Page 203 of Masters of Control

“You say that about everyone.” Cyrus rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to Asad. “Though if you were going to write one up about anyone, I think it should be Asad.”

“What? Why me? I’m not interesting.” Out of all of them, he was the most normal. Sure, his parents had been way more focused on Cyrus than him during their childhood, but it hadn’t been all bad. He hadn’t had to overcome a deadly illness when he was just a kid, and he hadn’t gone into the army and seen the kind of shit Mason had. Plus, Mason was way too interested in killers and what made them tick.

Asad was just a normal guy who’d gotten his GED, gone to college, gotten a job, and was now living the bachelor life. Well, and brought a fake girlfriend home to meet his family, but that was the most interesting thing about him, and they didn’t know she was a fake girlfriend.

“Because I want to know why you’re here with a woman who isn’t actually your girlfriend.”

“Excuse me?” The words popped out of his mouth as he sat up straight in his seat, his arms automatically crossing over his chest as he leaned back. Fuck. His brother knew. And had said so in front of Mason. He was so fucked.

“Oh, come on, Asad.” Cyrus’ eyes were full of something that looked a lot like pity, and it made every part of him bristle. He didn’t like his little brother looking at him like that. “You show up to my wedding with a woman we’ve never heard of, and you expect us to believe you’re in a serious relationship with her? I mean, you’re doing all the right things with her, and I can tell you’re friends, but I don’t remember PDA particularly bothering you, and while you hold her hand a lot, you barely touch her otherwise.”

“Have you considered that it might bother her?” Asad snapped back. His phone buzzed, but he ignored it. Why he was digging his heels in instead of admitting that he’d been caught out? Yeah, he didn’t want it accidentally getting back to his parents, and no he didn’t entirely trust Mason to be able to keep it a secret from his mother, but that wasn’t all of it. Something about the way Cyrus had said it was putting his hackles up.

It didn’t matter that Cyrus was right.

Or maybe it made it worse that he was.

Cyrus blinked at Asad’s vehement response, as if no, he hadn’t considered that before. Next to Asad, Mason remained silent, watching both of them carefully. It was hard not to be hyperaware of his far-too-observant cousin whose focus was now on him, but Asad ignored him as best he could.

“It didn’t occur to you that maybe Morgan doesn’t want me all over her in front of my family, who she just met, especially my parents?” Granted, he had no idea how Morgan would actually feel about that, though he was pretty sure she would have gone along with whatever he suggested. That wasn’t the point.

“Told you so,” Anna muttered under her breath, elbowing Cyrus again. His side had to be hurting by now, even though he didn’t say anything. He did reach under his arm to catch her elbow and pin it to his side, so she didn’t have so much leverage, but his focus remained on Asad. He was frowning thoughtfully, but he clearly wasn’t convinced yet.

While Cyrus was thinking, Asad picked up his phone to check it. Morgan had texted to let him know she was on her way down from their room.

“She’s on her way down from the room,” he said, turning the phone back off and looking at Mason. His cousin immediately began to move out of the way to let Asad out of the booth. “If you could refrain from casting aspersions on our relationship in front of her, that would be great.”

Getting to his feet, he ignored his brother as Anna whispered something furiously to him. Cyrus looked like he was pouting a little. Good. He didn’t know why Cyrus being correct had gotten under his skin the way it had, but he was still full of completely unjustified indignation. And Mason was still watching him.

He hadn’t taken more than a couple steps away from the booth when Morgan walked into the bar. As always, she looked stunning. She was dressed the same way she had been that morning, in a flirty blue dress with tiny sleeves that flared out around her knees. It had a wide neckline but wasn’t low cut enough to show more than a hint of cleavage. Against her auburn hair and creamy skin, the pale blue looked incredible.

Striding up to her, he pulled her against him. Her eyes widened in surprise as she tipped her head back to see his expression.

“Just go with it,” he whispered as he lowered his lips to hers for a searing kiss.

No need to fake anything. Morgan’s hands pressed against his chest, then slid up around his neck as she kissed him back. The urge to reach down and cup her ass was there, but he ignored it. First of all because he really wasn’t sure how she felt about full-on PDA in public—in the club was entirely different—and also because he’d just finished telling his brother that she wasn’t completely comfortable with PDA.

“Hello,” she said, eyes sparkling when he lifted his head. She kept her arms around his neck, but her gaze flickered to the side, cluing him in to the fact that someone was coming up behind him. “Miss me?”

“Of course. Poor Anna and I had to put up with Mason and Cyrus without you. Now that you’re here, we’ll outnumber them.”

Morgan laughed as he stepped back, letting go of her hold on his neck. He slid his hand around to twine her fingers through his, turning to see Cyrus coming up behind him. No longer pouting, he looked more anxious than anything else.

“Hey, Morgan,” he said, his gaze flickering back and forth between them.

“Hi.” Her reply was cheerful but didn’t invite further conversation.

Asad almost snickered. His brother didn’t know exactly how to respond to her guileless greeting.

“Sorry, but uh,”—he cleared his throat—“do you mind if I steal Asad away for a moment? Mason and Anna are right over there.” He turned slightly to point back at the booth they’d both come from.

Morgan looked up at Asad for direction.

“Go on, baby. We’ll be there in a minute.” He gave her hand a squeeze. Cyrus wanted to talk to him alone, so he’d give him that. “I’ll go get you a drink. White wine?”

“Yes, please.” Her smile was dazzling. She leaned over, going up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek before letting go of his hand and sauntering away. Her ass looked great in that dress.

Cyrus muttered something under his breath.