War for Love: A New Battle Rages

CH 19: Three Against One

**Jeremiah's POV**

I don't know what has gotten into my lovely wife, but she is insatiable. Not that I'm complaining, but soon I might have to make an appointment with my doctor to get a little blue pill to keep up with her hunger. I have no problem going round for round, but she isn't giving me time to recover. I smile thinking about the night that started this marathon. I still have the scratch marks she left on my back. It only fueled me to give her more, and f**k did she love it.

To think that I am the only man she has been with, and yet, I feel like she is a little bit freakier than I am. Then again, we haven't really explored kinks yet. Oh, the things I can't wait to try. I started to imagine her in different positions, different ways. Tied to the bed. Handcuffed bent over the railing of the balcony. The toys I could use, the sounds she'll make. I was painfully hard thinking about how sweet she would sound begging for me as I edged her on. f**k I'm desperate to explore with her. I wonder if she wants to try these things. Who knows, maybe she has a little dominance kink she wants to try on me.

"Bro, can you f*****g focus." Joel scolded me. He looked at me annoyed and partially disgusted. "That creepy f*****g smile, and the way you're shifting lets me know what you're daydreaming about and now is not the time."

I rolled my eyes. "Then maybe you shouldn't have asked for a meeting out of the blue. Even though we are all mostly staying in the same place doesn't mean we can just come at a whim." I turned my back to him, looking out of the window. We were still waiting on Alessandra, Ezra, and Isaiah. Vevy is still too young to sit in on family meetings, and Marcus and Isaiah have yet to marry so Marcus doesn't come to the meetings yet. I checked my watch again, eager to find my wife and... discover her all over. I still don't understand why Joel didn't want her to be here. "What the hell is taking them so long?"

Finally his office door opened, and in walked my brother and sister. "Ezra will be missing this meeting, Nathaniel isn't feeling well, and honestly, neither am I so let's make it quick."

"Okay, so I will get right to the point." He eyed me carefully. "Gia spoke to me a little over a week ago about maybe having a role in the family business."

"That's great," I smiled. "She is certainly qualified and I am sure she is bored just sitting around here watching the rest of us work." My brother didn't look so convinced.

"Jeremiah is right, this isn't something we needed a meeting about." Alessandra agreed. Like usual, Isaiah said nothing, but he nodded once.

Joel sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "What's going on?" I narrowed me eyes at him.

"I have been looking more carefully into the Rossi finances and their business endeavors. It seems that they are struggling to keep afloat. Generational wealth seems to be disappearing, and someone is being careless with their investments. In my investigation I have also found several NDAs and large sums of money going into accounts of young women. It looks like hush money." Joel looked stressed, and worried. But I still don't understand the issue. "I think they are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and I don't think it is a good idea to put a Rossi daughter in any position that has to do with our finances. She could be tempted to save her family."

What. The. f**k. "So," I scoffed. "Let me get this straight. You don't want Gia to work for the family just yet because you think she would f**k us over and help the family who treated her like dog s**t? Am I right?"

"In a nutshell." He shrugged. He f*****g shrugged like it was nothing. "Look, I know she is your wife-"

"You are goddamn right she is my wife!" I was furious. He disrespected her. Me. Our marriage! "She isn't a Rossi daughter, she is my wife. She is a Moretti, her loyalty is to me. To us!"

"She is a Rossi by blood, and I know that they didn't treat her right, but that doesn't mean she would just sit back and watch her family lose everything." Joel still sat calmly, and feeling completely justified in his suspicions. But they were empty and just plain paranoid. "Jeremiah, listen-"

"NO." It took everything in me not to reach over his desk and strangle him, brother or not. How dare he even insult me by thinking I would ever listen to this s**t. "If every word out of your mouth is going to disrespect Gia, then I don't want to hear it."

"Jeremiah is right, Joel." Alessandra stood from her chair. "I can't listen to this either. Gia is an amazing person, and she is a part of this family now. She would never hurt us, she would never hurt Jeremiah!"

Surprisingly, Isaiah stood next to us. "I usually agree with you, but not on this Joel. Marcus and I adore Gia. We can all see how in love they are. I don't know what is going on with the Rossi family, but Gia isn't a part of it. She is here with us, and that is all that matters."

Joel looked at all three of us seemingly defeated. He knows what we say is true, but I get it. He has to always expect the worst and protect his family. I just wish he understood that that protection now extends to Gia. She's his family. Why can't he see that? At this point it doesn't even matter. If Alessandra and Isaiah are on my side, then he is outnumbered. Majority rules and we have to find a place for Gia in the business. I just know he is going to make it more difficult than it needs to be.

"Okay, emotions are heightened right now. So we should all take a few days, and revisit this situation with clearer heads." Joel stood, essentially dismissing the meeting.

"That's it?" I laughed. "You lay this on me and expect me to what? Go about my day? I want to to see everything you have on the Rossi investigation. I also want to know why you are looking into them and didn't have the courtesy to tell me or the rest of us?" Joel tried to walk towards the door, but I stepped in his path. "This is a family business. We do things together. We all play our parts but every decision we make together. So, tell me why you are investingating my wife's family without telling us."

Joel looked me in the eyes, guarded and careful. "Just looking out for our family."

"She is my family, now. Don't you get that?" His brows furrowed together angrily. "You're my brother, but she is my wife. My loyalty will always be to her first, as it should be."

I could tell my brother was hurt. He didn't understand. I know Alessandra and Isaiah do. They have significant others, but Joel is alone. All he has is us. I realized that he has no one making him a priority. Even Genevieve has an arranged marriage. I don't want him to feel betrayed, but that is exactly how I feel. Joel didn't even have the courtesy to pull me aside and tell me his concerns. I felt ambushed. It seemed like he made his decision concerning Gia, and that isn't how we do things.

"I understand, Jeremiah." The tension in his voice let me know that he was struggling in containing himself. Joel may be the mature one of us all, but he has a shorter fuse than anyone knows. Only I have seen him explode, and I am not the one people should be worried about in the family. "We are all on edge at this point. Let's talk when things aren't so intense."

"Fine." I turned on my heel, leaving his office and slamming the door behind me.

As much as I was looking forward to seeing Gia, I didn't want to lash out at her. I needed a moment to cool down. So, I went to the gym to spar out some of this pent up anger. The person I really want to fight is Joel, but it wouldn't be a friendly sparring. I'd go too hard, then he would, and it would be an all out bloodbath in the end. We have fought once like that before and we never spoke of it again. I would hate for us to get to that point. I love my brother, I would die for him. But f**k he gets under my skin like no other.