Page 75 of Crown of Steel

“Oh, wait, what?” Gaël’s eyes flash with surprise. “What?” He asks again when none of us answers. Louis has at least the decency to look guilty, and knowing him, those fucking words just slipped out of his scandalous mouth, but still. Fuck me.

“It’s not like that.”

“No? Then how is it?” Gaël asks.

“Well, we—” I stutter, ignoring their sniggers, mind rattling. Frankly, I haven’t got a clue on how to finish that phrase. Because it’s exactly like that, and when Louis’s chuckles turn into a loud bark of laughter, I feel like flinging the entire chair right at him.

“So it’s true,” Gaël drawls as if tasting every word carefully. He waits a beat, but when I don’t rush to convince him of thecontrary, he lets out an amused huff. “And I told Dominique he was imagining things. Turns out that he was right.”

“It’s not like that, cous. Asshole,” I mouth to Louis when he’s finally recovered enough to fill up my glass. He sends me a wink in return. When he puts back the bottle, he leans back into his seat, folding his hands behind his head as if he’s waiting for the show. Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s not willing to take the bait, because Gaël takes a sip from his glass, then says, “You’ll tell me when you know what it’s like, okay? On a more serious note, our brothers are getting more and more restless.”

I nod, perhaps a little too eager. “That teacher Montague sure as hell doesn’t make himself popular by changing the selection criteria of thePrix d’Honneur. I also heard that he does things differently in the classroom.” I haven’t really, but I don’t like the fucker. He’s too close to Régis.

Gaël hums at that. Louis doesn’t reply, but when I eye him, his cheeks are a little flushed.

“Well, we have another initiation planned for tomorrow,” Gaël continues, hands folded together under his chin. “I’ve asked Dominique to play.” He waits a beat, then continues, “I think we need to do things a little differently, if we don’t want the guys to go for Régis. They all seem to be taken by the idea of getting their hands on the outcast of the group.”

“He’s with me,” I snarl before I can think twice.

Gaël’s gaze flickers with mischief. “Yeah, I know that now.” He lets out a low whistle, eyes darting to Louis, then back to me. “Who would have thought? Still… and I know that you’ve made your claim and all that, but perhaps it’s time to show the others too?”

Louis snorts. “Show the others? What the hell are you going to tell Dad?” He shakes his head. “He’s Nathalia’s son, man.”

“I know that,” I snap. Releasing a heavy breath, I rub a hand over my forehead. “This is exactly why I didn’t want this to happen. It’s too complicated, it’s inconvenient.”

“But you want him,” Gaël deadpans.

“But I should fucking hate him,” I huff in annoyance, nodding at Louis when he approaches with the bottle.

“But you can’t have him,” Gaël pries, his eyes hooded with that scrutinizing gaze. “Or…can you?”

“Let’s keep him safe first,” Louis decides. “Let’s get the brothers to focus on charity tomorrow instead.” He slides his phone out of the pocket of his sweatpants. “I’ll call Dad.”

“The brothers need to get laid. They need to let off some steam,” Gaël adds. “Don’t tell your dad that.” Louis grimaces at that.

There’s a short knock on the door. When it swings open, the wind swoops a window out of its hinges. It opens with a bang, filling the space with freezing air. My gaze flicks outside, toward the wailing tops of the large evergreens, shaking through the darkened air like it’s the plaything of the devil himself, and can’t help but wonder…is Régis out there?

“Oops, sorry.” Our favorite sex toy comes walking in, a slender hipped beauty Louis and I hire every Friday evening. And while Louis still hires him, I merely watch, but don’t participate.Not anymore.

Right now, he swings his silky strands over his tender neck, then gives me a doe-eyed smile. “Hi, gorgeous.” That’s right. He’s myprevioussex toy.

“Not him. Come here, baby.” Before I can answer, my brother has swept the smaller male onto his lap. They both cackle at that, and my brother makes a show of cascading his hand down the escort’s waistband where he grabs hold of a firm ass cheek. Gaël sends me an exasperated look as he hops up to close the window. “Delicious,” Louis purrs. “Damn, sweetheart, you’ve got me all hungry again.”

I am, too, and while the escort is cute and pretty, my appetite is solely focused on one single guy I can’t wait to devour. Suddenly, a light cracks through the pitch-dark sky, electrifyingthe outside air. He better fucking not be out there. I growl at the thought, and before I think better of it, my phone is already pressed against my ear. That asshole better have his eyes on my kitten.

“Where the fuck are you?” I snarl the moment Julien picks up, earning a surprised gaze from all three men in the room. While I listen to Julien blabbering about being in the gym, Louis feeds our boy champagne from the bottle. With an annoyed huff, I go to the fridge and pull out another bottle.

“He’s downstairs playing chess, Arthur. Jeez, he’s really got you wrapped around his little finger, hasn’t he?” Julien sounds properly annoyed, and it pisses me off.

“You better watch your tone,” I threaten, refusing to let him make me feel like an even bigger idiot.

Julien splutters a reply, but I’m no longer listening. The phone vibrates against my ear, and I check the caller. It’s Dad.

“Make sure he stays there and doesn’t go out in the storm,” I can’t help but sneer, always needing to have the fucking last word. Slamming the fridge door shut with my hip, I turn around and toss the bottle at Gaël, ignoring the way his eyes flicker with amusement as he gets to work at opening our drink. “And Julien? Don’t fuck this up.”

Gaël pours me a glass and I follow him to the couch as I greet Dad.

“Comment ça va, mon fils?”

---