His Unexpected Lover (The Thorpe Brothers) (12 page)

Axel wasn’t finished.  “Oh, and Mia wants roses at her wedding but she doesn’t want you to have to pay for them.  She’s trying to keep the cost of her wedding down
since she can’t pay for it and you’ve already offered to do that.”

The four brothers stared at each other before bursting out with laughter.  When they’d calmed down, Ash nodded his head.  “
Thanks for the head’s up.  I’ll talk to her.”

Axel was about to say something to Xander, but stopped.  “Never mind,” he said and turned away.

“What?” Xander demanded, stepping in front of Ryker and Ash. 

Axel wished he hadn’t said anything.  But since it was out there, he took a deep breath and said, “Autumn wants to be taller so she can take you down and won’t be intimidated when you and she fight. 
Which seems to be all the time lately.”

Xander just stared for a long moment, unaware of the tension that statement had unleashed in the room. 
Ryker and Ash slowly moved back, knowing that Xander tended to lash out whenever Autumn’s name came up lately. 

Shockingly, Xander didn’t say a word.  He didn’t get angry or explode in any way.  He simply nodded his head and crossed his arms over his chest.  “I’ll take care of it,” he said softly but with vehemence. 
“Anything else?”

Axel turned back to Ash and chuckled. “Mia said something about wanting fatter lips.  I have no clue what that was about.”

Ash laughed again.  “I’ll make sure her lips look…” he stopped and grinned.  “Never mind.”

The other brothers turned back to Axel, all silently asking him if there was anything else they should know about. 

“That’s it,” Axel confirmed.  “Oh, wait,” he said, remembering one more thing.  “Apparently Linda Sanders got a boob job to try and catch your attention,” he told Ryker with an evil grin.  “Cricket doesn’t approve of Linda’s efforts to turn you eye.”

Ryker
looked confused for a moment.  “Linda Sanders?  She just came back from sick leave, didn’t she?”

Axel chuckled.  “Apparently, she had cosmetic surgery.”

Ryker still didn’t understand.  “She looks the same to me.”  He shrugged his shoulders. 

“How did you hear all of this?” Ash asked. 

Axel smiled as he remembered the lunch he’d overheard.  “I was eavesdropping during my lunch meeting with Phil Matthews last week.  They were at a table nearby.  The subject of Linda’s boob job came up and they all started considering cosmetic or physical changes they would make to themselves.  It was interesting to say the least.”

“What would Kiera do?” Xander asked, laughing at the idea.  He wished he could do a bit of eavesdropping himself. 

“Boob job again.”

The three other men were surprised.  “I know!” Axel said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t figure out why she would consider something like that.  Then he glared at his brothers because he’s just realized that they also considered her figure pretty awesome, which meant they’d been looking at her. 

“We’re guys!” Xander said in reaction as if that were explanation enough.

“Don’t let it happen again!” he growled and all three of his brothers laughed. 

As usual, Ryker was the first to get them back to business.  “In any case, what are your plans for Paris?”

Axel sighed and started pacing again.  “I’m not sure of all the details yet.  The only thing I know about is that I’m in love with Kiera Ward and I believe she’s in love with me.  But she loved me before and she wasn’t going to give up her career to be with me.
  I won’t give up my career, but I’ll definitely give up my office if it means I get to keep her in my life.”

“So you’re going to give up your department for her?” Xander asked, not completely understanding but he was starting to get an inkling of what was going on. 

Axel didn’t hesitate to answer.  “I won’t lose her again,” he replied.  “I left her before to start up my department.  If it means giving it up and moving with her, I’m going to do it.”

Ryker
stared at his younger brother for a long moment.  “I have several clients in Paris.  I’m sure expanding internationally will help me with my group as well.”

Xander spoke up with his own input. 
“And I had a potential client I just turned down yesterday because we don’t have a presence in Europe.  If you set up a branch there, we could keep some of those clients as well.”

“It’s tricky,” Ash added, “but doable.”

Axel’s shoulders relaxed.  He should have known that his brothers would support him.  The four of them always had each other’s backs.  There was just the four of them, and now Mia.  And hopefully Kiera. 

“I guess I’d better go try and convince her to take this job then,” he said.  He didn’t want to go to Paris.  He loved his house and he loved being with his brothers.  But he loved Kiera more.  He’d let her go the last time but he didn’t think he would survive losing her again.  There was so much more to her
and he wanted to know every aspect of her. 

“You’d better brush up on your French,” Xander said, slapping Axel’s back. 

Ash shook his head.  “It’s only a twelve hour flight from here to Paris.  We’ll see each other often.  So you’d better get a big place in Paris.  Mia will be shopping there all the time.  I’ll make sure of it.”

Axel laughed
, truly grateful for such amazing brothers.  “Deal!”

He walked out of
Ryker’s office, feeling better than he had in weeks.  He had a plan and he was damn well going to convince Kiera that it would work out this time.  He knew she loved him.  It was just a matter of getting her to admit it to him.  And probably to herself as well, and then working through all the little details that living together created.  They could make it though.  They had a lot more going for them than many other couples. 

Axel walked down the stairs once again, stopping on Ash’s floor
instead of heading down yet another flight of stairs to his own domain.  Now that he’d made the decision and gotten the support of his brothers, he didn’t want to wait until later tonight to get her thinking about his idea.  He made his way through the chaos that was always present when a team of lawyers worked together on a case.  In some cases, when the stress levels were high or a deadline was imminent, lawyers and investigators shouted ideas to each other or rushed papers from one person to another or to one drop off point in a rush to a judge’s chambers.  He heard it all but ignored the noise, moved around the people rushing through the hallways, stopping only when he reached Kiera’s door. 

He found her staring out her window, just as he’d been doing about an hour ago.  “Got a minute?” he asked, stepping inside and closing her door, leaning against it so he could watch her carefully. 
He caught the surprised look in her pretty, brown eyes and wished he knew what she was thinking.  When she was happy or excited, he could see that clearly but all other times, she hid her emotions well.  Maybe, if she gave him the chance, he’d be able to read her in fifty or sixty years. 

Kiera spun around, drinking in the sight of Axel with all of his commanding presence and incredible shoulders that she’d come to know so intimately over the past couple of weeks. 
She couldn’t believe that she’d actually thought she could ignore this man.  He was just too domineering and handsome for that to have been a realistic plan.  What hope could she have had?  When the man wanted something, he went after it with a single minded purpose.  And he’d told her what he wanted from her that very first weekend when she’d woken up in his bed. 

She smiled, thinking of how terrified she’d been that morning, worried about being in his arms and what it might imply for the future.  Now she knew, Kiera thought. 

With a sigh, she accepted the truth about her feelings for this man.  No, she hadn’t fallen out of love with him.  She’d just learned to smother the pain of not being with him.  And six years ago, she’d convinced herself that not following him had been the right thing to do. 

Oh, she’d been so
so wrong!  Falling in love with Axel Thorpe had been the beginning of the end of her independence.  She might still be going after the dream, but Kiera knew that the dream wouldn’t be complete without Axel Thorpe in it, holding hands with her, laughing and arguing with her and just generally being the man of her dreams. 

She loved him so much it almost overwhelmed her. 

“Here’s the deal,” he said and pushed away from the doorway to come into her office, making everything seem smaller somehow.  It was only a fraction of the size of his own office, but she didn’t mind.  It kept her close to him.  “I got a call from a guy named Brett that I know from college.  He told me about a job in Paris that he thinks would be perfect for you,” he explained, his stomach clenching with the smile that appeared on her beautiful face.  “I think you should take the job.”  He ignored her surprise.  “But here’s the deal.”  He waited a moment, wondering what her reaction to his “deal” might be.  Would she laugh and tell him he couldn’t come with her?  Or would she kindly accept his presence?  Then he shook his head, remembering waking up with her arms wrapped around him this morning.  He dove right into it by saying, “I’m coming with you.  I’ve already spoken to my brothers and we’ve all agreed that it would be a good idea to open up a branch of The Thorpe Group in Europe.  Paris could be the first stop and I’ll head it up.”  He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her.  “We already have ideas for potential clients.  And Ash says Mia will be over to shop in the stores as soon as we’re settled.”

Kiera was shaking her head.  “You’ll hate Paris,” she said softly
.  She stood up and came around her desk so she was right in front of him and, more importantly, closer to him.  She stopped when they were face to face, or more accurately, face to chest since he was so much taller than she was.  With a sigh of happiness, she reached up and kissed him lightly.  “Your brothers will hate you not being here in Chicago.”

Axel’s eyes darkened.  “Kiera, you’re not getting this.  I love you,” he said with absolute conviction.  “And you love me.  We’re not going through the same thing we did years ago.”
  He put his hands on her shoulders, shaking her slightly to emphasize his point. 

“I agree,” she said, her smile broadening. 

The relief he felt at her words loosened up the band that had been squeezing his chest.  “Then call this guy,” he said and pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket, “and ask him about the job in Paris. It’s a perfect opportunity.”

Kiera glanced at the paper,
then tossed it onto her desk without interest. 

Axel looked down at the paper
that had floated off of her desk to the floor, then down at her. “You’ll call him later?” he asked, trying to figure her out.  She wasn’t making any sense.  Why wasn’t she running around her desk and eagerly dialing the number he’d just given her?  It wasn’t like her to procrastinate about anything.  She dove right into every situation, handling the problems with finesse and class. 

She laughed at his confusion. 
“Nope.”

He wasn’t sure what was going on. 
“Kiera, why are you being so vague?”

She laughed softly and reached up again, kissing him one more time. “I’ve already turned down the job.”

That was unexpected.  “You’ve already spoken to him?”

“About an hour ago.”

Axel cursed Brett under his breath.  “That lying, conniving…” He shook his head and pulled her closer.  “You’re going to accept the job. It’s a great job.”

She grabbed onto his tie and pulled, bringing his head lower.  She lifted up one more time and kissed him gently, but with more feeling this time.  “I’m not taking the job,” she whispered against his lips.  “And we’re not moving out of Chicago.”

Axel would have argued further, but he couldn’t speak while he was kissing her.  “I love you,” he told her several minutes later when they came up for air.

Her smile widened and she looked up at him with all the love she had for this man in her eyes.  “I love you too!” she
laughed, delighted that things were working out so well.  Her life might not be what she’d hoped, but thankfully, it was turning out to be even better!

He turned serious all of a sudden and Kiera’s smile faded.  “What’s wrong?” she asked, unaware that her hands were gripping his arms more tightly. 

He sighed and ran his hand up her back as if he needed to make sure she was still here with him.  “I don’t want this to be temporary.”

“I don’t either,” she replied, not sure why he would think anything like that.

“I want to marry you, Kiera.  I want to know that every day, you’re going to be there by my side.  I don’t want to worry that you’re going to get another job offer and I might lose you.”

Was that all he was worried about?  She moved closer, snuggling against his broad, muscular chest, reveling in his strength.  “Hopefully I’ll have a place here at The Thorpe Group for at least a few years.  Until we decide to….”

“To what?” Axel demanded, pulling back slightly but not letting her get away from him.  “I mean it.  I want the whole thing.  I want you forever.”

She laughed and kissed the middle of his chest.  “Until we decide to have kids,” she explained shyly.  And then something occurred to her.  “You do want to have kids, don’t you?” she asked, suddenly worried.