CHAPTER 03 — THE BROTHERHOOD LAW

Noah Green

Heros gathered us in the office and told us everything. Luther’s growing obsession with Liora. How he saw in her a chance for redemption, a living shadow of Alicia. After many questions, we finally understood the real reason behind the Brotherhood Law—the rule our eldest brother created after the disaster with Alicia. He always said that any feeling beyond the carnal was weakness. Vulnerability. And now, with Liora here, all of us were tangled in this dangerous web.

The code was clear: if one of us wanted her, we all wanted her. No exceptions. No jealousy that could destroy the family from within.

I should have felt bothered. I should have seen it as just another problem to manage. But, against all reason, her image wouldn’t leave my head. That ethereal beauty, the air of innocence mixed with that spark of rebellion in her eyes… It was hard not to notice. Hard not to feel curious. And, I admit, desire.

Lohan and Zedekiah seemed to have accepted the situation, each in his own way. Heros, however, was visibly worried. His absolute control over everything was being threatened by this girl’s presence. And the only question that really mattered now was, would she accept our proposal?

We couldn’t let her waste away in that basement forever. The thought of her strength fading bothered me more than I wanted to admit. Heros had ordered a strong sedative in the first few days, but she had been conscious for over twenty-four hours now. And since then, she had refused to eat.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I left my brothers discussing the next steps and stepped away from the heavy atmosphere of the office. I needed air. I needed to do something concrete. In the kitchen, I prepared the same stew that Christopher Green — the man who saved me — had made for me the day he took me off the streets.

While chopping vegetables and stirring the pot, the memories came flooding back like an avalanche.

At six years old, I was just a scrawny boy wandering the cold streets of Chicago. My parents had abandoned me like an unwanted dog. The freezing wind cut through my skin. Hunger was a constant pain. I slept in cardboard boxes, dug through trash cans for scraps, and heard cruel laughter from people who saw me as human garbage.

Until the day Christopher Green found me.

He didn’t need much to convince me. A warm hand extended, a firm but gentle voice, and the promise of a hot meal. In that warm kitchen, with the smell of real food filling my nose, I cried for the first time in months. He adopted me. Gave me a name. Gave me brothers. Gave me a purpose.

Now, years later, I was repeating the gesture. Not out of pity. But because, deep down, I still believed that food, care, and words could reach places that brute force couldn’t.

With the hot plate and a glass of fresh fruit juice, I went down to the basement.

The door closed behind me with a heavy click. The smell of mold and dampness hit me hard. Liora was sitting on the floor, still tied to the pipe, but with the chains looser than Heros had allowed. Her eyes lifted when I entered. There was exhaustion in them, but also sharp distrust.

“Hello, Liora,” I said, keeping my voice calm and low. “I brought you something to eat.”

She looked at the plate, then at me. She said nothing.

I approached slowly and crouched in front of her, setting the plate on an improvised box.

“You need to eat,” I continued. “You’ve barely eaten properly for days. Your body won’t hold up.”

“Why do you care?” Her voice came out hoarse but firm. “You kidnapped me. You locked me up here. Now you want me to eat as if we were friends?”

“We’re not friends,” I admitted. “But I also don’t want to see you suffer unnecessarily. If you’re going to be part of our life, you need to be strong.”

She laughed—a bitter, tired sound.

“Be part of your life? You talk like I have a choice.”

I sighed, picking up the spoon and bringing a portion to her lips. The aroma of the stew filled the space between us.

“Open.”

She hesitated for long seconds, her gray-green eyes scanning my face as if searching for the trap. Finally, she opened her mouth. She accepted the food. Chewed slowly, almost angrily.

“It’s good,” she murmured, reluctant.

“It was my adoptive father’s favorite recipe,” I commented, offering another spoonful. “He took me off the streets when I was six. I slept in cardboard boxes and ate garbage. This food… was the first good thing I’d eaten in a long time.”

Liora watched me while she ate. Something in her expression softened, just a little.

“You don’t seem like the others,” she said between bites. “They look at me like I’m an object. You… you almost seem human.”

“I am human, Liora. We all are. We just live in a world where humanity is a dangerous luxury.”

When the plate was almost empty, I decided to say what really mattered.

“There’s a way for you to leave this basement. To have a better life than before. Protection. Money. Safety for your mother. Pleasure. Power.”

She stopped chewing.

“What’s the price?”

“The Brotherhood Law,” I answered, holding her gaze. “If one of us wants you, we all want you. You belong to the five of us. Heros, me, Lohan, Zedekiah, and Luther. In exchange, we belong to you too. No one else touches you. No one hurts you. You become untouchable.”

Liora remained silent for a long time. Her eyes shone with conflicting emotions—fear, anger, curiosity… and something more.

“You want me to be… What? Your shared whore?”

“We want you to be ours,” I corrected, with brutal honesty. “Your body, yes. But also your loyalty. And, with time, maybe something more.”

She looked away, breathing deeply.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then we’ll have to find another solution. But I sincerely hope you don’t refuse.”

I finished giving her the last sip of juice, then stood up, picking up the empty plate.

“Think about it, Liora. Tomorrow we’ll get you out of here. Give yourself a bath, clean clothes, and freedom inside the house. And we’ll talk again.”

Before leaving, I stopped at the door and looked back.

“We’re not heartless monsters. We’re men who protect what’s ours. And if you accept… we’ll protect you with everything we have.”

The door closed behind me.

As I climbed the stairs, I wondered if I was being honest with myself.

Because, for the first time in years, I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to accept the deal just for the family’s safety…

Or because I already wanted her to be ours.