Julian sang along to Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” playing in the background as he stacked charcuterie trays in his refrigerator from the Magnolia Lake Bakery. He opened a case of imported beer and shoved the long-neck green glass bottles into a cooler on the floor. Then he unloaded the reusable grocery bags filled with chips, dip and other snacks onto the kitchen counter.
A few weeks ago, he’d mentioned to Cole Abbott how much he’d missed the monthly poker night he and his roommate had held back in Philly. Cole had grinned and asked if that was an invitation. Just like that, he’d been volunteered to host their first monthly poker night. He’d invited Cole and his brothers: Blake, Parker and Max; Cole’s cousin Benji and brother-in-law Dallas; and Julian’s cousins Elias and Ben from Gatlinburg.
Julian had been excited about hosting the game until Chandra returned to town a week and a half ago.
They’d been practically inseparable since then, and Chandra had spent every single one of those nights in his bed.
Julian had been captivated by Chandra before. But now he was obsessed with discovering everything there was to know about this incredible woman who’d taken his breath away and turned his world upside down. The woman who would be the mother of his child. A connection they would always share.
He understood the science behind pregnancy glow: fluctuating hormones, increased blood flow, elevated oil production, etc. But seeing Chandra practically lit from within—like the holiday lanterns in the town square—and more beautiful than ever was mesmerizing. He could barely keep his hands off her.
But as addicted as he’d become to her taste, her sweet honeysuckle scent, the scintillating heat of her soft brown skin, and the growing passion between them, he enjoyed the quiet moments they spent together even more. Cooking a simple meal. Watching television together. Sharing stories—both funny and poignant—about their childhoods. Peeling back the layers to reveal a little more of themselves to each other as she lay in his arms each night.
Being with Chandra had been everything he’d imagined and more. Julian looked forward to waking up to her every morning, and he was sure she felt the same. Still, she hadn’t mentioned his marriage proposal, and he hadn’t wanted to push her. Her words that day at the café echoed in his head.
Julian, I haven’t done this in a while, and if I’m being honest, I’m still a little gun-shy.
He needed to convince Chandra he was nothing like her former fiancé. That he’d never abandon or betray her and the baby. That their life together could be truly amazing, if she’d give them a chance.
The crunch of gravel in the driveway drew his attention. Julian glanced at his watch. The guests weren’t scheduled to arrive for another forty minutes. But maybe his cousins had come down earlier to catch up before the other players arrived.
Julian unlocked the front door, then did a final straightening of the space.
Multiple footsteps climbed the front steps. Then there was a banging on the front door.
“Come in!” Julian poured some pretzels in a bowl. “And why the hell are you knocking on my front door like...?” Julian halted midsentence when his eyes met the steely, narrowed gaze of Sebastian Valentine.
Sebastian stood, legs wide, with his arms folded. He wore his usual scowl. Alonzo stood beside him, looking just as displeased. Nolan and Nyles completed the ragtag posse.
“Nolan, Sebastian, Alonzo, Nyles.” Julian widened his stance and folded his arms as he acknowledged the four men. “Wasn’t expecting you guys. What’s up?”
“It’s about our sister,” Nolan said.
“Is she all right?” Julian’s heart thumped, prompted by the worried look on Nolan’s face.
He and Chandra hadn’t spoken since they’d had lunch at the café earlier that day. She’d been tired and slightly nauseous but nothing that raised a red flag.
“Yes, she’s fine. But she’s—”
“Knocked up. Maybe you’ve heard?” Sebastian’s hands curled into fists at his sides.
“Right.” Julian nodded.
At Chandra’s insistence, he hadn’t spoken to her family since they’d discovered she was pregnant. She wanted to give Sebastian and Alonzo, her two hothead brothers, a chance to cool down. Clearly, that strategy hadn’t worked.
“If this is the part where you show up at my house with a shotgun and insist I make an ‘honest woman’ of your sister, maybe you missed the part where I already asked her to marry me.”
“We know about the proposal.” The calmness in Alonzo’s voice belied the anger evident in his narrowed gaze and flared nostrils. “But we also know about all your shady little side hustles—the gambling, the real estate investment schemes, and let’s not forget your history of dating wealthy older women.” Alonzo held up another finger as he ticked off each “offense.”
Whomever the Valentines had hired to look into him had done their homework. But they’d sold the fellas a lot more sizzle than steak.
Unlike his trust fund buddies, he couldn’t just make a sizable withdrawal or ask Daddy for a loan when he wanted to go into real estate investment. So he’d made the seed money for his earliest joint ventures by playing Texas Hold’em and Seven-Card Stud.
In the beginning, he’d lost more than he’d won. But he’d studied both games. Watched the pros. Practiced every chance he got. It hadn’t taken him long to turn things around, and he’d made a lot of money. Money he’d used to buy into investments that had made him a lot more money and were a lot less risky.
“You haven’t told your sister about any of this,” Julian said, keeping his expression neutral.
“I just bet you would prefer we keep this from Chandra.” Sebastian practically snarled. “But if you think—”
“That wasn’t a request, Sebastian.” Julian stared the other man down. “It was a statement. You clearly haven’t mentioned any of this to Chandra. Because if you had, she would’ve told you she already knew all of this. I genuinely care for your sister.” He scanned the faces of all four brothers. “And I have no secrets from her. Nor am I ashamed of my humble beginnings or the hustle and grind I put in to make a comfortable life for myself.” He shrugged. “Chandra and I talked about all of this before we learned about the baby. So I’m sorry if you wasted your dime on your little private investigator. But if you’d just asked, I would’ve told you anything you wanted to know.”
“If part of that ‘hustle and grind’—” Sebastian used air quotes “—is trying to marry our sister to get your hands on her share of the sale of Valentine Textiles, just know you won’t see a dime. There’s no way in hell I’m letting my sister marry a virtual stranger without an ironclad prenup.”
“I’m pretty sure your sister does whatever the hell she wants,” Julian said. “And I don’t want or need Chandra’s money. If your sister asks me to sign a prenup, as I would expect someone in her position to do, I’ll sign it without hesitation. End of story.” Julian shoved his hands in his pockets. “Anything else?”
“We realize that you’re doing well financially, Dr. Brandon.” Nolan pushed his smudged glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I guess our concern is—”
“How you got that money,” Alonzo interjected. “You have an affinity for wealthy older women.”
“The kind that die and leave you a shitload of money,” Sebastian added.
“So that’s what this is about.” Julian rubbed his jaw and sank onto a nearby bar stool.
As irritated as Julian was with the Valentine brothers for delving into his past, he admired how fiercely they were protecting their sister.
He tried to consider the situation from their perspective. Their sister meets a complete stranger on a plane—who happens to be a younger man. Within a few months of meeting her—and learning of her impending inheritance from the sale of their family’s firm—she’s pregnant and he’s asking her to marry him. Then they discover he’s inherited millions from an older woman before.
Maybe they were being a little melodramatic about it, but this was definitely beginning to sound like the setup to a murder mystery where he was the prime suspect.
“You want to know about my relationship with Meredith Valera and why she left me—”
“Four hundred million dollars,” Sebastian and Alonzo said in stereo.
“Meredith Valera was determined to use her family’s wealth to right wrongs and do some good in underserved communities. I volunteered at the rural and inner-city clinics her organization ran. We’d chat at the clinic and she’d sometimes consult me about different initiatives she planned to roll out.”
Julian smiled at the memory of the kindhearted philanthropist who’d help him channel his pain and need for redemption into his volunteer work.
“When she became terminally ill, we talked about the legacy she wanted to leave and how her moneygrubbing children and grandchildren would squander her wealth. But I was as shocked as anyone that she left that money to me along with strict instructions on how it should be distributed. I’ve honored her wishes and will continue to do so. I’ve never used a cent of that money for myself, nor will I.”
Sebastian and Alonzo didn’t look convinced.
“As for the other wealthy older woman you’re referring to, we met through mutual friends and dated for a few months. It didn’t work out. We both moved on. End of story. Sorry to disappoint you, but there was nothing nefarious about my relationship with either of them.”
“So just to be clear, there are no murdered wives whose insurance you collected?” Nyles added.
“You guys really need to lay off the true crime shows.” Julian shook his head and chuckled.
Nolan and Alonzo laughed, and Julian was pretty sure Sebastian smiled for about a microsecond before resuming his usual scowl.
“Hey, that shit happens.” Nyles folded his arms. “I need to know what to look out for. I am not tryna end up with my face on an episode of Snapped.”
Nolan shook his head. He shifted his gaze to Julian. “As you’ve probably determined, Chandra means a lot to us. She’s been more than a sister. She’s been like a mother to us.”
“I know.” Julian nodded. “She often talks about you all. I understand how much you all mean to her and why she must mean so much to you.” Julian couldn’t help smiling as he thought of Chandra’s beautiful brown eyes and contagious laugh. Of the smile that made him feel like he was floating on air.
“Look, I’m by no means perfect. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life. Some of which I’m still trying to atone for. But I swear to you, I have no ulterior motives where your sister is concerned. Maybe I don’t deserve her.” Julian shrugged. “But I’m damn lucky she walked into my life, and I plan to spend the rest of it making her feel just as lucky she walked into mine.”
The Valentine brothers stared at him, seemingly at a loss for words.
“Told you I liked this guy.” Nyles nodded approvingly. “If you can’t appreciate how beautiful that speech was, you’re the Tin Man. You have no heart.”
Sebastian elbowed his youngest brother in the ribs. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
“Chandra’s,” Nyles, Alonzo and Nolan all answered simultaneously.
“C’mon, Bas. Chandra gave him every opportunity to walk away, and instead he asks her to marry him. Clearly, he’s serious about her,” Nolan said.
Sebastian frowned, still unconvinced. But the anger in his eyes dimmed, ceding to something softer: genuine love and concern for his sister.
“She’s been through a lot. And she’s sacrificed a lot. For all of us. Now she’s doing it again. This time for my dad’s dream of building a wine empire.” Sebastian sighed. “She’s caring and self-sacrificing. She hasn’t always gotten the same in her relationships. We just don’t want to see her get hurt again.”
The tension in Julian’s shoulders eased. Maybe Sebastian could be kind of an asshole. But the man obviously loved his sister and wanted to protect her. Julian respected that, even if he didn’t agree with his approach.
“Chandra and I sort of bonded over the pain of losing a parent when we were young. And I know about the broken engagement. I understand what’s at stake here, Sebastian. Chandra is this unexpected ray of light in my life. Being with her makes me happy. I just want to do the same for her. But no matter what she chooses to do, I will always be there for her and for the baby.”
The front door burst open and the room was filled with the raucous laughter of Julian’s cousins Elias and Ben.
“What’s up, Jules? Everything good?” Elias sized up the four men standing in Julian’s great room. His cousin’s face had gone from jovial to fight-ready in two seconds flat.
“Yeah. We’re good.” Julian introduced Chandra’s brothers to his cousins.
“Hello.” Ben smiled brightly as he shook hands with each of them, oblivious to the tension in the room.
Elias tipped his chin warily. “Y’all here for poker night?”
“Poker night?” Nyles rubbed his hands together. His dark eyes sparkled. “Oh, so you just weren’t going to invite us? That’s wrong, bro. We’re practically family.”
“None of you were in town when we made plans for tonight.” Julian didn’t want to spoil poker night with the tension between him and Chandra’s brothers. But now that they were there, he couldn’t not invite them. “You’re welcome to stay, of course.”
Nolan inched toward the door. “Thanks, but we should probably—”
“We’d love to stay. It’ll give us a chance to get acquainted,” Alonzo said. “Like Nyles said, we’re practically family.”
“Mind if I open the pita chips?” Nyles held up the bag.
“Help yourself. I was about to empty the bag into a bowl.”
A mischievous smile slid across Nyles’s face. “Thanks...Jules.”
Julian narrowed his gaze at Chandra’s youngest brother.
Just let it go.
He remembered how Chandra had described the oldest twin. A jokester who is doing his best to cope with the deep trauma inflicted by his mother’s abandonment.
Julian wasn’t sure how the rest of the night would go, but he wanted to marry Chandra. And whether she said yes or not, they’d agreed to raise this child together. Things would go much smoother if he could win over Chandra’s brothers.
Tonight seemed like a good place to start.