“No, you’re just having a pity party for one.”

I glare at her but she only stares.

“You know Raven has never met my dad,” she says. “Weird right, him being head of security, you’d think she’d have been introduced to him long ago.”

“Chloe,” I grate, sliding my eyes to hers.

“Couple weeks ago, Daddy was dusting off his old black suit,” she says. “The one he wore at our first communion. Remember that?”

“That was a spectacle.”

She nods, wrapping her arms around her legs. “Yep. All to trap the bad guys, another day in the land of Brayshaw, right?”

“If you have a point, find it. I’m not in the fuckin’ mood.”

Her eyes shift between mine a moment and then she seems to ignore me. “He asked me to fix his tie, I asked him why he was wearing it and he said something interesting...” She trails off.

My eyes narrow.

“He said ‘almost, honey, almost.’”

I glare at her, pushing to my feet. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Know what he said when I asked him if he was aware Rolland was released from prison? ‘Almost, honey, almost.’”

I spin around to face her, and she pushes to her feet.

“And when Raven first got here, and I asked him why I couldn’t get rid of her, why you guys flocked to her?” Her brows lift as her lips purse. “‘Almost, honey, almost.’ Every time something revolves around Brayshaw and he doesn’t want to or can’t share it’s the same line.”

I step toward her. “Chloe...”

“He’s really holding on to the whole ‘not until I graduate’ thing.”

“Chloe.”

She eyes me. “The very next day, Collins Graven sneaks in the student body office, locks himself and Leo inside and does what? Rocks our Brayshaw High world.” She lifts a knowing brow and pushes past me. “Strange, right?”

I whip around as she opens her door.

She stands there, leaning over the edge of her door frame. “You could use a shower. I have plenty of those. Daddy’s home today, too, but only for a little while. Guess there’s some sort of... meeting happening today. Called by a Graven, no less.” She lifts a brow, pushes a button and the top to her convertible rolls down. She steps in, standing above the window. “What do you say, Brayshaw? You coming or not?”

I slide in the passenger seat, but before we can pull away, Royce is whipping in behind us, blocking our exit.

Captain throws his door open and jumps out, storming toward me.

He bends, getting in my face, anger radiating off every inch of him to the point his entire body is shaking.

“Never in my fucking life, would I turn my back on you. Never would I take from you, or step on your toes, or do any damn thing that would destroy who we are and the bonds we have. You’re my fucking brother, Maddoc. My brother.”

Captain clenches his teeth, plants his hands on the side of the Corvette and brings his eyes level with mine.

“I never. Fucking. Touched her.” He swallows, pushing off the car and walking backward. “Not fucking once.”

I spot his reflection in the window before I hear a sound, and my eyes fly to his.

“What are you thinking about?”

“How I never should have punched Victoria the day my mom showed that first time.”

Captain drops onto the free swing to my right, staring at me in the long slider at the back of the girls’ Bray house.

“If I hadn’t, I never would have moved into the house and put everyone on high alert.”

“It wouldn’t have changed anything, Raven,” he speaks quietly. “This was all meant to happen.”

I shake my head, looking to him. “All of it?”

He eyes me a minute, before looking away again. “I knew Donley wouldn’t turn down the idea of having a power couple who loved each other over Collins and a forced bride, so I put an impossible decision down, forced both your hands. Ultimately, this is all my fault.”

“I agreed, too, Cap.”

“But you didn’t.” He meets my stare. “You said no. You were braver than we were, stronger than we were when it mattered, and in front of everyone. In a room full of powerful men you’d never seen before, you said no.”

“And then I caved.”

He gives a sad scoff, shaking his head. “You didn’t cave, Raven,” he whispers with a scowl. “Maddoc told me what he did, how even after he talked to you, you wanted to say no.”

“I should have held my ground.”

“You did the most selfless thing any of us will ever witness, because you love him that much.”

I glare at the dirt road behind us. “I tried to tell him love is for the weak.”

“I lied to you,” he rushes out.

I frown, not quite understanding, but it doesn’t matter. “I trust you, Captain.”

“I know you do, but that doesn’t make this right.” He shakes his head, a heavy sigh leaving him. “I love you, you know that, just like you know it’s not the way Maddoc does,” he stresses. “But I asked you and Maddoc both to trust me for a reason.”

His eyes move between mine. “I had to make sure my family was safe, and that includes you, so I did what I could to make sure that happened, but in the back of my mind, this was always temporary until we found another way.”

I shift my feet in the dirt so the swing is facing him better. “Temporary.”

“I knew everyone was watching. Brayshaw High would believe it easy enough, but I knew Donley wouldn’t. He had to see the struggles, the slow growth and solo decisions on our part.”

“The bud of a real relationship.”

“Exactly.”

I eye him.

“I let you believe this was real.”

“You don’t have to do this.” I shake my head and his jaw tightens. “I’ve been with you every day, Captain. I saw you struggle with what we were doing, felt it just the same. You don’t have to justify this. You say you lied, well we both did. We lied to our damn selves, pretending we could ever be anything different considering. Neither of us wanted this to happen. I mean, that’s not even a question worth asking, but it did. Either way, Cap. We both knew the truth behind the mirror. I could never be yours for real, just like you could never be mine.”

His eyes pull, the muscles in his neck flexing against his skin. “What happened to you not dragging things out of me?” he teases lightly.

I squish my lips to the side in a halfhearted grin before I grow somber. “I would have never hurt you, though, packman. You know that, right?”

“Not on purpose, you wouldn’t have,” he replies, and my gut clenches. “Not that you had the power to in the way that you mean, but I could never risk it possibly getting there, if it even could. That’s what my just in case was for.”

“Just in case?” I frown.

He nods, a softness to his voice that gives him away. “Yeah, Raven. My just in case.”

I grip the metal chains tighter, cutting my eyes away. “You heard us.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispers.