Craving The Wrong Brother (Sloane and Knox) novel Chapter 202

10:38 AM

Chapter 202

Chapter 202

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The room feels thick with heat and tension. Luke is lying beside me, his arm still draped across my waist, and I can feel his heart pounding against my shoulder. I almost hate how steady it is compared to the wild pace of my own.

For a moment, he’s silent, and I feel the urge to fill that silence, to somehow make him understand why this separation is necessary.

“I can’t keep staying here,” I say, staring up at the ceiling, willing myself to sound as composed as I can. “Pretending things are fine when they’re

not.”

His hand tightens around me. “No.”

The word is small, quiet, but it hits me with a force that makes my chest ache.

“Luke…” I sigh, shifting to look at him, trying to gather my words into something that will break through his stubbornness. “I know you mean well, but it’s time I take this seriously. Every day, it’s something else—a new scandal, a new rumor–and I can’t keep dragging you down with me.”

He shakes his head. “Who says you can’t be serious about it from here?”

“Be realistic. This is becoming a circus, and you’re right in the middle of it with me. It’s not fair to you.”

Fair?” He lets out a laugh, but it’s empty, hollow. “Since when have I cared about fairness, Julie? I knew what I was signing up for. I don’t want you anywhere else.”

I close my eyes for a moment, collecting my thoughts, searching for a way to make him understand. “Look, it’s just temporary,” I say, almost pleading. “Just until things calm down.”

His eyes hold a quiet storm as he looks at me, and I know he’s searching for the right words, something that will make me stay. “And what if they don’t calm down?” His voice is low, almost a whisper. “What if this keeps going on for weeks, months? Are you just going to keep running?”

I sit up, frustration pulling me to the edge of the bed. “I’m not running.” I hate that it sounds defensive, but I can’t help it. “I’m just trying to be… considerate.”

“Considerate?” He sits up, too, and the closeness, the intimacy, feels like a weight between us now, something heavy and unyielding. “Julie, I don’t need you to protect me. I don’t need you to keep me out of the line of fire. I want to be right there with you, for whatever this is.”

*Right,” I scoff, feeling my heart tighten. “Until it starts affecting your business, your reputation. Then what? You’ll be forced to choose between me and your company, and I don’t want to be that person, Luke.”

His eyes soften, and he reaches out, pulling me back to face him, his hands resting on my shoulders. “Julie, I would choose you every time.”

“Luke, that’s not realistic! You don’t know what you’re saying. I’m a scandal waiting to happen. And if you’re with me, you’re right there in the headlines, every single day. Your life isn’t a game, and I won’t be responsible for ruining it.”

He looks at me with an intensity that feels almost overwhelming, his grip tightening just enough to keep me from pulling away. “You’re not ruining anything. You’re giving me something real, something worth fighting for,” he says. “And if you think I’m going to let you just walk away to ‘protect‘ me, then you don’t know me at all.”

The sincerity in his words is like a punch to my gut, and I close my eyes, trying to control the whirlwind of emotions inside me. He’s making this sound so easy, so effortless, when I know it’s not. “Luke, this isn’t a fairy tale.”

“Who says I need a fairy tale? Maybe I just want you here, with me, in whatever mess we end up in.”

“I wish I could believe that. I really do.”

“Then believe it.” His hand moves up to cup my face, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “Stay. Fight this with me.”

I can feel my heart aching, torn between the urge to trust him and the fear that this will all end in heartbreak. But his touch is warm, grounding, and I feel my defenses slipping, just a little,

“Luke..” I whisper. I don’t want to drag you down with me, I wouldn’t live with myself if I did. This is my fight. I plan to win it, but I don’t want you caught in the crossfire,”

“You’re not dragging me down. You’re giving me something to fight for, something worth holding onto. Don’t take that away from me.”

For a long moment, we just sit there, our gazes locked, and his words settle into the space between us, filling it with a raw, unspoken understanding. Almost without realizing it, I lean into his touch, letting myself believe, just for a moment, that maybe he’s right.

But that’s fantasy, and he knows it

“Stop being unreasonable, Lake. Which is funny because you were calling me the unreasonable one some minutes ago. Is this a pot–and–keule

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10:38 AM &

“Trust me,” he says, pulling me close, his lips brushing against Julie I met at the bar is glaring.”

R

A

fighter.”

“I l

Chapter 202

situation? We’ll still see each other a couple of days a month. It’s not like I’m disappearing forever. Stop being a big baby and support my decision.”

mouth. “Alright. I’m sorry. I just got carried away. Meeting you somewhere vs sharing a

He raises an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner house with you. Those are two different things.”

“Maybe they are. But you should be happy that

of

his

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this version of you. So so much. The difference between you and the

I let out a sigh, melting against him, feeling his warmth wrap around me like a balm, a momentary reprieve from the chaos outside these walls. “Right,” I say. “But I still expect you to sneak in at least once a week. I’m not that strong when it comes to being starved of you.”

“Oh, you want me to sneak in?” His eyes spark with amusement. “Risk my entire reputation just to see you?”

“Think of it as a little adventure. And besides,” I tease, running my fingers along his jaw, “the sex will be better if it’s a little forbidden, don’t you think?”

that you’re a dangerous woman, Julie.”

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