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My bicep ached and burned as I lifted the dumbbell for the last rep of the set, grimacing as I lowered it down to the ground for a moment before switching sides. Across the home gym we built into half the garage last year, Rook pummeled a heavy bag, dancing around it like there wasn’t anyone or anything else in the room.
I gritted my teeth as I began reps on the left side, watching his lithe body strike blow after blow, ducking low, keeping his face protected.
Funnily enough, theirprankwasn’t what kept me up half the night.
I truly didn’t know whether I wanted to punch him in the face or pat him on the back. I’d been vacillating between the two since I walked in on them last night in the kitchen.
As if my brother knew exactly where my head was, hadn’t spoken to me at all since he came in to train twenty minutes ago. He just gave me a nod and went about his business. Patiently waiting for me to make up my mind between that punch or that pat. Happy to accept whatever I decided on.
She’s good for him, the logical part of my mind argued. I’d already noticed some positive changes in him over the past few weeks. The itch he usually had by now wasn’t nearly as prominent. He was drinking a bit less. He seemedhappy.And notI-just-killed-someonehappy, but actually happy. Rook never trained in the mornings, either. He reserved mornings for late wake-ups, spiked OJ, and the inevitable shouting from Corv for him to move his ass.
I wanted to be happy for him, but there was the other part of me—the one that whispered through clenched teethshe’s mine.
I had her first, after all.
She liked me best, didn’t she?
But didn’t she also like Rook? And even on some level, Corvus, too?
We’d shared before. Once or twice. But those girls didn’t matter. Not like AJ.
Inside the Nest, I heard heavy footsteps thudding down stairs and sighed, letting the dumbbell back down to the mat for a stretch and a break before my next set. Whatever he was coming to say, I didn’t want a dumbbell in my hand when he said it. As it was right now, I was liable to throw it at him.
He came home in the early hours of the morning, not bothering to be quiet as he parked his Ducati and entered the house. He spent the hours leading to dawn pacing his room or rifling through the kitchen. I was having a hard enough time sleeping as it waswithouthis noise keeping me up.
Corvus stepped through the open door to the garage, his back raised and jawline tense. “Why aren’t you watching her?” he demanded of Rook, his bloodshot blue eyes laser focused on my brother.
Rook fell back a step, wiping the sweat from his upper lip before lowering his wrapped fists. He pointed two fingers at himself. “Me?”
Corvus’ brows lowered, his cheekbones flaring.
“She’s asleep,” Rook defended. “Besides man, she ain’t going anywhere.”
“If she does, it’s onyouto explain that shit to Dies.”
“Fine.”
But Corvus wasn’t finished, his shoulders shook so slightly that if you didn’t know him well enough to know the signs of his anger, you’d never notice. And right now, Corvus was furious, and he had something else to say.
“Fine,” he growled. “Maybe you want to explain to me why she’s naked in your bed, then?”
...so I guessed we weren’t going to be talking about their little prank last night then.
Rook raised a dark brow at him. “You’re smart enough to figure that one out.”
His nostrils flared for a moment before he turned his rage on me. “And you?” he pressed. “You’ve fucked her too, haven’t you? And don’t fucking lie to me.”
I lengthened my spine, standing to place the dumbbell back onto the rack with a sigh.
“I did,” I admitted, my tone filled with more animosity than I intended. I never lied to him. I never lied to either of them. Except for her. To protect her.
When I turned around, crossing my arms as I leaned against the half rack, he was still watching me. That animalistic gleam in his eyes told me he was on the very precipice of his control. I’d never seen him this bad this often. Maybe he was right. AJ was a threat. She might just be the death of us.
But oh what a sweet death it would be.
As I began to come up with ways I might restrain him if he actually went feral, something in his stare changed and the muscles near his cheekbones twitched as he began to calm and eventually to sag, sighing heavily.
He wiped a palm over his mouth, partially covering a shaky breath.
