Page 143 of Unchained

“I hear you became royalty,” Harper teases.

I roll my eyes, stopping before the steps to the porch. “I always was royalty, Harper. It’s just now I have the empire to go with it.”

There's a silence on the line before she asks, “Does that mean you’re leaving now? The whole wedding thing is pointless? You got what you wanted?” There’s a hint of sadness in her tone.

“Not unless Colten kicks me out and divorces me. I’m—” I stop, leaning on the wooden post. “I’m enjoying being here.”

“You seem happier here than in LA. I think that place sucks joy out of anyone.”

I nod in agreement, even though she can’t see me. “Shall we grab a coffee tomorrow?” I ask.

“Yep. I’ll call you in the morning.”

We say our goodbyes and I head up the steps and knock on Dom’s door. I swear to God I can hear thudding. He doesn’t answer. So I push open the door.

And instantly regret my decision.

My hands slam over my mouth to cover my gasp at the scene I’m witnessing. Romeo is butt naked, tied to the wooden post in the living room with fucking chains, while my brother whips him with his belt.

I stumble backward, slamming the door, and I walk faster than I’ve ever walked in my life back towards our house.

Why does my brother always have to fuck complete assholes? First Tomasso. Now Romeo. His taste in men is diabolical.

I end up back outside Hunter’s house as Colten is putting on his hat to leave. His eyes snap to mine, and his face lights up.

“You look like you’ve seen a damn ghost. You okay?” he asks, closing the distance.

“I saw something worse than the dead, Colt.”

He frowns. “What?”

I shove my hand in his jean pocket and pull out the cigarettes and a lighter, putting one in my mouth and letting it burn. “Dom… and Romeo.”

I watch for Colten’s reaction. Almost bracing for some kind of jealous response. Or hurt. I don’t know.

Instead, he laughs. “They’re actually well suited.”

My mouth drops open. “I cannot have Romeo as my future brother-in-law. He can’t have my husband, so he goes for my brother instead? I’m starting to think this man hates me.”

Colt’s fingers brush along my cheek.

“He doesn’t like you because you’re more powerful than him. He’s jealous. Especially after you impressed Enzo today. Just ignore it.”

I take another drag of my cigarette. “That really wasn’t an image I needed burned into my brain.”

He plucks the cigarette from my fingers and threads his fingers through mine as we walk back to our house.

“I’ll give you some other things to think about to replace that new core memory. How's that?”

I laugh. “Deal. But do it fast.”

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

Colten

One week later…

G has headed back to LA for a few days with Dom, and I’ve decided to spend more money on horses. Being in Greece taught me that I need to do more things to spark joy, and horses are one of those things. I got a tip from the auction that there were some nice quarter horses up for grabs today. And with Tate and Xander getting into steer wrestling more, I could do with a couple more at the ranch.