His brows almost met in the middle. "Yeah."
"I-is it always...violent between you two?" She trailed her fingers over his knuckles.
"Not since we were younger." He looked at their hands together on her lap. "I told you I'd allow no one to put their hands on you. That includes my brother."
"Oh, God," she mumbled. "God, I'm sorry. I should've known it wasn't you and stayed in the other room."
"It's not your fault." His gaze whipped to her face. "I didn't know he was going to show up."
She shook her head. "I don't want to be responsible for you fighting with your brother. If I could've stopped him—"
"He deserved what he got." Serge stood. "I should've done more to knock some sense into him when he was younger. From now on, he's only allowed in the house if I'm here."
"Serge." She rose and touched his arm. "It's your brother. I'm sure once he knows that...that I belong to you, he won't try that again."
Alain staggered into the kitchen. She sat back down. The cockiness and anger gone from Serge's brother, he seemed less threatening.
"Can I get ice or are you kicking me out?" Alain held his jaw, opening his mouth and closing it again.
"Freezer. There's a towel by the sink." Serge ignored him and turned to Aubrey. "Are you okay with him being here for a few minutes?"
She nodded, glancing at Alain who seemed more interested in tying the towel into a makeshift icepack. "I'll go into the bedroom and let you visit privately with your brother."
"No." He pulled a chair out from the table, sat, and guided her to him. "You'll stay with me."
She sat on his lap, highly aware of his brother in the room. Yet, she relaxed against his chest, knowing he was there. It gave her time to study Alain without any worry.
The only similarity she could see was their height. Both men were tall, though Serge had broader shoulders and more muscle than Alain. While Serge's hair was black with gray peppering and he had brown eyes, Alain had sandy brown hair and dark eyes.
The subject of her study turned and flashed her a boyish grin, raising his brows at his brother. "I can see a lot has happened to you since we talked."
Serge linked his fingers with Aubrey's hand. "She's mine."
Alain saluted. "I get that."
"Put the key on the counter." Serge waited while Alain dug in his pocket and tossed the key on the tile.
"Alain..." Serge paused. "This is Aubrey. Aubrey, this is my younger brother, Alain, who will apologize to you."
She cringed. "It's not necessary—"
"It's okay, Aubrey." Alain swung his arms out. "I'm in the king's castle. It's how he does things."
"Fuck you," Serge mumbled, but his jaw twitched in humor. "Get on with it."
Alain placed his hand on his chest. "Please forgive my lack of judgment in seeing a beautiful woman and thinking today was going to be my lucky day. I should never have placed these lips on your plump, luscious, wet—"
"Alain," Serge said, a warning hidden in the low growl.
"My apologies, babe." Alain's smile faded. "I had no idea Serge staked, uh, was getting serious or I would've kept my hands to myself."
She bit her lip. Despite being scared out of her mind and traumatized by the violence, Alain's boyish charm fascinated her. She had no idea how Serge lost his zest for life, while his brother retained his humor as they grew up together.
"Apology accepted." She pressed against Serge.
"Cool." Alain leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles. "So, what's with calling me so fucking early in the morning?"
Serge shifted to the side and removed a paper from his back pocket. "Just making sure you're still breathing."
