Page 13 of Hot For Her Stepbrother

"I feel very underdressed, Bodey."

"We'll fix that right now," he says with a smile. Bodey pulls out his phone, pushes a few buttons, and puts it to his ear. "Hey Denny, this is Mr. Calisi, the penthouse. Can you have Moira meet my guest at the boutique? Anything she wants, give it to her."

"What did you just do?"

"I want you to go downstairs and enjoy money for once, Summer. Don't think about a lost sale or commission. Don't think about the piece of shit brother of an owner who doesn't know a transmission from a Trans Am. Don't worry about not having enough because you have to squirrel away a few dollars to make sure Debbie feeds Paulie. When you're done, you can have everything brought to this suite. We'll sort out your living situation after I come back."

"You sound like you're going to see my mother without me."

He nods. "I should. Paulie's a dangerous man, and I never want you to see me the way I have to be around dangerous men. I don't want you to get hurt or in the way."

"What about my mother? Who's going to keep her safe? Take me with you, or I swear I'll spend every last dime I don't have on an Uber to that damn restaurant to get her out of there. Besides, look at you. You literally look like a million bucks. Sure's an awfully fucking fancy way to die."

He snickers, showing me a glimpse of that cheeriness that's only for me. He lets out a deep breath. "You know what? You're right, Summer. I always planned on having you with me for this reunion. Why change the plan now?"

I nod. Fuck being underdressed. We need to resolve this shit first.

The drive to The Rake, a posh vegan spot that's too posh for its location, is quiet. My feet tap, and my hands play a beat to a song I don't know on my knees as we ride into an empty parking lot. The roar of a motorcycle follows behind us, along with three large SUVs with tinted windows.

My pulse beats loudly in my ears as men file out of the cars and come up to us. Bodey stands in front of me with my back against the car.

"This is a lot of guys for just Paulie," I murmur.

Bodey ignores me to talk to the guys surrounding him. "I want eyes and ears in and out. Two guys in the kitchen, two at the back entrance, and three in this lot. He won't be alone. The objective is the same. Keep her and the other woman, Debbie Paxton, out of the line of fire. Paulie's mine. Anyone else he brings is on the menu, fellas. Let's eat."

Bodey wraps his hand around mine as the men that he's clearly the leader of disperse with mumbles and glances in our direction.

"Chin up, Summer. You belong to me, but more importantly, I belong to you." His words are quiet, affirming that the power he exudes with these men transfers their respect for him to me. I straighten my posture and walk into an empty restaurantthat doesn't feel like a restaurant. There isn't anything cooking. There aren't any luring scents of vegetable or vegan dishes firing up. The only thing that I can tell is the place is clean.

There's no wait staff or anyone there to seat us.

We sit at a table in the center where anyone walking through the front doors has no choice but to see us and sit with us. Sure enough, a few minutes later, my mother strolls into the restaurant with Paulie on her heels.

Debbie Paxton is in rougher shape than the last time I remember seeing her. There's a fresh bruise on the side of her freckled face, and her blonde hair is in a matted ponytail with gray and white hair peppering the roots. Paulie, on the other hand, is wearing a leather vest that makes him look like a member of a biker gang.

The sounds of motorcycles roar outside, a menacing smile spreading across Paulie's face as he sits across from us. My mother takes the seat closest to me, and I tap her leg under the table to assure her everything is going to be alright.

"Look at my boy, all grown up and playing in the big leagues." Paulie's voice booms around the empty restaurant. "Hey, my favorite girl. What you been up to besides fuckin’ your brother?"

I turn away, heat flushing my cheeks. Bodey wraps his hand around mine and puts our hands on the table together. He faces me. "Remember who belongs to who."

I sigh and nod, trying to calm my nerves as Bodey addresses Paulie. "We're none of your business, Paulie."

"Oh, so it's Paulie now? You don't want me to be your father anymore? No more, ‘Pop, can I?’ Yada, yada, yada?"

"You were never my father." Bodey's tone is menacingly low. Every syllable is tainted with danger. I can feel the subtle vibrations of his rage as he holds my hand, and I realize I may be the calm in his storm. The only thing keeping him from doing what I know he wants to do.

"So where's my money?" Paulie asks, looking around and leaning back in the chair. He reacts abruptly, grabbing my mother by the hair and pulling her close to him. "Debbie says you have a lot of money to give her. Pain and suffering for all those years you were gone."

"You sent me to prison," Bodey replies, unmoved by my mother's pain. I reach to help her when Bodey jerks my hand for me to stay still. Instead, Bodey snaps his fingers in the air. Two men come out with large leather duffle bags and drop them at Paulie's feet. The men walk away as quickly as they appeared at the table.

Paulie bends over, releasing my mother to look inside the bags. Bodey lets go of my hand and slides closer to my mother to pull her away from Paulie.

"Did you think you'd get away with it, Paulie?" Bodey asks.

"Come on. What's done is done, Bode. I couldn't take the fall. They needed someone like me, who looked the part, and that was you. Look at you, the picture of success."

Bodey nods. "Not just the picture of it, the actual embodiment of it. The money is yours if you can answer me one question honestly."