Silas steps closer to me, voice low. “Penelope, we didn’t know.”
Gideon mirrors him on the other side. “And we’re not upset with you.”
My throat closes. “I— I’m not upset with you,” I manage. “I’m just… overwhelmed. All of you knowing each other, being fucking related—” My voice cracks. “I wasn’t ready for this.”
“Valid,” Gideon says.
Silas nods. “Absolutely.”
Talon snickers. “This family is going to be a disaster.”
“Talon,” I snap, “shut up.”
He adjusts his glasses and grins. “Yes, ma’am.”
The room spins again, my heart pounding, my brain going static.
Three men who know each other.
Three men who know me.
Three worlds smashing together in the middle of my father’s engagement party.
And I have no idea how this night is supposed to keep going.
Chapter Twenty
GIDEON
I can tellthe exact moment Penelope’s brain overloads.
Penelope looks like she’s going to drop. Or cry. Or throw her drink at all three of us. Her pulse is jumping at her throat, her knuckles white around the empty champagne flute. This is too much for her.
Silas sees it too. His posture shifts from shock to something sharper, protective and tense. His jaw flexes, his shoulders square, and his eyes stay locked on her.
Talon…
Talon looks delighted. Because of course he does. Chaos loves him, and he loves it right back. He adjusts his glasses and grins at her like he just won something he didn’t even know he was competing for.
Penelope looks like she’s going to faint. Or vomit. Or both. And that’s when everything inside me snaps into focus. She’s spiraling.
I don’t say her name aloud—I don’t need to. I step closer, angled just enough that if she wavers, she’ll hit me, not the floor.
Talon is the student, the one who threatened her. Talon—my nephew—is the one pushing her to go on a date with him while Silas and I are stupidly trying to date the same woman.
All of it clicks together like a lock I never wanted opened.
Silas moves at the same time I do, coming up on her other side. He lowers his voice. “Angel, breathe.”
Penelope swallows hard. “I am breathing.”
“Not well,” I say. “Your pulse is visible.”
She shoots me a look like she wants to argue but doesn’t have the energy. Her hand shakes slightly. It’s enough. More than enough.
“We need to get you out of here,” I murmur.
She shakes her head immediately, panic flaring. “I can’t leave. This is my dad’s?—”
