Page 51 of The Professor's Possession (Crystal River Billionaire Brothers)

“It’s strong, that’s for sure,” I reply.

“Exactly. Just as I want.”

“You’ve always liked extremes, Damon,” I remark. “A man of total and daring extremes, that’s what you are.”

“That is true.”

“This beer is definitely going to get me fucked up,” I say.

“How’s your time back in Crystal River going?” Damon asks me quietly.

“Fine,” I reply.

My brother raises a sharp eyebrow. “Really?Fine? That’s all you can utter? Don’t you dare lie to me. You know I don’t like lying.”

“Well, I’m still dealing with all the trouble that brought me back, and all that hasn’t gone away. Fine would be putting it mildly.”

“I can help you handle any issues, you know,” Damon says with a knowing wink. “I can make all your problems disappear with just the click of my fingers.Puff, all gone.”

“No, it’s okay,” I reply. “I just had the lecture from Father about it. He thinks I’m throwing my life away.”

“Damn. The usual bullshit?”

“You know what he’s like,” I reply.

“Unlike him, I won’t throw money at it,” Damon says. “That’s not how I do things, as you are well aware. But I can help with...other things. Other ways to solve your issues.”

“Ah, the dark arts of a gangster,” I mutter.

There’s a hint of a proud smile from my brother at the edges of his lips as I make that comment. “All I’m saying is that you don’t always need to go down the proper legal routes for these kinds of things, especially when the deck is stacked against you. I can help you speed the process along and make sure everything simplytiltsin your favor.”

“You’re a multifarious man, Damon,” I whisper. “I sometimes can’t believe we share the same blood.”

Even I don’t fully understand Damon’s dark past, and I grew up with him. The man practically disappeared in his early twenties. Before then, he was a respectable boy; destined to join the army. But then death got in the way. Damon witnessed the brutal assassination of his beloved godfather. A murder carried out by a gang. Damon evaporated into thin air after that, fleeing into self-imposed exile to New York City, before reappearing again years later as a completely changed man. He still hasn’t told me the details of the vagabond years of his life. I don’t know how he got his facial scar. I don’t know what turned his heart so black. He hasn’t told anyone in our family those details. All I know is that he returned to Crystal River as someone utterly different as the boy who left. He bought an alcohol brand and, to outside eyes, he became a respectable businessman, but in reality, he’s the head of a criminal gang: a gang he acquired somehow in his wilderness years. My brother is cold, but I still have a soft spot for the kind teenage boy I remember who is buried deep within him.

I indulge in another sip of Damon’s strong beer. It may be the alcohol talking, but I decide to open up for once and tell him about what’s on my mind.

“Therehasbeen this girl...”

My brother leans forward. “A girl?” he asks.

“A student of mine.”

Damon smiles, showing his teeth. “Oh, that’sdelicious. A college professor and his student, now I’ve got to hear this. Tell me more.”

“It’s all very strange, Damon,” I say. “I dreamt about her for a week straight, and then she appeared in my life. Like I had imagined her into existence. I had thought she was only fiction, but she’s real.”

“Hm.”

Damon is the only brother who might understand what I’m saying. Both of us have this dark passion within us. He knows I’m not getting lost in a fiction like one of the classics I love.

“She’s my dream girl...”

“You told me when you moved back here that you wouldn’t go looking for a girl, Spencer. You said you’d practically go celibate. You said you didn’t want your past issues hurting your future partner.”

“I did.”

“But you really have got your mind set on this girl?” Damon asks.

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