Page 50 of Covenant

I stiffen, knowing this is one of his brothers. His eldest brother, if I remember correctly. He couldn’t be more different from Harley.

Wylder nods to the beautiful woman beside him. “Candace wanted to attend.”

The woman smiles smugly. “Why, we couldn’t turn down an invitation to the most popular gala of the year. We simply must be seen in the right society.”

Matthias and I exchange a bemused look, and in that moment, I know we’re both thinking the same thing.Is she for real?

It takes me back suddenly. To a time when we were always on the same page. When I trusted Matthias more than anyone else.

I drag my gaze away and clear my throat. I won’t be making that mistake again.

“Wyatt,” Matthias touches my arm, “meet my older brother. Wylder, Wyatt.”

Wylder assesses me, his eyes keen, almost as if he’s calculating my worth. I do the same back, taking in his dark hair and dark eyes, just like his brother.

“Nice to meet you, Wyatt,” Wylder says with a nod. “This is my girlfriend, Candace.”

I reach out my hand and clasp his before moving to hers, trying to pretend that I’m happy to be here when I’m anything but.

“Nice to meet you both,” I say. I smile politely, just as I used to at these events before. Before Jackson’s accident. Before I lost my job.

Before I lost everything.

It’s startling how fast it comes back to you. The social falsities we all participate in.

“Likewise. I’ve heard so much about you,” Wylder says. “Was wondering for a few years if you were actually real or just a figment of Matthias’s imagination. So happy to hear about the nuptials.”

My eyebrows rise and I can’t help but let out a small laugh. “He never seemed like someone who had much of an imagination.”

Wylder looks at me, cocking his head. “With you, he did.”

My brow furrows and I’m about to ask a question about that when Wylder adds, “Is this music giving anyone else a headache? And did you see the stage? It’s slightly off-center and it’s making my eye twitch.”

Candace rolls her eyes in annoyance. “Honestly, Wylder. It’s not a big deal. Maybe we need to get you a drink so you can relax.”

My eyes narrow at her easy dismissal. From how Matthias’s lips purse, he doesn’t like the way Candace is speaking to his brother either. He moves like he’s about to say something, but Wylder shakes his head, shutting him down.

“I don’t like her,” Matthias says as we watch them walk away, Candace’s lips hovering near Wylder’s ear as if she’s chastising him for his previous comment.

I don’t say anything, realizing I don’t have the right to have an opinion on her. I know nothing about Matthias’s family. He always kept our friendship hidden away, like some kind of guilty pleasure. After things fractured between us, I assumed it was because he was ashamed of me.

Just as I think that, another man approaches, tugging on his tie. I know without asking that he’s another brother of Matthias’s. He has the same cheekbones, the same brooding dark eyes.

Unlike Matthias, he’s slightly rumpled, almost as if he just rolled out of bed and put on the first suit and tie he could find. My lips twitch. He’s in a similar state to what I’d been in before Matthias had fixed my clothes. Something tells me this guy hasn’t done it intentionally though.

“Fuck, I hate this place,” the man murmurs, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and downing it. “It’s full of pompous shits. Just like you, Matty.”

I let out a snort, and Matthias tightens his arm around me as the man’s attention lands on me.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asks me, and I straighten my shoulders, his abrasive tone making me bristle slightly.

“I’m his husband,” I force out when it becomes clear Matthias isn’t going to explain my presence. Unlike with Wylder and Harley, he doesn’t seem in a rush to introduce me to this brother.

“Hell, I fucking forgot. You told me you got married,” he says, addressing Matthias. “And I’m bitter because no one invited me.”

“Maybe because you’re too much of a grumpy asshole,” Matthias retorts.

The man rolls his eyes. “I’m Samson,” he says, pulling his tie all the way off and shoving it in his suit pocket. “I’m one of the older brothers to this dickhead.”

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