Page 19 of Cruel Dynasty

“I see,” Holden said coolly, but his eyes skipped over to me. “And what about you, dirty girl? Do you want me to stay out of your room?”

“Yes,” I snapped.

“Alright.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders straining against the cotton of his black t-shirt. “But you’re always welcome in my room. Consider it an open invitation.”

“She sends her regrets,” Spencer bit back.

“Now, now.” Holden’s eyes stayed fixed on mine. “That’s for her to decide. Right, dirty girl?”

“Get out,” I echoed Spencer’s earlier command, my fingers straying toward a pillow. Was it immature to throw it at him? Probably. But since he seemed incapable of taking hints or following direct orders, I lobbed it at him anyway.

Holden ducked out of the way with a laugh, opening his mouth with what was sure to be another clever retort. The mistake cost him as my next pillow hit him square in the face. This time, he held up his hands in surrender and backed out of the room, leaving me and Spencer alone. For now.

9

“He doesn’t mean anything by it,” Spencer said as he tucked in his shirt.

“What?” I asked, spinning from the wardrobe with a pair of jeans in my hands. I’d opted to change out of the dress I’d worn in the car. After being on display in front of Holden, I found myself wanting both a fresh pair of knickers as well as a thick layer of denim covering me up. The more barriers between us, the better.

Spencer had been quiet since Holden had left the room. I’d assumed he was simply seething with barely contained rage, but there wasn’t even a hint of anger in his voice now. “He’s just testing his boundaries.”

“Toddlers test their boundaries!” I couldn’t believe I was hearing this from him. Spencer had made it clear that he wanted me to stay away from his brother. He’d even kicked him out of the flat the two shared, which probably accounted for how he’d wound up here. Now he was defending him? I didn’t know what to make of either of the Byrd brothers. Just when I thought I had one of them figured out, the rug was pulled out from under me. “He watched us have sex.”

Spencer shrugged, tugging loose a cufflink. He deposited it on the bedside table and rolled up the sleeve. Apparently, this was as casual as he was going to get. “It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.”

“It’... nothing…” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Do you mean the sex or my vagina? Because he’s never seen me naked or us having sex before.”

“He’s seen me having sex before, and well, he’s seen some of you.”

“Do you even hear how fucked up that sounds?” I yanked up my jeans and reached for a light sweater. Autumn had arrived in Yorkshire ahead of us, and I already found myself wishing I’d brought warmer clothing for the cooler temperatures.

“I’m sure from the outside—”

“From any side,” I cut him off. I forced myself to pause and take a deep breath. I had complicated feelings where the two of them were concerned, especially when it came to sexual attraction. But I’d been doing my best to consider Spencer’s feelings. Suddenly, I didn’t know what that meant anymore. “Look, you told me that you didn’t want to share me and now, you’re acting like…”

“I don’t want to share you,” Spencer admitted. “But I can’t blame him for wanting you. I want you all the time.”

“Actually, you can,” I stared at him. “He’s your brother. He shouldn’t be trying to steal your fiancée.”

Spencer’s head tilted to the side, an amused expression playing on his face. “He’s not trying to steal you. He’s trying to sleep with you. He knows you belong to me.”

My mouth went dry. For the first time, in weeks I wished the year was nearly up. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could survive this wild ride.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer asked after a few moments of silence.

“Nothing,” I lied. “I just expected you to be more upset.”

Spencer took my hands, knitting them together. “Look, I’ve learned to choose my battles. You and I have made a commitment to each other that’s going to last a lot longer than this infatuation Holden has with you.”

“Will it?” I asked absently.

His jaw set in a hard line and he nodded. “At least, I hope so.” He paused, softening a little. “I don’t want there to be any regrets for either of us. I should have handled things better.”

“Spencer,” I said carefully, “you realize that it’s not right. The sharing, I mean.”

“Who gets to define what’s right?” he asked curiously. “You? Me? The world?”

“I just don’t think…” But I didn’t know what to think or not think. Not anymore. I’d been sucked into temptation with them both once before. I’d thought we’d drawn a clear line in the sand, but the thing about sand was that it was just as easy to erase a line as it was to create it.