Page 49 of Created in Chaos

“Working his pretty boy magic. You do it too, it’s just not as intentional or blatant, but Lucian knows exactly what he’s doing. The jerk.” She opens her door and climbs out of the car, shutting it a little harder than necessary. I meet her on the steps and open the door for her to enter the house ahead of me.

She heads straight for the kitchen, but asks, “When will he be home?”

I bet she doesn’t even realize she refers to this place as home, but I do. Her presence makes this house feel less empty, and it’s not the fact that she takes up space or is an extra body. She fills it with life and energy that isn’t chaotic and angry all the time, despite the fact that she’s pissed now. “I’m not sure. More than likely as soon as possible after that phone call.”

“He’s lucky you hung up. It’s a lot nicer than what I would have said,” she grumbles while jerkily turning on the water to wash her hands.

I move to stand beside her, closer than necessary, but the desire to make sure I can, that she’s not going to shy away from me, presses me to prove she’s really here and not planning on ditching me again.

“Did you mean it?” The words fly from my mouth without thought, because I want to hear her confirm she loves me, even if I already saw the truth in her eyes. You can’t fake that kind of pain.

She stiffens next to me. “What?”

Her soft reply tells me she already knows what I’m asking, but I tell her anyway. “When you said you love me?”

Her shoulders round a little, and she scrubs her hands long after the lather is gone. “Isn’t it pretty obvious?” She tries to sound placid, like it’s not a big deal.

“I’m sorry.” My mouth works again before I can think about how it will sound.

“You’re sorry?” She shifts, lifting her eyes to mine in a clear sign she’s bewildered by my response, but in the next breath, I see sad acceptance on her face. She thinks I’m apologizing for not feeling the same way.

I reach for her hands before she can pull away and hold them in mine, forcing her to listen to what I’m about to say. “I’m sorry because I know we’re not easy to love and never will be. I’m sorry that we make everything more difficult and our lives will never be simple, but I’m too selfish to wish you never answered that door, Nova, because I love you too. I think I loved you the moment I saw your beautiful face on the screen, trying to help my idiot brother when you had every right to let him get run over on that road.”

The way her face softens as she looks up at me proves she heard every word I said, and the smile she breaks into when I tell her Lucian deserved to get run over is contagious.

I drop my forehead to hers and breathe her in. “Thank you for putting up with us. I promise we will always take care of you.”

“Nova!” Lucian barks, disrupting the moment as a door slams. Her fingers tighten around mine in a clear sign of emotion, but I can’t tell if she’s irritated or worried by his cross tone.

“Don’t be sorry, Nox. I would answer that door every time if I knew it led me to you.”

I lean down and kiss her, even though I know my brother is going to be stomping through the door any second. I’m going to enjoy her ripping into him after his interruption.

“Where are you?” my impatient twin demands, and his heavy footfalls pound up the stairs. I feel her smile against my lips, relishing making him wait.

By the time he makes it to the kitchen, I have Nova’s ass up on the counter, and we’ve both enjoyed the vibrations from the phone in my front pocket as I ignored his calls.

She breaks the kiss but doesn’t remove her roving hands from my neck and back. “Oh, you’re back.” She feigns surprise.

“You knew damn well I was home.”

Nova shrugs, disinterested in Lucian’s scowl, causing him to turn his eyes toward me.

“You could have answered.”

“I was busy.”

“So was I, yet I was still there for you when you told me she was gone.”

“Oh yes, let’s talk about how busy you were, Lucian. Did you get a lot of studying done?” Nova slips away from me and hops down to the floor, putting herself at a serious height disadvantage, but she doesn’t recognize it as she advances on my brother.

He snorts. “I don’t study.”

“But you offered to help me. I guess when I turned you down, you decided to run off with Grace.”

“Is that what you think we were doing?” Lucian has no self-preservation. He’s actually smiling as he begins circling her. If she were anyone else, I would say she’s done for and he’s looking for the right place to strike, but Nova gives just as good as she gets. I think Lucian might be the one in trouble here.

“Tell me, pretty boy, did she like the taste of my pussy?”

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