Page 57 of Takedown

“Oh, wow. You’re terrible, Adam,” Alex chuckles.

“It’s fine. Don’t complain if you don’t like something,” I warn him.

“He’d better not complain,” Molly says making a fist at Adam.

“As long as you’re there and you say I do, it will be perfect.” The women swoon at his words, and a smile spreads across my face.

The food we ordered arrives, and when Adam goes downstairs to get it, I text Jason and tell him to come upstairs with Addy. He shows up a few minutes later, and Addison goes directly to her mother. She sits on her lap and lays her head on Alex’s boobs while Jason gets food for them.

“A salad, love?” Adam asks over his grilled chicken a few minutes later.

“I have a wedding dress to fit, but as soon as we land in Paris, I’m going to eat no less than six croissants per day. We’ll need to buy two seats for me for the trip back home.” He wiggles his eyebrows and offers me some of his food. “And,” I say, lowering my voice, “I have to update the wedding spreadsheet later. I’ve run into some unexpected expenses.”

“Later,” he whispers back. Jason takes a seat next to me. He smiles, but the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. On closer inspection, he looks tired. More so than usual.

“Adam,” Molly says, “at some point, you’re going to have to take your uncle shopping. Not just for the wedding, but all his shirts are too tight. And you know he won’t order clothes online.”

Adam sighs, but he kisses me on the cheek before he joins his mother on the couch.

“You okay, Jase?” I ask my brother.

He takes a bite of his taco and smiles, but the smile never fully forms. He drops the taco, exhales, and meets my eyes. “Mom’s upset.” My stomach drops, not just at his words but at the accusatory tone. So, I don’t say a word. I hold his stare and wait for him to either say more or to shut up. “Mellie, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you.” I turn back to my salad and stuff lettuce in my mouth. It gets stuck in my throat and I nearly finish my water to get it down.

“That’s it?”

“What do you want me to say? I don’t want her to be upset, believe it or not,” I tell him.

“You have a funny way of showing it.” I drop my fork in my plate and look around the room for Adam. He must sense my distress. He gets up while in mid conversation with his mother.

“You okay, Mel?” He sits next to me and starts to rub the back of my neck.

“I’m having a conversation with my sister, Flynn. You don’t need to be involved in this.” I flinch at not just my brother’s words, but his dismissive tone.

“Don’t dismiss my husband,” I hiss at him. “I would never do that to your wife, so show us the same respect.”

“Oh, really? Because a few weeks ago you came home from Vegas married after a drunken night.”

I stand up so fast, my chair topples over. Adam stands right along with me and takes a step to Jason. I quickly stand between them.

“I’m talking to my sister about our mother and about the fact that she was excluded today. Maybe you had something to do with that?”

I turn to face my brother, stunned by his accusation. “Are you serious right now, Jason? You think Adam cares who goes with me to buy dresses? It was my decision, so stand down.”

I look around the room. Molly and Ananda are doing their best to make it look like they’re not paying attention, but Alex is glaring at her husband.

“We need to talk.” Jason takes my hand and pulls me down the hall and into Adam’s home gym. Adam shuts the door behind us.

“You could have just taken her with you,” Jason says, sighing and running a hand over his head.

“She didn’t want to,” Adam says before I can respond.

“I told you to stay out of it,” Jason growls. “How does it look that you took Flynn’s mother and not your own?” Jason asks me.

“I’m not going to stay out of it, Dupree,” Adam says. “Don’t you come up here and try to bully my wife with a guilt trip.”

“Bully? I should have kicked your ass out of here last year when I had the chance, you sneaky fuck.”

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