Kylian’s face fills the screen as he’s rubbing his hand over his face. He and I look the most similar to each other, with Damien and Kingsley favoring each other. Kind of like our personalities. We’re the chatterboxes to their grumpy asses.
“Sorry, guys. I’m working from home today and Kiara thinks she’s”-he raises his voice-“the next
David Guetta.”
“Yeah, I have no idea who that is,” Kingsley says, deadpan. But it’s the truth, pop culture is not something Kingsley spends too much time partaking in.
“Hi!” A bright, cheery voice pipes up and that tells us all that Damien has entered the chat. Or specifically, Damien and My-Linh. My-Linh is the closest thing to a human ray of sunshine that exists. Sometimes if she’s in the Baxter Tower in Sydney when it’s time for the meetings, she pops in to say hello, and makes us all smile.
Even Kingsley likes her.
“Is that My-Linh?” Kiara, Kylian’s fiancee, appears on the screen, pushing him away from the camera. “Hi, future sis!” Kiara says, waving at the camera.
“Hi, future sis!” My-Linh replies, breaking out into a grin that’s wider than any she’s ever given any of us. “Oh, you look so cute in that dress, Kiara!”
Kiara beams, “Thanks! I got it at Verde Rosa, they have a pop up shop at the casino!” Kiara employs poker prop players for Baxter’s casino in Macau, and smiles as she takes you for every dollar you have on the poker table.
Kylian smooshes his face up next to his fiancee’s and covers her face with his hand. “Hi, My-Linh, how’s my favorite future sister-in-law?” Kylian quickly appointed himself My-Linh’s favorite Baxter brother from the moment he first met her. Luckily for him, Kiara fell just as in love with her as the rest of us have.
It’s also a good thing that Kylian lives on a completely different continent to her or else Damien might have disemboweled him by now. Damien does not like anyone looking at or talking to My-Linh too long. Which is too bad for him, because everyone loves her. We’ve all warmed to Kiara as well, who is sharp as a tack but also kind. It’s hard not to be happy that my brothers have found women who love them the way they need to be loved.
We listen to the women and Kylian chatter for a little while. In his little box on the screen, I see Kingsley completely tuned out, flipping papers on his desk, Damien sits behind My-Linh, eyes trained on her and only her.
I wonder what he’s going to say, when he finds out about Clarissa. Jealous, no. Angry that I’ve brought her back into the family fold, yes. Unequivocally, yes. And he won’t bother hiding it either.
“So, are you guys all ready for your wedding in a few weeks?” Kylian’s question somehow makes My-Linh’s face brighten even more. The question doesn’t have the same effect on Damien though. He throws his head back in a groan while still keeping his arms wrapped around his fiancee’s waist.
“Guys, it’s become a thousand-headed tulle monster,” he groans. “What happened to our little ceremony in the park with appetizers in the apartment before I kick everyone out before I ravage you?” Damien asks his fiancee. I’ll never get over how playful he is with her. How he isn’t afraid to show that side of him now.
My-Linh rolls her eyes, lovingly, and leans over and kisses him on the cheek. “How about I let you ravage me right now?”
“Ewwwww!” Kylian shouts and covers his eyes.
Ironic, considering I’ve managed to walk in on him and Kiara having sex every single time I’ve visited Hong Kong in the last three months.
“Anyway, I better go, let you guys do whatever you guys do in these meetings,” My-Linh jokes.
“Kiara, are you free for a Facetime?”
“Absolutely, sis, this was getting boring anyway.”
The two women disappear and I almost wish they hadn’t. With them here, I don’t have to deal with the questions coming my way. I’m not quite ready to tell them about my arrangement with Clarissa. I know it’s wrong to withhold it, considering it’s a certainty, but until she and I start showing up in public and Paula announces our engagement, I’m hoping I can start warming them up to the idea.
A knock on my car window startles me while Kylian talks about construction on the new apartment building he’s bought in Macau for Kiara’s business.
I cover the webcam and wind the window down to see who it is. Clarissa peeks in saying, “Um,
I’ve got my stuff. Are you ready?”
I hold my finger up and turn back to the screen. “Er, guys, I’m going to have to go. Last minute meeting, you get it. Catch up next week.”
It’s only a second before I close my laptop, but it’s enough to hear Kylian heckle me, and to see a glimmer of a shadow cross Damien’s face.
“I’m sorry, I… had a meeting.” I say, getting out to help her with her things.
“At two thirty in the morning?”
“Brother meeting.”
She nods, “Oh, yes, the infamous Wednesday meetings. I always wondered if those were an actual thing. Damien always kicked me out when it came time for one.”
Her sadness makes me angry at my brother. There’s such a difference between how he treats MyLinh now and how he treated Clarissa in the past. I don’t blame her for her bitterness even if I know she brought some of it on herself.
I open the passenger door for her with a flourish. “Ready?” She gives me an unsure smile and nods.
And then I drive us home.
***