Page 129 of Claimed By The Other Brother

"Scarlett, please. Open the door."

I take a breath and unlock it, opening just enough to see him but blocking the entrance.

"Miles." My voice comes out harder than I intended.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm glad you finally opened the door." He looks terrible—disheveled, dark circles under his eyes, desperate.

"We need to talk."

"How did you even get in the building?"

"I followed someone in downstairs when they came through the front door. Took the elevator up." He tries to step forward.

"Can I come in?"

"No. You can't be here."

"Scarlett, you haven't answered my calls in over a month. You won't respond to my texts. What was I supposed to do?"

"Respect my boundaries, maybe?"

He pushes past me into the apartment anyway.

"Miles!" I grab his arm, trying to pull him back.

"You can't just—"

"Where have you been?" he demands, looking around.

"I've been trying to reach you for weeks. You owe me an explanation. You owe me a conversation."

"I don't owe you anything."

"We spent three years together, Scarlett. Three years. That has to count for something."

"It counted for something. Until you left me at the altar."

"I made a mistake! I've been trying to tell you that. I've been trying to apologize. But you won't even talk to me!"

I'm about to respond when I hear footsteps behind me. Dax emerges from the bedroom, shirtless, his pants on but unbuttoned at the waist. He's pulling a t-shirt over his head as he walks into the living room.

"Scarlett, do you want—"

He stops when he sees Miles. Miles turns. His face goes white, then red.

"Dax?" His voice is strangled. He looks at Dax, then at me, then back at Dax.

"What the fuck? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Dax's expression shifts immediately—jaw tightening, eyes hardening. He moves toward us.

"Miles, what the fuck are you doing here?"

Miles's voice rises, bordering on hysterical.

"Are you fucking my brother? Are you fucking my girlfriend? My fiancée?!"