∆ Willem ∆

Tessa was a good looking woman, I noted when she fixed her intense gaze on me. She had wide lips and eyes that seemed blue one moment and green the next. Her oval face and her short blond hair gave her that elegant flair that often caused her to think she was better than everyone else around her.

My brother didn't have much of a choice when my father made it clear that it was time for him to get married. Our family and Tessa's family were looking to merge businesses and what better way to get things rolling than by having the firstborn in each family marry each other.

My father had practically set Pieter up and had sent him on a date with Tessa. Pieter hadn't put up much of a fight when our father decided that they should get married six months after they'd started seeing each other.

Pieter was a people pleaser and often found it difficult to say no. Especially when it came to Jan. Pieter wanted to make him proud in every way.

I thought back on the day he'd gone on his first date with Tessa. He'd dressed carefully, putting on cologne and brushing his curls until they were sitting perfectly on his handsome head.

Later that evening, just after midnight, he'd come back home with a shit-eating grin on his face. Even at twenty-four, he hadn't been on a lot of dates and I thought it was because he found the act of approaching women intimidating.

"Why are you grinning like a fool?" Filo asked when he walked into the kitchen where I was busy doing a last minute presentation for an online college course I was taking.

The presentation wasn't due until two days from now, but I needed a reason to be up when Pieter got back. And of course, Filo decided to keep me company because she too was dying to know how the date had gone.

Filo was quite newsy and she made it her business to know everything that was going on under our roof. She knew things about Pieter and me that my mother could only dream of knowing.

Pieter leaned against the counter, crossing his long legs at the ankles. "I think I had my first date with my wife," he said, smiling from ear to ear.

Filo scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. You barely know this girl. I've heard rumors about her family and they don't sound like nice people."

Pieter frowned, his grin slipping away momentarily. "What makes you say that? She was a sweetheart."

"Hmm, maybe this apple happened to fall far from the tree," Filo said. "Don't let me spoil the evening for you."

I later learned that Filo was referring to Tessa's mom who had a bad drinking habit which often led to her publicly cheating on her husband. She'd also been seen beating on her children in the middle of our famous shopping streets a couple of times. Tessa's father used to get mad and irritated at her mother and would knock her around the house until she sobered up.

"Yeah," I said, not wanting to get more into what Filo had said. "Tell us what was so nice about her? Did you kiss her?"

The grin from earlier came back on Pieter's face and I didn't think I'd seen him this happy in a long time. The next time I saw him that happy again was the day he married Tessa.

That he loved her was never something I questioned. I never questioned her love for him neither until he got sick and she developed a wandering eye, one that later included me, her brother in law.

Pieter had pulled me aside once after one of his many chemotherapy sessions had left him weak and exhausted. "Tessa's not happy," he told me, his eyes sunken into his face as he lay almost motionless on his marital bed.

I sat down on a chair facing the bed. Soft sunlight fell across the grey sheets. "Why? What's up?"

"She's tried to have sex with me on multiple occasions and I've turned her down. With everything that's going on I'm just not in the mood." His lips tightened into a grim line before he looked away, blinking back what seemed like tears.

"That's understandable, man, and I'm sure she understands this as well."

He turned slowly to look at me, his brown eyes murky. "I hope so. Women are complicated and Tessa even more so. She's full of life, one of the many things I love about her. She craves constant attention and I'm afraid she might start looking for it somewhere else."

We sat in silence for a long while. I was only twenty then with no relationship experience. I didn't know what else to say to him but I was grateful that he felt that he could talk to me about something as personal as this.

Pieter died seven months after that conversation and two months after Bradley was born, in the same room where Pieter and I had talked about his failing sex life, Tessa tried to kiss me.

It was one in the morning and Tessa had called me, desperation in her voice. "I can't take it anymore," she said. "He won't stop crying. I've done everything. He's not hungry, I've changed him, held him, and nothing."

I'd gotten out of bed and driven to her house which wasn't too far from our house. All the rich people tended to live in the same neighborhood on the island, a Beverly Hills of some sort.

When I got there, Tessa was dressed in a beige almost see through negligee. I could see the dark print of her nipples printing through, the round curve and fullness of her breasts from producing milk. Her hair was longer then too and not nearly as blond as it was now. She had dark circles under her eyes, a sign that she hadn't been sleeping well.

She led me to the room she used to share with Pieter, a bright master bedroom with a king size bed smack in the middle of it. Bradley's crib was off to the left and he was still crying his face off, cheeks red from exertion, his short chubby legs kicking up a storm.

"Hey, little man," I said, reaching down to pick him up. "Hey, what's the point of all this? Huh, tell me."

Bradley hiccuped, his crying abating somewhat. He rubbed at his eyes with a small fist as I rocked him gently. He hiccuped again and started to cry — scream really — all over again.

"When was the last time you give him water?" I asked.

Tessa blanched, her eyes widening as if she'd done something wrong. "I... I can't remember. I read somewhere that you shouldn't give them too much water, that breast milk was better for them?"

"I don't think a little bit of water will do much harm." I smiled at Bradley in my arms and then at Tessa when she returned with a small glass bottle filled with water.

I brought the rubber tip to Bradley's mouth and he latched on greedily, his hands reaching forward as if he wanted to grab the bottle.

I let him drink until he didn't want to anymore, and then lifting him upright over my shoulder, I rubbed circles on his back until he let out a huge belch.

Tessa laughed, relief shining in her blue-green eyes. I put Bradley to bed soon after, standing at his crib watching him dose off. It was incredible how much he looked like Pieter and me when we were babies. He had the same curly hair and grey eyes just like my father and me.

"When he's in your arms like this, I would swear he's your son," Tessa said, coming up behind me, her soft breast brushing against my arm.

I turned to face her, moving my arm away from her inviting body. Was she aware of how close she was standing next to me? I looked into her eyes and I didn't like the way she was looking at me like I was her savior or something.

"Our family has strong genes," I said.

She nodded, coming closer until I could smell her powdery perfume. "Thank you for always being here for us. I don't think I would have survived this without you. With you here it makes me realize how much I needed Pieter in my life."

"Same," I said, "I miss him, you know."

"I know."

And then she did the unthinkable, leaning into me, her lips turning upward to meet mine. With an instinct I didn't know I possessed, my hand shot forward and I pushed her shoulder back gently before we could connect.

"Tessa, you don't want to do this," I said, hoarsely. My body lingered in a state of confusion, my mind was telling me one thing while my cock simply reacted to the feminine body on offer. I thought of Amelia and the vows I'd recently spoken to her.

"Why not?" she demanded. Her eyes flared with pain and rejection.

"It's not right. Pieter—"

"Is dead! He... Is... Dead."

Staring at her now, her face close to mine, brought back all the other times she'd tried to seduce me. The merengue song blaring in the background wasn't helping either. It had been years since Tessa and I had been this close in any capacity.

Not entirely true. I'd hugged her when we'd gone to the hospital right after we'd found out about Bradley's accident.

But this time was different and I didn't know why. Maybe it was because I was aware of her sensuality when before that was never an issue.

Amelia's presence in my life had awakened a primal part of me I'd kept under wraps for many years, and now I was hyper aware of my body as a man. Or maybe it was the alcohol I'd consumed. Either way, I knew had to eject myself from this situation as soon as possible.

"You want me to take you seriously," I said. "In what way?"

"The only way that matters," she replied, heat smoldering in the depth of her conniving eyes.

"Get to the point. What do you want? Is this about Bradley?" I asked, putting some distance between us.

"You pretend like you only care about Bradley. It's always Bradley this and Bradley that with you. I'm sick of it. I know you want me but you're letting your brother who's been dead over a decade stand in your way."

I laughed and raised my voice to make sure she could hear me above the music. "You're delusional, Tessa. You're a beautiful woman but not a very smart one. As you said, it's been ten years and if I wanted you, we would have been together years ago."

She inched closer, her movements subtle, her presence was however loud and intrusive. "I've given you time and space to grieve Pieter and more than enough time to get over the fact that he used to be my husband. He would want us to be happy and being with you would make me happy. I want us to be a family, you, me, and Bradley."

Was this some kind of joke? A test? "We are a family and getting into bed with you isn't going to change that. I thought you had that figured out by now. Haven't I made myself clear?"

"You have and that's why I backed off the last couple of years, but I'm back now. I know we would work as a couple. Why can't you see that?"

"Persistence is normally a positive trait, but in this case, it's downright insulting. I will not betray my brother, my morals... or my wife, to feed your delusions. You barely know anything about me." A body brushed against my back and I shifted to allow passage in the narrow space not too far from the bar.

Tessa shifted as well, keeping her eyes locked on my face. "And she does? I know you a lot better than she does and I don't hear you telling her you can't be together."

"I see why you're here. This is about Amelia. Did my father send you? He was asking a lot of questions about her this evening."

"He didn't, but you know he's always been right. I'm a better match for you than she'll ever be." She placed her hand on my arm. Despite it being raging hot outside, her fingers were cold. "You need a housewife, not some naive little girl playing doctor in a white coat."

"If I were you, I'd watch the way you talk about my wife, the woman who's going to save your son's life."

She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "About that, it's not happening. I don't want her putting her claws anywhere near my son. I will find him another surgeon. One with more experience and who isn't spreading open their legs for you."

"Don't be preposterous. Amelia is doing the surgery and that's final," I said, fighting to keep my voice calm.

"She's not. I'll take you to court if I have to." She sounded like she meant it, her American accent thicker now than ever.

I was glad that I'd decided to adopt Bradley, even though he was my nephew. I just knew I couldn't trust Tessa. Me adopting him meant I had some say regarding his wellbeing, and any judge would agree that Tessa's jealousy was standing in the way of his care.

Bradley needed this surgery ASAP and I couldn't believe she was ready to let him die just so she could play her games.

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