Silence Reveals Hidden Answers’ by Michael Anderson novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Baxter Prescott.

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As soon as we reach my family’s villa in Lake Como, the boys start howling. It’s the same stupid victory noise we used to make in high school whenever we won a medal. Nish hangs on my arm, giggling like she’s already tasting the wealth she’s marrying into.

Contract or not.

But my mind isn’t on her. It’s on Jennifer.

First off, there has never been a medal, a title, a girl, anything I’ve wanted that I didn’t eventually get, and thinking about Jennifer feels like wanting something I cannot have.

It bothers me, more than I care to admit. It bothers me that she was present that night I took Nisha up to the game room, that she might have seen or heard something. That version of me she walked away with is not the version I want burned into. her mind.

What really kills me is Harvey, stepping up to speak to me like we are equals, punching me like he forgot exactly who I am and who he is in this family. And doing it all right in front of Jennifer!?

I don’t hate Harvey. I have never even looked into his life twice because the hierarchy is obvious. I’m the legitimate son. My name is the one on the deeds, the trust funds, the future board meetings. One day, all of this will be mine. That’s the natural order. Even when he swaggered back from the army with the strength people love to glorify, I was still the golden boy.

Therefore, I’m used to the shine being mine.

He understood that early on, which is why in high school, he was the one who asked, if we could keep the whole half–brother thing between us. He was staying with his mom who ran that rundown foster home. Four years ago, Dad finally cut him off from his mom completely…it was some argument I didn’t bother to listen to.

Harvey degraded me. In front of her. He looked me in the eye and talked to me like I was nothing. Then he punched me.

I take my hands off Nisha’s neck in annoyance of how purple my eye is.

You see… Jennifer isn’t like other girls. I made the stupid assumption at the reunion that she’d be easy. Most girls are but she surprised me when she pushed me, when she looked at me like being Baxter Prescott wasn’t enough to make her fold. It annoyed me, but it also woke something up in me that I haven’t felt in a long time.

And now, after replaying the last three days over and over, I know exactly what’s going on: Harvey didn’t look at her as a friend. He looked at her like she’s the one thing he wants which only makes me want her more, because Harvey has never— ever–been competition to me.

They’ve been friends since high school, and back then I never thought twice about their stupid little bond. Jennifer wasn’t the kind of girl you’d look at twice anyways.

Harvey himself was nowhere near the spotlight so I never bothered to question why he kept that girl close.

Until now that he actually fucking hit me!? All because I made a comment about her riding him? He’s never shown that kind of anger before. My mother has said far worse to his face and he just stood there like stone, but mention Jennifer and he loses it? It means something. She means something to him.

“What are you thinking?” Nisha murmurs beside me, but before I can answer, Enzo snorts, “Probably Jennifer,” and the boys. erupt in laughter.

We’ve been talking about her ever since the reunion, like she’s the newest obsession none of us can shake. Nisha rolls her eyes because she knows exactly where the conversation is heading, but she also knows what she signed up for, so I don’t

15:06 Tue, Feb 3 M.

Chapter 9

bother pretending for her sake.

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“Is she really dating Harvey?” Bryce asks. “Like… can he handle all that ass and sass?”

“Probably not.” I say. “She needs a real man.”

The boys break into more laughter and I let it feed the confidence coil in my chest.

“I tried talking to her at the reunion. She didn’t even look at me.”

“You don’t remember calling her an ugly duckling?” Kyle throws in.

“That was when she had those massive glasses.” Enzo argues, always ready to defend his terrible logic. The car slows at the villa, and Nisha steps out first, adjusting her golden handbag.

“I’m gonna get her.” I say, and this time my voice drops into something real and final.

“You realize your mom is gonna be in the villa for two weeks, right?”

“I don’t care. I’m gonna get her. I’m gonna smash her. I’m gonna make her cry for me not to get married. And after I am married, I’ll keep her as my mistress. Take her in my office all day long.” I tell them my fantasy.

AH

“You think Harvey will let that happen?” Bryce asks.

t

H

“They’re not.” I scoff. “He disappears for four years, paparazzi snaps one picture of her looking emotional, and suddenly they’re a thing? He probably made her go off of it to get Grandma off his back. Poor Beatrice has been wondering if her complicated little grandson would ever land a girlfriend.”

Bryce doesn’t look convinced. “Okay but since you know Harvey actually likes her… do you really think he’ll let you swoop in? You think he’ll let you playboy her?”

“Jennifer will decide that. Not Harvey. And I’m going to charm the hell out of her.” I look around at their doubting faces. “Should we bet on it?”

“Bet what?”

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I lean back until the leather seat creaks. “For my sports car. The new Aston Martin. If I don’t have Jennifer Marie wrapped around my finger by the end of this trip, car’s yours, Kyle. You’ve been eyeing it.”

I answer, and just then I spot Harvey’s car coming. That’s the bet. I’m going to fuck his little best friend and keep her as my permanent, private sin. Marrying Nisha will make Dad see me as stable, competent son, so he’ll name me CEO before he retires. And then, I’ll take the casino.

If I were running it, I’d be handling real money, not waiting for allowances like a kid.

That’s what pisses me off the most. I’m stuck in the corporate sector, where every damn purchase needs an approval. I can’t just buy what I want, not really, not without the old man’s allowance. But Harvey? The money he pulls from the casino operations is a river of easy cash. He pays himself from a bottomless well. For that punch, for that disrespect, I will take it all from him.

My eyes find Jennifer as she steps out of Harvey’s car. The Italian sun hits her like a spotlight, and for a second, I just… stop. She’s really so pretty.

She’s pretty in a way that makes you forget every other face you’ve seen that day. Soft features, bright eyes, an angel’s face paired with a body that absolutely isn’t angelic. She’s got that Cinderella innocence wrapped in a vixen’s silhouette.

She’s not one of those girls who circle men for money. I think she has a pure heart, and that purity is what gets under my skin. Sweetness that makes you imagine ruining it.

15:06

Chapter 9

Feb

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I’m watching her, plotting exactly how I’ll win this bet when she and Harvey lock eyes. What is that? Why are they-

“You’re looking at her!” Nisha snaps beside me.

“What-”

“You’re looking at Jennifer.”

“And?” I turn to her slowly.

“I knew it. It was Jen you said when you were fucking me.”

My parents are only a few feet away, so I shoot her a warning glare. “Do I need to remind you that you and I are a contract? And that what we have is an open marriage? I’m allowed to have other girls.”

“So why did you lie then!?” she presses.

“I don’t know, dude!” I mutter, keeping my expression netural. “It could’ve been ‘Jen,’ it could’ve been ‘Eyn. I don’t keep tabs on what woman I’m interested in mid–sex. Stay off my back unless you want my parents to see us fighting and call this marriage off. If you want to be a Prescott, then please me. You’ll be the future ‘first lady‘ when I control the company then you can worry about my playboy habits.”

I lower my voice, just for her. “Or take off the forty–carat engagement ring, and we can head back to New York right now if that’s what you want.”

I walk away from Nisha. Out on the landscaped path, I wait for Harvey to drift a few feet away to answer a phone call. Then I move. Jennifer’s hair is blowing in the Lake Como wind and for a second I forget what I planned to say.

When she finally turns toward me, I’m…stunned. After a long–haul flight and a sweaty drive here, she still looks put together in a fitted long–sleeve crop top and leggings.

“You want to say something?” she asks.

I realize I’m just standing there like an idiot. “Uh–yeah. Um.”

I drag a hand through my hair to make that messy ruffle that used to make girls in the high school hallways fight.

“I wanted to apologize. For what I said last time…to you and Harvey. You know brothers fight all the time, right?”

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