“So I have a question,” I told him.
“You always have a million questions.”
“You’re not lying, but really, it’s been on my mind.” Here went nothing. “You know who or what hurt you, don’t you?”
Oh, he hadn’t been expecting that from the side-look he shot me. A muscle in his face twitched before he admitted, sounding only a little annoyed, “I do.”
I gulped. “Was it your brother?” I whispered.
Alex opened his mouth just as another voice, one I didn’t recognize, said, “Baby brother.”
My head whipped to the side just as a man came in, tugging at the sleeve of an expensive-looking suit jacket. He was tall, just as tall as Alex, with the same hair and skin color, the same features that spoke of a complex, beautiful heritage, and almost as handsome. Instead of Alex’s deep brown hair, the man’s hair was nearly black with lines of silver shooting through the sides.
But it was the cool expression on his face that was the most different.
Because Alex’s face was an arrogant one; he looked damn near constantly crabby and irritated. His eyes though were filled with fire, with heat and life. His older brother though, instead of warmth, there was a detached cool. If Alex thought we were all dumbasses, his brother thought we were gum on the soles of his shoes.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about him.
And especially not when he stopped and looked at me. The man’s gaze went from me to his brother and back.
“She’s the Atraxian.”
He sniffed. “Barely.” But that must have appeased him because he went and took a seat at the opposite end of the table and said, “I’m in the middle of something. What do you need?”
The man who had instantly moved to my side, who hadn’t put on a disguise like I’d half expected him to, tensed. I could see the signs: I knew them well. To give him credit, his voice was that deceptively lazy one that wouldn’t ever fool me. “I asked for someone in Legal, Achilles.”
“Did you forget I’m a lawyer?”
“Just because you went to law school twenty-something years ago doesn’t mean you’re a lawyer,” Alex grumbled in that tone I knew too well.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t answer whatever is on your mind.”
What the hell was going on with these two? If I knew Alex’s mannerisms and tone, this guy had to even better than me. Wouldn’t he?
The other man’s eyes strayed in my direction, lingering there for a moment before I was apparently dismissed again. He didn’t have Alex’s purple eyes; he had blue ones just like Selene’s. “It’s been a while since you’ve come to this floor. What do you need?”
“What’s going on?” a feminine voice asked just as a tall woman came through the door holding a tablet in one hand. Dressed in a classic black suit that hugged her curvy body, she paused just inside and lifted her gaze before smiling just a little, and I meanjust a little. “Hello, Alexander.”
So peopledidcall him Alexander. Who was this?
“Hi, Athena,” he greeted her back with the same level of enthusiasm as she had: almost none.
This was another family member, wasn’t it?
No hug? No kiss?
I hadn’t imagined the big hugs he’d given Selene, Leon, and his sister, The fucking Primordial. Those had been genuine with affection. I’d been able to sense the love there. Those hugs had been so much more than I ever would have thought he was capable of. He’d said something about liking touch too… so this, this was surprising.
Just behind her,anotherman came hustling through the door.
And holyshit.
While Alex was so handsome it was hard to look away from him even when he pissed me off, this other man…. Wow. And that was saying a lot considering Alex. This new man’s features were narrower, were sharper and just… wow. Literally: wow. I had to press my lips together to make sure my mouth wasn’t hanging open.
A fucking poke to the back of my head had me turning to glare at Alex who was frowning down at me.
I poked him back but in the rib.
