Sloane’s face won’t leave me alone. The way her mouth tightened when she told me we weren’t friends, like she needed to believe it.
Not friends.
What a joke.
But maybe she’s right. Because the thoughts I have of her are anything but friendly. Friends don’t imagine fucking each other, and they definitely don’t stay up late at night and wonder what it would be like to wake up next to that person. To kiss them, to hold them, to say things they have never told anyone else.
So no, maybe we’re not just friends. We’re something a lot more complicated.
And she knows it too. I felt it. The way she shivered when I got close, the way her breath hitched when my mouth touched her skin, the way she could barely look at me when I told her I wanted to give her the world. There was nothing indifferent about any of that.
But she’s right to stay away, no matter the reasons. I can’t offer her the one thing she needs: safety. Not the real kind. Not in my world.
If she found out who I am, she would run, and I wouldn’t even be able to blame her.
But the thought of her running makes something black and ugly curl in my chest. No matter what, I’d be there keeping her safe, even from a distance.
As the road turns off up ahead, I take it, the Whitlocks’ land stretching out on either side. By the time the gates come into view, my grip has already tightened on the wheel, dragging my focus back where it needs to be: on this meeting and the trouble circling our family.
I roll through the gates, passing the little bed and breakfast and heading straight for the main house set deep on the property. When I pull up in front of the towering house and cut the engine, another car pulls in behind me. Then two more. My brothers are here.
Konstantin gets out first, eyes sweeping over the property once before landing on Aleksei. The look he gives him is clear enough:don’t start trouble.
Aleksei catches it and laughs like the whole thing amuses him.
“Ya ponil,” he says.I understand.
Hopefully he does, because if he ruins this, Konstantin won’t hesitate to put him down.
Konstantin turns his laser focus on me, studying my face like he can see the tension crawling under my skin.
“Are you alright, brother? Are you sleeping?”
No. Not even close. Between the nightmares with that baby crying and Sloane taking up permanent space in my head, I don’t remember what real sleep feels like.
“I’m fine.” The lie comes easy. Easier than the truth.
“Okay.” He nods once. “Paydom.”Let’s go.
We move as a unit, up the stone steps toward the front door, Konstantin in the lead. He reaches for the bell and presses it once.
A moment later, the door opens. An older woman in a maid’s uniform stands there, her gaze moving over Konstantin first, then the rest of us.
“Welcome.” Her smile is polite, but guarded. “Mr. Whitlock and his family are waiting for you. Down the left hall.” She points that way. “The door all the way at the end.”
Konstantin gives her a short nod. “Thank you.”
We step inside, past the grand foyer and the guard posted there, then take a left into a wide hallway. When we reach the door at the end, Konstantin knocks once. From the other side, Harlan Whitlock’s voice carries through.
“Come in, gentlemen.”
This better be a productive meeting, or it won’t end well for them.
As soon as we walk in, the whole nest of roaches is already there. Harlan sits behind his desk like a king on a cheap throne, Jace at his shoulder. Greer, with that cocky little smirk, is settled back in an armchair. The other three sons—Nash, Theo, and Cole—line the suede sofa.
Cole eyes us like he’s begging someone to swing first. That’s what happens when you’re young and stupid. Except he’s around thirty, which is old enough to know better.
“Welcome.” Harlan nods, running a hand through his gray goatee. “We’re grateful you could join us.”
