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“Nice to meet you too,” Chanel spoke, and Morgan just looked at him.

After a bit of silence, I cleared my throat. “You came to the club tonight?”

“It was my idea.” Morgan spoke for Chanel.

“If I knew you were here, I would’ve come down and greeted you properly.”

“We haven’t been here long. Natasha spotted us and brought us right to you,” Chanel explained. “I’m just happy to meet your brother.” Chanel gave me a look that signaled I was in trouble. I hadn’t told her I had a brother, and she could probably tell he was a vampire. I tried to remain calm, but I knew I fucked up. I hadn’t told her about Donté and now here was Harlen, another secret I was keeping.

I stood up. “Morgan, can I have a quick word with Chanel? I promise I will bring her right back.” I had already moved over to where Chanel was seated and taken her hand in mine. Chanel was reluctant to stand, but slowly rose to her feet.

“No problem.” Morgan said. “I will let your brother, what’s your name?”

“Harlen.” My brother answered.

“Entertain me.” Morgan finished her sentence.

Although I didn’t want to leave her alone with him, I knew he would be on his best behavior. Most women thought he was charming for reasons unknown to me.

I led Chanel from the room and turned back to see Harlen moving to take Chanel’s newly vacant chair.

Once the door had shut behind me, I guided Chanel down the hallway to a small private bathroom that looked more like a closet. There was a lock, but I didn’t bother to use it. I didn’t want to frighten Chanel.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” I led with an apology because I already knew I was in hot water.

“Zand, you have a whole fuckin’ brother?”

“Yeah, I forgot to mention it.”

“How convenient.” She blew air from her red painted lips. “These aren’t secrets. These are lies.”

“No, no, I’m not lying to you. Some things just never come up. They’re not important.”

“So, when you told me you had a father, you didn’t think that was a good time to tell me you had a brother.”

A good point. “I don’t know, maybe. I thought he left town, so I didn’t give it much thought.”

“Bullshit.” She hissed.

“Babe, don’t be mad at me.”

“Don’t keep fuckin’ secrets from me. I know there’s more. I know you have more things to tell me.”

“I will. I will tell you everything you need to know.”

“When? When I just walk into your office and find out on my own.”

“No.”

“Do you have any more brothers or sisters or anything? I definitely have to ask you because you’re not going to volunteer any information on your own.”

“Come on, that’s not fair. That’s not true.” Shit! We were fighting.

“You have a father. You have a brother, and you got a goddamn son. What else do you have? What else aren’t you telling me?”

“There’s my ex. She is considered my ex-wife.”

“You were married?” Her eyes grew large.