Page 36 of Say It Slowly

James makes a face. “Don’t give me that shit. You have access to every private investigator on the West Coast.”

I push out a breath.

“You want to help me, brother?” he says, playing on my sympathy. “Do this for me. It’s all I’m asking of you.”

I shake my head and set the note aside. “I’ll see what I can do.”

That seems to satisfy him because he relaxes a little. “Good, well, enough about me,” he says, changing the subject. “What’s goin’ on with you?”

I suck in a breath. I don’t generally talk to him about my dating life, but shit with Lux has me all tangled up, and I know my brother will set me straight. “Yeah, uh, there’s a girl…”

He brightens. “Oh, shit. A girl. Is this your new consort or what?”

James attended ExU for a year before he was kicked out, so he knows all about the Preference Ceremony. He was never one of the Sacred Sons, because he’s not blood related to any of the original families, but he is a member of the Burning Crown.

“Yeah,” I say. “Something like that.”

He nods slowly, studying my face. My brother has always known how to read me. He’s the only one in my life who ever really has, except for Lucas, and now, Lux. She’s comingdangerously close to unmasking me entirely, tearing away that image I present to the world. And it’s fucking unsettling.

“Tell me about her,” he says, and if we weren’t sitting amid other inmates, and their families, I could convince myself we were in a coffee shop somewhere, just shooting the shit like we always have. But the slamming iron doors rip me out of the illusion pretty quickly, and I’m left with the stark reality of my brother’s situation.

I suck in a breath. I’m usually pretty open with James about my life, but with Lux…yeah, that’s a topic I can’t really get into, so I keep it vague. I really just need his advice on the loss of control I’m starting to feel.

“She’s…” I search my mind for an adequate description. “Smart. Too smart for her own good, I think. And stubborn.”

James shakes his head, and glances down, chuckling under his breath. “I never thought it would happen.Damn.”

I scoff, playing like I’m offended. I don’t even ask him what he means, because, honestly, I don’t like the direction this conversation is taking, and I’m not going to encourage him. “Nothing hashappened,” I say dismissively. “She’s different. That’s all. I don’t know what to do with someone who challenges me at every turn.”

“Is that why you look like a fool right now?” James laughs again, setting me on edge. “This girl has you by the balls bro, I can already tell. You look like a lost puppy.”

I wince at that. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t know shit.”

“Let me see a picture,” he says, sobering.

I shake my head, and clear my throat. “Don’t have one.”

“Now that’s a lie,” James says, pointing at me. “First of all, you clear your throat when you’re being deceptive. Second, there’s no fucking way you’d take on a Deb without having her followed by a private investigator for a weekat minimum.”

It’s true, most of the girls I date, I investigate beforehand. It’s no use getting entangled with someone who might be a problem for me. I’m not interested in making my life harder. Until Lux came along, that is. It’s been one obstacle after the next with her.

I shrug. “She’s not a Deb.”

That makes my brother stop cold. Never has a Sacred Son ever selected a consort outside of the Burning Crown circle—that I know of, at least. Debs have been invited in, vetted, established, and that’s important when you have a wealthy family that other people are constantly trying to tear down. It’s one of the downsides to being campus royalty. I can’t date just anyone. It’s too risky.

But Lux is different. I realize I say that a lot, but sheisdifferent, in myriad ways.

“What the fuck, Roman? She’s not one of us?” He looks both concerned and angry all at once.

“I know what I’m doing,” I say firmly.

James sits back like he can’t believe what I’m saying. “Do you, though? Haven’t you learned anything from my situation?” He spreads his hands, palms up. “Take a hard look around. This is the risk of dating outsiders, Roman. Is this what you want for yourself?”

Yeah, I know the risk. I’ve always known.

His brotherly stare is heated. I shift in my hard plastic chair and clear my throat. “I’ve got this handled, James. You have to trust me.”

He points at me again, and smiles, like he’s got me. “Fucking liar. You’re already way in over your head. I can tell.”

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