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This needs to stop. They all need to back the fuck off and let us breathe. But as I watch him, I worry Lucas might be struggling with his feelings on a different level than a brother should.
Cassandra stiffens in my arms, and I feel livid seeing the embarrassment glow on her face. She’s not a little girl to be told what to do. How dare he humiliate her this way? Anger filters through me hot and demanding, but I stay put, knowing Lucas is dear to her, and I might just make it worse. Besides, her warning about my own jealousy’s still fresh. She might feel the same about Lucas’ odd behavior.
She uncurls from my embrace, stepping closer and locking her pale eyes with him. I hope she won’t allow him to dictate her life. But again, I don’t really know what she’ll do. Cassandra tends to take a peaceful route to solve issues with her family.
“I invited him, Lucas.” Her voice sounds firm and her spine straight as if she knows how to fight with Lucas.
Holding the marine’s gaze, I clasp her waist and pull her back into my chest. Unable to curb my instinct to brush my lips against Cassandra’s neck, needing her to know I’m on her side. Cassandra’s frame melts into my chest, and she trembles as my cock pulses against her. Lucas' hands curl into fists and his face tightens with anger as he watches me stake a claim in front of him. He steps closer, but then he stops as if he remembers his place.
That’s right, buddy, back the fuck off. She is mine!
“They are my children, and this is my home, Lucas. And whoever I bring into my bed isn’t any of your business.”
His eyes blaze like hot steel about to be dunked into the water.
“You’re wrong. I’m your family. It isn’t smart to bring a stranger into your kids’ lives so soon. You’re a mother, Cassandra, their feelings matter too. Besides, this man might ru
in you as well.” He digs a claw into my heart with a never-ending discussion about our inappropriate choice to date.
Lucas is clearly trying to make her feel guilty and doubt her choices, using her insecurities against her. He’s doing it not because it's right but because he’s jealous.
“How about you leave motherhood decisions to Cassandra and act as a supportive brother instead?”
He moves a menacing step closer, his nostrils flaring like a dragon’s ready to singe me.
“You think you get to tell me how to talk to her?”
Her frame stiffens as the vicious energy saturates the air.
“You speak like a jealous lover instead of her brother-in-law. You tend to forget how this relationship is supposed to work,” I taunt him as my heart pounds in my chest, watching his fists ball at his sides, and my muscles get taut, ready to respond.
“What’s happening here?” Helen descends the stairs in a silky pale gown, giving us a disapproving glower over her delicate shoulder. Cassandra’s spine stiffens like steel next to me, vibrating with tension as she watches her getting closer.
“We’re having a disagreement about the boundaries with Lucas,” I offer.
Helen looks between us. “I’m sure these issues could be solved in the morning.”
But the marine’s gaze stays fixed on me, his six-foot frame fired up for a fight. He was always a sensible one. I’m yet to see him unhinged. But something in his gaze makes me believe he’s determined to prove me wrong.
“Lucas, I’m a grown-up woman. I can handle my guest.”
I want to growl with frustration because we haven’t had time to talk about what we are, and I can hear a hesitation when she calls me ‘guest.’
“Cassandra, perhaps Mark could find a room in a hotel. We have no rooms left for him to stay.” Helen looks down at her with biting contempt, and now I know why they decided to stay over. So they could control us, keep us apart.
“Helen, thank you for your concern, but Mark’s going to sleep in my bedroom tonight.” The air cracks with tension as her gasp of disbelief like a snap of the whip filters through the space.
“In the room you and my son used to sleep?” she shrieks, and my insides tighten as if she just twisted a knife deep inside of me.
Helen looks at Cassandra like she’s a repulsive human being. But I’m done with their mingling ways and disrespect toward her. Cassandra deserves better than to be beaten down for Logan’s death. She didn’t cause this devastation and they know it.
“I’m not taking your son’s place, Mrs. Cade. I’m making my own,” I growl my statement, knowing she used this exact argument to force us apart. She knows how to hurt me, but I know how to hurt her, too. “Logan is dead, and we both are alive.”
She stumbles back, but Lucas catches her before she hurts herself in the corner of the console table.
“His time is over, and mine has just begun.”
Helen’s delicate chin wobbles and a pang of guilt sneaks under my skin, but I stay firm, needing to make a fair point. She knows what I’m getting at.
