Mom was talking animatedly to Dev, her laughter light and carefree, while Derek engaged Caspian in a conversation about work. I sat there, feeling like an outsider, as Mom and Dev talked about the places she visited with Derek. It hurt me to see that Dev knew more about her than I did, and the way she talked with him showed how strong their relationship was. However, she read my mind because her eyes lit up all of a sudden as she forced the conversation towards me. It was a hollow try, but I let her, to see what she had for me. Just ten minutes ago, she commented about us making plans for the day, but she already forgot about it and made plans with Leo to check out a local spa and then cook dinner with Dev and Derek. “Kat,” her voice drew attention, her manicured hand on my arm. “Do you need anything, sweetheart? You’ve been awfully quiet.” I shook my head, managing a small smile. “No, I’m fine. Just a little tired, that's all.” Derek glanced over, his brows furrowing. “Y
The moment I stepped back into the house, I felt a sense of relief. The cool air brushed against my heated skin, and I felt the shift in energy. My earlier interaction with Caspian still lingered in my thoughts, but as I walked toward the kitchen, I noticed Ian standing near the counter. He was pouring a glass of water, his shoulders stiff and his movements looked almost robotic. His silver hair was slightly dishevelled, and when he turned briefly to glance at me, I caught the telltale redness in his puffy eyes. My heart tightened. Ian rarely showed any vulnerability, preferring to stay quiet and blend into the background. Seeing him like this sent alarm bells ringing in my head. I forgot about Caspian almost instantly and walked towards him. “Ian,” I called gently, trying to understand what must have happened. He froze, his glass of water clutched tightly in his hand. He didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, he turned to stare at the counter as though it might give him an escape. “I
Harry’s eyes looked for answers when he stepped into Ian’s room. His gaze was bouncing between the two of us like he’d stumbled upon something scandalous. “What’s going on here?” he asked his tone light but carrying the curiosity of someone who definitely knew something was brewing between them but wasn't sure. “Is everything alright? Ian?” I glanced at Ian, who had stiffened at the question. His fingers were fidgeting with the edge of his shirt, and the nervous energy radiating off him was almost visible. He didn’t want to talk about what had just happened, and I couldn’t blame him.I knew I couldn't leave it to him to answer because if he was socially awkward, there was also a huge possibility that he had trouble lying. I never had that difficulty, maybe because I was born to two of the biggest liars in the world. “It’s nothing important,” I said quickly, offering Harry a small smile. I stood, brushing imaginary dust off my jeans. “I was just asking him if there was something he
The dining room was alive with chatter, the brothers bouncing between casual banter and stories while Mom and Derek listened with amused smiles. The long table was set with a spread that smelled heavenly—roast chicken, fried rice, creamy mashed potatoes, spicy crabs and grilled vegetables. Normally, the warm, lively atmosphere would have made me feel comfortable, but things were different that night. While I was extra cautious with Ian sitting beside me, nervously scratching his knuckles, I also had to deal with Caspian, who was directly across from me. He wore a dangerous smirk, and every so often, he would run his toes along the length of my legs. On the other hand, since the start Lucas had been quiet. He wasn’t talking like the others. Even Ian made a few comments when Derek addressed him, but Lucas just shrugged whenever someone asked him something. Instead, he’d been watching me. More specifically, he’d been watching Caspian, whose occasional glances my way seemed to int
“You knew he was watching us?” I didn't know what to think anymore. Caspian’s confession hit me like a blow to the chest. My trust in him, the way I defended him against Lucas, suddenly felt like a mistake. That familiar nagging voice, the ‘what if’ in the back of my mind, screamed louder than ever. I couldn't completely let go of the doubts, and Caspian saying he knew Lucas was watching us in the backyard brought back the fear. I took a deep breath and turned toward him. Caspian, who usually carried an air of confidence and control, now looked almost… remorseful. His head was down, and his eyes downcast as if he could already read my thoughts. “Don’t,” he whispered, his voice breaking as he continued. “Please, Kat. Don’t go there.” “W-why?” My voice was barely steady when I questioned, because my emotions were in a chaotic swirl. “Why didn’t you stop when you saw him? Why didn’t you tell me then?” He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his dark hair before sitting dow
Caspian was sitting on my bed, leaning back a little with his strong arms at his sides. His legs were spread to give me a good look at his package. His features were sharp and flawless. He was truly God's sexiest creation and the most handsome among all the brothers. His forest-like dark green eyes undoubtedly beckoned me to be drawn into them since the first day I saw him. I couldn't wait to run my hand through his dishevelled, dark-brown hair, but somehow I felt like he was planning something else. I felt butterflies in my stomach seeing the first few buttons on his white shirt undone, revealing his bare chest. Just a glimpse of the muscular chest behind the fabric made me feel hot. I felt the urge to run my tongue down his body. He glanced at his wristwatch and then up at me, causing me to close my eyes in anticipation. He knew what he was doing to me, coming dressed up in his work clothes instead of the jeans and T-shirt he was wearing during dinner. “I-I… I don't know
“One...” I was able to speak it out, raising my ass due to the sting that I felt afterwards. It hurt! It really did hurt! “Good! You remembered the rules.” He sounded almost impressed, and for some reason, that brought a smile to my face. “Not many remember the rules on their first time. I guess the internet articles did teach you a few things.” I was about to respond when without warning he spanked my other butt with the same force, if not more. I felt the vibration of the impact travelling up to my heart, and down to my crotch. I moaned. “Ah… two!” I remembered to count, clenching my jaw to hold back the cry. I wanted to turn back and finger myself because the sexual tension in my core was rising to a new height. “I thought you would forget about the rule, and I will get to hit you double the amount,” he said mockingly, and I braced myself for the next impact. “Not my day, I guess. Well, in that case, I've to make these forty spanks worthwhile.” The next hit didn't come
“Kat? What’s wrong?”I stared at him without saying anything. He looked hot without his glasses and perfectly combed hair. He was in a T-shirt and a pair of joggers. His hair was ruffled and I almost felt sorry for waking him up just because I was feeling hot. I wasn't even sure if he would fuck me, but I had no other option. I couldn't go to Lucas or Harry in that condition; Dev was the only one I felt would understand the condition I was in and wouldn't judge me for it. “Can I come inside?” I questioned and he nodded his head, pulling the door all the way. “Come in...” He stopped when he noticed I was only wearing the top, and nothing else. It was one of those oversized tops, so he didn't notice much when I was in the darkness of the hallway, but in his room, under the bright lights, he saw it, and his cheeks turned red. He looked at me in confusion, like a deer caught in the headlight. “Thank you,” I said, biting my lips seductively. “And sorry for waking you up.” “What is go
It had been more than a year since Caspian confessed his feelings to me, and life was finally finding a sense of normalcy. Derek was safe, though he remained permanently in hiding. The Salvatores had not only survived the disaster but had emerged stronger than before. The PR team had worked wonders in reshaping their image, and those who had attempted to bring them down for their own gain were now behind bars. The money laundering case was no longer casting shadows over their name, it was a thing of the past. The FBI cleared their name from any involvement in the money laundering—the world saw them as victims of their dad's actions. The business was doing good; Caspian joined the company, while on the other side, our relationship got pretty strong. We found a balance that allowed us to grow separately as well, because I moved into an apartment with my mom, helping her build a new life for herself. Meanwhile, Caspian remained at the mansion with his brothers. They asked me to stay,
I was always good at fixing things, maybe because I was broken from the inside and knew I couldn't be fixed. I became a lawyer to help my family, to help my brothers. I thought if I knew the ways of law and legal system, I could use it to my advantage, to protect them in any way needed. Yet, it had been more than a month and I was still fighting a battle with no end in sight. I gave up on too many things in my life, thinking I never deserved them. There was always a reason to hold myself back from being truly happy, about something or with someone. There were these little voices in my head that would make me question everything. For years, they had been silent, but ever since I learned the truth about Dad's involvement in the money laundering, they came back. ‘How could you let yourself be happy when your brothers are in trouble?’‘How could you be that selfish?’I couldn't rub my love for Kat on my brothers' faces, especially when most of them wanted her, too. It was not fair to
The sky was cloudless, the bright light of the moon covered the Salvatore property. We just had dinner, and it wasn't like the regular Salvatore family dinner. It hasn't been so ever since we returned to the mansion. Lucas was in Chicago, meeting with some of the investors whereas Caspian had himself locked in his room. Mom was back in Texas, and the twins went to their grandparents (mother's parents). We were all scattered, and the frustration over the situation was torturing us. The news about the Salvatores reached my dad in London and he had been calling and texting me constantly. He wanted me to leave them and come back to London. I almost laughed when he suggested that, but I controlled myself and told him that I would pay a visit soon.He wasn't satisfied with the answer, so I reminded him that I was an adult and he couldn't force me to leave. That shut him up for the moment, and I hung up the phone soon after. He had been texting me ever since, apologizing and asking me if
The Salvatore mansion didn't feel like home anymore. As I walked through the mansion once again, I felt the same way I did the first time—cold and out of place. The strange environment loomed around me, and with each step I took inside, I sensed a profound emptiness, the lingering ghosts of everything that had happened. Perhaps we changed while we were in the safe house, or maybe it was the mansion that had endured too much destruction in a very short period of time. The mansion was still recovering from the nightmares, and the gloom was maybe its way of narrating the pain. Not long ago secrets had been unraveled, trusts were shattered between the family members, and blood was spilled in the very entrance hall I was standing inside. In just a month, it was just a house again—not a home like it used to be. The brothers felt the changes, too; it was apparent on their faces. They could hear the silence everywhere inside the house, and the winds of winter that seemed to fill every c
Caspian barely slept in a week and it was showing. None of us really got any sleep, but it was a little different with Caspian. The lack of sleep wasn't the only reason for the permanent exhaustion in his eyes like us, it was the weight of everything he was letting press down on him—crushing him, consuming his thoughts. It had been a whole week since the news about Derek's involvement in the money laundering was aired all across the country. Everything had only gotten worse after that. The Salvatore name was plastered across every news outlet—big or small. Everyone had their own take on the case, be it the editors of the Washington Post or The New York Times, anchors from CNN or Fox News, and even the social media influencers who were reporting the controversy in the hope of getting views and likes.In no time it became one of the biggest scandals in recent times. And Caspian being the oldest, took it all upon himself. Although we knew it was the politicians and businessmen whose
The main purpose of us getting a safe house was to be safe, but the FBI made it feel anything but safe for us. The air inside the house felt suffocating to me, thick with an unspoken fear that we all felt, but none of us dared to voice. In the last three days, the FBI has visited us five times. The first day they took statements from us and collected evidence—the standard protocol—nothing more than that. We thought it was all, but Caspian warned us that it was just the beginning, and just like he said, they came back once again. This time they took our individual statements and cross-examined us. Since we were already prepared with our answers, nothing felt out of the ordinary. However, I noticed the way some of the officers were looking at us. They knew we were hiding something, but they had no proof. Caspian made sure that everything in the house was how it was supposed to be after Derek left. It was their sixth visit that day. The FBI agents sat across from us in the living ro
They weren’t kissing, but they were about to, I was sure of that. Matthew called just a few seconds ago, to update on the situation. It wasn't looking good for us and we needed to plan our next move. I went into the room Dev was staying to call them both so that we could discuss the problem and try to come up with a solution together. However, I didn't expect to catch them just as they were about to kiss. I saw the way Dev hesitated and pulled away from Kat when I pushed the door open, the way Kat looked utterly lost as if she didn’t know how to process what had just happened between them. I was heartbroken by that but hid my feelings because it wasn't the right time to have that conversation. Instead, I focused on my brother and noticed the slight flush on his face. His fingers were twitching at his sides like he was debating whether to reach for her again or not. And Kat… she was frozen. It looked like she hadn’t yet decided if what happened was a mistake or not.And for a secon
Kat was never mine to fall for, to hold, to kiss, or to even dream about. She was in love with Caspian even if she didn't realize it herself, or was too afraid to accept the truth. Everyone in the house knew it, and I tried to convince myself the same thing a thousand times, that she wasn’t mine to love, that she had never been mine. The moments that we shared together were the prize for the good deeds I'd done in my life. There couldn't be any other reason for someone as beautiful as her to be interested in someone like me. Someone who is predictable, obsessed with things that don't matter, and lacks any social skills. I had nothing to offer her and I knew I was just another fool caught in her gravity, nothing more. It wasn't her fault or mine, it's just the universe forcing the likes of me to orbit around her. Each one of us was attracted by her warmth and kindness at first but couldn't break free after because leaving her meant spending eons in darkness. In her heart, there ha
Silence filled the room as Lucas finally exhaled and nodded in agreement with Caspian. “I don’t like this plan,” he admitted truthfully, rubbing his temples. I knew it was a hard decision for him because he did blame Derek for the things that were happening to the family. And neither of us could disagree with him. We knew he was right, but the actual issue was Derek's safety. “But… I don’t want Dad in prison with Alaric either. You are right, Alaric would make friends inside if he didn't already have one.”“Not just Alaric, the politicians and businessmen whose names are on the list would also try to have Dad killed,” Harry added, scratching his head. “You know the legal system of our country, one can pay to get anything done. We have to find a solution for them too.”“True, they are going to be troublesome in the future,” Neel agreed with Harry, bringing another pressing matter in front of our eyes. They made many new enemies in order to get rid of Alaric from their lives. “We have