Brooke forced even breaths past her lips.All the more reason to reveal the news now and give the dust time to settle so she wouldn’t ruinBrittany’s big day.
They stopped in the dining room entry, waiting. She took the unobserved moment to study her family at the table.
Her brother Parker would blow a gasket. Even with the softening influence of his new wife, Anna, her oldest brother was still unrelenting when it came to his business dealings. His dislike—wow, what a way to soft-soap that—for Jordan was common knowledge.
Her brother Adam had always been emotionally distant from all of them, only just beginning to open up since his surprise marriage to the straight-lacedLauryn .
At least Stephen wasn’t here.One less angry brother to worry about.
Her gaze skipped over her mother—downing a glass of wine—and settled on those most likely to be her allies. Her outgoing twin, Brittany, sat with fiancé Emilio Jefferies.
Even with Emilio’s new standing in the Garrison family, Brooke suffered no delusions. Jordan was the power force behind Jefferies’ attempts to one-up Garrison Inc. by any means possible.
A shattering glass silenced the room.
Brooke jolted as all eyes shifted to Bonita, the matriarch. Her wineglass in shards at her feet, Bonita clapped her hand over her mouth and pointed a wavering finger toward the entryway.
Perhaps Brooke should have made this announcement alone after all.
“Mother, everybody, I’ve brought someone along for dinner. He obviously needs no introduction.”
Brittanysnorted.
Brooke shot her twin a you’re-not-helping glare.
Her impish twin crinkled her nose with an unspoken sorry.
Brooke nodded briefly before stepping deeper into the room, forcing her tense facial muscles to smile,damn it. Just pretend things were normal. She paused in front of her chair at the table set for seven, ever aware of the looming man at her back. “I realize this is likely a bit of a shock, but for the sake of family unity, I would appreciate it if we could be civil adults and welcome a guest.”
She gauged the noiseless diners around the table. Stunned silent? Or quietly accepting? For a woman who didn’t do confrontation, she figured she was making a heck of a good show. “We’ll all be seeing a lot of each other in the future since…”
She swallowed down the lump in her throat and avoided looking at her mother.
“Since…”
So much for her bold approach.
Jordan ’s hand fell to rest on her shoulder. “I’m the father of Brooke’s baby.”
She glanced back at him in a quick moment of gratitude that he was there to speak the words she found so hard to say.
Bonita moaned and reached for her Bloody Mary resting by her full water glass while a maid still hovered around the broken glass at her feet. Where was she finding all these drinks? Her brothers usually did a better job at keeping them out of her hands. Things were definitely spiraling out of control.
Parker’s chair scraped back as he stood. “Brooke, move.”
She shook her head. “Not a chance, Parker.”
Her brother kept his eyes pinned on his rival. “Damn it, Brooke, I said move.”
Jordan ’s fingers twitched on her shoulder. “Don’t speak to her that way.”
A vein throbbed in Parker’s temple. “Who the hell are you to tell me how to speak to my sister?”
“I’m the man who’s going to marry your sister.”
Before she could remind Jordan she’d only agreed to date him, he’d gently moved her aside as Parker shouted, “Like hell.”
In a blink both men launched across the table.
The candelabra toppled into a crystal serving dish of asparagus. Gasps echoed.
Someone yelped.Chinaand silverware clinked and scattered.
She’d seen her brothers scuffle in their younger years, but that had been simple roughhousing. She’d never seen an all-out fight before.An honest-to-God, muscles bulging, men-out-for-blood pounding on each other.
It wasn’t pretty. And it wasn’t sexy. All the polish of their everyday ways negotiating deals in boardrooms peeled away to reveal the true cutthroat nature that had propelled them to the top. Their rawness scared her as they rolled off the edge of the table onto the floor in a crash of shattering glassware and honed bodies meeting tile.
The women shot to their feet, advanced a step,then backed away. The other two men at the table simply lounged back. What the hell was wrong with them?
Brooke stamped her heel. “Adam, Emilio, step in before one of them breaks something vital.”
Her brother and Jordan ’s lumbered to their feet as if in no big hurry to end the show.
Adam strode past, leaning toward her. “This has been a long time coming between them. Sure you don’t want to let them just work it out of their systems for a while longer?”
“Adam!” she warned a second before Parker landed a punch to Jordan ’s jaw, not that Jordan even flinched. Instead, the father of Brooke’s child flipped his rival on his back in a move that slammed them both into the serving cart.
There went dessert.
Emotions swirled through her—guilt over bringing Jordan into this lair without more forewarning. Annoyance at him and Parker for not staying civilized.
Andohmigod , divided loyalties.
Adam sighed. “Okay, okay…”
Her brother, the middle of the Garrison brood, nodded to Emilio for assistance.
The two men made their way toward the pair stillduking it out.
Bonita whimpered between gulps of her Bloody Mary. “Another Garrison bastard.”
Brooke grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself. The last thing she needed right now was condemnation from her mother, even as much as Brooke wanted to defend her child and her illegitimate sister Cassie. Focus on getting the men quieted down first so she could sit and rest her throbbing feet. Her aching heart.
Emilio and Adam dodged flying fists to grab an elbow and haul the two apart, no easy task given the thrashing men were hyped on adrenaline.
Brooke kicked her way through the shattered remains of the meal on the floor.
“Stop it, Jordan . Now.”
Somehow her calmly spoken words in conjunction with the reverberation of her stamped high heel must have penetrated his rage. He turned to look at her.
Thank God Adam quickly grabbed and pinned both of Parker’s wrists behind his back before her oldest brother could make a furtive move to take advantage of Jordan ’s distraction.
Anna rushed past a toppled chair to stand beside Brooke, sliding an arm around her shoulders. “Parker, put a lid on it. You’re upsetting your sister and that can’t be good for her in her condition.” She rested a hand on her own slight baby bump. “Or my condition, either, for that matter. Can’t you see Brooke’s swaying on her feet?”