His face flushes red. “I didn’t?—”
“You did.” I don’t let him finish. “And now you’re embarrassed because you got caught. But you weren’t embarrassed when you said it. You thought I’d accept it.”
His mouth is open, but no sound comes out.
“Now I’m finished,” I tell him. “Leave.”
He does. I watch him disappear into the crowd.
Now my hands start shaking. Not from fear. From adrenaline. From the realization that I did that.
Silas’s hand wraps around my waist, not pulling, but steadying. We walk away from the gallery, down a quieter corridor lined with administrative offices.
He doesn’t speak until we’re alone. “You handled that perfectly.”
“I needed you there,” I tell him.
“I know.” His hand drops from my waist. “You confronted him. I just made sure he listened.”
I exhale. “You gave me the confidence to do it.”
“You already had the confidence.” His index finger runs the length of my jaw. “You just needed to know you could use it.”
I lean into his touch for a second, and it hits me—how different this feels from being with the other two. The brothers might look identical. But what they give me isn’t even close to the same.
Callum makes me feel alive, and Evan makes everything feel easy. But Silas? He makes me feel powerful.
He studies my face. “You good to go back?”
I nod.
We head back to the main hall. The rest of the night unfolds in a blur of conversations and champagne. But I’m different now. More present. More confident.
By the end of the night, I could sleep for twelve hours. Or do this all over again tomorrow.
We head outside. Silas opens the door to our waiting car. I slide in before him. The driver pulls away from the curb, taking us back to the penthouse.
I lean back against the leather seat and close my eyes. When I open my eyes again after a few minutes, he’s watching me.
We are ten minutes from his home, and the car turns onto a quieter street. I move slightly, angling toward him. The dress pulls tighter across my hips. His gaze flickers down before snapping back up.
I let my hand rest on the seat between us, close enough to touch him. He doesn’t react, so I let my fingers brush the edge of his thigh. Light. Testing.
His hand closes around my wrist. His grip is gentle, but firm.
“I know something happened with Callum.”
I don’t deny it.
His grip loosens, but he doesn’t let go. “You’re beautiful. I enjoy spending time with you. But I’m not going to disrespect Ben like that.”
“So, we just keep pretending this isn’t real?”
“That’s exactly what we do.” The authority in his voice is unmistakable. “This relationship is fake. It stays fake.”
“You’re lying to yourself if you think this is still fake.”
“Maybe.” His eyes lock on mine. “But I’m not lying to Ben.”
