Page 3 of Wraith’s Betrayal

"Tiffany finally realize what she signed up for?" Phoenix asked, not looking up from cleaning his piece.

"Tiffany's perfect." Defensive fury colored his tone. "It's having Raven there too. Love my sister, but Christ, I just figured out how to live with one woman. Now there's two of them, talking about feelings and shit, taking over my bathroom with their girl products. Found some pink razor in my shower this morning. Pink! And they were up until three AM laughing about something on their phones. Three fucking AM! I haven't slept right since she showed up."

He collapsed at the bar beside me, and I kept typing meaningless numbers into spreadsheets while my heart hammered.

"She needs her own place," Blade continued, rubbing his face. "But she's broke until she finds a job, and I'm not letting her stay in some sketchy apartment alone. Not after losing everything in Denver."

Warning bells clanged in my head. I knew where this was heading before he even turned to me.

"Wraith."

"No." The word escaped before I could stop it.

"You don't even know what I'm asking."

I did. Every cell in my body screamed both yes and no simultaneously.

"Your place is perfect," Blade pressed on. "You've got that spare room you never use. You work from home half the time so she wouldn't be alone. And you're the only brother I trust to keep your hands off her."

The irony burned my throat. He trusted me because I was quiet Wraith. Controlled Wraith. The brother who kept his head down and did the technical work while others threw punches.

He didn't know about the dreams that had haunted me for three nights. Didn't know how I'd imagined her spread across my sheets, back arching as I buried my face between her thighs, her fingers tangled in my hair while she rode my mouth.

"It's just temporary," Blade continued, desperation creeping into his voice. "Week or two, max. Just until she finds a job and gets her feet under her. Come on, brother. You pulled me out of that spiral after my mom died. Let me do this for my sister. I'm drowning here, and Tiffany's starting to give me those looks like she's reconsidering this whole old lady thing."

There it was. The guilt card. My best friend, my brother, the man who'd stood beside me at Emma's funeral when the cancer finally won. Who'd never asked for anything until now.

"Fine." The word scraped out like broken glass. "But just temporarily."

Relief flooded his features. "You're a lifesaver. I'll bring her by tonight with her stuff. Around seven?"

He clapped my shoulder and headed for the door, already pulling out his phone. Leaving me sitting at the bar, staring at my laptop screen, knowing I'd just agreed to the sweetest torture imaginable.

Living with Raven Beckett. The woman I'd wanted with an intensity that scared me from the moment our eyes met. The one woman in Pike Creek I could never, ever touch.

Viper appeared beside me, silent as always when he wanted to be. "That's a big favor Blade's asking."

"Yeah."

"You sure you're good with it? Having her in your space?"

"It's temporary." I kept my voice flat, neutral. "Couple weeks max."

"Right." Viper grabbed Blade's abandoned beer. "Just remember - Blade wasn't joking about what he'd do. Seen him lose his shit over less when it comes to family."

"I know what he said."

"Good." Viper stood, heading back to his presidential duties. "Would hate to lose my best tech guy over something stupid."

Interesting. That was one word for it.

Others might include: disastrous, impossible, forbidden.

Or the most accurate: inevitable.

Because I could lie to Blade, lie to my brothers, even lie to myself. But deep down, in that place where truth lived regardless of consequences, I knew what this was.

The beginning of my betrayal.