Izzy's POV
"You must be Izzy." One of his brothers came up to me and reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Brett."
"It's nice to meet you." I said quietly. For some reason his brothers were scaring the shit out of me. The other one came up to me after, his sleeves scrunched up to his elbows to reveal the tattoos that covered him, too. I could now see that Luke definitely wanted to follow in their footsteps throughout his teen years.
"Jaime, it's nice to meet the girl who got Luke's attention." He smirked at me and shook my hand, lingering for a noticeable amount of time.
"It's nice to meet you, too." I gave him a small smile, trying to remain friendly even if my nerves were shot.
We followed them into the kitchen, Luke not letting his hand leave my body. He moved it to the small of my back, walking right next to me and directing me to sit at one of the bar stools around the counter. Seeing him next to his brothers was odd, especially Jaime. They looked almost identical.
"So, you go to school together?" Jaime asked, sitting down across from me on the other side of the counter. Before I could answer, Luke spoke up for us.
"Yeah, our rooms are right next to each other." He brushed Jaime off, grabbing a beer for himself out of the fridge and pouring me a glass of some kind of sparkling drink. He slid the glass over to me, and I was glad that I actually liked it.
"What are you studying?" Brett tried to make more conversation, only this time it was directed only to me.
"Bio-med." I smiled shyly, watching as his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"No shit. Yeah, Luke here is a chemistry nerd. It's fitting he'd find someone similar." Brett chuckled, seeming proud that Luke actually found interest in such a topic. I looked to Luke and saw him eyeing Jaime. I felt like there was something he wasn't telling me about all of this, but I couldn't ask him in front of them.
"He's better in lab than I am. I always have to rush to catch up to him." I indulged in this topic, thinking it was an amazing thing to be good at such a hard subject. He should be proud of himself for being so naturally gifted.
"You don't say. I'm glad we're getting our money's worth, then." Jaime said, taking a sip of his beer.
"Yeah, I bet you are." Luke retorted, jaw tense and eyes cold. His brothers were paying for him to go to college?
"That's nice of you to put him through school." I said optimistically, hoping I could steer this conversation in a positive direction.
"Yeah, it is nice. Thank you, Izzy." Jaime thanked me, but it was more sarcastic than anything, like he was trying to make a point to Luke. I just tried to smile back, but it probably didn't look like a smile.
"What's dinner?" Luke interrupted, changing the topic completely.
"I had Vanessa go pick up some stuff." Brett said, going into the fridge to grab himself another beer.
"Vanessa?" I asked carefully, wondering if it was maybe one of their girlfriends. Neither of them had wedding rings on, so I knew it wasn't a wife.
"I like to call her my house manager. She just takes care of things for me." Brett explained. I nodded in understanding, and then turned to see Luke still standing at the corner of the island. He looked the most uncomfortable I had ever seen him.
"Oh, okay." I smiled.
Small talk and a lot of short awkward silences later, Vanessa came back with a shit ton of food and set it all up on the dining room table. We made our way in, Luke and I sitting on one side while Jaime and Brett sat on the other. Luke's hand found my thigh and squeezed it gently, only when I looked up to him he was staring between his brothers with a tensed jaw. What was I missing here?
"So, what made you come out of retirement for her, little brother?" Jaime asked, giving him a curious look. I just sat there quietly, taking tiny bites every so often. It was uncomfortable to eat as is, let alone in front of these two.
"She's feisty. Not like any of the doormats you bring home." Luke said, making me cough a little. I looked at him and tried my best not to laugh. Brett did find it funny, though, considering he chuckled right with us.
"A little feisty is good." Brett said, giving me a kind smile.
"Disobedient, though, not good." Jaime interrupted, making me hold back the nasty look I wanted to give him.
"The last I checked, women aren't dogs." I said, instantly earning a painful squeeze on my thigh from Luke.
"Oh, Luke. You've got your hands full." Jaime laughed, making my blood boil. Is this what he thought of females? His girls had to obey and keep their mouths shut?
Vanessa came in and got Jaime and Brett's attention, I think I heard something about a guest tomorrow night. While they were preoccupied, Luke leaned to my ear, his hand still on my leg.
"Bite your fucking tongue." He whispered, clearly pissed. I looked at him, not happy about any of this. He knew it, too, he could tell I was pissed just like he was.
We ate in silence for a few more minutes, the sound of forks clanking was the only noise filling the room. I wanted to leave, but dinner had literally just started. Luke was on edge and wouldn't even look at me, making me even more uncomfortable.
"So, Luke. You fucked her yet?" Jaime asked, giving him a devilish smirk. I tensed up, not wanting to be a part of this conversation. We hadn't slept together yet, and if Luke told him that I'm sure he'd have something to say. I just didn't like where this conversation was headed.
"Fuck off, Jaime." Luke tried to keep his cool, but I could tell it was getting more and more difficult.
"Shut the fuck up." Brett jumped in, quick to shut Jaime down. When Luke kept quiet Jaime turned to me, clearly not fazed by both of his brothers telling him to zip it.
"What about you, Izzy. You gonna tell us if he's railed you yet?" He said shamelessly. I could have thrown up from the gall of this guy, but I guess now I knew why Luke was hesitant to bring me here. I looked to him sitting next to me, his knuckles were white from holding onto his silverware so tightly. I didn't understand why he just let Jaime act this way. Brett wasn't even a problem, he's been sweet the whole time, even trying to help us out with this one. Jaime was just a bitter.
"I, he, I don't know. We-" I fumbled like a moron, looking down to my lap once he stopped me.
"Well you don't look like a virgin, so what's the problem?" Jaime asked, making my mouth drop slightly. It would have been on the ground if I didn't have the self-control to hide most of my reaction.
"That's enough!" Luke shouted, slamming the knife down onto the dining room table. My blood was boiling, though, and even though he told me to bite my tongue, I just couldn't.
"I am a virgin, actually. Not like it's any of your business. And Luke actually respects me, so no we haven't slept together because we're not rushing into anything." I said, as calmly as possible. There was animosity laced in my voice, though. I hadn't told Luke that huge detail about myself, yet, so I knew there would be a very lengthy conversation about everything that happened tonight.
"I like her." Brett turned to Luke, smiling at him. Luke was silent next to me, and he pulled his hand off my thigh while he shot Brett a quick nod.
"She'll do for you. Maybe she'll help you grow a pair." Jaime said, looking at Luke. He was fuming, but he just stared back without saying a word. A part of me was glad that they approved of me, but that was a very small part. I was shocked by Jaime's disgusting behavior, it made how Luke acted before look like he was the nicest guy in the world. I was just happy to see that Brett wasn't an asshole, too.
I pushed my plate slightly away from me, leaning back in the chair and crossing my hands over my stomach. The little appetite I had was now completely gone. His brothers started talking to each other, leaving me and Luke out of the conversation. I glanced over to him and saw him staring blankly at his plate. I reached my hand out to his knee, trying to assure him in any way that it was fine.
By the time everyone was done eating, Luke wanted to rush out the door. Brett physically stopped him and told him they had some things to discuss, pulling him into a room down the hall and leaving me with Jaime. He kept turning back to look at me as he walked further away, which didn't help the anxiety I was now feeling, being on my own with this piece of shit.
"Come sit. Let's talk for a minute." Jaime said, putting an arm uncomfortably around my waist and leading me to the living room. He sat on one side of the couch, but when I went to sit all the way on the other, he pulled my arm in his direction. I was way too close to him as he draped an arm over the back of the couch behind me.
"I see you got my text." He said, looking me up and down. I shifted uncomfortably, crossing my arm over my chest in an attempt to cover myself. When I didn't answer, he just kept talking.
"You know, Luke works for us. He just made me a lot of money last night." I glanced up at him to see he was already looking right at me.
"The boxing thing?" I asked quietly, even though I think I already knew the answer was yes.
"He told you? Did he tell you I run the club?" He asked. This guy's ego was bigger than this house.
"No." I replied, twiddling my fingers on my lap as I avoided looking back up at him.
"He owed me for almost beating some kid to death. I'll give him one thing, he doesn't lose." He chuckled. "I guess the kid's name was Casey? He had a particular interest in fucking your boyfriend up." I shot my head up, looking at him in disbelief. Luke never told me Casey was one of the guys he fought.
"Casey was there?" I asked, making him smirk.
"He didn't tell you that part? Surprising, we had to scrape him off the floor once Luke was done with him." I think he saw how uncomfortable that made me to hear because his smirk grew into a smile. "He swore he took care of him already, but if he was still showing up to prove a point it clearly didn't work. I had to send some guys to really get it through his head."
I didn't know what had me more on edge, the fact that Luke beat Casey close to death again, or the fact that his brother was more of a slum lord than he was. Luke was intimidating when he chose to be and I wouldn't fuck with him, but Jaime was more than intimidating. He was just plain threatening, and it genuinely scared me. They ran Luke like a dog, he did their dirty work while they reaped the profit.
"Does Luke sell for Brett?" I asked, already knowing the answer to that question, too. I tried to ignore everything he had just said, ruffling his feathers at me.
"Yeah, he does." Jaime brought his hand to play with the hem of my dress, making my breath hitch. "He's the errand boy. We run the show." He said confidently, pulling my dress up slightly. I stopped his hand from going further, now understanding what he was doing. He wanted to make Luke look weak, make himself look like the alpha. I wasn't buying into it, though.
"Don't be like that." He said, leaning into me. I pushed him back and got to my feet, walking around the couch to go down the hall where Luke disappeared to. The only door that was closed was at the end, so I went for it. When it was locked I tried banging on it and calling out to him, hoping he'd come out. Jaime came up behind me and lifted me up, dragging me back to the living room kicking and screaming.
"Luke! Get off of me! Get the fuck off!" I screamed bloody murder all the way back down the hall.
"You've got a death wish, interrupting them like that. I already know Luke's not going to put you in your place." He said, dropping me back on the couch. I saw rage in his eyes, and right as I cowered behind my arms I heard the door down the hall open.
"Izz! Come on, let's go!" Luke shouted, storming back into the living room and pushing Jaime out of the way to grab my hands. I got to my feet and Luke started pulling me around the couch, but when he heard a click he froze.
"Don't push me." Jaime said through gritted teeth, now holding a gun to the back of Luke's head. I looked at him, completely horrified. He was threatening his little brother with a gun, only minutes after making a move on me.
"Jaime!" Brett came around the corner, clearly pissed. "Put it down!" His voice bellowed through the room, making me retreat into Luke's chest even more.
The second Brett started walking over to us, Jaime put the gun back in his waistband. He was trying to act all high and mighty with me just 5 minutes ago, when it was Brett that was the ring leader. He was scared shitless of him. Even though Jaime put the gun away, Brett still kept coming toward us. He went right up to Jaime and punched him clean in the face, making him fall back next to the chair behind him.
"I'm sorry about him, he doesn't know how to act." Brett said, directing the apology at me. "Get going, I'll call you tomorrow." He patted Luke on the back. It seemed like Brett actually took care of Luke, protected him from Jaime, even.
Luke led me out of the house, walking past a furious Jaime who had a split lip on the floor. Once the front door was closed behind us, I could hear muffled shouting from the house, followed by multiple thuds. I assumed that Brett was kicking Jaime's ass, but I tried to flood out the sounds as I calmed myself down. I didn't even understand what the hell just happened.