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ALEX
After Luca droveme to the house and disappeared, Marcello kept me company for the rest of the night. We ate dinner on my balcony and drank sweet tea spiked with vodka, which was my idea. Then he fixed me a bath with scented salts. I begged him to sit on the toilet and talk to me while I soaked up the warm, bubbly water.
We had so many familiar routines that would be hard to break if I chose Luca. I didn’t want to lose either of them, but that fact made my decision seem impossible. No matter who I chose, I would have to give away a piece of myself to be with the other.
Later that night, Marcello climbed into bed with me, stripped down to his Tom Ford boxer briefs that highlighted his best features. He looked so damn sexy I wanted to lick his skin, taste every inch of his tempting body. It was impossible not to find him attractive, especially with him flaunting his ripped chest and strong arms.
Marcello slipped beneath the covers and rolled onto his side, propping his elbow on the pillows. “You okay, princess?”
I nodded. “Just thinking.”
He smiled as if he knew I was thinking about him but didn’t press the subject. I covered my mouth with my hand and yawned, the day’s events weighing down on me.
“Stop that,” he said as he yawned. “It’s contagious.”
I curled up with two fluffy pillows and gave him my best pouty face. “Will you read to me?”
“What do you want me to read?”
I pointed at his copy ofThe Iliadon the nightstand. He flipped onto his back, stretched his fingers, and grabbed the book from the table. Without a word, he flipped to the page we had bookmarked last night and started reading. His deep voice washed over me, and my skin pebbled with tiny bumps. I loved the effect he had on me.
After a while, I closed my eyes and listened to him speak, pronouncing the Greek names perfectly. I could tell he’d read the story dozens of times, the words falling from his beautiful lips as if he were repeating them from memory.
Fighting sleep, my eyelids fluttered. Marcello must have noticed because he threaded his fingers between mine on the mattress without losing his stride. He rambled on about Achilles and the Trojan War while I thought of the internal war I was fighting.
My love for two handsome Devils.
Before I could give it much thought, I slowly drifted to sleep.
I spotted Aiden from the kitchen window. What was he doing at Luca’s house this late at night? He promised he wouldn’t do this job with The Serpents. Before I’d left the house we shared, he swore on our twin bond he wouldn’t put himself in danger again.
Setting the bottle of water on the counter, I stood on the balls of my toes and strained to get a better look.Aiden wore a blue hooded sweatshirt. Even with his back to me, I knew it wasmy brother by how he strutted toward the cliff’s edge. Fear shot down my arms and stirred in my belly.
I raced out of the kitchen, pulled open the back door, and followed him. He raised a cell phone to his ear, mumbling words I couldn’t hear over the water crashing against the rocks below us. My brother stood at the cliff’s edge where Luca had kissed me for the first time. It was my favorite place in Devil’s Creek because of what it meant to us.
Now that we were engaged and planning our wedding, it felt like all of those years of torture were worth it. If only my brother would settle down and stop chasing ghosts.
“Aiden,” I called out. “Please. You don’t have to do this.”
He spun around, hands in his pockets, staring at me with cold, hard eyes that didn’t belong to my Aiden.
“I’m sorry, Lexie,” he said as if in pain. “I don’t have a choice.”
Tears spilled from my eyes as I stepped forward. “We always have a choice.”
He shook his head. “If you didn’t have to marry Luca, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Stay. For me.” My voice sounded so pathetic, desperate. “I can’t do this, Aiden. This is killing me. I need you.”
He inched backward toward the edge of the cliff. “It’s the way it has to be, Lexie.”
“No,” I choked out. “There’s another way.”
“You want to believe that.” He took another step, so close to the edge that my heart raced. “But this is it. Just let me go. It’s best for all of us.”
“Never.” My lungs felt like they were filling up with sand, and each word I spoke was harder to say than the last. “You’re a part of me. I’m a part of you.” I wiggled my fingers, hoping he would abandon this stupid plan and take my hand. “Come with me, Aid. Please.”
He stretched out his hand, and our fingers brushed. I pulled him toward me, begging him with my eyes to stay. Aiden tripped, and as I attempted to grab him, he found his footing.