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Also, not sure who Silver is. Me?

Guy’s hold on me tightens as he demands, “Who are you?”

“Kota didn’t tell you?”

There’s something in his tone that keeps the question from sounding as innocent as it should be. He’s going to expose me.

It’s not like I don’t deserve it. I never wanted to be a cheater. Never. Not after everything I’ve been through.

As guilt gnaws at me like a dog with a bone, an itch at the back of my head grows and grows until that’s all I can think about.

“Kota? You want to tell him?” Khaos arches a brow, making a cut on it noticeable. I didn’t do that, did I? It doesn’t look that fresh. “Or should I?”

Guy shakes me. “Babe, what the hell’s going on? Who is this?”

“He’s…” Breaking the connection with Khaos, I twist back to the man who’s been here for me day in and day out with endless care and support through everything. “My new stepbrother.”

My lungs freeze, holding the air in them hostage as I wait for Khaos to throw me under the bus.

“That’s right. You have a family now,” he says before lowering me to the floor and murmuring close to my ear, “What’s with the suspense? You had me thinking you pulled a Sera on me.”

It’s funny. Both my parents cheated on each other, yet people only seem to remember my mom’s infidelity. As if my father’s was somehow excused. Normalized. A man takes a mistress and it’s “Well, there must’ve been an issue at home,” putting at least some, if not most, of the blame on the wife. But a woman has an affair and the blame is all hers for all time.

When I don’t respond, Guy shakes me again.

With my eyes glued to the floor in front of Khaos’s feet, I can see him dart forward.

“Hey, man,” Guy says a little uneasily before he straightens and sticks out a hand, his demeanor switching to that of a salesman in an instant. “I’m Guy Humphries. I’ve heard about you.”

“From my mom,” I’m quick to clarify. I certainly didn’t tell Guy about Khaos. Mainly because I don’t know anything about my new stepbrother. I’ve never even met him before today. My mom and his dad eloped, and they didn’t invite either of us.

If I hadn’t found his mug shot online, I wouldn’t have even known what he looked like.

With his sharp edges, dark blue eyes, and tattooed arms, he’s not like the guys here in Sea Haven. He’s not like any guy I’ve ever seen up close. Khaos looks intimidating but in the most enticing way imaginable.

“Khaos Pierson…” Khaos looks at me. “…in the flesh.”

Without taking his eyes off mine, he extends his right hand—the one he used to…please me—but I rush to place myself between both men, knocking Khaos’s arm away before a shake can happen.

“Shouldn’t you…uh…get cleaned up? Or something. From the travel?”

His voice turns to straight sex when he replies, “I already did.”

With his tongue.

I know that’s what he’s thinking.

I can only pray the flush of my cheeks isn’t as obvious as it feels.

Why did I let him do that to me? Why?

Because it felt phenomenal for once to…not plan, not overthink, just do. To let the hunger inside me out. It was hot—beyond hot—and intoxicating. I couldn’t get enough. I would’ve kept going if Khaos hadn’t spoken and revealed his identity. I was that swept up in the moment, in the feeling, in the spontaneity of it all.

An arm wraps around my waist and moves me out of the way.

Khaos’s eyebrows sink the same time his eyes do as he watches Guy manually slide me to the side.

“That’s a great idea. You need to freshen up, too.”