CHAPTER ONE
Wilder
HE’D NEVER considered what it would feel like to be betrayed by his best friends. He’d never thought it a possibility. His friends?family, really?were the only people he thought he could always count on. The only people he’d never expected to keep secrets from him. Thirteen years, they’d kept their relationship a secret, and now, Jane thought she could just order him around? Fuck that and fuck her.
His strides were long and hurried as he crossed the backyard. Jane had to run to reach him, her legs so much shorter than his. Usually, it would’ve made him slow down, but all he could think about was the fact that she’d decided to wrap those legs around his brother.Theirbrother.
Jane made a growling sound under her breath when she caught up with him, and he knew she’d be glaring if he looked at her. He didn’t fucking want to. Since the day they met, he’d seen that anger from her countless times, but it had never before been aimed at him.
“Could you get your head out of your ass for a second and just consider?”
“Not a fucking chance,” he snapped, almost delighted by the flinch he caused. Almost. “Do it yourself.”
“You really think because you’re VP, you can just?”
“Yes.”
He whirled around, meeting her gaze head-on. Anger flashed through her green eyes, and his heart stuttered. Fuck. He hadn’t gotten used to that anger being aimed at him.
“Oh? You think because you’re mad, you get to be an asshole? It’s not me it’s affecting.”
He stilled, nails digging into his palms as his jaw clenched almost painfully because she was right. She was right, and he hated it. Anger surged through him anew, lighting up that selfish, insecure part of him he couldn’t contain. Not with how bright Jane and Solo’s betrayal burned inside him.
“How delusional are you? You’re fucking your own brother. You don’t thinkthat’sgonna affect anyone?”
Her eyes dulled for a moment, and that satisfaction he thought he’d feel? It was nowhere in sight.
“Maybe if you found someone to settle down with instead of fucking everything that moves, you’d be too busy being happy to be a shithead about something that doesn’t concern you,”Jane said, the flat tone of her voice telling him that she was close to losing her shit.
He blinked at her, hating the pain those words sparked. It was always great to find out how the people you loved truly saw you.
“So, I’m just a fuckboy you don’t consider family anymore, huh?”
Jane’s lips parted, a confused breath leaving her as she shook her head.
“I see how it is,” he muttered, turning away only to have a small hand on his arm halt him.
“That’s not what I meant,” Jane said, her voice low and strained.
“Isn’t it?” He turned, leveling her with a hard look. “How else would you describe telling someone who considers you a sister that her fucked up relationship doesn’t concern him?”
Jane’s expression shuttered, her lips pulling tight. “Fuck you. Just because you see us as siblings doesn’t mean we ever did.”
“You sure about that?”
There was a flare of hurt in her eyes, and she stumbled back a step before straightening. She was tiny compared to him, and he knew she hated that she had to look up at him. He was rather enjoying it at the moment.
“Go fuck yourself,” Jane hissed, her cheeks red with anger as she took off.
Obviously, he hit a nerve. Served her right.
He stared after her, the pain in his heart only getting worse. He knew it wouldn’t help, but he still rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest.
“That went well.”
A heavy sigh fell from his lips.
Great.
