You are Mine Read Free Page B

brother
standing not twenty feet from his bed. He met his brother’s eyes
and flinched. Oh, shit. I never heard the door open . He
stared in horror into Alex’s pale blue eyes. Dressed in a crisp,
gray, tailored suit, his brother was small, pale, blond and
unassuming-looking -- someone who would normally escape notice.
Except he’s a spooky, little motherfucker, Jonathan thought and
tried again unsuccessfully to hold Alex’s stare. As his gaze darted
away, his brain tried to process what he was seeing. Alex’s
normally cold eyes held a glittery anticipation. Not good, Jonathan
thought, so fucking not good.
    He looked back at his brother. He’s
alone, so maybe things aren’t so bad . Unless his victim was his
lover, Ida, Alex let his men handle his physical dirty work.
“Brunetta didn’t mean anything by what she just said, Alex,”
Jonathan began desperately.
    “Of course she did, baby brother,” Alexander
Brickman said in a pleasant voice that was completely at odds with
his brutal expression. If it were possible, both Jonathan and
Brunetta stiffened even more at the sight of his smile. “She meant
the harm to come to me.”
    Jonathan resisted the urge to look down at
Brunetta. She said nothing, but he felt the fine tremors in her
shoulders. He sat up. “No, Alex. It’s not what you think…please…let
me explain.”
    “No explanation necessary, Johnny-boy. And,
oh yes,” he said before pausing for effect. And then the horrific
smile was back. “It is exactly what I think.” He had been moving
slowly towards them the entire time, and now he reached the bed. He
directed his gaze and a predatory smile toward Brunetta. “I am
correct, am I not my dear?”
    Jonathan looked down at Brunetta. She only
had eyes for Alex, and as if mesmerized, she nodded her head as he
nodded his. The appalling parody of a snake charmer mastering his
snake sickened Jonathan even more and he silently began reciting
the Holy Rosary, skipping over the Apostles’ Creed and the Our
Father to recite five Hail Marys instead of the traditional
three.
    Alex’s smile widened. “Ah, honesty at last,
my dear. I applaud you.”
    Brunetta’s smile in return was edged with
desperation and clearly fraudulent. If he were able to move,
Jonathan would get on his knees and beg her forgiveness, for he
knew she thought she had a chance of swaying Alex from whatever his
plans were. What she failed to understand was that at this
juncture, nothing could. Any chance for clemency was lost the
minute Alex had found out about her plotting. He kissed Brunetta
with quivering lips and in an apologetic voice that was shaking
with regret, shame and resignation, said, “I’ll get you the best
care I can af-after. I-I promi --”
    Before Jonathan could finish, Alexander had
gripped Brunetta by her shoulders, urging her from the bed. And
like a remorseful child trying to please, she did as he silently
commanded.
    “Come, my dear,” Alex said and guided her
over to the window. Frozen with horror, Jonathan watched as with a
hand between her shoulder blades, Alex pushed -- just pushed her -- through the floor-to-ceiling pair of windows. Brunetta
didn’t even have time to instinctively reach for safety. She was
just…gone.
    Staggered, Jonathan listened to his
girlfriend fall forty feet and knew instantly that he’d be hearing
her scream in his nightmares for the rest of his life.
    “Jonathan.”
    Jonathan looked over at Alex and could tell
from the expression on his brother’s face that he’d called his name
more than once. He stared at him, knowing that he should say
something, but also knowing that words weren’t adequate. He
swallowed, licked his lips, wondered if he were dreaming.
“You…you’ve…I thought you would only…” He trailed off and looked
away in confusion. His gaze latched onto a painting on the wall.
The swirling colors and illogically placed objects of the
surrealist work matched his mood perfectly. Hail Mary,
full of grace, the