The trip to New York was quick, and I was back in my office the following morning, thankful I didn’t have a trip scheduled for another month, at least.

My vision swam as I went over the reports and numbers for the proposal for another potential client, Green Life Botanicals. It was hard to break into the competitive market of South East Asian skin care, but with the global push for organic products, it looked like GLB actually had a chance. I’d have to scan everything over again tomorrow after I’d had a full night’s sleep, but I was going to burn through the bulk of the work today.

My intercom buzzed and I pressed the button to answer. “Yes, Lisa?”

“Mr. Roberts is here to see you, sir.”

“Send him in.”

It was a relief to be able to submerge myself back into the flow of the office after the personal and physical tumult of my week. This was how I steadied myself, how I knew I was where I was supposed to be: when I was at work, no matter the stressful situations that arose, I felt at peace. Maybe not calm, but peaceful. I couldn’t say the same for anytime thoughts of Miles and Zeke arose. As I waited for Roberts to enter, I self-consciously patted my wallet, where I’d tucked Miles’s business card. I didn’t know what to do about that. Did he want me to call? Had he just been polite?

I stood to shake Roberts’s hand and pushed thoughts of my emotional life to the back of my mind. I didn’t know what to do about Miles yet, but in just a few days, Zeke agreed to sit down with me. At least I was making progress there.

* * *

I picked Zeke—Marcus—I had to get used to that. I picked Marcus up from work as he had requested, my hands sweating a little in anxiety.

“So, where should we go?” I asked. I hadn’t liked not planning everything out beforehand, but Marcus hadn’t given me his number, so it wasn’t like I could run anything by him.

“Anywhere. Probably somewhere quiet.”

I nodded. The only place I really knew in town was Purple Velvet, and it wasn’t far, so I headed there again. It was a little more busy than last time, but I was able to grab the back table where Miles and I had talked last time.

We wasted a few minutes looking over the menu, and then ordering. That done, my methods of procrastination were limited, so I finally just started talking. “I don’t know how to start.”

Marcus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, ruining its perfectly just-so look. “What is it you want, Parker? I’m never going back. I don’t even know why you want to talk to me so bad now.” He started drumming his fingers against the table, each tap pushing my anxiety a smidge higher.

“What? Why wouldn’t I want to talk to you? You’re my brother. I mean, I was hurt when you disappeared, when you cut me out, but I love you. I’ve been wrestling with myself for a long time. Too hurt to look for you. And then when I did start looking, not sure exactly why. But a couple weeks ago, I realized no matter how much I was hurt, it didn’t matter. You are my brother, my twin, and nothing changes that.”

Marcus tapped his fingers faster and faster. “You think being brothers covers everything up? You’re so fucking self-centered, Parker. I abandoned you? What about my pain? Why didn’t you come when I needed your backup when Mom and Dad tried to force me to marry that asshole?”

The tingling in my skin froze, trying to make sense of his words. “What? What the fuck are you talking about?”

A similar stillness came over Marcus. “Do you really not know?”

I spread my hands wide in supplication. “I’ve never heard anything about any kind of marriage.”

Marcus looked away, and I thought I could see a tell-tale glistening in his eyes. “I thought… I…” He swallowed through his obvious pain. “Mom and Dad had been pushing me for months to meet with this alpha or that, and I kept putting them off.”

“I remember you telling me about that,” I said.

Marcus nodded. “Occasionally, they’d ‘forget’ to tell me about a guest they had invited to dinner, and I thought that would be the worst of it. I was so wrong…”

The waiter came back with our drinks and we stopped for a moment. Neither of us were in the mood to touch our drinks, and they sat untouched in front of us as Marcus began his story again.

“There was this one guy, Vincent Lowell—Mom and Dad just wouldn’t give up on pushing me at him. I—” He had to stop to take a breath and I reached out to grab his hand comfortingly.

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”

Marcus shook his head. “No… I want to tell you. Maybe not all the details but… anyway, something bad happened. They tried to force me to marry Vincent.”

Parker wanted to yell in protest at that, as if it were happening now, but he held his tongue. He wanted to let Marcus get it out.

“I texted you. Because you’re my brother. My twin. We’ve always been there for each other. But this time, you told me that I needed to submit to Mom and Dad. That they knew best.”

My voice was harsh with repressed anger. “Fuck… Marcus, you’ve got to believe me, I didn’t send those messages. The week you left, I was… messed up. I basically didn’t leave my room all that week. Mom came down for a few days, I told her it was the flu, but it was really me. I just couldn’t deal. I didn’t even look at my phone for a week after she left, and when I did, I couldn’t find it. I bought a new one, and that’s when I found out about the fight with Mom and Dad. They said you disowned them. And that you disowned me.”

Marcus gaped. “I didn’t—I never. What the fuck did that bitch say?”

I realized Marcus meant our mother, but even with his words, and I believed him, I couldn’t start to reconcile the woman I knew with his story, so I deflected. “Can we start from the beginning?” My voice was more plaintive than I had intended.

Marcus twisted his drink around, the coaster spinning underneath it. “I don’t know if I’m ready to start there. I’m not really ready to relive it quite yet. But can we start from here? What are you doing? How are you doing?”

My vision blurred, and I smiled. “We can absolutely start from here. Marcus.”