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Knox steps forth, slipping his hand around her shoulders and taking the baby from her. There is a dare in his eyes, and I am not a monster.
I take a step back, frustration beating at me.
Was this why she'd disappeared?
Why I hadn't been able to find her after she'd left my eyes, taking with her my light. How, in fact, was it possible that she had hidden him from me this entire time?
I stalk my way up the stairs to my study, allowing the door to bang its way closed after me. I'm shaking.
There's a line of sweat breaking on my forehead, my hands fisted at my sides, and a red haze over my eyes.
I want to punch something, a wall, a man, anything to relieve this rage. At this point, even Knox will do.
I watch the men gathered outside. There's a tenseness to my shoulder as they bunch together. It makes sense now why Father had the guards stationed.
Not that any of them would've been able to stop me if I'd decided to wring her little neck for lying to me this entire time. And most of my anger is directed at myself.
Because despite everything, I could feel, even as I scowled at her, the surge of heat, powerful as a wildfire spreading through dry grass.
I still want her. There is a big tent in my pants that isn't leaving. She deserves to be disciplined for making me this person, this being with no control when it came to her. I will certainly think of something.
The door behind me creaks open with a faint premonition, and I turn towards it, the words already scalding on my tongue.
It's Knox. And I realize he hadn't been surprised. And he hadn't really been here for her. The betrayer!
"How long have you known?"
He'd always been the closest to her. But I've also always believed he and I were close too. It doesn't sit well that he seems to have chosen her in some way over me.
His lips twist. "A while."
He pours a shot of whiskey at the low bar beside my desk, bringing me a glass of it.
"You didn't think maybe I deserve to know? That he was my son? That I even had a son?"
"It's complicated, Xander. Do I apologize?"
I want to roar, sweep the books off the table to the floor, and watch as they flutter away. Maybe they will take with them this burn in my chest, this fire that makes me want to hurt my own brother.
Instead, I sweep the drink from his grasp when he holds it out to me. I knock it back in one smooth swallow. "What the fuck is your apology to me, Knox?"
The burn of the drink helps, but it doesn't erode the bitter taste in my throat. I wonder why I had thought it would.
A tentative knock comes at the door, and I swing my head at it. I bite down hard on the flesh inside my mouth, teeth gnashing. "Get out. Let her in and lock the door behind you."
Knox stays put, a defiant glower on his face. "You can't hurt her."
I let a sickly, sweet smile trickle like water off my face. "You mean like you hurt me? What? You won't help me hide the body?" I point a hand at the door and roar with anger, finally finding some outlet for the void in my head. "Get out!"
He doesn't move for a second. Then he swivels stiffly like a puppet on a string and lopes out of the room.
A sweep of air later, and Mel walks in. Her shoulders are high now, and there's as much fire as an apology in her jade-green eyes.
She licks her lips and sends tongues of fire lapping at the edges of my consciousness. I refuse to let it control me. "I didn't know how to tell you."
"About what Sole?" I've always called her my sunshine, but today, she's pushing shards of darkness, crowding anger and rage into my chest. The things she has always rid me of. I revel in it.
"About Lucian."
