A

re you sure you want to retire to your room?” Archer bemoaned, not hiding the fact that he didn’t want to cut the night short. We had just finished going through a few plates of decadent chocolates, fruits, cheeses, and tarts.

Hiding my smile, I made a half attempt of an eye roll before shaking my head at him. “I’m sure.”

Archer, though nice and playful, was too touchy-feely for my liking. It wouldn’t have been so bothersome had I not encountered Cruz and that peculiar conversation. As much as I enjoyed Archer’s company, I knew I needed some alone time to ponder, go to sleep, and wake up the next morning with it in the back of my mind. Before I could reflect, I had to part with Archer first … if he would let me go.

“Could we possibly continue this upstairs, then? I don’t want to part with you, not just yet,” He pressed.

His eagerness to get to the next level with me had a polarizing effect, which wasn’t doing him any good. He had an idea what was going on between Cruz and I, and a part of me wished he could be a little more understanding.

Popping a blackberry into my mouth, I made a placid smile. “Don’t you have some place to get to? A party or whatever else it is you do at this time of night?”

“I do …” He trailed off before he reached for my outstretched hand that was languidly sitting on the table, mindlessly stroking it with his thumb, hoping to evoke some sort of emotions from me. Then he leaned over towards my ear and whispered, “But I’m giving you the chance to persuade me not to.”

“Goodness, well, lucky me.”

He was being provocative, and I didn’t know what to do or say other than laugh it off.

“A no really means no with me, Archer.”

“All right, all right.” He nodded before holding up his hands in surrender. “But the moment you change that pretty head of yours …”

“It won’t,” I promised. I knew myself too well. Had I wanted to be with him, there wouldn’t be anything to stop me, but that wasn’t the case, so there was no need to make him wait or lead him on. The night had been fun—we both had admitted earlier on—but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue this charade. After all, I had a lot going on just from trying to persuade myself that Cruz Elliot wasn’t the man for me to pine and obsessive about.

“How easily you break my heart, Serena. I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” He feigned hurt, clutching his chest as if he truly was in pain.

I had to hand it to him; he truly was entertaining to be around.

“You’re usually not back until Monday, so I’ll see you then.” Anyone in the house knew he went in and out, and on weekends, he was usually MIA and wouldn’t be back until later Monday afternoon. It only took one look at him to know how hard he partied over the weekend. He was the infamous wild child, and he lived it to its entireness.

“I do, don’t I?” he mused before daringly adding, “But you never know … Something tells me I might be coming home more often soon enough.”

“Ha. Don’t count on it, mister.” Getting up from my seat, I declined when he offered to walk me to my room. Instead, he settled for kissing the back of my hand, playing up the lothario gentleman he was.

“Pleasant, erotic dreams, Serena,” he said before sending me one of those teasing grins of his.

Oh, boy. This guy was pure trouble. The word was written all over him. God help the women who fell into his trap. They would probably never recover. Thank goodness I wasn’t … Well, had Cruz not been in the picture, I could have easily been persuaded by his amazing good looks and personable persona. What woman wouldn’t?

“Yeah, right. Goodnight, Archer. Be safe, yeah?” I bid him farewell before hurriedly striding towards the stairs so I could curl up in my bed and sleep this pang of sadness that had settled in and given me severe chest pains for most of the night.

It was already past eleven at night, and Margery had retired for the night an hour and a half ago. Thinking about her made me smile. She had done well tonight. She was in her element, socializing and mingling amongst friends.

Taking the steps, I basically sprinted so I could get onto the landing and take my shoes off. My soles were aching, my body was abuzz with alcohol, and my mind persistently raced like a damn broken video player, particularly focusing on the man who had eyes that seemingly melted me inside and out.

Sighing, I strode down the hall that led to my bedroom with half-closed lids.

Upon opening the bedroom door, I was about to throw my shoes onto the couch when I realized I wasn’t alone.

“Cruz! What in the world are you doing in my bedroom? I thought you had left. What the fuck!” I screeched with my eyes popping out of my sockets while the deafening sound of my heartbeat echoed in my ears.

He remained still as he stood before the window with his back to me, staring at the darkness of the night.

Why wasn’t he acknowledging me? I silently worried.

How badly I wanted to walk across the room and demand answers as to why he was in my bedroom, invading my privacy, but I was too chicken-shit to do so. I knew this visit meant something. After what had happened downstairs, God knew what kind of backlash I would get after making out with his brother. Apologizing for it was out of the equation. He wouldn’t hear of it. Regardless, I did it in part to save us both, and I hoped I could convince him of that. Never in my life had I considered he would be waiting for me here, in my bedroom of all places.

“Say something,” I pleaded after minutes of nothingness.

He chose to remain silent, still with his hands in his pocket, seeming as if he was looking down into the world, plotting how to annihilate it.

I didn’t need to see his face to know how incensed he was. I could feel his anger rolling off him in waves, sending frightful shivers all over me. I supposed I had asked for this.

“Cruz, please say something.” I tried once more then took a few steps towards him, but I halted in the middle of the room. Call it guilt or whatever, but I couldn’t get close to him without fearing he would burn me in one way or another.

With his back still facing me, I heard him take a deep breath before uttering a command. “Whatever is going on with you and my brother, I demand you stop it immediately.” His words were delivered with precision, cutthroat and unforgiving, just like the very man himself, who to this very moment, remained an enigma to me.

His beautiful, silver eyes were just as mercurial as his mood. It was difficult to read him, let alone know what truly was going on with him or what he truly felt for me.

I understood his rage. Of course I did. However, I was my own woman with my own mind, my own heart, and my own decisions to make.

Lifting my chin in defiance, I counted a few times before responding to him. “At work, you’re my boss, but in my personal life, I’m in charge of it. Please don’t ever tell me what to do again.”

My hardheaded stance didn’t evoke any emotions from him, but when I finally decided it was time to hash this out, he then chose to show a little more of himself.

“You’re punishing me for pushing you away,” he accused in a soft, monotonous voice.

Why wasn’t he facing me still? Why couldn’t he look me in the eye and tell me this, instead? I wanted to see him. I craved to see those eyes that never failed to ensnare my common sense.

“No,” I vehemently denied, “that’s not true.”

“You did everything you could to get under my skin, and the moment you did, you scuttled away and latched on to the next man you encountered.” His hate-filled words echoed in the room and left holes in my once intact armor.

“That’s a vile thing to say.” I was seething with anger, with the need to explain my erratic actions, and all the other frustrations I hadn’t yet addressed. I was a mixture of it all, waiting to erupt and out for blood.

“Is it?” He finally looked away from the window and strolled towards me, his eyes as cold as ice. “You knew I was there, and yet you kissed him right in front of me even after I asked—begged—for you to halt your relationship with my brother. How do you manage jumping from one sibling to the other? You do it so seamlessly it’s astonishing. It deserves a round of applause.”

“I—I’m s—” His strong accusations left me stuttering before a loud knock came at the door.

We both froze, staring at each other in shock and panic.

“Serena?” Archer’s voice could be faintly heard from the other side of the door.

Hadn’t I said good-bye to him? I hadn’t agreed to him coming upstairs, so why was he there? I was wracking my brain for answers when I saw Cruz’s nostrils flare in unmitigated impatience.

“Serena, may I come in?” Archer kept pushing me further into hell.

“Give me one sec,” I shot back, buying time to figure out what to do next or how to get rid of one of them.

“Tell him to go,” Cruz grunted out, unbending.

My eyes grew bigger. “Shhh, he might hear you.” I glared at him as I weighed my next move.

Archer might barge in here if I didn’t let him in, and the last thing I needed to make this night any worse was for him to find his older brother in my bedroom. God, I could already see how this would seem, and I just couldn’t let that happen. Fuck my life.

In full panic mode, I considered the best possible solution on the table as I looked straight into Cruz’s displeased face.

“Can you hide in the bathroom or maybe in the closet?”

He instantly turned red. “You want me to hide?” he whisper-hissed at me, looking like he was about to blow a fuse.

“Yes!” I hissed back, glaring at him.

If it were possible for steam to come out of his ears, it probably would have happened already. He was so pissed I almost felt sorry for him. Then again, since he had come here uninvited, he had to give in, or he and I would be bringing this conversation to an end, which by the looks of it, was the last thing he wanted to happen.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath, but eventually left towards the bathroom without another word of complaint.

I didn’t release a breath until I heard the bathroom door click shut, ensuring he was safely inside. Then my gaze reverted to the door where Archer was waiting.

Brushing the sides of my hair, I told myself to calm down then opened the door.

“Hey,” I greeted with a strained smile as I held the door handle, not willing to invite him in as I had blatantly told him downstairs. If he was trying to get laid, he had best look elsewhere because that woman wasn’t me.

“I just wanted to see you again before I leave for the night.” Archer’s charms were in full swing.

“Have a lovely time. It’s nice of you to stop by, but goodnight.” I didn’t even give him a chance to respond before I smiled and gently shut the door on him.

It barely took a second before Cruz came rushing out of the bathroom, looking like a raging, manic bull out to hurt whomever he saw on sight.

“You wanted to continue what you two didn’t finish downstairs, didn’t you? He was here to shag you, for fuck’s sake!”

Cruz didn’t waste a beat before jumping on me with guns blazing. Sometimes, I wondered what we were really arguing about. It was as if we were going in circles.

“Has Archer fucked you?” he threw at me, unwilling to take a moment to let me gather my bearings.

This guy was all shades of crazy.

My good intentions flew out the window.

“Can you for once just shut the fuck up and stop accusing me of things? I can’t fucking think, let alone defend myself, when you’re being this way. So stop! Stop yelling at me! Stop being so fucking angry! What the fuck!” I was acting erratically it was difficult to function like I normally would when he was around. It was as if my mind short-circuited.

His silver eyes were trained on me, appearing conflicted. “I want you, Serena. I want you. I want you so fucking much that it’s killing me inside. You must understand the struggle I am in, so I beg you to end my agony.”

Oh, God. This wasn’t good … not good at all.

Help.