Page 129 of Dark Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 10)

CALLI

“What happened?” Alex asks, studying me with a deep frown marring his brow.

“N-nothing,” I say, forcing a lightness into my tone that I certainly don’t feel.

“Did he hurt you?”

“What? Daemon? No, of course not,” I lie. The truth is, him refusing to be himself hurts me more than almost anything else he could do.

Why can’t he just open up? Embrace who he really is?

“Cal,” Alex sighs, clearly reading more in my eyes than I want to show him.

“Honestly, everything is good. He was just being… well, Daemon.” And I want Nikolas. I want the version of him he’s let me have just the smallest glimpses of in the past week. The one he’s scared to let out but is so fucking incredible when he does.

“You want me to talk to him?” Alex offers.

“What? No. Don’t be silly.”

Turning my back on him, I walk around to what was my side of the bed last night and slip under the covers, hoping like hell that he can’t see the tears that are quickly filling my eyes.

“Daemon can be a dick, but he doesn’t mean it. Not really. He built himself some impenetrable walls a long time ago, and I fear they might just be indestructible,” Alex says quietly.

I blow out a shaky breath as the sound of his towel hitting the floor fills the space, followed by the rustling of fabric that I really hope is him pulling some clothes on.

“You want us to leave you alone and go sleep in a hammock or something?” he asks.

Swallowing down the emotion that’s clogging my throat, I flip over to look at him.

A smile twitches at my lips when I find him standing in his boxers, holding a pair of sweats like he’s really hoping he’s not going to have to put them on and go and sleep out in the cold.

“Don’t be stupid, get in here.” I throw the covers back, and he instantly throws his trousers to the floor and dives in. His fingers find my sides and he tickles me until I have no choice but to let go of the sadness Daemon caused, and I squeal out his name through my laughter.

When he lets me go, my chest is heaving and I’ve got a wide smile on my face.

“You’re a good friend, Alex. And a good brother.”

He smiles at me, his eyes already drooping with tiredness.

“I do my best,” he confesses. “You gonna make the devil sleep on the floor or what?” he asks, nodding his head toward the bathroom, proving he’s more aware of his brother’s movements than I am.

My breath catches when I find Daemon hiding in the shadows of the dark bathroom, watching us like a creep.

“I dunno,” I say, loud enough for him to hear. “I guess it depends if he can play nice or not.”

Alex snorts a laugh.

“He wouldn’t know nice if it bit him on the arse, baby C.”

“Fuck off, Bro,” Daemon grunts, stalking into the room, dressed in grey sweats and a white t-shirt.

“Whatever. I’m done.”

Both of us stare at Alex as he snuggles down and closes his eyes as if the tension in the room doesn’t exist.

“So?” Daemon asks. “Am I banished to the floor, or is there enough room in there for three?”

My lips part to respond as he closes the space between us and successfully steals all the air from the room.