Craving The Wrong Brother (Sloane and Knox) novel Chapter 170

Chapter 170

I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he says, stepping closer, his eyes blazing with fury. “Whatever you’ve started with Luke-it ends. Now.”

I meet his gaze head-on, refusing to back down. “I don’t tell you who to date, Ryan. So what gives you the right to dictate who I see?”

“This is different, Julie!” Ryan shouts, his voice booming through the room. “He’s my business partner! This could ruin everything!”

“Everything?” I repeat, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “By ‘everything,’ do you mean your business, or your little arrangement with Emily?”

Ryan’s face flushes with anger, and I can see the veins in his neck bulging. “Don’t you dare bring her into this.”

“Oh, why not?” I fire back. “She’s already here, isn’t she? I mean, she’s right there, living in our house, sitting on my couch. So why the hell shouldn’t I bring her into it?”

Ryan clenches his fists, and for a moment, I think he’s going to explode. But instead, he takes a deep breath, his voice low. “End it, Julie. I’m not asking.”

“And I’m not ending anything. Not for you. Not for your business. And certainly not for her.”

“You’re being reckless!” he shouts.

I take a step closer, matching his energy. “Reckless? Reckless is you bringing your mistress into our home and expecting me to just play along like some kind of idiot!”

Emily lets out a small, uncomfortable cough, but we both ignore her.

“You’re throwing away everything!” Ryan yells, his voice cracking with rage. “For what? Some fling?”

“Fling?” I repeat, my voice rising. “You have the audacity to call it a fling? While you’re shacked up with Emily in our house?”

Ryan’s face twists in anger, and before I can react, he grabs the heavy glass paperweight off the coffee table and flings it at the TV with all his strength. The screen shatters with a loud crack, glass splintering across the room.

For a moment, there’s only the sound of our breathing, heavy and ragged. Emily lets out a small gasp, her hand flying to her mouth, but Ryan and I just stand there, glaring at each other, the broken TV buzzing with static.

I take a deep breath, my voice steady but cold. “Nice. That’s really mature.”

Ryan doesn’t say anything, just stares at the broken screen like he’s trying to will himself to calm down.

“You know what, Ryan?” I say, my voice sharp. “If you’re so desperate to keep control over your precious business and your little affair, then go ahead. But don’t you ever think you have the right to control me.”

Ryan opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, I turn on my heel and walk out of the room, the sound of glass crunching under my heels the only thing that fills the silence.

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