Chapter 39

~Caius~

Seeing Lysander standing up for Valeria should’ve made me proud. Happy, even. He was my youngest brother. A good kid, despite the drama that couldn’t seem to stay away. But instead of pride, I felt my inside burning.

Like I was watching something that wasn’t mine get taken.

Something I’d been too damn careful with. Too damn slow.

And now, I was starting to wonder if being cautious had cost me my chance.

I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.

I liked Valeria. No, scratch that. I wanted her. I yearned for her. I needed her.

Not in the passing, shallow way people throw that word around. It was deeper than that. The kind of want that made your head feel woozy whenever she locked eyes with you.

The kind of want that made her laughter echo in your head hours after she was gone.

And I was just standing on the sidelines, watching it all happen.

I tried to make sense of it at first. She was family now. Our step-sister. Dad’s adopted daughter. The w