AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As always, he runs the calculations of the situation through his mind in silence. “Seems like I have to at this point.”
“I believe this is where we’re meant to be,” I say with confidence. Though I wish I had the kind of poetic insight Reginald has in times like this. “I wasn’t any happier about being forced into this than you are, but for better or worse, this is our legacy. Now it’s up to us to figure out our next move.”
Everett’s stare curiously clings to the blonde still dancing with his best friend. “I’ll do it, but Archer won’t be happy with all three of us being down here. I don’t think it’s wise to abandon ship all at once.”
That would be fine if we weren’t on a time limit… but I have to agree. If we have any hope of him going through with this, it’ll need to happen gradually.
I jerk my head toward him. “What do you mean, all three of us?”
He opens his mouth to explain, but we’re distracted by the sudden movement at the end of the table where Lucas has reappeared.
The healing bruise covering his right eye is nearly as dark as his all-black suit, but not even that could stop him from making a move on Molly’s best friend.
One second, his arm is around Piper’s neck and she’s smiling up at him, and the next, she’s grabbing the hand on her shoulder and whipping it over her head.
She swiftly cranks his arm behind him before kicking the back of his knee, and Lucas falls to the concrete with a muffled groan.
Her smirk is tight with sarcasm when she bends to his ear and says, “Well, go on. Apologize.”
Lucas glares at her over his shoulder, but she doesn’t relent, craning his wrist harder. “I’m waiting…”
“All right. All right! I’m sorry,” he grits.
Her lips twitch as they lock angry gazes. “Good boy.”
Piper releases his arm with a haughty huff, leaving him kneeling on the ground with an expression caught between shock, amusement, and something irreverent I have no desire to investigate.
Everett and I laugh as we drag him up to standing, but for the first time in his life, my brother is rendered completely speechless.
“One night in jail and you’re already off your game,” I muse.
He jerks out of my hold, muttering a half-hearted, “Fuck you.”
“What could you have possibly said to upset her like that?” Everett asks.
Knowing him, something horribly inappropriate.
“I just asked if she wanted a tour of the manor.” He dusts off his knees, but when he straightens, I give him a stern look. “Okay, fine. I might have asked if she wanted a tour of the bedrooms in the manor. Mine, specifically.”
“Luke, I swear to god—” I stop, glancing between the two of them as the song Molly’s playing builds with an anticipating rhythm. “Wait…”
His bedroom?
Everett winces, but Lucas’s grin is fiendish when he claps a hand on my shoulder. “Poppa Archer has banished me from the kingdom for my little mishap.”
My thoughts halt on that singular sentence as Molly pounds the keys louder, the deep notes rising to a pulse-quickening crescendo.
Archer… That fucking bastard sent him here as punishment.
The question is, who’s he really punishing, Lucas or me?
A roar of applause breaks across the courtyard, and when my wife hits the final note, Lucas says, “We’re officially roomies, bro.”
* * *
