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“Partying?”
“They are... Professional socialites. They do not work for the firm. That would allow them too much time to sit and think and they...prefer to run from their problems. Straight into bottles of alcohol and loud clubs.” She knew what pain they’d suffered recently, but the way he’d said that...it sounded like there was more. But he moved on before she could marinate on that too much. “For my part, I run the business. That is something that I inherited directly from my grandfather. I oversee Kamaras Industries.”
“I see.”
“It does not run itself.”
For the first time, she fully appreciated the difference between Alex and Constantine.
Constantine was continuing to make money. To keep the family business going.
His family... Spent it. No wonder he seemed different. More grounded. No wonder he seemed to carry a weight inside of him that the rest of them didn’t.
She had been in the Kamaras family estate many times, the beautiful well-kept grounds and the stunning architecture both in and out never failing to amaze her. But she had never stayed here. Not overnight.
And now she was being shown to a bedroom that was personally hers. A horrible thought stole over her.
“I’m not being put in Alex’s room.”
He stopped. “No,” he said, his voice hard. “You and I both know how inappropriate that would be.”
“Yes,” she said.
“Anyway, it is being preserved. My parents do not want anything touched or moved. Understandable.”
“Yes,” she said, her voice hoarse. Choked.
“I loved my brother a great deal,” Constantine said. “In spite of his shortcomings.”
“Whether you believe it or not,” she said, looking up at him. “I loved your brother a great deal.”
“I do believe it. Now.”
Tension seemed to stretch between them, an impossibly thick and difficult thing. It was nearly impossible to breathe. She struggled against the weight of it. And if Constantine struggled, he did not show it. She did not believe he was unaffected, and yet, he seemed to absorb the impact of all of it into his muscular body. Take it all on in a way that she just didn’t know how to do. And that was when she suddenly felt angry. She was out of her depth. She had been from the moment she had met Constantine. She had never known how to be around him.
He had seemed as if he hated her and yet he always spent the evening talking to her. Even if his words were hard and sharp. And she had been hungry for every interaction.
She couldn’t remember the point where she had begun to look forward to sparring with him more than she’d looked forward to seeing Alex. She had never fully admitted that to herself. But she had always found Constantine. And she might have complained bitterly inside about how much he seemed to despise her, and still, she sought him out.
Every time.
As he did her.
This man who called to parts inside of her that she had wished might remain hidden.
Yes, there was Constantine. And he was...
He was impossible. Impossible for a woman like her. He could handle this, because he had bed partners before. Likely many, because he was beautiful as a fallen angel, and even if he was the more responsible of the brothers, the way he had made love to her...
The skill. Combined with the intensity of it all, it spoke to an experience that she never even wanted to achieve. It was a mess. All of it. And she was the one who would suffer for it. And she would never be free of them. Not ever.
She didn’t know what would happen when the truth was revealed. If it would be. Or if Constantine’s denial would smooth over reality. If she wanted it to.
What she wanted right now was a reprieve, even if it was temporary.
She didn’t want to make the decision, that was the issue. If that made her cowardly, then right at the moment she would just have to accept that.
“Come,” he said.
