“Ask me anything,” he whispers, pressing his thumb into the corner of my mouth before tracing my lip as his cinnamon coated hair hangs between us. “Ask me, and I’ll tell you.”
“We’re not business anymore,” I whisper, partly a declaration part question. We’re chest to chest as he slowly shakes his head.
“No, we’re not.”
I can’t bring myself to ask him, and so I don’t. Instead, he leans in and presses his lips to mine before he speaks. “You warned me not to fall in love with you. You said you wouldn’t make room for me.”
“You told me you wouldn’t,” I remind him, my soul soaring with his confession.
He leans in close, his nose brushing mine. “Then I guess that makes us both lia—”
“Well, brother, would you take a fucking look at this? Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
Tobias tenses before going ramrod straight, his expression sobering as he pulls himself to kneel a second before I jackknife, my pulse skyrocketing as I turn from where I sit on the ground and lift my gaze to meet the livid eyes of his brother.
Beside Dominic stands Sean, and at the sight of them, I’m thrust into a reality of the worst kind. I stagger to my feet as I dart my disbelieving gaze between the furious eyes of two men, that not long ago, I pledged myself to. Two men I swore I couldn’t, never wanted to live without. Two men that ceased to exist after leaving me begging for them in the street as they drove away.
Dominic’s gaze drips acid, peeling me away layer by layer as he takes the two of us in, dressed in nothing but unmistakable guilt. Sean’s expression is equally as damning, his jaw set, his eyes blistering us both with rage.
Tobias stands and takes a step away, distancing himself from me, but it’s way too late. Trembling, filled with dread, I face them both speechless as they collectively batter the two of us from where they stand, their posture threatening in a way I’ve rarely been privy to.
Dominic is the first to speak. “So, I would say we should catch up, brother, but I can see what you’ve been up to. Or should I say who you’ve been into.”
“Where have you been?” I rasp out, my eyes drifting from one to the other, soaking in the changes. Dominic’s hair is cropped close to his head, his physique bulging with new muscle. Sean’s hair is tucked under a ball cap and he’s bulked up just as much. Even their demeanors seem different. And judging from their collective expressions, it looks as if they’ve survived hell and just been refused the chance to tell their story.
Dominic leers at me from feet away, his silvery gaze laced with disgust as if it pains him to look at me. My heart lurches in every direction as I sink into the ground, stunned by their sudden arrival.
“Where have we been?” Sean hisses before he darts his gaze over my shoulder. “Want to answer that for her, Tobias?”
He takes a menacing step forward, fisting his hands at his sides, opening and closing them as he shifts his stare between us as if he’s not sure which of us he wants to strike first.
I turn toward Tobias. “What’s he talking about?”
Tobias closes his eyes as Sean speaks up. “I guess it’s a good thing we caught that early plane, isn’t it, Dom?”
Tobias’s expression cools considerably. “Don’t play innocent, Sean.”
“Innocent? No, I’m not fucking claiming that.” He snaps his fingers sarcastically before pointing at Tobias, his voice filled with condescension. “What was your speech before you sent us off? We needed to get our heads right. So, you sentenced us away for ten fucking months to be Boy Scouts and pay for our crimes. And what did you do?”
“What do you mean you caught an early plane?” I ask Sean, who looks at me in a way I never imagined possible. He ignores my question and takes a step toward me. “I asked you to trust me. I told you I would make this right.”
“Trust you? Trust you? You gave me nothing, which is exactly what you left me with. Both of you.” I say, darting my eyes between them.
“So, you fuck my brother?” Dominic speaks up, his voice lethal. “Pretty cold, baby.”
“Watch it,” Tobias warns, as Dominic’s eyes drift over to him.
“I suppose I should congratulate you for keeping it in the family.”
“Don’t you dare!” I swallow in an attempt to wet my dry throat, unbelieving of the difference in the appearance of the two of them. They look every bit like soldiers. It’s only in their eyes and expressions that I see traces of the men I knew. “This didn’t start the minute you left, or anytime soon after. I grieved for you both for months and months without a single thing to hold onto, without a word from either of you!” I look to Sean. “One day didn’t come.”