then why did you come here?” he asks. “Did you want my permission to break into someone’s house and beat them up, as if you’re a teenager and not over thirty years old?” he asks.

Frowning, I shake my head. “I don’t know why I came here. I guess just to talk about it with someone. Get it all off my chest.”

“Laurent,” Lawrence says with a warning tone.

“What?” I ask.

He shakes his head. He doesn’t say anything right away, but he watches me silently for a long moment before he finally does speak. He clears his throat and leans forward, his gaze lifting to meet mine.

“You better be careful, Laurent. I don’t approve of what you did, I can’t. I understand why, but that doesn’t mean that I think you’re in the right.”

Pressing my lips together, I roll them once before I start to speak. “I know it wasn’t right, but a statement needed to be made and neither one of them was understanding. They were also becoming bolder. Too bold. Showing up at my office is one thing, showing up at Bethie’s office and cornering her, that was the last straw.”

“What does this do business-wise?” he asks.

“Fucks me.”

Saying that out loud, admitting that I just fucked up my business even more than it already was, it hurts. It guts me and honest to fuck, I haven’t processed it yet. I know that I haven’t. I feel very fucking close to hitting rock bottom right now. I’m hovering and when it all sinks in, I won’t be able to control my crash and burn.

I’m going to have to close down the company if some miracles don’t happen really fucking soon. Cody was supposed to be the miracle that got Astor Investments off the ground again, but in the oil industry.

I’m not going to make it though. Who am I if I fail at this? I went to college for this, I’ve worked since I was twenty-three years old for this. I am Astor Investments, failing is not an option.

“There is nothing wrong with you if this doesn’t work, Laurent,” Lawrence murmurs. “Life takes us in different directions and maybe this isn’t where you’re meant to be?”

“What am I meant to be then?” I ask. “I am Astor Investments,” I say, repeating the thoughts that I had just seconds ago.

“You are, but you also aren’t. You’re Laurent Astor, you’re smart and you have always been successful. Mom handed you a failing business.”

I snort. She did, but only because my father made sure that it was failing. I don’t blame him though, not at all. I would have done the same if I had been in his shoes and I wouldn’t have looked back. He had no idea that she would leave it all to me, that I would have stayed to take it on.

He couldn’t have known.

It would have been nice if we could have predicted, if I could have predicted. I would have fucking bounced and stayed with my dad. No building, no company name is worth losing my ass and putting people out of work, which is what is going to happen.

“Talk to Dad, tell him that you need help, he’ll help you,” Lawrence suggests.

“I wanted to make it on my own.”

“It’s not failing to ask for help, Laurent. You don’t think he’s ever asked anyone for help in his lifetime? Ask him, I bet you can figure out something together.”

“Maybe,” I grumble.

Lawrence grunts. “No maybes. Talk to him. Don’t be a fucking idiot and lose everything you’ve worked so hard for. You have a woman and a baby to think about, a family.”

“I do,” I mutter. “For now.”

He doesn’t call me on my choice of words, instead he just watches me for a long moment. I take that opportunity to ask him about the woman wearing his shirt. He avoids my questions, refuses to answer and tells me I can crash on his sofa for as long as I need to.

Then I watch my little brother stand and make his way into the bedroom, still giving me absolutely nothing on this woman. Shaking my head, I lie down on his sofa with a groan, promising myself that I’ll only rest for a moment or two. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I am achy and exhausted.

My eyes close and without warning, I am dead to the world.

BETHANIE

Laurent watches me,his eyes wild and appearing almost feral. I don’t make a move though. My eyes connect to his and I wait for him to say something—anything. He doesn’t. Instead, he watches me, his body held rigidly unmoving and even his eyes unblinking.

“I don’t have time to get into whatever it was you slipped off into the middle of the night to do,” I snap when Tucker is finished eating.

Standing with Tucker in my arms, I march toward him. I am angry and hurt. I want to cry, but I don’t. Thankfully, I’m able to hold it all in. I’m on the verge, barely holding it in, but I’m holding nonetheless.

“It’s not what you think, at least I don’t think that it is,” he announces as I start to slip past him.

Laurent reaches out, wrapping his hand around my upper arm. He squeezes gently. I look down and gasp at the sight of dried blood and bruising that appears on his knuckles.

“Laurent?” I ask before I slowly lift my eyes to meet his.

He watches me for a long moment, then clears his throat. “Cody won’t be a problem anymore. If he is, you call the fucking police,” he snaps.

“What are you telling me?”

“I’m not telling you anything other than he’s not going to be a problem anymore.”

Arching a brow, I watch him for a long moment in silence. Thankfully, he doesn’t try to justify anything, but he also stays completely silent. “I need information.”

“I thought you didn’t have time?” he asks, like the cocky smart-ass he is—it almost makes me smile. Almost.

“I don’t, but I can make time. I’ll just have to be late,” I snap.

His lips curve up into a grin and he nods his head once. “Then come into the bedroom, I’ll tell you while you get dressed for the day,” he offers.

Then, without a word, he reaches out, slips Tucker from my arms and jerks his chin forward before he begins heading toward the bedroom. My feet become unglued from the floor and I hurry after him.

Laurent is leaning against the bathroom counter, his gaze focused on Tucker as I slip into the room. He lifts his head, his eyes finding mine and he clears his throat. “Go ahead and start the shower, baby.”

God, his voice when he says that is so damn sexy and rough. I want nothing more than to turn around and kiss him—everywhere. I don’t. Instead, I turn toward the shower and shift the handle to hot, then face him.

“Begin,” I demand.

I’m trying really hard to hold my ground, not to show him anything, but the way he’s watching me, I just know there is something that’s happened. Something major.

“I went to Cody’s last night and I beat the shit out of him,” he announces.

“Laurent,” I hiss. “What on earth?”

He shakes his head once. “No man, no woman, nobody corners you, Bethie. You’re mine and it’s my job to protect you in all ways, just as I promised I would do. That promise isn’t just financial protection, it’s so much more.”

“Laurent,” I whisper. “But the company? What if he calls the police?”

Panic slides throughout my entire body at the thought of him being thrown in jail over this. I can’t do this all alone. I mean, I had planned on it, but I certainly don’t want to, not in the slightest. I want him right here next to me, forever.

“He won’t.”

I blink, unsure of what to do next. “He won’t. Just that simple?” I ask. “Well, if he doesn’t call the police, what if he does retaliate? We have a baby.”

We stare at one another in silence for a long moment, then he clears his throat. “He has children too. Don’t worry about it, baby. I have it handled.”

“Do you, truly?” I ask, sounding like a smart-ass, but I’m terrified right now, not just for him, but for our family as well.

“I do,” he growls. “Take a shower. I’ll pack up Tucker and get him ready.”

Without another word, he turns from me and walks away. I watch him slip from the bathroom and I wonder what the fuck can of worms he’s just opened? Cody isn’t going to take Laurent beating him up, taking him down a notch, or wounding his pride lying down.

Cody is going to fight back and I have a feeling he’s going to do it in a way where we will all feel the sting. Laurent may think that he won’t, that he can protect us from the backlash, but I know that a man like him certainly will try his damnedest to hurt all of us any way that he can.