Chapter 12
DARCY
I climb slowly out of bed, body feeling like it’s been dragged backward through a meat grinder. I’m not even hungover, which is a relief, but as I stagger naked across my bedroom and tug on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, every muscle in my body cries out for sympathy.
Today is going to be a nightmare.
There’s noise coming from the kitchen, and the second I open my door, I’m hit with the smell of food. Bacon and eggs, maybe sausage …
I walk around the corner, expecting to find Wren making himself at home in my kitchen, but as soon as my eyes land on him— nope —I spin on my heel and march back to my bedroom.
“Where are you going?” Wren calls.
“To get you some clothes.”
My whole face is flushed with the image of Wren in nothing but a pair of bright red boxer briefs. The way they cupped his perky ass, the way his broad back flexed as he tended to something in the pan. His narrow waist. Thick thighs. All that skin …
I shake my head to clear the torture and grab the baggiest clothes I own, then keep my gaze averted when I walk back out there.
“Put these on,” I demand, tossing them on the counter right beside him.
“Thanks. I didn’t think you’d want me to wear my smelly work gear around your expensive apartment.”
I finally chance a look at him once he’s got my T-shirt on, but where it hangs loose on me, it’s almost too snug on him. Goddamn it. It’s the same with my sweats, and he shamelessly cups himself to rearrange his junk.
“So you know, any clothes are preferable to none.”
“Someone’s jealous someone else has biceps.” He flexes, and while his tone is light, it almost sounds forced. When all I do is stare at him, trying to tell myself to not check out his bulging muscles, he turns back to the food. “I’m almost done.”
I cross the kitchen quickly. “I’ll make coffee.”
We work in a peaceful sort of quiet, but the wash of thoughts I’m having is anything but peaceful. Even with the space I’m deliberately keeping between us, the air is crackling with tension. His body heat seems to reach toward me, sending electricity across my skin.
“Wanna eat out there?” Wren points to the balcony after plating up our breakfast.
“That sounds perfect.” Some fresh air will help get his scent out of my nose.
When we’re settled on my large deck, Wren finally speaks again.
“Look at all that water.”
My place is a block away from Elliot Bay, and the view is breathtaking.
It’s one of the things that sold me on this apartment.
Being close to work was important, but so was finding somewhere I felt settled.
Even though I’ve spent a lot of time in London over the last few years, this is where I belong.
“Don’t tell anyone I said this,” Wren starts, his gravelly voice filling my gut with a deep, aching need. “But it’s not so bad.”
My lips quirk. “A multimillion-dollar view isn’t so bad? Should that be tomorrow’s headline?”
“Don’t be a dick. It’s hard for me to say.”
“Because you were so determined to hate us?”
“Yeah, well, you don’t play fair.” He looks over at me at the same time as I look at him, and I swear I see something of what I’m feeling reflected back at me.
Which is a goddamn lie I’m desperate to believe. Wren is far too levelheaded and down-to-earth to even consider something between us.
Because to him and the rest of the world, I’m his fucking brother.
But even knowing that, the nerves I get around him, especially when he’s looking at me like that, make it impossible not to flirt.
I take a sip of my coffee to hide my smile behind. “It’s quite enjoyable knowing I’m that irresistible. Years of hatred gone.” I snap my fingers. “Like that.”
“And here’s me thinking you’re more humble than you let on.”
“What would give you that idea?” Being a Ritcherson comes with a certain level of superiority, and even though it’s not something I’ve ever connected with, I’ve still made an effort to play it up. To make sure I’m who people expect me to be.
“Right. Forgot about the helicopter for a minute there.”
“I’ll tell you a secret too, then?—”
Wren’s head snaps up, and the look he gives me is far too curious for what I’m about to say. “Wait. Did you …” He rubs at his forehead. “Did you say something like that last night? Something about a secret … or the truth …”
Oh, holy fuck . I’d thought for sure the loud snores coming from him would have drowned out my words. But even through the palm-dampening, heart-pounding panic, there’s something else there. Something that wanted him to hear.
I hate having to deny it but see no other way. “Were you dreaming about me?” I tease. “Wren, I know we’re close, but we’re brothers .” Even saying the word makes me feel sick, but it’s enough to distract him.
He laughs, suspicion finally gone. “Yeah, I think your rules of not talking sex with each other was a good one.”
Thank fuck.
“What did you want to tell me, then?”
My original confession seems weak, considering all the things I really should say. “I, uh, enjoyed yesterday. It was nice. Even though today I feel like I’m the sole survivor of a horror movie, it was a nice change of pace.”
“Let’s do it again today, then.”
“I wish, but I’m going to have to give a firm no on that one. Yesterday will already be a headache to clean up. Two days in a row …”
“If you can’t even have two days off, there’s a real problem there.”
“The media machine stops for no man.”
He thinks for a moment, large hand rubbing over that square Ritcherson jaw. “There are four of us now.”
“What?”
“Last night, I said to lean on your brothers. They might be assholes, but they know what they’re doing. And now you have me.” His sweet eyes meet mine again. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m not an asshole. You and me, we balance them out.”
I ignore the way I like him talking about us as a team. “Except for one problem. You hate it.”
“Yeah, but, like yesterday. You enjoyed the change of pace, but you never would have known that if you didn’t try it.
You own a whole lot of companies, with more jobs than I can count—surely there’s something in there that’s for me.
Instead of trying to teach me everything right away, maybe we can look at the things you do as a whole and see if there are any parts of it that I’d enjoy. ”
Those are words I never thought I’d hear from him. I lean forward in excitement. “Are you serious?”
“Why not?” He gives a resigned sigh. “It’s what he wanted.”
“Why should you care about that? You hate him.”
Wren’s lips tighten. “I do. But there’s also a whole lot of conflicted things going on in my brain too. About us. About …”
I hold my breath. Could it be that he’s feeling the exact spark I am? That maybe he isn’t able to see me as his brother?
Don’t get ahead of yourself, Darce. As much as I know I shouldn’t, I can’t help it.
Having watched Wren from afar since I was fourteen, stalking his socials, trying to picture myself in his position … at some point, there was a blur of lines. His life intertwined with mine. And now, as full-grown adults, I can’t help but think we were always supposed to be in each other’s lives.
“About everything I missed out on. Being his bastard instead of his heir,” Wren finishes, and I deflate.
There’s no way he could be thinking like me because he doesn’t know the truth. And as much as I want to desperately tell him, I can’t implode everything I’ve worked for on the off chance he might feel something for me too.
“That’s understandable,” I reassure him. “I’m not sure if it helps, but it was never a choice between the two of us.”
“Yeah, but that means it was a choice between our moms, and I’ve met your mom. No offense, but the guy chose wrong.”
“I agree.” My words are so soft I’m not sure I mean for him to hear, but when I glance up again, it’s clear he has.That beautiful face is reflecting the morning sun in a way that makes me ache.
“Yeah … well. That shit’s over now, isn’t it?
I’m still not sure I want all this, but I don’t feel like it’s my choice anymore.
People know about me. Nosy reporters are still trying to get interviews with my mom and me, though the paparazzi have backed off.
The money has cleared in my accounts, and that was a mindfuck when I saw all those zeros.
Whether I want that life or not, it’s here, and running scared has never been my thing. ”
“No, you just ignore the problem, hoping it’ll go away.”
“And yet here you are anyway.” He gives me a playful nudge. “I think I owe it to myself, at least, to give it a go.”
“Very well, then. Today, we’ll pull my role apart, department by department, and see what we can come up with.”
Wren smiles. “Is it savage of me to want to take over in London and knock Junior down a peg?”
“Very. But first, you’d need to know what you were doing, and second, I don’t think I’d forgive you if he was permanently back in the same office as me.”
“Aww, am I your favorite brother already?”
I focus on eating, vowing to be a goddamn dead man before I answer that question.
Is he my favorite brother? No, because god damn it. He’s not my brother at all.
Even acknowledging the truth to myself feels risky. It isn’t a thought I ever let myself have, not since Father told me I couldn’t.
Everyone thinks that I’m the Ritcherson heir …
When I’m not a Ritcherson at all.
Everything I am, everything I have, is all Wren’s. The guilt at all but stealing his life burrows deeper, and this time, it’s tinged with a darker side to it.
Ever since I found out at fourteen that Warren wasn’t my biological father, I’ve worked harder than ever to cement who I am. This is my life, my family, my friends, my goddamn company.
Except none of it is really mine at all, and I know that if that secret comes out, I’ll be left with nothing. Junior would pounce on the news, and Tobias would follow him. Our legal team would scrutinize the will, and I’d have no stake whatsoever in a company I’ve helped build for years.
All of that, I know. It’s a future that’s haunted me my whole adult life.
But now, there’s one thing that has me clutching that secret tighter than ever.
If Wren knew … he’d hate me.
In another life, Mom would have been disowned, and we would have struggled. Been nobodies. On our own. Wren would be where I am, but at least he’d have no reason to know what it’s like to steal someone’s birthright.
I have to believe Warren made the best choice for us all, but some nights, when it’s late and I’ve been drinking and Wren is on my screen, I wish he’d never chosen Mom.
I’m caught in an impossible position.
I’m developing feelings for a man the world thinks is my brother.
And I have no option but to stand by, lusting after him and keeping those urges hidden. From everyone. For good.
I’m positive this is the universe’s way of punishing me.
Give me everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.
And make that man the one person I can never have.