Page 23 of Obsessive Love

My gaze flicks between the two of them as the reality of the situation starts to settle in.

Holy shit.

I've fucked my husband's brother.

He holds his hand out in front of him, looking at me expectantly as if he's waiting to see if I'll go along with his charade of not knowing who he is or spill the beans.

I quickly gather myself, pretending to be unaffected by the bomb that's just been dropped on me and I place my hand in Kaleb's palm.

"Apology accepted," I say, my voice quiet and shaky.

"Well, sorry this hasn't exactly gone to plan," Jericho says, interrupting the tense moment between Kaleb and me. "We need to go find our father so that we can talk about this whole mess. Michael, you find Dominic, and then we can all talk about the situation and decide what we're going to do with the two Americans that we've managed to keep alive and talking."

My father's jaw clenches, likely because he's being told what to do, but he nods his head nonetheless before kissing me on the cheek and then walking away with my mother.

"Jaylen, can you take Sophia back to my house? Leo should be waiting to let you in at the gate, and then my housekeeper, Myra, will show you both to your rooms and help you get situated." Once Jaylen nods, Jericho turns and walks away, ignoring my existence completely.

Meanwhile, Kaleb stands there staring at me, his eyes roaming across my face and down my body, seemingly taking in every detail.

Jaylen tugs on my arm, dragging my attention away from my husband's brother.

"Let's go, Soph," he urges, glancing between Kaleb and I.

On the ride over to Jericho's house, the car is filled with complete and utter silence. Jaylen keeps sneaking glances at me, and I know he wants to talk, but I'm purposefully ignoring him, playing with the butterfly clip in my hand and pretending not to notice so that he'll hopefully continue to leave me alone.

Anger simmers inside of me as I try to wrap my head around the fact the Italian hunk that I slept with and had the most amazing night with is my new husband's brother. The way Kaleb acted just then when he introduced himself also has me convinced that he knew exactly who I was that night, yet he still pursued me. I feel betrayed and confused by the whole situation and I'm unsure of what I should do now.

Do I tell Jericho that I've slept with his brother and potentially ruined this marriage before it's even begun? Would Jericho evencare, considering it's an arranged marriage and neither of us has feelings for each other?

I'm snapped out of my conflicted thoughts when the car comes to an abrupt stop. I glance out the window and I'm met with trees lining the road and gates a few metres up ahead. I finally turn to Jaylen, who's already staring at me.

"Why have we stopped?"

He raises his brows and gives me an incredulous look, knowing I'm playing stupid.

"Soph, we're about to enter unknown territory and both of us have no idea what to expect once we pass through those gates. Therefore, we need to talk first so that you can stop being pissed at me and we can be united and face whatever we have to together," he tells me, turning off the ignition and twisting in his seat so that he's facing me.

I sigh and roll my eyes, glancing back outside the window. He has a point, which annoys me further, but I have to admit that what he's said makes sense. Jaylen has spent half his life protecting me and keeping me safe, I can't hold a grudge against him and ice him out right now when we're going into an unknown situation.

"Did you know who he was?" I ask, staring at the gates ahead of us and trying to catch a glimpse of Jericho's house through the trees.

"At first, I didn't recognise him, but once I saw you dancing with him, I knew who he was and that's why I attempted to intervene."

"Intervene?" I shout, turning my blazing glare his way. "You should've stopped me from doing anything more than dancing with him! Jesus, Jaylen. You should've strolled straight up to me and told me who the fuck he was and dragged me away from him."

"Hey, in my defence, I tried to get you away from him. Yeah, maybe I should've stated the obvious, but Soph, you'd actually let your hair down for once and you were really enjoying yourself with him. It was weird to see, so I didn't want to drop the bomb on you straight away. Plus, you'd spent the whole night complaining about marrying a man you didn't want, so I thought fuck it, the marriage is already doomed, why not let it get a little more complicated than it already is."

"Are you kidding me?" I shove his shoulder and shake my head in disbelief at what I've just heard him say.

"It was only one night, Soph, and as far as I can tell, he hasn't gone and told everyone about it, so as long as you both keep quiet, I don't see how it's a problem."

I shake my head, leaning back in my chair as I stare at the roof of the car, contemplating what I'm meant to do.

"All I'm saying is it's happened now, and nothing can be done about it, so there's no point dwelling on it. You had a good night with him, you let loose and you both got what you wanted. So, I think the only solution here is to have a conversation with him about keeping quiet, and then everything should be fine," he says, patting my hand.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I mutter, annoyed with the situation and done with the conversation. I nod towards the gates up ahead. "Let's get this over and done with so that we can get inside and go to sleep. This day has been exhausting and I need some time to think everything over."

Jaylen watches me for a few moments, then starts up the car again and drives to the gate. He unwinds his window and presses the buzzer on the metal box. A static deep voice says something through the speaker and then a moment later, the gates creak open.

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