Crowned by Fate (Crowned 2)

Something big.

I’m going to kill him.

“Excuse me,” I say, pushing past Max and heading for my bedroom door.

“Isa, wait!” Max calls out, and I halt, my fingers flexing around the cool door handle. “Listen, for what it’s worth, he loves you.”

“Love has never been our problem, Max.” I try to smile, but it only comes out pained. “Trust has.”

I push through the door and make my way down the hallway. Taking slow steps, my eyes catch Devon and Bryant talking at the bottom of the stairs. Bryant isn’t in a suit tonight, choosing jeans that seem to have been put through the wash a few too many times, black boots, and a black shirt. Devon is wearing no shirt, dark jeans with the button undone, and no shoes. His hair is ruffled all over the place.

Finally both of them turn to face me.

“Partying without me? I’m hurt.” I take a sip of my martini, already needing a top off. “Though I’m fascinated…” I say, coming closer to them. “How this is all going to work if you—” I bring my eyes to Bryant, who dammit, looks hot as sin. It’s not right for someone to be this good looking. Every time I see him, I want to lick him. You will not lick him. You are angry at him. For many reasons. “Are running for president.”

Bryant stills.

Devon chuckles. “So dead.”

Before I can add anything more, Bryant’s eyes are over my shoulder. “Knew you couldn’t keep a secret.”

Max must be walking up behind me because his voice is gaining volume. Closer and closer. “She’s my sister. I’d like to at least start to build a relationship with her.”

“You mean one that doesn’t count having your tongue down her throat? It is a nice throat, I will admit, bu—”

I reach forward and grab Devon between the legs. He freezes, his eyes popping out of their sockets briefly before a slow manic smirk crawls across his mouth. “If you don’t shut the fuck up about that, I’m going to cut this off, and now you and I both know that it won’t be hard for me to get anywhere near it.” I squeeze his thickness harder to emphasize my point, but Devon only groans, his eyes rolling so far to the back of his head that the whites of his eyes are all that’s visible.

“I’ve missed you too, baby.” He winks at me once they’re back where they should be.

Bryant is noticeably glaring at me. “You done? ‘Cause I can go another round.”

I shrug, sucking down a sip of my gin, only finding it empty. “Not even close.”

“Isa…” Bryant calls out, but it’s too late, I’ve already turned my back on him and am headed to where I hear the music playing from. It’s not loud music. As if the walls and doors are closing off whatever is being shouted from the other side. I make my way down the long hallway, past Bryant’s office and the theater room, until I get to the end of the house.

I’ve never been in this room.

The doors are always closed, and before the incident, we had only come to this house a few times.

Two black marble doors with sleek granite handles.

“Isa…” Bryant warns again from behind me.

I slightly turn my head over my shoulder until my eyes fall on all three of them.

The three men who mean more to me than I even care to admit.

I turn away from them and open the door.

Sex is a lethal drug. It can be the trigger to your new obsession.

-Bryant

“Fuck,” I grunt, watching as Isa disappears through the doors into Devon’s Den.

“Well, to be fair, she sort of asked for it…” Devon purrs from beside me.

I glare at him, running my hands through my hair. “I swear to fucking god, she is going to be the death of me.”

“Bullshit.” Devon shoves me with his shoulder. “You fucking love it.”

I snort, my eyes coming to Max. “Usually I hate snitches. But I respect what you’re doing.”

“If it was harmful, I wouldn’t have said anything to her, but I don’t think she didn’t have to not know.”

“Mmm,” I answer, studying his facial features. I see zero resemblance to Isa. Which is a very fucking good thing, because it makes hating him that much easier. I can already see her getting attached to him, though, which could be a problem.

Maybe.

Depending on my final verdict on him.

I start walking down the hallway with Devon with Max following close behind me.

“I have to ask,” Devon says, gesturing to Max. “Have you ever been with a man?”

I roll my eyes. “Devon, leave the straight men alone.”

Max ignores him, pushing the door open and we all step through.

Now, there’re two things you should know about my current living arrangements. The first thing, is there are no arrangements. I own houses, and people stay with me. That brings me to the second thing, Devon is the people that stay with me. When he moved into this house, I gave him free rein to the back of the house since I never used it.