From the very first moment when he entered my room and took the nightmares away.
My phone pinged in the living room. I went back to fetch it.
Lila: Achilles was at Fermanagh’s earlier. They had a meeting with Alex. He mentioned Achilles is pissed.
I couldn’t breathe.
Grabbing my head, I folded in two on the floor and began to sob.
The loss felt impossible to digest. He’d slipped between my fingers once, when I was young and stupid, but I was given another chance. Another shot at happiness.
Of course, I blew that, as well.
Maybe I didn’t deserve good things. Because whenever they came my way, I was so good at letting them slip between my fingers.
“I didn’t want to do this…” I choked out, my tears dampening my face and the collar of my shirt. “I should’ve never…agreed…to this…”
The mechanical turn of the lock started from the entrance door. I whipped my head up just in time to see Achilles step inside. He hadn’t seen me yet. Instead, he tossed his phone and wallet onto the kitchen table and peeled off his jacket, looking exhausted.
“Tier, baby?” he called out. “You here?”
Baby…?
Wiping off my face, I slowly rose up to my feet, making myself known.
“Hi,” I squeaked.
He turned to look at me, scowling. “Have you been crying?”
“No.” I rubbed at my eyes pointedly. “Hay fever, I think. What’s going on?”
“So…I have a half brother.” He stared at me, wide-eyed, letting his words sink in.
Shamefully, my first thought wasTHANK FUCK.
So this was why he was upset.
Not because of the threesome and not because of Alex.
A secret half brother I could deal with.
“Vello’s son?” I blinked.
He nodded.
I sprang into action immediately, rushing to the kitchen and pulling out a chair. “Sit down. I’ll fix you a drink. Tell me everything.”
He did what he was told, a telltale sign he was shocked. Achilles had never taken one direction in his entire damn life. I rushed to the liquor cabinet and pulled out his favorite whiskey, pouring three fingers into a tumbler and putting it in front of him. “Drink.”
He tossed it back in one go. “It’s Tristan Hale.”
“What?”
“I went to Fermanagh’s to ambush him. Wanted to see why he spared your life. Well, I found out.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew you were my weakness and that as long as you live, you’ll be my priority. I won’t become don.”
