14. Wyatt
14
WYATT
“Champagne?” a server asks. I reach out and take one, guzzling it with impressive speed.
Matthias tuts and takes the glass from me, setting it on a table we move past. “Don’t get drunk just to make it through this evening. I won’t have you acting a fool.”
“I never act foolish,” I retort, and he reaches out, brushing his thumb against my bottom lip, wiping away a drop of champagne that lingers there.
“Better,” he says, lowering his voice and bringing his lips to my ear. He whispers, the words meant for me and me alone. “If you would’ve let me, I’d have kissed that away.”
The way he says it makes my heart thunder in my chest, the tips of my ears growing warm. “If you’d tried, I’d have bitten you.”
He chuckles and stands up straight, just as a man and a woman approach. Dignified, wealthy. I can tell from the set of their shoulders, from the way the fabric they wear drapes across their figures perfectly. These people have never been told “no” a day in their lives.
I wonder what others think when they see me at Matthias’s side.
“Look who it is,” the man drawls, his eyes sliding over the two of us.
“Wylder,” Matthias says. “I didn’t think you’d be here tonight.”
I stiffen, knowing this is one of his brothers. His eldest brother, if I remember correctly. He couldn’t be more different from Harley.
Wylder nods to the beautiful woman beside him. “Candace wanted to attend.”
The woman smiles smugly. “Why, we couldn’t turn down an invitation to the most popular gala of the year. We simply must be seen in the right society.”
Matthias and I exchange a bemused look, and in that moment, I know we’re both thinking the same thing. Is she for real?
It takes me back suddenly. To a time when we were always on the same page. When I trusted Matthias more than anyone else.
I drag my gaze away and clear my throat. I won’t be making that mistake again.
“Wyatt,” Matthias touches my arm, “meet my older brother. Wylder, Wyatt.”
Wylder assesses me, his eyes keen, almost as if he’s calculating my worth. I do the same back, taking in his dark hair and dark eyes, just like his brother.
“Nice to meet you, Wyatt,” Wylder says with a nod. “This is my girlfriend, Candace.”
I reach out my hand and clasp his before moving to hers, trying to pretend that I’m happy to be here when I’m anything but.
“Nice to meet you both,” I say. I smile politely, just as I used to at these events before. Before Jackson’s accident. Before I lost my job.
Before I lost everything.
It’s startling how fast it comes back to you. The social falsities we all participate in.
“Likewise. I’ve heard so much about you,” Wylder says. “Was wondering for a few years if you were actually real or just a figment of Matthias’s imagination. So happy to hear about the nuptials.”
My eyebrows rise and I can’t help but let out a small laugh. “He never seemed like someone who had much of an imagination.”
Wylder looks at me, cocking his head. “With you, he did.”
My brow furrows and I’m about to ask a question about that when Wylder adds, “Is this music giving anyone else a headache? And did you see the stage? It’s slightly off-center and it’s making my eye twitch.”
Candace rolls her eyes in annoyance. “Honestly, Wylder. It’s not a big deal. Maybe we need to get you a drink so you can relax.”
My eyes narrow at her easy dismissal. From how Matthias’s lips purse, he doesn’t like the way Candace is speaking to his brother either. He moves like he’s about to say something, but Wylder shakes his head, shutting him down.
“I don’t like her,” Matthias says as we watch them walk away, Candace’s lips hovering near Wylder’s ear as if she’s chastising him for his previous comment.
I don’t say anything, realizing I don’t have the right to have an opinion on her. I know nothing about Matthias’s family. He always kept our friendship hidden away, like some kind of guilty pleasure. After things fractured between us, I assumed it was because he was ashamed of me.
Just as I think that, another man approaches, tugging on his tie. I know without asking that he’s another brother of Matthias’s. He has the same cheekbones, the same brooding dark eyes.
Unlike Matthias, he’s slightly rumpled, almost as if he just rolled out of bed and put on the first suit and tie he could find. My lips twitch. He’s in a similar state to what I’d been in before Matthias had fixed my clothes. Something tells me this guy hasn’t done it intentionally though.
“Fuck, I hate this place,” the man murmurs, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and downing it. “It’s full of pompous shits. Just like you, Matty.”
I let out a snort, and Matthias tightens his arm around me as the man’s attention lands on me.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asks me, and I straighten my shoulders, his abrasive tone making me bristle slightly.
“I’m his husband,” I force out when it becomes clear Matthias isn’t going to explain my presence. Unlike with Wylder and Harley, he doesn’t seem in a rush to introduce me to this brother.
“Hell, I fucking forgot. You told me you got married,” he says, addressing Matthias. “And I’m bitter because no one invited me.”
“Maybe because you’re too much of a grumpy asshole,” Matthias retorts.
The man rolls his eyes. “I’m Samson,” he says, pulling his tie all the way off and shoving it in his suit pocket. “I’m one of the older brothers to this dickhead.”
“A dickhead and the biggest asshole,” Matthias adds darkly.
“I’m not an asshole or a grump. I’m a realist.”
Matthias stares at him for a long time, and Samson glares back. It goes on until I finally interrupt.
“Are you guys done now? People are starting to stare,” I say, but it doesn’t stop them.
“So?” Samson says. “They can fucking look all they want. Nosy pricks.”
I let out a small snort and then stop a caterer moving past, grabbing a few bits of food from the tray and placing it on a napkin. Fancy finger food is what this is, but I bet it tastes amazing. Rich assholes.
Just like you used to be. At one time.
“Then carry on, I guess. I have something to eat. I can be here all night.” I move to find somewhere to set my napkin when another man starts to approach. I can tell by the way he carries himself, the shape of his face, and the color of his hair and eyes that he’s another brother. His hair is unruly and curled just like Harley’s. I wonder who they all took after, their mother or father. Someone had strong genetics.
“Are they staring at one another again? Fucking hell,” the guy says. His approach causes both Samson and Matthias to peer over at him before moving back to stare at one another.
“This could go on forever,” the newcomer says. His attention lands on me, and he introduces himself with a sigh. “I’m Cade, another brother. There’re too many of us, honestly. Mom should’ve picked a better man and Dad should have known better than to reproduce with his genes.”
“His genes?”
“Complete dickishness,” Cade sips at his whiskey. “It skipped a few of us, but as you can see, not all. To be fair though, none of us are as bad as him. It’s not like we’d ever hit anyone not big enough to?—”
“That’s enough,” Matthias says sharply. “We’re in public, Cade.”
I flinch in surprise, darting a glance at Matthias. I didn’t know much about his home life when we were kids. I do remember that there were several times when he showed up with bruises and black eyes.
At the time, he brushed it off as rough-housing with his brothers. But after what Cade just hinted at…suddenly I’m not sure.
I study Matthias closely, replaying so many different memories and seeing them through a different filter. My eyes narrow. Just how much has Matthias hidden from me over the years?
Cade rolls his eyes. “God forbid we bring the family into disrepute. Fucker isn’t even alive now, and we’re all still playing the game like we’re supposed to.”
Matthias doesn’t look away from Samson as he counters Cade. “You know there’s more at stake than perception, dick.”
“Preach,” Samson says, not breaking eye contact with Matthias, who looks bored of this game already. I can see his cheek starting to twitch and his fingers flexing by his sides. But Matthias always liked to win. Seems he found his match in Samson.
“They’ll be here for hours,” Cade whispers. “Come with me. I’ve been here loads of times…”
But before I can move away, Matthias wraps his arm around me and pulls me into him. In doing so, his gaze breaks away from the contest. “No. He stays with me.”
“I win. Again ,” Samson says with a smug look on his face, but he goes ignored as Matthias glowers at Cade.
“Come on, Matty-boo. You know I’d never touch someone who’s yours,” Cade offers, throwing in a wink.
“You have before and you would again. This is my husband. No one takes him anywhere without me.”
I glare over at him, at his possessive tone. “I can go anywhere I want, husband .” I spit that word out, and Matthias’s hand tightens around me.
“You can, but not with Cade.”
Cade grins, his smile slightly crooked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Samson is scowling at Matthias, and here I am, stuck in the middle of the three of them. “What’s wrong, Matty? Afraid of a little competition?”
“You should know better,” Matthias says warningly. “You know what’s at stake as well as I do.”
His inheritance. Yes. That’s why he married me, after all. Perhaps his brothers know about that.
If they do, then why does Matthias want them to think our relationship’s real?
Samson growls, stepping a little closer, and I instinctively shrink back against Matthias. Suddenly I feel overwhelmed, like I don’t know what to fucking do.
I’ve never navigated this before. Not like this, anyway. Meeting Jen’s parents had been sterile. Clinical. A meal at a restaurant where the conversation stayed surface-level.
There was none of this. No odd family politics to negotiate. No sibling rivalries or big personalities to navigate.
I knew I’d be meeting his family, but I hadn’t expected…well, this.
Suddenly, Matthias’s arm around me is welcoming. A port in the storm. I sink back against him, letting him anchor me.
“You look pale,” Matthias says quietly, pulling me from my anxiety. “They’re all overwhelming, huh? Come on.”
“We’re not overwhelming! We’re entertaining!” Cade calls out as Matthias pulls me forward, away from his brothers.
I find myself inhaling sharply, trying to capture my breath but it’s hard. There’s an iron band there, tightening with every motion.
“Breathe,” Matthias murmurs. “Just breathe.”
That just annoys me and I can’t help but snap, “I’m fucking breathing. I’m good.”
Matthias sighs, his arm falling away. “You just seemed…stressed.”
I square my shoulders and inhale deeply. See, I can breathe. There’s nothing wrong. “I’m fine.”
His hand brushes up my back, a slow touch that lights me on fire. I should step away, but I know people are watching, so I lean into it. My hand moves up to his chest, my eyes meeting his. “I’m fine, asshole.”
I see something crackle in those dark depths, but he masks them quickly. “Good. Because you’ve met most of my brothers, but you’ve yet to meet Dalton.”
“Who’s Dalton?” I ask as his hand curls around mine. It doesn’t feel as strange as the first time he did it. I think I’m getting used to it—playing pretend with Matthias.
“The most irritating one. We may as well get this over with.”
Oh, hell. We meander through the crowd, Matthias never releasing me. My spare hand may grab a champagne flute and I guzzle the liquid down without giving Matthias a chance to react. This entire family, all the brothers, it’s too much. They’re all so different, and yet so alike. I can see the similarities. How did their parents deal with raising them all? I knew Matthias lost his mother at a young age, before he met me even.
Which left them all with just their father. One man raising six boys.
After what Cade hinted at, I think I know exactly how he dealt with it. The champagne I downed pitches in my stomach, my hand automatically holding Matthias’s tighter.
If he notices, he doesn’t comment on it. “Please keep anything you own close to you when you’re around him.”
“Why?” I ask as we approach a man with dark swept hair, alluringly light eyes, and a charming smile.
“Dalton,” Matthias nods his head, pulling me in closely and tucking me under his arm.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were here,” Dalton says to Matthias before eyeing me hungrily, like a predator who’s found a particularly delicious prey. “And this must be your husband. I didn’t realize he’d be so attractive.”
“Fuck off,” Matthias replies. His tone is cool, but the fire flashing in his eyes is anything but.
“I don’t think I can.” Dalton turns his gaze to me and winks. “Really though, the spies I have in Matthias’s house didn’t mention how good-looking you are. Maybe I need to give them a pay raise to make sure I’m getting…accurate information.”
Matthias’s eyes narrow, and I realize I like Dalton quite a bit. Anything to get under Matthias’s skin.
“Thanks, I definitely married down,” I say.
Dalton grins and shakes my hand with both of his, his eyes twinkling. “I knew I’d like you.”
Matthias growls, and Dalton grins widely. “Love these cufflinks.”
I stare down at them and then glance up at Matthias, who is watching Dalton intently.
“Put them back,” Matthias growls.
“What?” Dalton says innocently.
“Put the cufflinks back.”
Dalton huffs, but a moment later, the cufflinks appear in his palms and my lips part in confusion. I glance back at Matthias’s cuffs to see they’re missing. How did Dalton do that? I only looked away a moment.
“And his wallet,” Matthias grumbles.
Dalton sighs and produces it, placing it in my hand. “Matthias is no fun. He’s always riding my ass.”
“I’m not riding anyone. I’m just astute and I know what a cunt you are.”
Dalton pouts. “Ugh. You’re so boring. You should have your brother’s back. Let me live my life.”
“Have your back while you steal from my husband?”
He rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t have taken it for long. Just a while. To ponder it and maybe steal some cash.”
I can’t help but interject. “You’re rich and yet you steal?”
Dalton grins widely and then wrinkles his nose at me. “I mean, I have some vices. Theft is one of them.”
“So is drinking, drugs, and the occasional crime spree,” Matthias adds darkly.
Dalton waggles his eyebrows. “Someone needs to keep you on your toes. You’re far too boring.”
“I’m responsible.”
“Boring.” Dalton rolls his eyes before turning his focus to me. “If you ever need a little fun in your life, call me.”
I take the business card he holds out with a smile. Petty theft aside, Dalton seems interesting.
“You won’t be needing that,” Matthias says, trying to snatch it from me, but I tuck it away.
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Dalton grins widely, leaning forward slightly. “I look forward to it.”
Matthias’s fingers curl into my side. “Come on. Let’s go mingle before Dalton ends up stripping you bare.”
I flush as he guides me, moving me around several people until we come to a stop near an empty table. He sure likes to touch me. To let everyone know I’m his, I’m sure. If his intention is to make sure everyone knows he’s off the market, he’s certainly succeeding.
“Is this mingling?” I ask, and Matthias turns toward me, pulling my body into his. My hands move up as if to push away but then I remember where we are and I glide them up his hard chest. I feel his heart beating beneath my palm and I force myself to look at him. There are flecks of green in his brown eyes. Flecks I forgot he had.
“What are you doing?” I say, making sure my face doesn’t show the annoyance in my tone.
“Acting like you’re mine.”
Acting. From the possessive way he all but pissed on me with his brothers, I’m not sure if he’s being honest.
“Acting. Remember that,” I say pointedly. My hands drift up his neck, my fingertips sliding into his hair. “This is all a show. Nothing more.”
“And yet, you’re a natural.”
I push forward, taunting him with what he can’t have. This is the closest either of us will get to intimacy until this marriage is over, and I’m going to take every opportunity to remind him of it. Of what he’s demanding we both give up. Hints of what he’s missing but will never get from me.
“I don’t like to lose.” My fingers curl against his scalp. He lets out a small breath and I home in on the way his eyes flicker, the way his pupils dilate.
Oh, Matthias likes this. He likes me tugging on his hair, controlling his movements.
Interesting.
My right hand moves to the front of his neck, my thumb brushing up against his Adam’s apple, feeling it bob as he swallows.
Is this what it does when he sucks dick?
Where the fuck did that thought come from? My own heart is racing now as I immediately squash that idea. I won’t think of him doing anything like that. That’s not—I’m not fucking thinking about that.
Ever.
“Why the faraway look?” Matthias’s voice rumbles under my fingertips.
I swallow hard, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “I was just thinking about wrapping my hands around your neck and strangling you.”
“How about instead of doing that, you kiss me?”
There’s something in his eyes. Something almost like desperation.
I scoff, letting my finger move up to his mouth, dragging it along his bottom lip. For all his insistence about not being attracted to me, there’s no missing the hunger in his eyes. The desire. “Give me one good reason I should do that.”
He leans forward, his lips at my ear. “Everyone is watching us, Wy. They gossip like little old women in a small town. We need to give them something to talk about.”
He pulls back and our lips are just inches from each other now. I refuse to look away from his intense gaze. I forget about everyone else around us, the ones he says are watching.
Right now, there’s no one but me and Matthias.
“I dare you,” he whispers, those words hitting me right against the mouth. “I dare you, Wy.”
My hand curls into his hair tighter and I haul him to me. Our lips meet aggressively, our teeth clashing. His hands tighten against me, holding me to him as we begin to move.
Of course he wouldn’t let this be chaste. He’s daring me, trying to one-up me. He nips at my bottom lip and I tilt my head, doing the same back, roughly, enough to leave a mark. He grunts and pulls away slightly.
“Scared?” I ask, and his nostrils flare as he meets my mouth again, kissing me forcibly. My tongue thrusts into his mouth, tangling with his as I tug on his hair almost painfully. He lets out a small groan and something inside of me unfurls.
Wanting. Need.
I’m winning. I’m beating him , I think as I continue to lick into his mouth, tasting him, making little whimpers of pleasure seep from him into my throat. I swallow them down as I push my thigh between his and feel his hard cock against my leg.
I’ve forgotten everyone else. The gala. The spectators. The fact that this is supposed to be an act.
I can’t think past finding out how much more I can make Matthias moan. How much I can bend him to my will.
It doesn’t last. The sound of a clearing throat punches through the fog of insanity clouding me. I jerk back to see Cade watching us closely, lips twisted in amusement.
Fuck. What have we done? What have I done?
One taunt. One dare from Matthias. That’s all it took for me to bend. To break. To give him what he wants.
God, how I wish I hadn’t. This feeling inside me…it’s unlike anything I’ve experienced before. My seams feel like they’re coming apart, everything I’ve known about myself unraveling like thread.
Matthias looks as wild as I feel, his lips swollen and chest heaving. His tongue flicks over his bottom lip, like he’s trying to taste me there.
“You’re giving everyone quite the scene,” Cade drawls, a gleam in his eyes. “And people are filming it. Just thought you should know.”
I have no response. Nothing to say. Thankfully, Matthias speaks for us.
“Thank you,” Matthias’s voice is rough, the notes causing my blood to rush south. What the fuck is he doing to me? “We’ll carry this on…outside.”
I let him step away from me, turning us both so we can make our way to the patio. And as we go, I can hear a faint whistling from the other side of the room. When I turn to look, I see Harley there, his thumbs up in congratulations.
Hell.
I shouldn’t have fallen for it.
But I did. I kissed him, heard his moans, felt his hard length against me.
There’s no going back now.
I’m in it.
* * *
I shiver on the large patio, small lanterns lighting up the darkness enshrouding us. I can’t look at him. I kissed those lips and I can’t erase the feeling. Matthias must be so fucking smug. This is what he wanted.
But I like to feel like I won too. He can’t deny he wants me now.
Why is that important?
I push that thought away. I can’t think about it now.
No, this is his fault. He dared me and now there is video evidence that it happened.
Someone is going to see that.
Our lips fused together, our hands on one another.
I feel my cheeks heat and I press a cold hand to one of them, feeling the sting of my frigid skin. It grounds me.
“You won that one,” Matthias says, and I glower over my shoulder at him.
“I did,” I say, but I don’t feel better. Because I can still taste him on my lips, can still feel him against me. Like a radioactive shadow.
It’s going to destroy me in the end.
“But now you can’t look at me.”
I turn and meet his stare and hold it. “There. Happy now?”
He cocks his head, looking thoughtful before taking a step toward me and brushing a hand across my cheek. My eyelids flutter and I hear my shaky inhale.
Apparently, so does Matthias. “We can take all the time you want out here, but we do need to get back in there eventually.”
“To be seen with your adoring husband?”
“Mhm.”
His hand falls from my face and lands at his side.
“You did play the part so well,” he says darkly.
“I signed a contract.”
“That you did. Now you just need to make sure you don’t break.”
For a heartbeat, I think he means breaking the contract. But I replay the words in my mind. No. That’s not what he means.
He means me. He’s telling me not to break.
Well, fuck him for thinking I’m weak. I’ll show him.
I stand taller, squaring my shoulders and stepping into him, our chests brushing as I push closer. Our lips hover an inch away. I can feel each exhale of breath hit my mouth. My lips twist into a cruel smirk as Matthias’s breath catches.
I don’t kiss him. I stay there, close enough to taunt. “I will never break.”
And with that, I grab his hand, linking my fingers through his, and pull him back inside. I just want to get this fucking night over with.
Then I’ll show him who’ll break.