Ashton had a thousand chances at a happier life, a life with a new family, and he turned his back on each and every one of them. Every time he left, I knew it was only a matter of time before he came strutting back through those iron gates, kickedout of another home and coming back to the only person he really cared about.
His brother.
I hated him for that. Hated the kid who blew every chance he had to get out of our prison. The kid who learned to fight young, who grew faster than any of the other orphans, who stole food whenever he could, even if it meant less for the rest of us. Hated him because he had something I so desperately wanted. He had a friend. A brother.
Family.
Sebastian was such a scrawny little thing back then, a bespectacled kid with a stutter living in his brother’s shadow. Ashton did everything he could to keep them together, to keep his brother safe.
Even back then, even when I hated him, I respected that. Envied it.
And respect eventually gave way to a begrudging alliance. And then a friendship.
And then one day, I realized he had become my brother too, and when Ashton kept coming back to the orphanage, it wasn’t just for Sebastian.
By the time Viper found us, the three of us were inseparable, bonded by something much stronger than blood. And Viper?
How could we not love Viper, even in the beginning? Broken, damaged Viper. The kid no one wanted, the kid who went through hell and managed to survive, the one they frequently had to chain up to keep his violent outbursts contained.
He fit right in with us.
And that’s all I ever needed. Sure, I’ve dallied with women, even kept a few around long enough they thought we were something more than we were. But none of them came close to knowing me. None of them were anything more than a fun way to pass the time.
Until Sydney.
It’s been one week since I last saw her. One week since I held her in my arms, since I felt her body shake and quiver as she came around my cock.
One week, and every second of it since she found that ring has been a nightmare.
That fucking ring. Worthless even before I took it off and shoved it in a drawer, all those years ago. It cost me everything. It cost meSydney. She was finally mine—finallyours—and I ruined it. I wish I had done more that night to explain, to make her stay, but that look in her eyes when she left still haunts me. The pain, the betrayal.
Don’t ever contact me again,she’d spat at me. And I knew she meant it, knew she’d hate me for reaching out to her again.
But that wasn’t enough to keep me away.
I sent her a single message, the night she left, trying to explain everything. She still hasn’t responded to it. Maybe she never read it, never will. Maybe she doesn’t believe me. Maybe, maybe, maybe…
It doesn’t matter. I feel lost without her. Untethered.
Ashton says she wants to be left alone. That she doesn’t want to see any of us right now.
Fine. I’ll give her space, give her time, give her whatever she needs, even if every second I’m not with her feels like I’m suffocating. I’ll wait for her. Wait the rest of my miserable life, if I need to, until she’s ready to talk. Even if there’s a part of me—an unrecognizable part—that wants to go to her right now, wants to be in front of her, groveling on my knees and begging for forgiveness.
I glance over at my brothers. They look just as miserable as I do. Ashton hasn’t been sleeping, has barely been showering. His blonde hair is limp and unwashed, his eyes hollow and dull. Iheard from his manager that he’s been missing sessions with his trainer and dropping weight. He looks about ready to shatter.
And Sebastian?
Even Sebastian looks like a ghost. There are dark shadows under his eyes, visible even through his glasses, and a coiled, almost frantic energy to the way he moves that wasn’t there a week ago. A nervous tick to his muscles. As I watch, he runs a hand through his dark hair, then does it again, almost like he can’t stand to be still.
He blames himself, thinks he’s the reason she won’t see any of us. They still don’t know I’m the one who fucked it all up. They don’t know I ruined everything.
More lies.
More fucking secrets.
I drop into my office chair and let the weight of it all settle over my shoulders. Every mistake I’ve made, every secret I’m keeping, presses down on me, pushing me closer to hell.
Sebastian glares at where Ashton sits on the couch, hunched over his phone.
