One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

The mention of the will had Chase bristling with sudden anger. He hated the fact that his father had so easily resigned himself to the idea of being killed off by cancer.

“That is not important right now.” He gritted out. “What is important is that you get your surgery and come out healthy again!”

Richard furrowed his eyebrows. “What is wrong with you, Chase? You are usually the practical one. Getting my things in order, including my will, is the practical thing to do at this point. No one knows what the outcome of the surgery will be.”

“We are fighters. That is what got us this high in the food chain.” Chase countered. “You have to fight this. You already have state-of-the-art hospital equipment, genius doctors and skilled surgeons at your service. All that’s left is your will to fight. Do you really want to leave, like mom did?”

Richard sighed deeply.

“Son. You have Eleanor.”

Chase’s expression visibly darkened at the mention of that woman.

“If you trust Eleanor so much, why have you not told her about your illness?”

“I have my reasons. She will be a good mother to you.”

“A good mother? Like she ever was.” Chase’s voice held disdain.

Richard closed his magazine, tossing it to the side. “Let’s not argue, son. I really do not have the strength for it.”

Chase kept mute, staring emptily at the white wall across the bed. His father stared at him thoughtfully, noting how tense and stressed Chase seemed to be recently. He realized he had not been giving his son the credit he deserved.

He was going through a difficult divorce while dealing with the bloodthirsty press and paparazzi at the same time. He had just received news that his father had cancer, and might not survive it. And he had to deal with all of this along with his own private, unresolved issues while maintaining his CEO responsibilities.

Only the strongest could lead a conglomerate like Axford without breaking down.

And Chase had been extremely strong, Richard realized.

He said in a low tone. “Chase. You don’t go home anymore, do you? When was the last time you slept in your own house?”

Chase narrowed his eyes at the question. “How do you know that?”

“Do you think the security answers to you alone?” His father raised an eyebrow.

Chase sounded exasperated. “Now you’re digging information about me from my security?”

“No, son. I’m just worried about you sleeping out of the house.”

“I’d rather stay away from that house till I can get a restraining order. Trust me, it will be effective as soon as possible. Selene broke in and has been stubbornly refusing to leave.” Chase muttered heatedly. “The security can’t even throw her out without giving the paparazzi camping in front of the property a show to feed off on.

“When I get the restraining order, she will have no other choice.”

Richard asked, “She is still refusing to sign the divorce papers?”

“I’ll definitely make her sign it.”

“Listen, son. I just want you to be comfortable and happy. The fact that I might leave this world soon is unavoidable, no matter how much it hurts, but one thing I can’t bear is the thought of leaving when your life is not in balance.

“You don’t have kids after years of a marriage that’s about to end. That’s not okay, and I’m not happy with it.”

“Don’t worry about me. Get your treatment, and focus on getting better.” Chase said dismissively.

Richard knew the conversation would go nowhere if he kept talking about Chase’s marriage or kids, so he changed the topic in a resigned tone,

“Alright. Have you been able to find Mackenzie? Like I told you before, my people have lost track of her.”

At the mention of Mackenzie’s name, Chase’s body automatically went tense with possessiveness. That was how much power she had over him.

“I told you, father. I’ll handle it.” He responded curtly.

“Please be quick about it. Now that I’m trying to get everything in order because of my uncertain future, I’d like to at least see her again. And, give her the compensation she deserves. She might need it at this point.”

“I’ll handle it. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, son. Also, when you find her, don’t let Jeffrey know about it. He didn’t treat her well, so I think it would be best for both of them if they remain far away from each other.”

Chase couldn’t agree more. However, he didn’t want to talk about Mackenzie with anyone. She was all his.

So he steered the conversation back to the surgery, “After the surgery, you will need someone to constantly take care of you. Someone you know more personally than a nurse. That should be Eleanor, isn’t it?”

“Well… I already arranged for anonymous caretakers to do that. They all signed NDAs, so it’s a foolproof plan.” Richard responded. “I don’t need Eleanor here.”

“You’re really determined to keep her in the dark, aren’t you?” Chase sounded sarcastic.

Richard ignored his tone and steered the conversation away to how the company was doing. Chase humored him and let him away the conversation. After a couple of moments, he left the ward and went to meet the doctors in charge of his father.

The doctors eagerly reassured him of Richard Axford being in safe hands. The date of the surgery had been decided on, and Chase made it a point to be in the hospital that day.

On leaving the hospital, Chase found himself giving orders to the security to head to the restaurant where Mackenzie worked. His entire being itched to see her again, especially since the last time he saw her, she was dead drunk.

And he hated every moment she spent working such a miserable job.

After getting out of the car, he was inside the building in a few strides. He turned in the direction of the stairs that led straight up to the VIP section, but paused when he heard the sound of bickering across the large space.

He cast a mildly annoyed and disinterested glance at the source of the noise, but froze when he saw the scene unfolding before his eyes.

A few tables away, a group of men sat in a circle, leering at the waitress trapped in the middle. One of the men was on his feet, grabbing the waitress’ hand roughly, trying to pull her closer.

That waitress was Mackenzie.

Chase’s blood boiled over so fast, so scalding hot and so dangerously , that the air around him scaled a few degrees in temperature. His fists balled and he was storming towards the scene with murderous intent.

“Let me go!” Mackenzie protested, trying to break her wrist free of the man’s grip, but it was futile. He held on tight, seemingly to derive pleasure from her struggles.

“Are you fucking raising your voice at me, you slut?” The man spat down at her, encouraged by the other men grinning and cheering him on.

Mackenzie glared at him, but immediately flinched when he slammed his other fist on a table. “Oh, you can’t reply to me, bitch? You still won’t give me your fucking number? Who do you think you are, anyway?”

“She’s just a fucking whore.” Someone added.

The man growled at her. “Listen bitch. You’re gonna be a good little whore and give me your fucking number, house address, and anything else I ask for. After all, what use are you anyway? Washing dishes and cleaning floors in a slutty uniform? I’ll give you another job. And it’s to suck my dick, nice and good.”

Laughter erupted.

Mackenzie trembled in fright as he continued, handing out his phone. “Type it out now, or I’ll make you lose your job right now-”

His voice abruptly cut off when someone grabbed his phone and flung it across the room where it collided with the wall in a sickening crash. The silence that followed was tense.

The smile dropped from the man’s face at the same time Mackenzie whipped around to see Chase standing right behind her. Protectively.

Before anyone could even register what was going on, Chase grabbed the man’s hand away from Mackenzie and twisted it backward so hard that there was a loud crack of joints emanating from his flesh.

He yelled in sudden pain, eyes wide in confusion and panic.

Chase stepped forward, making him cower backwards in fear. Mackenzie stared on, her own eyes widening when she saw the expression on Chase’s face. It was lethal. His blue eyes had almost gone completely black with hate and rage.

His gorgeous face was tone cold, staring down at the man who seemed fragile and compared to Chase’s hot-blooded, muscled and towering strength.

The man was already far bigger than Mackenzie in height and size, but compared to Chase, Mackenzie almost felt sorry for him.

The other men were stunned into shocked silence, unsure whether to run to safety or call the police on the person about to rip their friend’s wrist apart.

But the one thing they were sure of, was that they had thoroughly fucked up.