SAGE
Itensed when an arm draped over my stomach. Blinking my eyes open, I didn’t move a muscle as I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was nearly eight in the morning. I relaxed, knowing Alex was already at work. Sometimes Niko would open the windows and sneak in here after Alex left in the morning. If the bedroom door and windows were open, we could always hear if someone drove up.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw half his face was pressed into the pillow. His black hair was a mess, and his eyes were closed. I doubted he was sleeping since he always kept an ear out for Alex. But it was always nice to lie in bed together since we usually avoided the bedrooms.
Turning around, I got comfortable again, dragging my fingers up his arm as I enjoyed the silence. My fingertips brushed over his palm, and I frowned. Callouses met my touch. Niko always had callouses, but I didn’t remember them being that rough. A flash of panic coursed through me as I lifted his arm to look at the inside of his wrist.
There was no fucking birthmark. It wasn’t Niko.
I tried shooting up as fear stole my breath. His arm locked around my stomach, pulling me into his chest. I rammed my elbow into his ribs, and his hold loosened enough for me to roll away from him. A hand tangled in my hair, and I cried out as he yanked me back. He grabbed my arm and turned me until my spine was pressing into the mattress.
He jumped on top of me, his body pinning me to the bed. He practically sat on my stomach as he got a hold of my wrists.
“Get the hell off me, Geo,” I screamed, terror seizing me. “What are you doing?”
Geo smirked down at me. “The bigger question is, what are you doing?”
“I was sleeping,” I snapped.
“I thought for sure you would have tried getting away the second my arm went around you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you used to my brother touching you like that?”
My heart thrashed. “I thought you were Alex—”
“Hold on.” He cut me off with a cold laugh. “Wrong brother. My bad, I should have been more specific. Are you used to Niko touching you like that?”
“No,” I hissed as his nails dug into my wrists. “I told you, I thought you were Alex. Get off me.”
He tilted his head to the side. “You could tell I wasn’t Alex by looking at my arm?”
“Your ring,” I bit out. “Alex wears his around his neck, not on his finger.”
Truth was, I didn’t notice the ring until after looking for the birthmark, but he didn’t know that. Geo didn’t say a word as he stared down at me. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not, but he had no proof. He did have a whole lot of suspicion, which wasn’t good.
“What the fuck?”
My eyes flew to the doorway where Niko and Alex were standing. Alex looked taken aback at seeing Geo on top of me. And Niko…he looked murderous. He was staring at his twin with rage I’d never seen before. Geo seemed surprised that we were interrupted, and hastily released me before scrambling off the bed.
Alex stepped into the room, glaring at Geo. “What are you doing?”
“Calm down.” Geo raised his hands in mock surrender. “I was just playing around. We used to mess with her all the time.”
“Not like that,” I argued, rubbing my wrists after I stood up. “And that was before you killed my sister. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
I peeked at Niko, who was still standing rigidly in the doorway. His eyes were still on Geo as his hands were clenched in fists.
“That’s no way to talk to your future brother-in-law,” Geo quipped, even though he still looked uneasy as he glanced back at Alex. “It doesn’t sound like she’s coming to terms with our beliefs, does it? I don’t think she’ll ever get over it. Maybe it’s time to think of other options.”
My eyes widened as panic washed over me. “That’s not true. There’s a difference between accepting your society and wanting to be around the person who took my sister from me.”
“But if you accept it, then you understand why I had to do it, right?” Geo murmured as more tension blanketed the room.
My stomach plummeted when Alex turned his attention to me. Instead of sticking up for me, he seemed like he agreed with Geo. Forcing myself to move closer to Alex, I grabbed his arm.
“Alex, I promise I’m learning to accept your life.” Tears filled my eyes. “But with Lacey, it’s different. You know how close I was to her. I just miss my sister. You can understand that, right?”
“Yes,” Alex answered, his eyes softening a fraction. “But Geo is my brother, Sage. You can’t avoid him forever. It’s been nearly eleven months. You need to learn how to get along with my family.”
“It would probably help if Geo didn’t keep trying to scare the shit out of her.” Niko spoke up, not moving from the doorway. “What were you doing in here anyway?”
Geo scowled. “I wanted to ask her a question.”
“You had to pin her to the bed to do that?” Niko scoffed. “Crossing a line with your brother’s girl, don’t you think?”
My jaw dropped before I could catch myself. He was purposely trying to get under Geo’s skin, and I didn’t understand why. Until I saw uncertainty pass over Alex’s face. Niko was trying to drive a wedge between Geo and Alex. Diminish the trust. My guess was because Niko knew Geo wasn’t going to drop his suspicion of me. But if Alex had any hint that Geo wanted me, any of Geo’s future arguments could be tainted. I shuddered with disgust at the thought of Geo looking at me like that. But it was better than Alex finding out that I was sleeping with his other brother.