Page 42 of Moonstruck

“I’m not going to tell Dad about Zane,” August said. Asa’s shoulders sagged in relief. “You are.”

“What?”

“You’re going to tell Dad about your boyfriend. Today. There are no secrets in this family, remember?”

He stared down his brother for a full minute. August never wavered. “Fine. But only after we finish today’s investigations.”

August smirked. “Clock’s ticking, Brother.”

Zane waited for Asa to say something once they were back in the car, but he remained unnervingly silent. “You told your brother we were dating,” he said finally.

“Mm,” Asa responded, tone noncommittal.

When Asa didn’t elaborate further, he asked, “Are you really going to introduce me to your father?”

Asa continued to stare straight ahead. “Yes.”

Zane stared at the side of Asa’s face, trying to gauge what was going on in his head. “What are you going to tell him?”

“The truth.”

Zane’s eyes went wide. “The truth? You’re going to tell Thomas Mulvaney that I tricked you into taking me home with you where I then let you stalk and fuck me on the floor of your sex dungeon? After which, I followed you into the woods where I filmed you dismembering a body before you tased, kidnapped, and handcuffed me to a radiator, then blackmailed me into playing Dr. Watson to your Sherlock? Like…that’s what you’re going to tell your dad?”

Asa’s lips twitched. “Maybe not with that level of detail, no. But I am going to tell him the situation.”

Zane flopped back against the passenger seat. “He’s going to kill me.”

Asa sighed, turning to look at him. “How many times do I have to tell you? My father doesn’t kill innocent people. He’s going to killmeinstead.”

“And if he decides I’m not innocent?” Zane countered.

“Then I’ll keep you safe,” Asa promised, meeting Zane’s gaze in a way that made his heart race but also made him nervous because he wasn’t looking at the road ahead.

Asa was a complete and total mindfuck. In twenty-four hours, he’d turned Zane’s whole life upside down.

What life?

Zane sighed. The last thing he needed was Gage’s snarky voice rattling around in his already muddled brain. “Not now,” he muttered.

Asa hooked a brow upwards, tone amused. “Pardon?”

“Nothing,” Zane said, cheeks flushing.

“No, you definitely said something. Not now, what?”

Zane glowered at him. “If you know what I said, why did you say pardon?”

Asa laughed. “I know what you said. I just don’t know why you said it.”

“It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t talking to you,” Zane huffed.

Asa was grinning now. “Well, I’m the only one here. Who were you talking to?”

My dead brother.“Myself.”

Asa’s gaze strayed from the road. “You said ‘not now’ to yourself? What was it you wanted that you don’t have time for?”

Zane could feel his face heating up. “Just let it go.”