The room narrows to the three of us: the heat of embarrassment, the hard edge of betrayal, and the quiet, dangerous thing between Lucian and me that neither of them can name without breaking.
“Because it wasn’t your business,” Lucian shoots back, his own voice sharp.
“She’s my sister, Lucian,” Orion growls, stepping closer, “and you—”
“Don’t,” Lucian cuts him off, his jaw tight. The single word lands like a warning.
Orion hesitates for a beat. I see the flicker of guilt cross his face, quick and human, and then the scowl deepens. “It doesn’t mean I wanted to walk in and see this,” he says, motioning between us. “You could have saidsomething. Either of you could have.”
My hands go to the blanket, and I pull it tighter, like armor. “It just happened last night. No one knows. We didn’t know you were going to break in with breakfast at the ass crack of dawn, Orion,” I snap, more defensive than I mean to be.
His jaw flexes. His expression twists into something halfway between annoyance and embarrassment. “It’s not dawn, it’s nine,” he says.
“Who fucking cares,” I mutter.
Orion makes a sharp, frustrated sound, halfway between a growl and a scoff. “Fine. Eat your damn food. I’ll just go fuck myself.”
“Orion—” I start, but he’s already moving.
He doesn’t look back as he stalks to the door, yanking it open. “Just figure out what the hell you two are doing,” he throwsover his shoulder before stepping out and letting the door slam behind him.
A heavy, lingering silence settles after he leaves the room. Lucian exhales slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing a fraction as his gaze drifts to the closed door. He drags a hand down his face, then turns to me. The hardness in his eyes softens the second they meet mine.
“Are you okay?” He asks, his tone is careful, like I might crack if he pushes too hard.
I let out a shaky breath and lean back against the headboard, still clutching the blanket. “Yeah. I think so.” My mouth quirks into something that almost passes for a smile. “Honestly, I thought that was going to end way worse.”
Lucian’s brows lift, a ghost of a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Worse how?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug and let out a half laugh that feels like it loosens something. “I figured a confrontation with Orion would end in yelling, maybe something breaking. I definitely thought someone was going to get shot.”
A real smile finally reaches him. He shakes his head and props himself on one elbow. “Give it time. It’s still early.”
I snort and feel the tension in my shoulders ease a fraction. “Good point. Maybe we should get dressed and eat before he comes back and changes his mind about not killing you.”
He chuckles under his breath. His gaze lingers on me, something soft and unspoken in it. For a moment, the memory of the confrontation is gone, and the room is just the two of us again, fragile and steady at the same time.
I sit cross-legged on the bed, blanket still wrapped around my waist. Lucian leans against the headboard beside me, one knee drawn up. We eat more out of habit than hunger, hands moving on autopilot while our conversation fills the small spaces between bites.
My attention keeps snagging on the little things: the way his shoulder brushes mine when he reaches for his drink, the way his eyes flick to my mouth when I chew, the faint smirk that shows up every time he catches me staring. It is small and dangerous and somehow ordinary.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I mutter.
“Like what?” he asks, too innocent.
“Like you’re replaying the last twelve hours in your head.”
His smile slows, becoming dangerously devilish. “I’m offended you think I could forget.”
Heat curls low in my stomach, and I take another bite just to give my hands something to do.
The meal blurs into folded wrappers and emptied cups, the quiet broken only by the occasional look that says more than either of us will say out loud. When we finish, Lucian gathers the trash with efficient, controlled movements. Real life starts to creep back in.
He glances at the clock on the nightstand, then at me. “We should probably get ready.”
The word “should” hangs reluctantly between us.
“Yeah, today doesn’t pause because my brother walked in on us naked.”
