Brotherhood

IVAN
~•~
She stomped out of the kitchen behind me. I could hear the sound of her ragged breathing, but I dared not turn to her.
Not that I "dared" not, but there was nothing for me to say.
I led her to my study and relaxed into the couch, the same one I had sat in during our second meeting. I could tell she was fuming within her, but tried her best to keep her head cool and her temper in check.
I could almost imagine it - a therapist losing her temper in the presence of a client - now, that would have been epic to watch.
"I have a feeling I would be the one doing the therapy today." I said out loud, and she turned to me. I did not know how what I had said sounded funny, but it caused her eyes to brighten with a warm smile spread across her cheeks. I looked over her.
Her green shirt clung to the curves of her body, and her top was loose, above it.
On her feet were a pair of…well, they looked like sandals, but not very attractive ones.
No wonder Ian thought she was a cook.
"It's nothing like that, mister Ivan. I just…"
I dismissed the rest of her sentence with a wave of my hand.
"It's alright. I would not hold it against you if you flared up. Ian has always had that effect in everybody."
That also included me.
I thought back to all the times we had fought as children, teenagers, even adults. If there were ten bruises on my skin, eight of them were from fights with Ian.
He found delight in pushing people's boundaries and stepping on the wrong toes.
It was one of the many reasons my father had shipped him away to Europe, so he could be away from all the was going on.
He had not returned until four years ago. We had another fight, something about the company expanding to Mexico, but I knew he was only trying to use it as a passage for his drug chain, and I would be damned if I allowed him pull what our father and I had worked so hard to build, to the ground with his scandals.
Now, he was back again, and I could feel it in my bones, something was out of place.
"Well, he sure got me." She settled into the couch and crossed her legs. She looked as though she was searching for something, before she looked up at me and pouted. I arched my right brow in query and she sighed.
"I did not come down with my notepad. I have to go back up to…"
"It's alright." I cut in.
"You don't always have to record everything I say." I continued.
"I won't be recording, just making general notes so I can track your progress, and…"
"On days when I just want to talk?"
She was visibly flustered. Her cheeks turned a shade of beet red.
She pushed the loose strands of hair at the sides of her head to the back of her ears. My bones grew rigid immediately. Something in me tensed.
"If you say so." She leaned back into the chair.
"He is your brother, right?" She continued, and I nodded.
It was very obvious. For starters, I had allowed him sleep in my house. That privilege was only reserved for family and females I intended to fuck.
I was too famous to jump in and out of hotels with whores, especially as a…married man.
By law, even upon the disappearance of my wife and child, I was still a married man. And until they were found and I decide to divorce Sarah, she was still my wife, and I, her husband.
"You two did not seem to be on good terms."
My nostrils twitched.
"We have never been."
The "we will never be." that ought to follow was silent, she did not need to know that.
"When did it all start? I mean, two brothers born to the same mother could never have been enemies from birth, so, when did it all start?"
That right there, was the problem.
Ian and I only shared our father's blood, but not our mothers'.
Ian was the product of the marriage between my father and his legitimate wife. And I? I was the product of a summer business fling which he had before Ian was conceived.
According to my father, my mother had never wanted to hand me over, until she was diagnosed of stage three breast cancer.
I was barely a year old then.
That was always Ian's grievance towards me. He knew he was the real son of his father, I was an illegitimate child. But Dimitri was closer to me.
He loved both his sons equally, but we connected on a different level.
It did not help that Ian had taken his rebellious teenage phase to heart, it pushed father and son further away from each other.
Then again, she didn't need to know all that.
"I cannot remember. I guess we have just always been at loggerheads." I replied.
I watched her smile softly.
"Boys." She chuckled.
I was surprised to feel a smile form on my face.
"Men." I bit back.
She stared at me, deep into my eyes, our gazes locked.
I tore my eyes away, with hesitance, and rose up from my chair.
I had something very important to do today, and I had to get it done as soon as possible.
Her eyes followed me, she sprung from her seat.
"Is something wrong?"
I looked down at her. The more she stayed here, the more I was beginning to feel like I might have made a mistake. I did not know why I had insisted she come here. I had thought I had a plan for her, but now…I did not know anymore.
Focus Ivan!
You are a thirty five year old billionaire with ten percent of the economic sector of America resting on your shoulders. A dainty twenty four year old - she couldn't be more than twenty five - should not be able to confuse you.
"No, not at all."
Those were my last words, before I walked out of the study.