Page 11 of Thrown into the Mob

“I agreed to meet you,” he said finally. “To see if there was something there. That's not the same as following orders.”

He looked away. I didn't have the energy to make this easier for him. Screw him. I was tired and scared, and the man I was apparently destined for was his brother, not him. But the universe really wanted to fuck with me, because there was nothing endearing about Evander or his bad-tempered brother.

I put my face in my hands, trying to wish myself back home where Ranger was cracking jokes and Flint was telling him to grow up.

My wolf ignored whatever might be going on with Evander. It’s not him, he repeated. But he froze, and my muscles tightened. His nose found something that wasn't rain, grass, or Evander's scent. Something more intense was coming from the direction of the house.

My fingers closed around the edge of the bench as the garden door opened and the other twin walked out carrying a folder. His attention was on the papers in his hand. He hadn't expected anyone to be out here because he broke his stride when he looked up and found us.

No, it wasn’t us that got his attention, but me.

He recovered fast and straightened, reminding me of his posture when we’d met in his father’s study. His gaze slid by, but I felt the whiplash as it passed to his brother.

“I need your signature on the Newton accounts.”

His voice reminded me of his father’s because it lacked emotion, and I had to give him points for tamping down his feelings.

“Now?” Evander asked.

“Father wants them filed today.”

Evander sighed and held out his hand. His twin crossed the garden toward us and my wolf counted every step, begging him to brush against me. Evander took the folder, and his brother took a position against the wall. He didn't look at me but studied the trees before looking at the sky and then back to the gravel path.

And while I told myself to look away, not to take any notice of his hands pressed behind him or how his chest heaved with each breath, I couldn’t stop staring at him.

My wolf was pushing at my insides so hard I grimaced.

Evander flipped through the pages in the folder. His hands flicking at the papers had me wanting to leap up and tear them out. He was doing a stupid mundane activity while I was faced with a terrible choice.

“Conrad, the second page is missing the addendum.”

Conrad. Oh my gods, I had a name.

I'd been thinking of him as the twin, the copy, and the brother, because finding out his name gave him a stamp of approval. Made him real, warm, inviting, and flesh and blood. I could pretend he wasn’t my mate if he was just there in the background as Evander’s brother and the patriarch's son.

Conrad. There was no softness to those syllables, unlike Evander.

He was looking at the folder over Evander's shoulder now, pointing at something, and he was close enough that his scent swept over me. My wolf was clamoring for me to make a move, urging me to claim the younger dragon shifter.

“It's on the third page.” Conrad tapped a page. “Bottom section.”

“Ah.” Evander signed and handed the folder back.

Their fingers didn't touch during the exchange. The distance between them even in a simple handoff was obvious. These two shared a face and DNA but little else.

Conrad turned to leave and our eyes met. His nostrils flared, and he gripped the folder as though it were a lifeline. His eyes darkened and held my gaze. My beast pushed forward so anyone looking at me would have seen him in my eyes.

Conrad looked away first and strode toward the house. His posture was so brittle I imagined it would crack if he bumped into something.

“Sorry about that.” Evander sat beside me.

Why would he apologize for my mate interrupting us? I stared at the door where I’d last seen Conrad. My resistance to the man wavered. No, that was my wolf trying to convince me I had to mate the man.

Evander was talking about the garden, but I wasn't listening. I was thinking about how his brother’s gaze had kindled a fire in my belly.

But I had less than forty-eight hours and a choice to make.

SEVEN