The man held the force of a blackened sun.
He placed the milk into the refrigerator and pulled out a beer.
“Before you go opening that, grab those potatoes from the stove and bring them to the table,” Meems instructed.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Clearly, she was not one of the ninety-nine percent.
Then she gestured at a chair. “Brinley, take a seat, love, and get yourself something to eat.”
I sat down with Kai still in my arms since it was apparent there was no chance he was letting go.
I didn’t mind so much.
Elena settled on the chair to my left.
Silas sauntered over with a big pot of mashed potatoes. He leaned over the side of me, really freaking close as he set them in the middle.
Was that on purpose?
Did he keepbarelytouching me to drive me out of my mind?
He took the seat to my right.
Meems settled next to Elena, leaving one chair open.
“Where is that scoundrel of a brother of yours?” Meems asked. Not so much with judgement but affection.
“Passed him on my way back,” Silas rumbled as he took a big heaping pile of mashed potatoes, but rather than filling his plate, he splatted it onto mine. “He was finishing up a task for me, then he’ll be here.”
That was when the door banged open again, and a few seconds later, a guy came striding through the archway like a whirlwind that tore through and left everything in shambles.
All smirks and grins and cockiness.
As handsome as Silas but in an entirely different way.
Brown hair and similar eyes, though his were a couple of shades darker. Where Silas was covered in ink, only a few individual tattoos dotted his arms.
I would say he had to be at least ten years younger than Silas.
All sharp edges, too, but where Silas’s gleamed like razors, his were softened with a cool easiness that made him appear a whole lot more harmless than he undoubtedly was.
When he saw me sitting at the table, he came to a jolting standstill, surprise jetting through his distinct features, before his mouth broke out in a smug grin. “Ah, so this is the one who’s causing such an uproar around here.”
His gaze raked over me before it drifted to his brother. “Gotta admit, the details are becoming a whole lot clearer on why.”
EIGHTEEN
BRINLEY
“Areyou sure you have everything you need?” Elena poked her head through the doorway of Silas’s bedroom.
I looked up at her from where I rested against the black leather headboard with a leg curled under me. I’d been staring at my stupid phone for the last twenty minutes, praying for it to vibrate with a message after I’d sent yet another text to Dereck.
Another he hadn’t bothered to respond to.
Only a dull lamp glowed from the nightstand, but I could still see well enough to know Elena had gotten ready for bed.
