The Brother Revealed

Nadia

His hands were solid on my arms, grounding me against the dizzying spin of the hallway. For a long, frozen second, my brain refused to piece the image together.

Standing directly in front of me, bathed in the amber sconce light of Velvet Haven, was Corbin.

After four days of radio silence, after ignoring every single call and message, he was standing right here on the second floor of the most dangerous club in town.

"Corbin?" His name slipped from my lips before I could stop it, cracked and raw with shock.

His brows drew together, his gaze darting across my flushed skin, my swollen mouth, and my frantic eyes. "Nadia? What in the world are you doing here?"

The anger that had been simmering in my chest for days evaporated, swallowed whole by a sudden rush of relief. The terror from the room behind me, the lingering sting of the alpha's mouth on mine, the sheer exhaustion from the past hour—it all gave way. I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face into his shoulder, holding on for dear life. I needed the familiar scent of cedar and laundry soap. I needed the anchor of my childhood, the one boy who had always kept the dark away from my door.

Corbin stiffened in surprise, caught off balance by the sudden impact. After a beat, his arms came around my waist, pulling me close against his chest.

A ragged breath left my lungs, rattling in my throat. I had not realized how starved I was for something steady, something that belonged to the safe world I knew before tonight.

Corbin pushed me back to arm's length, his grip firm on my shoulders, his eyes searching mine with genuine confusion. "Nadia, what the hell? Look at me. Why are you shaking like this? Why do you look so worried? Are you hurt?"

The questions came fast, piling on top of each other, but my tongue felt heavy. I could not tell him that I had broken into a private suite down the hall with a blade. I could not tell him that a terrifying stranger had pinned me against a wall, broken my pride, and stripped away my dignity with a kiss. If I started speaking about the darkness in that room, the fragile shell keeping me upright would shatter.

I forced a casual smile, blinking away the burning moisture behind my eyelids. "Why have you been ignoring me? You vanished off the face of the earth. I thought you forgot about me."

The moment the words came out, a wave of self-loathing hit me. I hated how small and pathetic I sounded, begging for scraps of attention from someone who had walked away without a backward glance.

Corbin blinked, and then a wide, boyish grin spread across his face, wiping away every trace of concern. He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck with an easy shrug. "Sorry, Nadi. I swear my phone died on Friday, and honestly, I never bothered to plug it in. I am having the time of my life."

"The time of your life?" I echoed, my chest tightening.

Corbin beamed, puffing out his chest with unrestrained pride. "You have no idea. Giselle is gorgeous. She laughs at all my silly jokes, and she is just perfect. We went to that rooftop lounge downtown on Friday night, and every single guy in the room broke his neck staring at her. People were glaring at me like I stole a crown jewel."

Each word landed like a needle digging into raw skin. I stood there, swallowing the bitter taste of my own foolishness while he narrated his grand weekend.

"I see." I managed to get the words out, my throat aching with the effort to sound normal.

He grabbed both of my hands, laughing like a delighted schoolboy, and spun me around in an obnoxious circle right there on the runner. He stopped spinning, his eyes shining with unfiltered joy. "We were going to fly out to the coast for an exotic getaway, but she was too impatient. She wanted somewhere fancy right now, so we settled on this place. You know what I mean, right? And Nadi... she is incredible in bed. Mind-blowing. I think I officially have a girlfriend."

My heart plummeted straight into my stomach, crashing into cold, hollow dark.

She had gone from a crush he mentioned in passing to his official girlfriend in a single weekend. While I had spent seventy-two hours pacing my floor, crying into my pillow, and checking my silent phone every five minutes, Corbin had been tangled in sheets, falling in love.

"That is great to hear, Corbin. I am happy for you." I forced out the lie, my jaw aching from keeping the fake smile pinned to my lips.

Before he could answer, the click of a brass latch cut through the quiet hallway.

"Corbin, I am feeling lonely without you." The voice was smooth, melodic, and dripping with honeyed boredom.

Corbin froze, his head snapping toward the sound like an obedient pup answering a whistle.

The door to the suite directly behind him stood wide open. Giselle leaned against the polished doorframe, draped in a champagne silk robe that barely hung over her curves, tied loosely at her slender waist. Her blonde hair was tousled and messy, bearing the obvious signs of a long afternoon in bed. She rested one hand against the woodwork, pushing her bare leg forward through the thigh-high slit of the robe, flaunting her smooth skin without an ounce of shame.

She extended an index finger, curling it lazily in Corbin's direction, purring with an exaggerated pout. "Come back to bed. You left me right when things were getting interesting. Are you coming or not?"

Her pale blue eyes slid over to me. There was no anger in her face, only a smug, mocking amusement that said louder than words: watch how fast he runs when I call.

Corbin ran a hand through his hair, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as a flush of crimson crawled up his neck. He looked at me, then glanced back toward the bedroom, visibly uncomfortable. "Nadia, you should head home. It is late, and you should not be wandering around this place. I will meet up with you later. We can talk properly then."

The humiliation burned in my chest like hot acid. He was dismissing me on the spot, shooing away his childhood shadow so he could climb back into bed with the girl of his dreams.

"Sure. I would hate to interrupt." I replied, forcing my chin up to keep the remaining shreds of my dignity intact.

I turned on my heel, desperate to put distance between myself and the sight of them before tears gave me away.

"Wait. Who is that?" Giselle's sharp voice sliced through the corridor.

Corbin turned his head toward the door, answering automatically. "That is just my friend, Nadia."

Giselle rolled her eyes, letting out a sharp scoff. "I know about the ugly duckling you call your best friend, Corbin. I am not blind."

The insult struck a nerve, cruel and direct, but Giselle was not even looking at me anymore. Her eyes had drifted past my shoulder, widening with genuine shock. She twirled a strand of blonde hair around her finger, her lips parting in a soft gasp.

"I meant him." Giselle whispered, her gaze glued to the shadows behind me.

Corbin and I turned at the same moment.

Leaning against the damask wallpaper ten feet down the hall was the man from the private suite.

The rogue alpha who had kissed me senseless minutes ago.

He stood with effortless grace, his broad shoulders resting against the wall, one heavy boot crossed over the other. His dark hair fell across his brow, and his unbuttoned collar revealed the hard lines of his throat. He looked like an apex predator resting in the sun, watching prey wander into a trap.

His dark eyes were fixed on Corbin's hand, which was still hovering awkwardly in the air near my shoulder. A dangerous, cold spark flashed across his features before settling into an amused smirk.

In his left hand, gleaming under the chandelier, was my stolen hunting knife.

My lungs locked. The bone handle, the curved steel—he was holding it loosely between long fingers. He reached into his coat pocket, produced a crisp green apple, and used the blade to slice a thin ribbon of skin from the top. He carved off a clean wedge with effortless control, pierced the fruit with the tip of my blade, and lifted it to his mouth.

He slid the slice between his lips, chewing slowly, his gaze never leaving mine. Those were the same lips that had crushed against mine in the dark room, tasting my terror and stealing my breath.

A wicked smile touched his mouth as he swallowed, and his deep voice rolled down the corridor like thunder. "Hello, brother."

The air vanished from my chest.

Brother?