Next Level Jealousy

Brennan
My phone dinged, alerting me to someone crossing over Eden’s territory line. I pulled up the camera’s on the road that led to our gates, immediately relaxing when I saw Joey’s vehicle. I set the gate to open in three minutes and got up to meet them there, requesting Leah to come to my office as I walked. I stopped in front of the gate, listening to the hum of the engine for a moment before it was turned off. As the gate began to open, I tensed, sticking my hands in my pockets. It was always hard to see them, which is why I preferred to do everything over video.
They both hurried up to me and I extended my hand to shake theirs, taking the envelope that I knew Maddie had sent with him. I rolled my eyes, remembering that conversation. She was definitely not the same little girl she was the last time I saw her. She was now a nosey young adult female. Female being the operative word, so I really had no hope of understanding her. I quickly flipped through the pictures, settling on one easily before nodding at my brothers.
“Okay.”
I spun on my heels to stroll hurriedly back to my office, knowing that both of them would follow me.
“Hey, wait up!” Joey called, and I slowed my pace for him to catch up. “What’s wrong with you? DId you and Leah get into a fight?” He asked.
I frowned deeply as I continued to walk toward my office. He knew that I didn’t like personal questions. In fact I hated them. I glanced at him before sighing, and nodding.
“Yes. She’s so mad at me that she won’t even look at me.” I ran my hand down my face, defeatedly, praying that Joey could give me some advice that would actually be useful. “This whole thing is a fucking disaster,” I admitted.
“What happened?” Joey questioned.
I shook my head, not wanting to continue the conversation as Leah turned onto the street.
“You really need to let someone in, brother. Stop pushing her away. We know you care about her,” Joey murmured.
I stuck my hands in my pockets again as I watched her approach us. “Yeah, well, you know what happens when I care about someone. I don’t want to put anyone else through the danger of my love.”
I smiled at her as she stopped in front of us. Phoenix, this is Heav-”
“Joseph,” he said, cutting me off and earning a furious glare from me.
“Caleb,” Caleb said, following Joey’s cue.
I remained quiet as I studied her face while she shook their hands before tilting her head. “Are you attorneys?”
My eyes widened for a moment. Fuck. She knew. I knew she knew. This was a bad idea.
“Yes. I am a divorce attorney, and Caleb is a defense attorney,” Joey informed her.
She shot me an angry look. “Why are they here?”
“I asked them to come see you. I thought–”
“But why?” She countered.
“To help you file for divorce,” I told her, frowning.
“Not interested. Is that all? May I go?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“If that’s what you want,” I groaned, nodding and sighing.
“It is.” She turned toward Caleb and Joey. “It was very nice to meet you two. Be safe on your journey home. I apologize for wasting your time.”
“It’s not a waste of time. I will email ummm…” Joey glanced at me curiously before returning his gaze to her. “Him a few different types of divorce papers, in case you change your mind.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
After she was out of earshot, Joey turned toward me with his eyes narrowed. “What the hell did you do?”
“I fucked up,” I admitted, running my fingers through my hair.
“Yeah, we can see that,” Caleb chuckled, nodding. “But what did you do?”
“No, fucking idea. Everything I have tried to apologize for has been wrong. I even went so far as to order a bunch of shit for her to apologize. I have no idea what else it could be.”
He patted my shoulder. “You’ll figure it out. Now, come on. Let’s get this portrait painted. Joey’s already having Maddie withdrawals.”
*****
A few hours later, Joey excused himself from my studio, flipping Caleb off when he started teasing him about missing Maddie. I glared at Caleb, who almost immediately fell silent. They had patiently sat silently while I worked on the portrait. I hated when people around were loud and chaotic while I was painting. It was a distraction and this portrait was important to Maddie. I didn’t want to screw it up.
“Sorry, brother.”
I rolled my eyes before going back to working on the girl’s eyes. They were almost perfect. I added a small white dot into her left iris, lending it a look of life that lit up her expression and making her look happy in a way that not even the smile I had given her did. I stepped back, slowly scanning the whole painting before rinsing my paintbrush and dipping it into the straw yellow to add one more highlight to her hair, right above her eyes. I set my brush down and rolled my shoulders back.
“Done. Now all it has to do is dry,” I told Caleb.
“How long is that going to take?” He asked.
“Ummm, about 8 or 9 hours. It should be completely dry before it’s moved,” I told him.
“What happens if it’s moved early?”
“Well, you run the risk of the paint smearing or transferring onto other surfaces. If you’re not careful–”
“And if we are careful, can it be moved?”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend it. If it gets messed up, I think Maddie would be upset. It sounded really important to her.”
“It is. But I also know that if it came down to it, she would want to see Joey sooner, and I know he wants to see her too,” he told me.
“Fine. But if it gets screwed up, it’s on you. If Maddie is going to be pissed at someone, it better be you. I already have one woman mad at me.”
“Agreed.”
“Let me get a cover.”
I walked over to my cabinet to get one of the clear plastic covers I had created out. It was nothing more than a thin plastic box with hooks on the back to hold it in place and keep it from transferring the paint. It would not stop the portrait from being crushed. After hooking the portrait in place, I snapped the top piece in place before stepping back. Unless whoever was looking at it, knew that the cover was there, they would most likely not notice it. I carefully picked it up before nodding my head at the elevator.
“Come on. Just make sure that I get that cover back. It’s one of two that I have. Also, you have to be careful when you take it off. It’s easy to break.”
He nodded as he hurried to the door to open it for me to carry the portrait through. I drew up short when I saw Leah standing on the porch with her head leaning against Joey’s shoulder. Anger swamped my body as I looked from her to him. I was vaguely aware of Caleb taking the portrait from me as Leah rushed off the porch while I continued to glare at Joey. I glanced toward the street just in time to see Leah flee around the corner. Before Joey could say anything, I slammed both of my hands into his chest, making him stumble backward.
“You looked mighty comfortable being so close to her! Is being young the only thing that matters to you when it comes to women?” I spat.
When I took a step toward Joey, Caleb grabbed my arm. “I can guarantee you, Brennan, that he was not flirting with Leah.”
“THEN WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” I yelled.