"This is the corniest thing you have ever done," Vero said as she carried the last two of the twenty bouquets Christopher had ordered to the entrance. "But it's cute."
They were standing outside of the restaurant that Melanie and Lukas had made a reservation to. They would be arriving at any moment, and Christopher wanted to make sure his set up was perfect, so he recruited Vero and a few crew members to help him hold the bouquets at the door.
Lukas' car pulled up to the valet just as Christopher got into position at the edge of the sidewalk. He would be the first person she saw when she got out of the car.
"What's this?" she asked him when he opened her door. She didn't get out until Lukas came around to her side.
Once she was standing on the sidewalk with Christopher, he inhaled deeply and took her hand in his. She was wearing a white dress that flowed effortlessly around her figure and silver stilettos to match. The sheer fabric was carried by the subtle evening breeze, and she looked nothing short of a goddess.
"You look absolutely beautiful." He handed her the bouquet of roses, but she didn't take them. "I know I've been absent. I've let you down, and I continuously disappoint you. But if you let me, I'll make it up to you. I'll show you just how much you mean to me."
She looked at Lukas then at the crowd gathered by the door and the new incoming crowd around them. A few bystanders had taken their phones out to take pictures. "Chris, I don't know what to say."
"You can say you'll have dinner with me. We can start there. My time is yours."
She pulled her hand from his and took a step in Lukas' direction. "Did you plan this?"
Lukas shook his head. "I helped, but this was all Chris."
"Baby," Christopher said, cupping her cheek. He turned her to look at him and handed the bouquet off to Lukas. "Don't give up on me yet. There's still so much I want to show you. There's so much I want to give you."
"You hide things from me," she accused him. "You said you'd try, and then you just disappeared again."
"It won't happen again."
"We don't know that," she whispered quietly enough for just them to hear. "I don't like being in the dark. If you want me as much as you say, you wouldn't shut me out."
"I won't," he quickly said. "I'll tell you everything you want to know."
She opened her mouth to speak, but words failed her when he pressed his lips to hers, stealing a kiss.
Lukas sucked in a sharp breath and looked away. He couldn't stand seeing his brother kiss the woman he loved. As if she could sense his disappointment, she broke away from Christopher and leaned against Lukas, seeking his comfort.
"I can't," she said, grazing her fingers across her lips. She hadn't felt anything when he kissed her. Not like she used to. "I can't do this with you."
"Princess—"
Lukas stepped in front of her to block Christopher's path. He didn't want him anywhere near Melanie, especially after he was forced to watch Christopher attempt to claim her.
She hugged Lukas' arm and squeezed her eyes shut. The crowd was growing, and the flash from their phones was blinding. "Take me home, Teddy Bear."
"Melanie, please," Christopher begged.
"You tried," Lukas said before handing him the bouquet. "Give it some time." He opened the passenger door for Melanie and helped her in before making his way to the other side. Once the two of them were buckled in, he pulled away from the restaurant and headed toward her apartment.
"How could you do this?"
He looked at her for a brief moment. "I thought it'd help you. If you confirmed that there were still feelings, I would have let you go tonight."
"I publicly humiliated him," she seethed.
"I'm sorry."
She touched her lips. "Pull over."
"What?"
"Pull over," she said again.
Lukas steered away from the road and parked next to a meter. He turned to her, expecting her to say something, but she was quiet. Then she unbuckled herself and leaned over to kiss him. He responded immediately and cupped her face with both hands, bringing her closer.
Relief washed over Melanie. She could feel every heartbeat in her chest when their lips were joined. She could feel her muscles tighten and clench in her pussy when his hands were on her. And she could hear the blood rushing to her head from his intoxicating kiss. She felt everything with Lukas that she couldn't feel with Christopher.
"Don't ever try to let me go again," she murmured to him, kissing the corner of his mouth. She sat back in her seat and pulled her seatbelt back on. "Now you can take me home."
Lukas wouldn't let her walk inside her apartment building alone. He insisted that he walk her to her front door before leaving. Although he had wanted to take her to his house and have her spend the night with him, she hadn't asked to, and he assumed she didn't want to.
Neither one of them said anything as they walked to her door together. When she unlocked it and stepped through the threshold, Lukas grabbed her hand to turn her around. His lips met hers, and she breathed in deeply, pulling him into her apartment.
"Melanie," a man said before she could close the door.
She broke away and peeked over Lukas' shoulder, gasping when she saw the wounded man. "Eddy?"
Lukas placed a protective arm around her and blocked her door with his body. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know what happened," he said, scratching at the open wounds on his face. It was covered with bruises and blood. "One minute I'm in my bedroom and the next I'm next to some dumpster. I can't find my wallet. My face just really fucking hurts, and I'm thirsty. Can I come in for some water?"
"No," Lukas answered for her. "Whatever happened to you isn't Mel's problem. You need to leave."
"He's hurt," she whispered. Her face scrunched in concern when his nose began dripping with blood. "I can't just leave him out there in that condition."
"Melanie," Lukas said, turning to her in shock. "I get that you have a really good heart and want to help, but you aren't obligated."
"He could die."
"From a few wounds?"
"I don't know," she said, shrugging. "It doesn't matter what he did to me. He's hurt, and only a monster would turn him away."
Lukas sighed. He couldn't disagree with her, and although he was still bitter over the fact that the man was responsible for ruining his bar, he couldn't tell Melanie either. He'd have to explain Christopher's involvement, and after the night she'd had, he didn't want to bother her with more surprises. "I will help him. You need to stay in your room."
"Lukas—"
"Don't fight me on this, Mel."
"Fine," she said. She walked into her bedroom to get her first aid kit and handed it to Lukas. "I'll be in the shower."
Once she had disappeared into her room again, Lukas stepped aside to allow Eddy in and closed the front door.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick you out," Lukas said, pulling up a stool at the kitchen island.
"Melanie doesn't want you to, and you'd do anything for her."
"You seem to know me well enough to make that judgement."
"I don't know you at all."
Lukas scoffed and opened the kit. He grabbed the gauze pads sitting on top and the bottle of alcohol. "Is that why you hired some guys to smash my windows?"
Eddy froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Who else knows that Chris and I are brothers?" he asked Eddy, ignoring his statement. He pointed to the stool and waited for Eddy to sit down before pressing a soaked pad to his wounds.
Eddy hissed in pain. "Only I do. I was able to access your records because of what I do."
"Respected lawyer, am I right?"
He nodded and winced as Lukas continued to clean his face. "I didn't know you two weren't public about being brothers before I sent my guys. I swear."
"There are certain people who would love it if Chris and I were dead," Lukas explained to him. "Let's call them Legacies of the Five Kings. My paternal uncle, which I'm sure you've also dug up records on, led one of the oldest gangs to exist in our city, so like you, he was very well respected. But unlike you, he didn't have an honorable job."
Eddy bit the inside of his cheek when Lukas pulled out a needle and thread. "I'm gonna need stitches?"
"You want me to finish the story or not?"
"Continue."
Lukas threaded the needle and pierced it through his flesh. "Mateo figured out we'd gotten ourselves initiated a few years later, and since you either die escaping or risk losing everyone you love, he did the only thing that could save us."
Eddy swallowed hard. He didn't know what was coming, but the intensity of the story had rendered him numb to the pain.
"One night, everyone was told to get to our hideout. We were transporting a large amount of cocaine the next morning, and we needed all hands on deck. Mateo and his gang showed up around midnight and began aimlessly shooting everyone in that warehouse."
"What about you and Christopher?"
Lukas cut the end of the thread and moved onto another wound. "Mateo warned us we could get hurt that night or die. It was up to us to get out as fast as we could."
"I take it no one else but the two of you survived that night."
Lukas nodded. "Some families were left without fathers. Legacies know about us, but they don't know the names."
"What about the people you grew up with? They know about you guys, don't they?"
Lukas shrugged. "I always kept to myself as a kid. Chris was the one with all the friends, so most people didn't know I existed."
"Why'd you tell me all of this?" Eddy asked him.
"You and I come from different neighbors. We have different definitions of a respected man." Lukas finished with the second stitching on Eddy's face and threw the materials on the island. "You can dig something up without it ever affecting you. Privilege is a beautiful thing, but I don't know what that feels like. If people know that Chris and I are brothers, everyone we've ever crossed paths with will die."
"Chris is your brother?"
Lukas turned around at the sound of Melanie's voice and hesitated for a moment. Her hair was wrapped in a towel, an indication that she had just gotten out the shower. "Mel, we should talk."
"Is... is it the same Chris?" she stammered. She was in shock. "Why would you keep this from me? And why are you telling Eddy?"
"Let me explain."
"Okay," she was all she could say because she was at a loss for words.