He shook his head, his face contorting. “It’s a business transaction, you get that, don’t you?” The latter part was aired as though he thought me stupid.
A business transaction? What the actual fuck?
“What do you mean? Like an arrangedmarriage?”
“Yeah,” he added with ahow could you not knowlook.
His revelation hit me with the strength of a sledgehammer. “Where are we, the fucking Middle Ages?” I stated incredulously.
Nix matched my tone. “I know, man. Wealthy families do it all the time, supposedly. It solidifies alliances for business purposes. I still think it’s barbaric.”
“Have you told your father that?”
“Yep. He won’t listen. Says the match will be good for her and how she’s accepted it. The fact that she has never shown interest in anyone else makes him think she’s totally on board, but I have my doubts.”
“So, he isn’t forcing her to go through with it?”
“Not that I can tell.”
I knew he was right. Storm would never accept something like that. The girl was no pushover, dancing to Daddy’s tune. Or at least, she hadn’t been in the past. My mind was racing faster than the top speed I’d achieved in my car.
The waitress appeared with my order, and I thanked her and took a bite. I needed sustenance after that fucking bombshell. When Storm had revealed news of her engagement, she hadn’t mentioned anything about it being a business thing.
“Are you OK?” Nix suddenly asked as I wiped ketchup off my mouth with the napkin.
I shrugged, “Storm’s wedding, the whole idea of it just gives me the shits.”
“Nah, that crap you’re eating will do that.”
His comment fell on deaf ears. Swallowing, I said to no one in particular. “So, Jasper the dick, isn’t a love match?”
I placed the sub down as Nix stole a fry. “You need to fix it, man.”
As he popped it between his lips, I asked with narrowed eyes. “And how the fuck do I do that?”
Phoenix’s face took on that look he got when he was about to wipe the floor with someone. “I say we get rid of him.”
“We?” I scoffed, pushing my shoulders against the backrest.
“Yeah. We’ve got your six, man.”
“What about Storm?”
“She isn’t in love with him. So, we extract him from her life.” The thought of successfully prying Jasper douchebag the fucking third from her side forced a thrill through my torso. My hands clenched into fists on the table.
“You say get rid of him. How the fuck do we do that?” My hopes of Nix already having a plan dried up as he gave me an apologetic look.
“We could feed him to Hudson?” he suggested with a huge grin. I mirrored that. The psycho who was our eldest foster brother would eat a guy like Jasper for breakfast.
“But seriously? What?”
Grabbing another fry, Phoenix took a deep breath and explained. “We’re the Sawyer brothers. I think we can come up with something.”
My entire body deflated in my seat. “I don’t know, man, the woman fucking broke me.”
“I know that. So do something about it.”
As we regarded each other over the table and my forgotten food, the sound of a car engine, loud and throaty, groaned into the lot. We both glanced outside as Hudson’s beat-up piece of shit Ford Ranger pulled in next to my car.
