Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Two lives carved from the same DNA, yet we’ve become something unrecognizable to one another. Both of them turn their attention to me as soon as I walk in. There’s a flash of guilt in Lilian’s eyes that she doesn’t even try to hide.
Arson’s eyes narrow to slits, like a man daring me to test him.
Lilian gives me the briefest smile. “You look different, but in a good way.”
Her touch, her scent, it’s my undoing, even if it’s mixed with his scent.
I can’t help but smile back at her. “Thanks, I tried my best. I cut myself a few times, but it was worth it. I already feel like I can breathe a little easier.”
“That’s good. I went to find you to try to talk about what happened earlier, but you must’ve left.”
“Yeah, sorry.” I apologize even though I have no reason to. “I needed a little air, so I went for a walk. It helped to sort my thoughts a little bit. It’s important we talk about what happened and try to figure out what the plan is for the future.”
“What happened is done. Lilian is safe,” Arson chimes in.
I drag a chair closer, scraping it deliberately across the floor before sitting. “For now, but who knows about the future. The guys who took her, they weren’t just your backers, that much is obvious. They expected me to be there. In fact, something tells me they needed it to be me.”
A flicker of surprise crosses his face before he can mask it. “Why would they want you?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” I lean forward in the chair—the walk, the fresh air, none of it seems to have helped, as I notice the marks on Lilian’s neck again.
It should be my lips on her neck and my cock inside her.
Deep down, I know I have no right to claim her, but my brain doesn’t give a shit about rational thoughts. Lilian is mine. Always has been, even if I hadn’t been ready to admit it. As if Arson can sense the change in my demeanor, his posture stiffens. I drag in a breath, slow and steady, forcing the storm back down. Calm. Controlled. I’ve lived my whole life wearing the mask of restraint, pretending I could master what I feel. Still every time I look at her, I see him, my brother claiming her, and it kills me. It eats me alive from the inside out.
“Aries.” Lilian’s voice is soft, careful. She sees it—the way my fists tighten, the tremor I can’t quite hide. “Relax. Let’s talk about this, okay.”
I try again—inhale, exhale, calm—but the words claw their way out anyway.
“Tell me, Brother…” My tone is almost even, but it cuts like glass. “Did you fuck her just to spite me? Or because you can’t stand the thought of me having something you don’t?”
The air between us snaps taut.
Arson reacts instantly, fury flashing across his face. His voice is a snarl, sharp enough to flay me open. “She doesn’t belong to anyone. You’re just too blind to see it. Too much of a coward to say what you feel. You’re jealous—jealous that I can admit it, jealous of what we share.” The words detonate in my chest, cutting deeper than any fist ever could, because he’s right. He’s stolen the one truth I’ve never had the strength to voice.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Lilian slide to the edge of the bed. “Stop, both of you.” The fire in her blue eyes, the steel in her spine—this is the Lilian I’ve always admired. She’s so strong despite her supposed fragility.
Determined despite being constantly underestimated.
Fuck, this is the woman I’ve missed, the one I’ve longed for. She pushes off the bed and slips between us, and somehow it feels like she’s trying to protect him. Why him? Why fucking him? “I already explained this to Arson, and I intended to tell you as well. I can’t keep doing this. I won’t keep doing this. I refuse to be caught in the middle of your hate for one another. Choosing between the two of you isn’t an option. It would kill me.”
“The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Lilian.” It’s true, even though I know that’s exactly what I’ve done. All the times I pushed her away, lied to myself, and ignored her. It was another slap in the face to her.
Lilian can’t see Arson because her back is to him, but he tilts his head to the side and curls his lip, a cross between a sneer and a smirk appearing on his face. “I would never make you choose, Lilian. You know that, but I think it’s obvious who gives a fuck about you and who doesn’t. He had a chance to claim you, and he threw it away.”