Page 62 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

I grabbed her arm as she brushed past me.

“Lani, are you mad at me?”

She looked down and shook her head.

“No, I’m mad at the situation. And I loathe feeling helpless.”

I let her go.

She marched out without looking back.

I stood there for a beat, then pulled my phone from my pocket and called Titus.

It rang twice before he answered.

“Titus,” he said.

“Hey, Titus, it’s Goran.”

“Is everything alright with Nathaniel?” His voice was already alert.

“Yes, I’m calling about Kaylani. She’s at Euphoria.”

He went silent.

“She isn’t in any trouble. And she’ll kill me if she knows I called you, but I think she could use her brother. Can you come get her?”

There was a pause. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Dimitri.”

He swore, and I heard movement on his end.

“I’m on my way.”

I ended the call and stepped out of the office. Right now, work was the only thing keeping me from tearing the world apart for her. Consequences be damned.

Chapter

Nineteen

KAYLANI

Istared straight ahead as we pulled away from Euphoria, humiliation burning hot under my skin. Having Titus escort me out of the club was mortifying, even if no one else saw it.

Fiona’s presence did not soften the blow to my ego. If anything, it made me feel like a scolded toddler. Goran had made the call. He’d stood on the top platform, looking over the crowd, an apology in his eyes.

Goran always did the right thing at the worst possible moment. I loved him for choosing my safety over his silence, and I hated him for reminding me I still needed saving. My reputation of being an irrational, impulsive hothead was still intact.

Titus didn’t need to speak to get his point across. The way he had approached the table and looked at me with his concerned, brotherly stare said it all. He didn’t sigh or seem disappointed. He just walked us out, opened the passenger doors, waited until Fiona and I climbed inside, and then drove away from the club.

We stopped at the gates of my father’s estate, and Fiona slipped out with a quiet squeeze of my hand. I stayed behind and watched the iron bars close.

I felt like a freeloader in my own life, drifting between houses, avoiding my home.

Titus took me to his place, down the road from Father’s, and yet it felt like an entirely different world with cleaner, fresher air. Much like my brother, his home felt calm, secure, and peaceful. Everything in its place because chaos had no room to grow if you didn’t give it one. He made the rest of us look like kids throwing sand at the playground while he watched from the swings.

Maybe that was why I hadn’t come to him first. Without saying anything, he made me feel like crap about myself. I knew that wasn’t his intention. But he was too damn perfect.