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I lick my lips and his focus falls to the contact.
“No.”
His glare reluctantly lifts from my mouth. “No?”
I shake my head, pushing against his touch and clenching to try for more. “You’ll have to guess.”
His eyes narrow.
“Might take a couple tries...”
It takes a second but then a grin slowly curls his lips and he chuckles, dragging a hand across his face.
His finger leaves my underwear and suddenly he’s on his back beside me, staring up at the ceiling.
After a few long moments, his eyes close. “Go.”
I tense, ready to speak, but he knows it’s coming, and cuts me off before I can.
“Now, Vee,” he says quietly, “...please.”
There’s something in his tone, a hint of self-doubt, relief and regret maybe.
I nod even though he can’t see me, tug my jeans up and exit the gym.Chapter 17Captain
We’re driving down the dirt road, the mansion now in view when my brother meets my eyes in the mirror.
He’s with me, they both will be, no matter what move I make or when.
I spent the rest of yesterday, and all fucking night, trying to work through my own head, and each time I came out even more unsure—a rarity for me.
I’m supposed to be the positive brother, the one who breaks down each scenario and helps his brothers see what their anger and defiance hides, only now I’m on the opposite side.
I’m full of blurred rage, craving defiance, and ready to risk all that I am.
I want to let go of all we are to uphold—respect, loyalty, trust—and gamble everything for what might be... my everything.
For who might be my everything.
Zoey will always be the most important person in my life, but Maddoc will soon have both—a child to love and protect, and a woman who was made just for him.
Is it wrong to want both?
Is it wrong to want her despite her lies?
The more I’m around her, the harder it gets to remain angry.
I thought I could bury everything under the sheets, focus on the physical and the rest would fade away, but I’m learning I’m not built like that.
Sex has always been about the moment, the sensations involved, a mutual night of fun.
I can’t do that with her and it’s frustrating.
Today, when she pushed the exact button she meant to and I carried her ass to the gym, I had every intention of getting her off, curb her appetite and mine, and then she teased.
Victoria looked me in the eye, hair spread all around, arm bent and fingers barely teasing at the edge of her face. Through her words, she smiled, words that indicated a future, or at the very least, more.
More of me.
More with me.
More of us.
A strange fullness spreads through me, tightening and weighing at my arms and legs. It takes effort to turn the wheel so I can curl around the driveway.
I’m losing it, my control.
Royce tips his chin, and my hands tighten against the cool leather.
It’s a switch, me being the one unwilling to see and him pushing me. I’m anxious and I hate it.
We were taught to trust our gut, but mine is split in fucking two, no part of me leaning any farther than the other.
She didn’t tell me she knew of my daughter, never shared Maria was her mother, never told us about the videos she recorded, all things that relate somehow to my little girl.
What else could she be hiding?
Royce’s words come crashing back, forcing me to wonder if there’s even a negative piece to her. Nothing I’ve learned tears at who she is.
Who was the lie for...
I let out a long exhale and put the SUV in park.
All my concerns fade into the background when my daughter’s little hand lifts to wave even though she can’t see through the windshield.
Like every day, Zoey is on the porch waiting, this time with a popsicle in her hands.
Once our doors start to open, she begins climbing down the steps.
I glance over my shoulder, and one of my eyes is aligned perfectly, able to meet Victoria’s through the small gap the opening allows.
Her face is pinched tight, flying from the open door and back to me, but light footsteps are where my focus lies, so I spin back around and move forward the last few spaces until I can pick up Zoey and toss her in the air, catching her on her way down.
She laughs and wraps one arm around me as she brings her popsicle back to her mouth. “Look it.” She licks it. “It’s orange.”
“It is orange, good job.” I bounce her and she giggles.
“Papa said I can have it.”
I chuckle and then Zoey is reaching past me.
“Uncle Bro!”
Royce roars and swings her from me, running a few feet and swinging her around.
She laughs, looking back this way.
There’s a light shuffle behind me, letting me know Victoria is climbing out, but I hold my breath, forcing myself to focus straight on.
