“It’s for lounging, not sleeping.” I waved my hand, unwilling to start the same old argument I had with Giancarlo whenever he stayed over. “You will sleep here next to me.”

“That’s….” Tex looked away from me. “Dangerous.”

I hummed as I pulled the comforter back. “And that turns you on?”

Tex’s head whipped around to stare at me. “It doesn—”

“Don’t lie, Tex.” I fixed him with a stare dragging my gaze down his body. A visible shiver wrecked his muscular frame. I smirked at him. “Don’t you have better self-control?”

“No,” Tex answered right away.

I knew the answer, but I hadn’t expected Tex to say it aloud. His eyes dimmed as he looked down.

“Never have,” he added.

I’d been looking into Tex. There were a few incidents when he was a teen hanging out with the wrong crowd, but he’d never gotten in trouble. Expelled three times but nothing past that. I’d wanted to know everything about him but that ran the risk of my obsession growing.

Not that it isn’t already running rampant.

“Get in bed, Tex,” I ordered.

He licked his lips, looking at me and then at the other side of the bed. His eyes were bloodshot, and no doubt he was exhausted. The sun was already breaking the horizon, but thanks to the blackout shades, the room stayed lit by artificial light only.

“What happened to Brycen Grennan?”

All the air in the room was sucked up, and I was left breathless as I stared at Tex. His lips were moving, but not a word reached my ears.

I was dragged back into the past.

“I’m sorry,” Brycen cried.

“Bullshit,” Benito shouted.

His eyes met mine, and I drew back my fists once more. His gray eyes pleaded for me to give him mercy. My heart was firmly lodged in my throat, and my stomach was at the bottom of my feet.

“I messed up.” Brycen’s eyes bore into mine.

What could I say? He hadn’t just messed up. He’d attempted to take my family away.

“Messed up is being called into the police and telling them a few things. Reporting it to Enzo right away would have worked in your favor. But that’s not what you did, was it?” Benito paced, his fists hung at his side.

My brother was always careful what he showed people outside our family, but his pain was visible. Tears slid down Brycen’s cheek, clearing a few spots of blood. I couldn’t find it in me to enjoy this. Inflicting pain on others was a moment of peace for me, and Brycen was robbing me of it along with my heart.

“Hey!” A sharp slap to the side of my face dragged me out of my memory. I blinked and met blue eyes as the gray ones faded to the farthest part of my memory.