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I bite back my stupid comment, because I don’t like seeing my brother suffer. Even though he keeps acting tough, he knows he got lucky—this could have ended much worse.
“Want me to hold the pads for you?” he asks, turning on the TV mounted on the wall above the dresser. He mutes the sound.
I give his offer a tired smile and shake my head. “You’re just going to have to live with it.”
“How much longer?” Olena glances at me with raised brows. She closes the ledger and shoves it back in a drawer.
“Two weeks.”
“Oh God,” she groans, sliding a few banded stacks of cash into the drawer and locking it. “Levi’s already unbearable.”
“Get a hobby already,” I say, crossing one leg over the other. “Can’t be that hard.”
“I have hobbies,” Levi shoots back, flipping through channels with a bored expression.
“When are you coming back to Astoria?” Olena asks, sitting on the armrest beside me.
I love how she drops the tough mafia princess act around me and shows her real self. As if she’s taking off a mask, her features soften and she looks like the twenty-six-year-old sister I love more than anything.
She wraps an arm around my shoulders for balance and crosses her legs. Like today, she’s usually in black pants and a tight top. Her real signature, apart from her long brown hair—typically pinned into an elegant side bun—is her black pumps. They accentuate her slim figure with the elegance of a serious businesswoman. No one can fool her when it comes to numbers. And if any guy ever gets too close, Levi made sure she knows a few moves.
Olena is strong and doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone—except maybe that she’s still just a regular girl who can relax and forget the business when she’s with her brothers.
“I’m in Astoria three times a week,” I say, resting a hand on her thigh to steady her.
“But I need you here, Koh,” she says while Levi keeps flipping channels. “I just feel better when you’re around.”
Sometimes I feel like the biggest hypocrite. At this point, even Aran knows more about my life and my problems with Luke than my own sister.
But I have my reasons for keeping Olena in the dark. She went through her own messy breakup a few years ago. I don’t want to burden her with my shit. Unlike me, she would’ve marched straight over and made Luke’s life hell.
It’s not just Levi who sometimes acts like my big brother—his twin sister can be just as unpredictable in those situations. Plus, she would’ve told Levi, and he would’ve lost it.
“Isn’t that your rockstar?” Levi asks, pointing at the TV.
“My rockstar?” I ask, confused, and turn my head.
“Well, you two are fucking, right?”
“You have a boyfriend?” Olena stares at me with wide eyes.
“He’s not—”
On the screen, they’re airing the interview Aran gave yesterday before the concert.
“Is he sick?” Levi asks, eyes glued to the TV. “He doesn’t look good.”
“Yeah,” Olena agrees. “Not even the makeup can hide those dark circles.”
“Keeping him up all night, huh, Aniki?” Levi teases.
I don’t respond. I’m too busy staring at Aran on the screen, shocked by his haggard appearance.
We haven’t seen each other since Thursday morning when he left for band rehearsal. I’d been half-asleep when he came home late. On Friday, I had an early start, and when I got back, he was already gone.
Seeing him like this hits me in the chest. He doesn’t look anything like the man I had sex with and had that deep conversation with on Wednesday.
His whole body is tense, he’s sweating, his eyes are glassy and empty. With restless, unsteady movements he grabs the bottle beside him, takes a sip of water, and puts it back down. His gaze jumps around like he’s struggling to focus.
