Dirty Ties

We showered, taking turns washing one another. Neither of us could stop smiling, nor could I stop kissing his turned up lips. I sampled his smile so thoroughly and frequently with my mouth I felt it burn inside me.

But as I wrapped the towel around my body and walked toward the doorway to exit the bathroom, dread trickled into my mood. It was Saturday, and Collin would be awake somewhere in the condo. The looming confrontation with him slowed my steps and lumbered my pulse.

And stopped my heart when I entered the bedroom.

Collin stood beside the bed, his arms crossed over his bare chest. Black silk pajama pants hung from his narrow hips, the same shade as his neatly-combed hair. His disbelieving glare aimed at the quiet presence behind me. “What the fuck?”

He knew what Logan looked like. Hell, every employee at Trenchant had seen their CEO’s face on the company newsletter. His rigid posture had nothing to do with me bringing a man home, and everything to do with how Logan had hurt me.

But how did he know Logan was here? I adjusted the towel, trying to calm my fingers. “You used the key to my room?”

A tic bounced in his jaw. “The door was open.”

I glanced at the door and twisted to look at Logan. He knotted a towel at his waist, his eyes on Collin. His lips pinched in a white slash, but his expression was…thoughtful. Had he unlocked the door before joining me in the shower? He must have, but why? Motherfucker, he was up to something.

My pulse picked up, and my hands grew restless on the towel. How would this play out? So many secrets, all of which Logan knew. But Collin… Oh God, if I trusted my gut, Collin knew nothing.

Silence stretched through the room, strumming with tension. I turned back to Collin. “Where’s Seth?”

His face hardened, his blue eyes firmly locked on me in silent question. I’d mentioned Seth in front of Logan. He thought I’d told his secret. “He had a photo shoot.” The cold reverberation in his tone conveyed his shock and brewing anger. “Why, Kaci? The snake used you and stole your job.”

“Collin, he’s not a snake.” It was a weak argument considering I’d asked him to help me deliver three dozen of the slithering things to Logan’s office. I could feel Logan’s heat at my back, but he made no move to interject. “I didn’t tell him about you. He—”

“I can’t believe you crawled back in bed with him after what he did.” Red splotches formed on Collin’s neck as his eyes darted to my towel. “And you brought him here? Him, of all people?” He pushed his hands through his hair and paced through the room, his protection of me radiating from the tenseness in his body. “Goddammit, Kaci. You know what he’s capable of. He’ll hurt you again. He’ll turn our marriage into a media nightmare.”

I walked toward him and pulled his hands from his hair. “Listen, he’s not interested in…”

Collin’s attention caught on the movement behind me. I followed his gaze over my shoulder and watched as Logan dropped the towel and strode through the room in all his naked glory. The fluid muscles of his strong legs, the soft, heavy fall of his cock, and the flex of ass when he passed us, every inch of him gorgeous and distracting and—

Oh no.

I spun back to Collin and found his eyes tracking Logan. Anger darkened his face, but there was something else, too. Something he was trying to hide…

Oh fuck no no no.

My stomach twisted, and I grabbed his shoulders to turn him away, but his gaze swept over Logan. “Collin, dammit, don’t look at him like that.”

Logan walked toward the windows, stretching all those rippling muscles with his arms over his head, the sunlight reflecting off his smooth skin. Fire swept through my bloodstream and heated my cheeks. What the fuck was he doing? If Collin didn’t know they were brothers…

Oh my God. Realization punched me in the gut. If Collin knew any of Trent’s secrets, Logan’s blood ties would’ve topped the list. I’d bet money that Logan unlocked the door and streaked the room to test Collin’s reaction.

Really fucking sick. I grabbed the closest thing I could find—a hairbrush from the dresser—and hurled it through the room, landing a hit on the center of Logan’s back. “Put some damned clothes on.”

He flinched and rubbed the hurt, but when he looked over his shoulder, the bastard grinned.

Collin cleared his throat and scrubbed a hand over his jaw, but his friggin’ eyes tracked back to Logan’s body.

Gritting my teeth, I stepped between the two men and shouted, “Logan, stop baiting your brother!”

26

Logan

I had to give Collin some credit. He’d unknowingly ogled his brother’s junk and didn’t vomit his guts when Kaci explained our family ties. But man, his face turned a ghastly shade of white.