Saved By My Step-Brother

Chapter 1 - "Are you sure it was her?"

Chapter 1

"She said ask Eric about the gladiators," Mike said calmly, staring outside Eric's window as his brother rushed through his paperwork. Eric was attempting to do both at once, listening to Mike speak on his call with August, but also writing down his paperwork for Mr. Gullo. He nodded his head, wrote down a few other sentences, and skipped to the next page when suddenly, there were a few knocks on the door.

"Come in," he answered.

Ella entered the room, and dropped new piles of papers onto his desk. "How is it coming along?"

"Slowly but surely," Eric chuckled, scratching the back of his head and attempting to pull his eyes away from her curves. Mike was unable to divert his gaze from her, and soon she met his, and bowed professionally.

"How are you today, Mr. Hawk?"

"Could be better," Mike chuckled, his eyes rolling from her breasts size, to her hips and how tiny her waist was. He did that every time he came to this building, and was always jealous of Eric having her as his secretary. He wondered if she used to be a model, and when both their gazes turned to William, who was gawking at her, his face turned red.

"I've never met you, I don't think."

"That's William," Eric introduced, "My younger step-brother."

"You're a very cute young boy," she complimented, and William was too starstruck to respond. Her eyes turned back to Eric who grinned, "I'll come back in around an hour."

"I might not be here."

"Then leave it on your desk," she said with an open palm. As per usual, he grabbed his key from his pocket and threw it to her.

"You're the best," he yelled when she walked out.

Immediately, Mike placed his palm on Eric's shoulder, "Have you f****d her yet?"

Eric shook his head, "I wish, honestly."

"She's so hot," William gasped.

"One damn hot babe," Eric admitted, but his mind returned to Jessica, and although she may not have been as physically attractive, she still caused Eric's heart to flutter.

"Just let her give you head," Mike chuckled, pulling a pack of cigarette from his pocket. "Besides, that's barely cheating."

Eric thought about it, as he reached for a cigarette from his brother's pack, "I guess that could work. She flirts with me a lot too."

"You're lucky as f**k," William commented.

Eric shrugged his shoulders with a smug look, lighting his cigarette as well and said, "I'd like to announce that I am also considered a hot babe in this society."

"You were always the ugliest one in my opinion," Mike murmured as he lit his cigarette.

William began laughing, and Eric narrowed his eyes in his brother's direction, blowing the smoke from his lungs, "William is the ugliest one."

"Hey!" William protested, leaning forward in his seat.

Mike turned to William, and examined him for a moment. Then after a minute, a long smile pulled his lips as he began laughing, "Agreed." Both of them bursted out laughing, as William crossed his arms, making an angry face. Mike marched towards him after opening the window, and squeezed his shoulder, "I'm just f*****g joking, stop being so sensitive."

"That wasn't even funny," he pouted.

Eric chuckled, and the atmosphere suddenly became serious. He turned to Mike, leaning back in his seat and blowing the air from his smoke towards the window, "What else did she say?"

"She said help me." His jaw clenched as he remembered her voice, the way it was trembling with such fear, and he imagined her as she was in the hospital, with terrible bruises and bandages. He recalled how absent her eyes had been and felt shivers run along his flesh. "And said she doesn't want to die."

"Are you sure it was her?" Eric questioned.

Mike nodded his head, forcing his nerves to remain calm, "Definitely."

Eric tapped his cigarette to the side, staring towards William who eyed them both, his ears flicking. It seemed as if all the memories of his sister had been locked within a box, that although he recognized the name, the only thing he could remember was seeing her walk around the home, and eventually stop appearing. When Eric examined his gaze, attempting to reconnect the dots of when he was younger, he began chuckling in order to ease the tense atmosphere. Speaking about August distorted William's visage that made both their heart's ache, and even Mike bit his bottom lip uneasily.

However, in order to get August back, they would have to use as many hands as they could get. Even so, William was one individual that neither of them wanted to place in danger.

When William noticed that they were both staring at him in an odd manner, he frowned, "What?"

"Maybe we should have this conversation another time Eric," Mike added swiftly, blowing smoke from his lungs.

Eric nodded his head in agreement and returned to his pile of paperwork after throwing his cigarette out the window, but the shocked William took their attention.

"Why am I being excluded from this?" he shrieked, glaring at the both of them as he jumped to his feet.

Mike tilted his head, "I don't want to get you involved—"

"I'm already involved."

"No you're not," Eric commented.

William raised an eyebrow, "It's my f*****g sister."

"That you barely remember," Mike said.

"And still want to f*****g help," William hissed.

"Not a good idea," Eric muttered as he continued his paperwork, and William was growing angrier by every second.

He sent a trembling hand through his hair, "I get that I'm not as f*****g old and wrinkly as you guys—"

"I'm not that old," Mike hissed.

"Nor wrinkly," Eric whispered.

"But I want to f*****g help as much as I can."

"Mike, you've taught him a bad tongue," Eric said, shaking his head at all the curse words that William exclaimed every second.

William frowned in his direction, while Mike agreed with him, "Yea, he says a lot of curse words."

When William realized that they weren't taking him seriously, he sighed helplessly with gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes towards the both of them and meeting each their gazes. He leaned for his backpack, having enough of being treated as kid and headed for the door. Mike raised an eyebrow, "Where are you going?"

"Home," he mumbled.

"Aren't I giving you a ride?"

"I'm f*****g walking—"

"Another curse word," Eric complained, "Mike you'd be a horrible father."

"f**k you," William shouted, "Both of you."

The door slammed shut, and both their eyes raised towards William who had vanished on the other side. Mike seemed annoyed by William's tantrum, and when Eric glanced upwards in his direction, he noticed his expression soften. Mike had changed; although he was still as aggressive and as insulting, he seemed much more relax and joked a bit more. Although the incident with August's disappearance had been tough, on all of them, Mike had been able to move on. He kept his distance from anybody that threw the word love in his face, but one thing that was clear was that August was not the only thought in his mind anymore, until the phone call.

Additionally, his relationship with Eric had grew, and they had become closer than ever. They both had immense amount of money, but Eric's direction that he took on life made Mike very proud of him, and they both interlaced their lives in some cases. Mike oftentimes visites their home, and Eric crashed at Mike's place from time to time, when Jessica got annoying. However, their bond still remained sealed, which was why Eric had been the first person to come into Mike's mind after the phone call.

Mike chuckled, and placed his palm on Eric's shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

Eric raised an eyebrow, "You know about the barbecue at my place tomorrow right? Jessica texted you?"

"No, what time?"

"Come during the afternoon, late if you want."

"Whose going to be there?"

"A few work friends and the old gang," Eric grinned excitingly.

Mike nodded his head, "As work friends, you mean including Ella?" When Eric smiled, Mike knew he had been right. "Would you be mad if I f****d her?"

"When's the last time you f****d a girl?"

"A few months actually," Mike admitted, scratching the nape of his neck. "None of them are good, so I just kinda stopped. And the girls are so—"

"I understand, you still want August and her handcuffs."

Mike sent him a knowing smile, remembering the day August had pulled the handcuffs from her purse and asked Mike to place them on her. Without answering, he headed for the door, and closed it behind him. He was able to catch up to William with his car, although he had gotten a bit scared since it had been a struggle finding him through the tiny and packed roads. When he saw a walking William with his head lowered, Mike slammed his palm against the honk, immediately causing his kid step-brother to glance upwards. William saw his car, and showed him the middle finger, continuing to walk on his own.

Mike rolled down his window; he was tired and wanted to go home, therefore William's tantrum was annoying him. "Get the f**k inside the car, now!" he screamed, and as he had predicted, William cursed under his breath but marched towards his car, jumping in the passenger seat. From there, Mike shook his head with a long sigh, scowling at him, "What the f**k do you think you're doing?"

"I was walking," he returned.

Mike raised an eyebrow, "I told you I'd give you a ride home, didn't I?"

"Well then doesn't that mean maybe I'm f*****g mad?" He was such a smart ass, and Mike hated it.

"I really don't give a f**k if you're mad," he rejected instantly, "I'm not involving you in this August thing."

"Why not?" he cried.

"Because you're not going to be any help."

"How do you know that?"

"You're f*****g twelve years old William," he laughed, "The people we'll have to go see will have guns and don't f**k around."

"Answer my question; how do you know I won't be of any help?"

"I already did answer that question so don't f*****g get me mad," he hissed. "You're twelve years old."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Listen," Mike forced himself to calm down, since the car was getting a bit tense. He took and deep breath, and followed through with his answer, "You can argue with me all you want, but I'm not f*****g taking you anywhere or having this conversation with you."

William shook his head angrily, and bit his bottom lip so hard that Mike thought he was going to pierce through it. He hissed under his breath, mumbling to himself as he aggressively crossed his arms, all the muscles and veins flexing. Mike shook his head, feeling a bit of remorse for William, glancing in his direction a few times as they drove. Losing the only true sibling he had must have been terrible, but the fact that Mike and Eric never let him feel alone had helped him get through all the therapy he had been forced to go to. Never had he once cried about August's disappearance, and even during her anniversary, William went out of his way to have such bold amusement that even Mr. Hawk found it weird.

As they drove past restaurants, Mike raised an eyebrow questionably, "Are you hungry?" When William continued to pout without responding, Mike rolled his eyes and lit the end of a new cigarette, "Tell me right now or else I'm not buying you shit."

After a few seconds of silence, he grumpily mumbled, "I want a burger," and leaned against the door.

Mike chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, "You're one hell of a kid."

"And you're one hell of a wrinkly old man," William whispered under his breath.

"Being twenty-nine years old isn't old at all, you know that right?"

"Sorry, I can't quite understand you, you have a lisp because of the six teeth you lost from aging," William sneered.

Mike raised an eyebrow, "I'm not buying you a f*****g burger if you're going to keep up that attitude with me," he commented as he turned into a parking space.

William scoffed, "Well, I rather have an attitude than be a f*****g wrinkly asshole—"

"Okay, you can be upset all you want," Mike descended from the vehicle and before he closed the door, he said, "But you're not getting a burger."

"I am too," William screamed.

"Whose paying?"

"You f*****g are, stop being mean! You've been mean to me all day!" His bottom lip popped out, and as his tears swelled up, and his dark green irises eyed Mike with such sadness within them, Mike sighed. He was weak to that look, and waved for William to follow him. He jumped from the car excitingly, and wiped the tears that had accidentally slipped from his eyes.