My Ex, My Fake Boyfriend’s Brother

I went to the airport with my boyfriend to pick up his younger brother—and ran straight into my ex, Julian Bennett. Seeing the gorgeous woman beside him, I forced a smile. “I’m getting married soon, too. Make sure you come to the wedding.” Then my boyfriend walked up beside me. “Julian, say hello to your future sister-in-law.” Something in Julian snapped. He grabbed me and pulled me into a VIP lounge. Pinning me beneath him, he demanded in a low, rough voice, “He’s the better man you were talking about?” At the airport, I nearly lost my mind over a man whose back looked just like Julian Bennett’s. When I snapped out of it, I grabbed the coffee I’d just bought and hurried away—only to spill it all over someone. “I’m sorry.” I fumbled for tissues and held them out. Then I looked up, straight into a pair of painfully familiar eyes. But the openness I remembered from three years ago was gone. Now those eyes studied me with disapproval. Julian glanced at the tissues. “Don’t bother.” Did he… not recognize me? Or had he reached the point where he could look at me and feel nothing at all? “Hey! Do you ever watch where you’re going? You think saying sorry makes it okay? Do you have any idea how much those clothes cost?” The woman beside him erupted, finally dragging my attention away from Julian. She was all curves and sultry beauty, with her chin tilted so high she could have looked down on anyone. So this was his type now. “What are you staring at? You spill coffee on someone, and I’m not even allowed to call you out?” she snapped. “I’m sorry. Tell me how much it costs. I’ll pay.” I wanted to escape far more than I wanted to argue. After three years of keeping my feelings buried, it took a lot more than a few nasty words to get a reaction out of me. But right now, just speaking normally in front of Julian was taking everything I had. “Like someone as broke as you could afford it. You—” Julian cut her off. “Leave it.” His voice was still quiet, but it sliced straight through my heart. Apparently, he couldn’t even be bothered to speak to me anymore. Fine. Then I could keep my head buried in the sand. But just as I turned to leave, I heard a voice call my name for the first time in years. “Hannah.” My heart missed a beat. What was he going to say? Before he could continue, the woman let out a startled gasp. “You’re Hannah Brooks?” “The woman who had the nerve to dump Julian?” I dumped Julian? So that was how he told our story. Maybe I felt too wronged. Maybe I just couldn’t swallow the insult. Either way, I actually snapped back. “What? Can’t stand knowing the man you treasure is someone else’s reject?” Then I looked at Julian. “I’m getting married soon, too. Make sure you come to the wedding.” Only after the words left my mouth did I realize something. After three years of keeping my emotions locked down, the first person to make me lose my temper was still Julian. “Hannah, what’s taking so long? You were only getting coffee.” Evan Hayes strode over, glanced at me, then looked at Julian. I opened my mouth to explain, but Evan was already smiling. His voice was as courteous and gentle as ever. “Julian. I’ve been waiting by the exit forever. So this is where you’ve been.” “Come say hello. This is Hannah, your future sister-in-law.”Julian had come into my life entirely by accident. We’d both gone to NYU, but I was a full four years older. When he was nineteen and starting his freshman year, I’d already graduated and joined the working world. The first time I met Julian on campus, a group of thugs had him surrounded. I knew charging in wouldn’t do much good. But I called the police, put my phone on speaker, and rushed into the crowd anyway. Luckily for both of us, the call scared them enough to buy us time until campus security arrived. Afterward, Julian started following me around, insisting on buying me dinner. But one dinner turned into another, and another. He kept saying it still wasn’t enough to thank me for saving his life. “How about I give you my heart instead, Hannah?” I was an adult. I knew that wasn’t just an innocent joke. Julian was testing the waters. But I also knew I was four years older. If he only wanted to fool around, I couldn’t afford to waste my time. I tried to bury the flutter in my chest. He only pursued me more openly. With no dating experience to speak of, I didn’t hold out for long. My college roommate and best friend, Lily Parker, warned me more than once. Julian was young and came from money. If he ever lost interest, I would be the only one who got hurt. My head knew she was right. My heart kept running back to him anyway. He clung to me, and I loved it. His need for me felt like proof that he loved me. It was the only thing that could quiet my doubts for a while. What I never expected was that our sweet, anxious little romance would end after just one year. That day, my supervisor set me up, blamed me for his mistake, and got me fired. Furious, I asked Julian to come over to my rented apartment that night and started venting. But the longer I talked, the more I realized he didn’t seem to be listening. Throughout our year together, I’d quietly looked to him for reassurance, but I’d never been demanding. That was what young couples did. I was four years older, and I wanted to keep being the mature, understanding one. Even though I was only twenty-three, and this was my first relationship. This time, his attitude upset me. But more than that, something made me want to follow my heart for once—to be like other girls and ask for a little extra affection. “I had such an awful day. Aren’t you going to comfort me?” Julian finally looked at me again. A long moment passed before he answered. “Why do I always have to comfort you? Because I was the one who asked you out? Why can’t you comfort me for once?” The one time I asked to be babied, he threw it back in my face. Of course I was angry. “Julian, do you stop caring once you get the girl? Keep treating me like this, and I might break up with you!” He shot up from the couch. “You’re all the same. None of you actually love me, do you?” I’d never asked about Julian’s dating history. A handsome, sunny, affectionate guy like him must have had girls lining up. I hadn’t wanted to make myself miserable. Now that I’d heard it from his own mouth, every part of me recoiled. When I didn’t answer, he took my silence as confirmation and blurted out, “Then let’s break up!” The moment he said it, we both froze. Sometimes I wondered whether I could have had an ordinary, happy life if I hadn’t gone back to campus with my friends to visit our professor that day—if I’d never met Julian. A sudden pain in my wrist snapped me back to the present. I looked at Julian, then at the shapely woman beside him. They were traveling together. Clearly, he’d moved on. I was the only idiot who still remembered every detail of that year. His grip tightened, and I couldn’t pull free. Something seemed to have set him off. His calm expression finally cracked, leaving a cold look in his eyes. “Hannah. He’s the better man you were talking about?”When he’d shouted that we should break up, we had both gone still. I’d recovered first and lashed out. “I’d love nothing more!” “My next boyfriend will be a hundred—a thousand times better than you, Julian.” In three years, he’d forgotten every bit of love I’d given him. Yet he remembered one angry sentence perfectly. When I didn’t answer, Julian seemed to reach the end of his patience. He dragged me straight into an airport VIP lounge. He pinned me against the door and locked it behind us. I pushed and struggled, but he didn’t budge. Three years ago, he’d been like an affectionate puppy. Now the dark mood rolling off him made it hard to breathe. “Let me go!” “So you can run back to Evan? Can’t stand being apart from him for even a minute?” Bang. Bang. Bang. Evan’s voice came through the door. “Julian, why did you drag Hannah off? She’s going to be your sister-in-law.” “Stop fucking calling her that! You’re not my brother, and she’s not my sister-in-law!” It was the first time I’d ever heard Julian swear. For a second, I was so startled that I stopped struggling. Like a predator spotting an opening, he seized the moment. His gaze locked on my lips. He leaned down and tried to kiss me. There was none of the tenderness or teasing I remembered from three years ago. This was fierce, almost savage. I instinctively turned my head, and his lips landed behind my ear. “Really determined to save yourself for Evan, aren’t you?” Before I could respond, he bit me behind the ear. Pain made me suck in a sharp breath. “Ah…” That spot had always been sensitive. It used to be Julian’s favorite place to kiss. Now all he gave me was pain. Just like our young, ridiculous romance. He’d promised me forever. Then he’d been the one to end it. He’d left without a word and vanished from my life. That day, we’d had the worst fight of our entire relationship. We’d said we were done, and I’d declared that my next boyfriend would be better. But in the end, I’d been too in love to let go. I’d talked myself out of my anger. Julian was still young. Maybe the argument had gotten out of hand, and he hadn’t really meant it. I didn’t want to throw away our relationship over one fight. I was older. Surely I could be a little more understanding about his immaturity. After two days of cooling off, I called him. An automated female voice coldly informed me that the number was no longer in service. A bad feeling settled in my stomach. I sent him a message. All I got back was a red error symbol. For a week, I tried everything I could think of to find him. Eventually, through a string of people, I learned that Julian had gone overseas. Not on an exchange program. Not on vacation. He was planning to live there. Only then did I understand what Lily had meant. Once Julian was tired of playing, he could walk away untouched. I would be the one left in pieces. My first love ended with me looking like a complete fool. Feeling the sting of his bite behind my ear, I asked coldly, “Are you enjoying this?” Hadn’t he hurt me enough three years ago? Did he need to torment me again for fun? Julian caught my chin and forced me to look at him. “Do you like Evan that much?” I gave a cold laugh and deliberately twisted the knife. “At least he wouldn’t disappear without saying goodbye.”That one sentence stopped Julian cold. Did it feel good to hit back? Yes. But the wounded look on his face still sent a sharp ache through my chest. Have some self-respect, Hannah. I forced that flicker of sympathy down. “Hannah, the reason I left back then was—” Click. The door opened from outside. I lost my balance and fell backward, only for Julian to pull me tightly against his chest. “Julian, there’s a limit to taking a joke. I had to bother the airport staff to open the door.” Evan wore his usual polite smile. Julian rolled his eyes at him. Without another word to me, Julian turned and left. Evan took it upon himself to explain. “He scared you, didn’t he? He doesn’t mean any harm. He’s always had a temper.” Really? Then who was the Julian I’d known three years ago? “Julian and I are brothers. The reason we have different last names is—” “You don’t have to explain,” I interrupted. “This is a business arrangement. Our contract says we stay out of each other’s private lives, remember? You don’t owe me an explanation.” More than anything, I couldn’t bear to hear Julian’s name right now. I was afraid I’d lose the little composure I had left. Evan nodded, then asked cautiously, “Can I ask whether you and my brother know each other?” No one would believe me if I said we didn’t. I offered no explanation, only a polite, silent smile. Evan understood and tried to reassure me. “It’s fine. Tonight’s auction will just be you and me. Julian isn’t coming. What color dress would you like?” I didn’t care. “Anything.” But after I’d changed into the dress Evan had prepared, he called. “I just heard Julian will be there tonight. He’s bringing Chloe Reed.” Chloe was the curvy, sultry woman from the airport. My first instinct was to hide. “My stomach suddenly started hurting. I was just about to call you. Could I skip the auction tonight?” It wasn’t entirely a lie. My period had started before I got changed, and the first two days were always miserable. Evan fell silent, as if weighing his options. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t want to make things difficult for you, but this auction really is important to me.” He was polite, but I heard the order underneath. Fair enough. I was being paid to do a job. Who was I to make demands or excuses? “I’ll be there on time.” When I saw Julian and Chloe at the auction, Julian was clearly back in control of himself. Chloe still looked down her nose at everyone. She mocked me under the cover of a joke. “Some people will do anything to marry into money. First she seduces the younger brother, then she goes after the older one. Wow.” I wanted to snap back. But remembering Julian’s outburst at the airport, I swallowed it. Evan was paying me. The least I could do was avoid causing trouble at an event that mattered to him. Upsetting the man signing my checks would only hurt me. But Evan kindly stepped in for me. “Do they let just any stray wander into these auctions now?” Looking pleased with Chloe’s offended expression, Evan took two glasses of champagne and offered one to me. I frowned and hesitated. “If your stomach’s hurting, don’t drink.” Since the four of us had met up, Julian hadn’t looked at me once. Now his gaze burned into me, though his tone stayed flat. My period was always regular. Even more reliable than the date were the wrenching cramps during the first two days. When we were dating, Julian used to track the days and make me a sweet red-berry soup, just to help me feel better. Did he still remember? I gave my head a small shake, trying to drive those thoughts away. Julian’s words seemed to remind Evan that I’d mentioned feeling sick on the phone. He gently apologized and took the glass back. Once the auction began, Julian and I had no further contact. Afterward, Evan drove me home and dropped me off outside my building. The instant I opened my apartment door, Julian pushed his way inside.