Chapter 58: He’s actually really sweet, Kain

​I stood frozen by my chair, my fist clenching against the fabric of my sweater. He was doing it on purpose—stepping right into the lion’s den with Marina just to prove he could, completely unbothered by the fact that she was a proud Alpha who could easily snap his polished front in half.

​"Wow," Chloe murmured, leaning closer to me as she wiped down the wooden table. "He’s actually really sweet, Kain. For a billionaire rookie who practically owns half the city, he’s incredibly down-to-earth."

​Sweet? I almost let out a cynical, bitter laugh. Sweet is way over the line, my dear sister. If only you knew what your ’sweet’ rookie did to me in the shower this weekend.

​"He’s just playing a part, Chloe," I muttered coldly, turning on my heel to walk toward the front door. I couldn’t sit in the living room with the twins, and I couldn’t go into the kitchen. I needed air.

​I stepped out onto the front porch, the cool, crisp evening air hitting my face and instantly cutting through the lingering warmth of the house.

I leaned my forearms against the wooden railing, closing my eyes as I let out a long, ragged breath.

​I had survived the dinner. The secret was still safe, and my family was still oblivious. But the cost was becoming entirely too high.

​The quiet click of the front door opening behind me shattered the peace. I didn’t even need to turn around; the sudden, unmistakable drift of frozen pine cutting through the crisp air told me exactly who it was.

​"You ran away pretty fast, Cap," Reid’s smooth, arrogant drawl vibrated through the quiet porch.

​"I didn’t run away, McCoy," I said without looking back, my eyes fixed on the empty street. "I’m checking the weather. And seeing when you’re finally going to get into your ridiculously expensive car and leave my life."

​Reid let out a low, amused chuckle, walking over to stand right next to me. He leaned his broad back against the railing, crossing his arms over his chest as he tilted his head to study my profile.

"Your sister is terrifying, you know that? She looked like she wanted to dissect me in front of the sink."

​"She’s an Alpha. And she protects what’s hers," I shot back, finally turning my head to glare at him. "You’re lucky she didn’t smell right through my patch, you brat."

​"Maybe she did," Reid smirked, his smoky grey eyes darkening with that signature, victorious intensity as he leaned a fraction closer. "Or maybe I just play the part of the devoted teammate too well. Either way... I told you I’d handle it. And I get what I want, Evans. Always."

I looked at him. There was the snobbish prick. Sweet? Respectful? There was none of that. There was only this arrogant, obnoxious bastard. I let out a heavy sigh and turned my back on him, facing the front door.

​"Dinner’s over," I said coldly, not bothering to look back at him. "It’s time to leave."

​But just as I reached for the handle and was about to walk back inside, a hand shot out and grabbed my forearm, stopping me dead in my tracks.

​The heat of his grip burned straight through the sleeve of my sweater. When I turned around, my jaw clenched as I braced myself for whatever smart, blackmailing remark he was about to spit out. But he said nothing.

He just stood there, his massive frame silhouetted against the porch light, his expression uncharacteristically unreadable.

​I narrowed my eyes at him, my patience completely worn thin. What the hell was he up to now?

​"You better not try anything funny, you—"

​"Evans," he cut me short, his voice dropping into a low, quiet register that completely lacked his usual mocking edge. His smoky grey eyes locked onto mine with a strange, heavy intensity that made my chest tighten. "I’ll see you at practice tomorrow."

​Before I could even process the sudden shift in his demeanor, a low roll of thunder rumbled in the distance, shaking the heavy night air. A sharp, white streak of lightning flashed across the dark sky, momentarily illuminating the sharp lines of his face.

​The sudden crack of the storm broke the spell. I yanked my hand back, tearing my arm out of his grip and stepping backward toward the threshold of the house.

​"Yeah," I muttered, my blank mask firmly back in place as I pulled the door open. "See you at practice."

The heavy front door clicked shut behind Reid, and the suffocating tension that had gripped the porch finally broke.

​Inside, the departure was a loud, drawn-out affair. My siblings crowded the entryway, shouting their farewells over one another as Reid walked down the driveway toward his sports car.

​"Make sure you look after the Captain tomorrow, Reid!" Chloe called out, waving from the threshold.

​"Yeah, don’t let him overdo it on the drills!" Kelvin chimed in.

​Reid merely offered a lazy wave over his shoulder, his engine roaring to life a second later with a sleek, powerful purr that echoed down the quiet street before fading into the distance.

​Once the headlights vanished, the house settled into a more familiar, comfortable rhythm. Marina stood by the coat rack, her sharp eyes giving me one last, lingering look of quiet evaluation, but she didn’t press the matter further in front of the others.

​"We’re going to clean up the rest of the kitchen and just crash here tonight," Chleo announced, stretching her arms as she headed back toward the living room. "No point in all of us driving back to our places in the middle of a thunderstorm. You should head home and rest those ribs, Cap."

​"Yeah, get out of here, Kain," Kalvin agreed, already throwing himself back onto the sofa. "You look like a walking corpse."

​"Thanks," I muttered, a faint, genuine smile touching my lips as I grabbed my jacket. "I’m heading out. Don’t wreck the house."

​The drive back to my apartment was a blur of sweeping windshield wipers and white flashes of lightning cutting through the heavy downpour.

My hands gripped the steering wheel tight, my left side throbbing with every minor bump in the road. My mind was completely fried, running on the absolute fumes of my adrenaline.