Filed To Story: Craving The Wrong Brother Book PDF Free by Elysian Sparrow
Here.
Today.
My mind runs ahead of me, connecting dots I don’t want to connect. And as the memories flood in, realization comes with them.
Knox searching my living room.
Knox staring a little too long at the closet.
Oh, my god.
Finn was in my closet.
Finn watched us.
I grip the railing tightly, feeling my face go hot and cold all at once.
Should I be more angry at Finn for sneaking into my home like a deranged stalker?
Or at Knox… for letting him stay hidden while we-
I squeeze my eyes shut.
Nope.
Not thinking about that.
Not right now.
Psychopathic tendencies must really run in that family.
I stumble my way up the stairs, heart hammering, fumbling to pull out my phone.
Who do I even call?
Knox?
! Finn?
God, I’m angry enough to call 911 at this point.
But then-
“Sloanie-bug!”
I snap my head up.
Standing right in front of my door are two familiar figures.
My mother, smiling brightly, arms full of fresh flowers from her shop.
And my sister, Serena, rolling her eyes and balancing a paper bag that smells suspiciously like Italian takeout.
“Mom? Serena?” I say, breathless, walking toward them. “What are you two doing here?”
“We wanted to surprise you, honey,” Mom says, giving me a wink. “And we brought food!”
“Noticed you changed your locks,” Serena says, nudging the door with her sneaker. “Which, by the way, makes my key useless now. And seriously, Sloane-a keycard lock? What are you running here, a penthouse in Manhattan?” Only now do I actually notice the lock.
A sleek black keycard reader mounted flush against the doorframe.
Not a normal lock.
Not even close.
Definitely a Knox move.
I tear open the envelope Johnny gave me, pulling out a slim keycard.
I swipe it.
The door clicks open with a soft mechanical hum that feels weirdly… satisfying.
“Paranoid boyfriend,” I reply, ushering them both inside.
Inside, everything is… cleaner.
Too clean.
The throw pillows are actually on the couch for once, not scattered on the floor or positioned askew.
The floor looks freshly vacuumed.
Even the kitchen counter shines.
Either Knox installed a lock-or he called in an entire SWAT team of deaners too
Romantic or deranged?
The jury’s still out.
Serena tosses the food on the table.
“If by paranoid boyfriend you mean Finn’s brother, yeah, we heard about that she says.
I freeze mid-step
“What?”
“Finn’s been calling everyone, Serena continues casually “Mom, me, Dad. Apparently now everyone knows you’re dating a drug lord who owns a sex club”
I can’t even form words.
I just stand there with my bag hanging off one shoulder, staring at them like they’ve grown second heads.
“Is that why you’re here?” I finally ask
Mom, who’d just set the flowers carefully into my vase, plops herself down onto my over-clean couch and turns to me, her expression tender and serious,
“Sloane, baby,” she says gently, “I know you’re probably experiencing withdrawal-
“Withdrawal?” I echo blankly,
“Breaking up with Finn and all that.”
Oh.
Right.
That.
“You don’t need to jump from the frying pan into the fire just because you’re hurting,” she says. “You made a good decision leaving Finn. Now you can meet nice, normal people. Like artists. Good people.”
She pauses.
Lowers her voice like she’s sharing a secret.
“But baby… not someone like that.”
I just stare.
Silent.
“He owns a sex club, sweetheart,” she says. “Do you know what kind of things a man has to do to maintain an underground club like that?”
I want to crumple onto the floor and disappear.