“Okay, let’s see how we can make this work,” Silas started.
I looked him square in the eye. “Let me out of my contract.”
All hell broke loose.
2
London
No way. There was no way...and yet there he was. Jansen freaking Sterling, sitting in the booth next to my best friend’s...well, the love of her life. Despite the two being split up at the moment.
I wasn’t sure who I was more shocked to see—Jansen or Hendrix, who had just been traded from his NFL team in North Carolina to Charleston, yet there I was, walking toward both of them.
“You know London?” Sterling asked, his eyes widening.
“He sure does,” I said, stopping next to Sterling and tucking my hair behind my ears. “How are you, Hendrix?”
Jansen paled, glancing past me to the bar, where my brother sat with Maxim. “Oh, God, tell me you didn’t—”
Did he seriously think just because I’d walked in with Maxim I was with him?
“Didn’t what, Jansen Sterling?” I cut him off, glaring at him. “Didn’t sleep with him? I mean, that’s where your thoughts jumped to, right?”
Jansen opened and closed his mouth a few times, but said nothing.
Smart of him.
“Boys.” I rolled my eyes. “First, if I decided to sleep with Hollywood over here, that would be my business. Not yours. Second, no, I have not slept with Hendrix, though I can admit he’s been naked in my apartment more than a few times.” I fashioned Jansen with a smirk. Let him chew on that. If he wanted to ghost me because of Maxim—
“Her roommate,” Hendrix hurried to say, drawing me out of my thoughts. “How is sweet little Savannah?” he asked, and my heart softened a bit. The two were perfect for each other, they just really...really needed to work out their issues.
“Miserable,” I snapped. “How the hell do you think she is with you down here in Charleston?”
“Seems to me she got everything she wanted,” Hendrix said.
“Wait a second, Caz is your brother?” Jansen’s gaze snapped from Caz to me and back again. “How the hell did I not put that together?”
“Damn, Hollywood!” I exclaimed. “You’ve been in town all of three seconds and already outed me?”
“Didn’t realize you were keeping it a secret.” Hendrix cringed.
“Yes, Caspian is my brother, which again,” I said, my gaze swinging back to Jansen, “is none of your business.” Because if he truly wanted to know any of these details—which I would’ve freely given him—he wouldn’t have ignored my attempts to reach out after the elevator.
“But it’s Maxim’s?” Jansen retorted as he stood. I had to crane my neck to meet his gaze.
“Seriously?” I lifted my chin. “The next time you want to act all pissy that I show up with Maxim, remind yourself that you could have asked first.” I’d given him every opportunity, and he was pushing me away over something I barely understood.
A muscle ticked in Jansen’s jaw. “Fine. I will.”
Guess what? He didn’t.
“Were you sitting on this juicy intel?” Langley Pierce placed her palms on the mahogany that separated us, her dark brown eyes practically glowing.
“No,” I said, slightly flabbergasted. “I just figured you knew.”
“Axel doesn’t really talk about the guys’ private business.”
It had been a month since everyone had found out about Maxim and Jansen being biological brothers, but we were all still reeling.
I should’ve known.
Maxim Zolotov had been my brother Caspian’s best friend for years. And for the past two, I’d seen more than plenty of him since he tagged along with Caspian on breaks versus going home to Minnesota. We’d become friendly, as one does when your brother and his friend are constantly raiding your fridge on visits.
Maxim never once mentioned that Jansen fucking Sterling was his brother. Sure, he’d talked about Sterling being an asshole, but not in a brotherly way.
Jansen, the same man whose scent had filled that elevator—all rugged and invigorating with hints of mandarin and sage. God, that memory—being stuck in the elevator with him—both haunted and excited me, if that was possible. The walls had threatened to close in, to suffocate me. I’d been close to choking on my own panic, and I likely would have if he hadn’t properly distracted me. Heat flushed over my skin at the memory of his teasing words, his scent, the way electricity had crackled in those small inches between us.
“Interesting,” Langley said, glancing at Persephone Price with a secret look I couldn’t decipher. The petite blonde looked like a fairytale Barbie, definitely