The Anthony Brothers - Accidental Love (#1), Contemporary Romance Series Page 4

  He was about to bend over in order to give his fiancée a kiss only to be given a sharp look by Mr. Lee and he ended up completely backing out. Based on the veiled smile that appeared on Mei-Ling’s lips, it seemed she found that amusing.

  Jin and Mavis led the family to the backyard where further introductions were made. Xiaoli and Lingwei were very accommodating and friendly towards Jin’s brothers, but Mr. Lee remained silent as he simply nodded toward each person that he was introduced to.

  “I hope you had a good night’s sleep,” Mavis said in an attempt to make conversation.

  It was Xiaoli who answered, nodding as Jin’s brothers began serving them food.

  Mr. Lee looked pointedly at Jin and began speaking to Mei-Ling in Chinese.

  Mei-Ling responded softly to what her father said and blushed as she translated the words to Jin. “My father is asking why you’re not helping your brothers serve your guests.”

  Ignoring his brothers’ snickers, Jin blushed and stood up in order to help out.

  Mr. Lee still didn’t look very pleased.

  “You’re right,” Zack whispered as he handed Jin a pile of plates. “Your future father-in-law is one scary fellow. Does he ever smile?”

  Jin shook his head as he stole a glance at Mr. Lee. “I have no idea.” He got back to the wooden picnic table in their backyard and laid the plates on top of it in time to hear Mei-Ling apologetically addressing Mavis, “My father wants to know if he and my mother could speak with you privately.” She cast a nervous glance toward Jin.

  Jin gulped. He wanted to ask why, but chose against it, not wanting to show Mr. Lee any disrespect.

  “Who will translate for us?” Mavis asked.

  “I can speak English… though not as well as my daughters. We’ll understand each other fine, Mrs. Anthony.” Mr. Lee eventually spoke up in English, with a thick Chinese accent.

  Mavis nodded. “Very well then.”

  As their parents walked toward the house, Jin sat beside Mei-Ling. She grabbed his hand from under the table and squeezed it.

  “What do you think they’re going to talk about?” Jin asked.

  She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

  From one corner of the backyard, Santana had taken out his acoustic guitar and apparently said something that made Lingwei laugh. They seemed to be hitting it off pretty well.

  “At least your sister seems to be enjoying herself…” Jin whispered to Mei-Ling’s ear.

  “Tell me about it. The idea of my father not approving of us is terrifying to me,” Mei-Ling confessed. “My mother was pretty rattled when you asked if we needed their approval to get married.”

  Jin creased his brows. “I’m wondering why. Mei-Ling, we’re adults. Shouldn’t we be able to choose who to marry whether our parents approve of it or not?”

  “It doesn’t work that way with us, Jin. As you may already have realized, my family is very traditional. We value our parents’ blessing and approval. It’s disrespectful and disgraceful not to. If I marry you against my father’s wishes, I’m pretty sure I could forget being his daughter.”

  “That harsh?”

  Mei-Ling nodded. “I want to be with you, Jin. You know that, right?”

  “Of course I do. We just have to make sure that I get your father’s approval. If not today, I will move to Hong Kong if I have to just to bug him until I get his approval.”

  “He just has to see what a great guy you are, Jin.”

  At that point, their parents stepped out of the house. Jin’s heart stopped when he saw the expression on Mavis’ face. She looked rather bothered. What happened? He exchanged glances with his brothers, who all looked concerned for their elderly mother.

  Mr. Lee gave his daughter a stern look and began speaking in their language.

  Mei-Ling squeezed Jin’s hand. “He says we have to go.”

  “What?” Jin asked. “You’re not even going to stay for lunch?”

  Mei-Ling shook her head, obviously fighting back tears. Xiaoli called after Lingwei and Jin watched helplessly as the family turned to leave.

  “I don’t understand. What happened?” he asked Mavis.

  “He questioned the way we raised you and how we didn’t bother to introduce you to your cultural roots.” Mavis said, obviously refusing to apologize for whatever her response was. “I simply told him that I am proud of the way I raised my sons and refuse to apologize for it.”

  Jin could feel his temper rise. How dare he question my mother about these things? Without a second thought, he ran after the Lee family and caught them just before they reached the front door. “Mr. Lee… Wait.”

  The father of the woman he loved turned to face him and simply waited for him to talk.

  Jin had no problem with that. He had a lot to say. “I may not have been raised in a traditional Chinese family, and yes, I probably won’t raise my future children exactly the same way you did your daughters, but know that I will respect her and care for her. I will provide for her. More than that, I will love her with every part of my being. There are many values that we may not agree upon, Mr. Lee, but there are also some that we do agree upon. Loyalty, respect, honoring of our parents… love… is this not what you want for your daughter? A man who will love her the way that I do?”

  There was a tense silence and Jin was absolutely certain that he’d already blown it. In fact, he was already planning his move to Hong Kong to follow after them, when Mr. Lee spoke up. He was once again addressing Mei-Ling in Chinese.

  Jin could not stand the suspense as he waited for her to translate. She was practically in tears by the time she addressed him.

  “My father says that he couldn’t ask for anything more. He is impressed that your mother stood her ground. He sees that she and your father raised fine young men despite the challenges they faced. He told your mother that; however, he also wanted to know if you can be proud of your upbringing and stand for what you believe in. He wanted to know if you had enough of a backbone to defend what you want.”

  Jin was trying to assess whether what he’d just been told was negative or positive. He heaved a sigh and creased his brows. “So…” he drawled. “Does that mean…”

  Mei-Ling laughed and nodded, before throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yes. We have his blessing.”

  Ignoring Mr. Lee’s raised brow, it was Mei-Ling who pressed her lips against Jin’s, and both of them were once again breath-taken.

  EPILOGUE

  Jin and Mei-Ling’s wedding was held in an intimate garden ceremony with their closest friends and loved ones. Mavis was beside herself with joy and the Lee family looked genuinely happy about the union too.

  “Can you believe it? Jin actually just got hitched.” Zack said out loud as he sat next to Markus during the reception. The lovely bride was dancing with her father while Jin was fetching Mavis in order to take her to the dance floor. “Ma keeps on reminding Jin that she wants grandchildren as soon as possible. Jin seems eager to deliver.” Zack couldn’t stifle a chuckle, noting how Jin kept stealing glances at his lovely young bride.

  Markus scoffed. “Jin’s a fool. All love does is get you hurt. Can you believe he actually allowed himself to get trapped in marriage?”

  Zack raised a brow, wondering where all this was coming from. “Had another fight with Erika?”

  The grumpy expression on Markus’ face was enough to confirm his suspicions, but it seemed things were worse than he thought, because Markus eventually confessed, “She dumped me this morning.”

  “So that’s why she isn’t here…”

  Markus gritted his teeth. “I don’t even get what she was harping about. Some crap about me not having enough time for her.”

  Zack smirked. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, but Markus was pretty wrapped up in his business ventures and his crazy adventures. Truth be told, he was surprised Erika was able to hold on to the relationship as long as she did.

  Markus heaved a sigh and got up
from his seat. “I need a drink.” He walked away from Zack and moved toward the buffet table, where a couple of choice wines were available. He was already a few strides away from the table when someone bumped into him, spilling champagne all over his tux.

  A slew of curses were about to come out of his mouth when he realized how gorgeous the young woman he crashed into was. He first noticed her big brown eyes, then the enticing feminine form beneath her red dress. And those legs… they go on for days. He once again focused on her face and realized that she was scrutinizing him just as closely as he was scrutinizing her. I recognize those eyes. I’ve seen them before… His breath then hitched.

  It was his high school sweetheart, but this time, she was a hundred times more stunning than he remembered her to be. “Savannah?”

  Start Reading Book 2

  “The Anthony Brothers – LOST LOVE”

  PROLOGUE

  It was his brother, Jin’s, wedding day. Everyone was in a happy and optimistic mood. Not Markus. He couldn’t have been in a fouler mood than he was at that moment, because the night before the wedding, his long-time girlfriend, Erika, dumped him. Thus, to say that he was feeling less than romantic was a gross understatement.

  During the wedding’s reception, he was complaining about what a lovelorn mess he was to any of his brothers who would listen – Jin, of course, not being one of them. Finally, Markus figured he could just hit the wine table and drink his woes away.

  And then came a blast from the past that he didn’t quite expect would come his way.

  Savannah.

  The long-legged, doe-eyed beauty crashed into him and spilled champagne all over his brand new tux. One who always appreciated the finer things in life, Markus was poised to become more of a grouch than he already was, but found himself breath-taken the moment he laid his eyes on her.

  At the sight of him, Savannah looked like she’d just seen a ghost. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, staring at his stained tuxedo. She began tugging on it, looking absolutely apologetic. “I’ll take it to the drycleaners.”

  “Savannah?” he asked, gulping. He didn’t quite remember her to be as beautiful as she was almost a decade after their senior year in high school when they broke up.

  She raised her eyes to him and wet her lips.

  Always having been the risk-taker among the Anthony brothers, Markus was unable to resist. Before he could think it through, he took hold of her small waist and pulled her against him before planting a kiss on her soft lips.

  He was fully prepared to be slapped by the young woman or perhaps even kicked in the groin, but instead, he was surprised when after a shocked moment of tension, Savannah eased into his arms and responded to his adamant kiss.

  When their lips parted, he couldn’t help but admire the way her cheeks flushed and how enticing her swollen lips looked. When he let go of her, Savannah’s knees buckled and she held to him for support. He wondered if she remembered him from high school, so he went ahead and asked, “You remember me?”

  She looked pointedly at him and smirked that all-too-familiar smirk he always got when they were still dating. “How could I forget that kiss? You’ve always been the best kisser I ever had, Markus.”

  Click on the link below to continue reading

  The Anthony Brothers – LOST LOVE (#2)

  The Anthony Brothers – FORBIDDEN LOVE (#3)

  I’ve written an alternative ending just for you to read. Click here to read it.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

  Harmony Bryce is a true romantic and loves spreading her “feel good” feelings in her writings. She writes contemporary romance books sprinkled with love, laughter and some unexpected surprises.

  Harmony adores flavorful cups of tea, opportunity shopping, and buying unique vintage and antique bric-a-brac to showcase her deep love of everything vintage. Her big loves are her family, spending time with life long friends, loving her pets and making the most of what life has to offer.

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  COPYRIGHT: HARMONY BRYCE, BRYCE PUBLISHING, 2013.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  ALL CHARACTERS APPEARING IN THIS WORK ARE FICTIONAL. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Prologue