Chapter 2 : Annabelle

For a full five seconds, I forgot how breathing worked.

Daniel’s older brother.

The one I haven't met in all this years I had known Maya and Dan.

The mysterious one I only ever saw in old photos.

The one who didn’t show up to the wedding because he was “abroad for work,” according to Maya.

Except he didn’t look like a man who belonged anywhere boring like “work.”

He looked like someone who belonged in trouble. Or causing it.

I swallowed, trying to piece my face back together.

“Oh,” I managed.

Brilliant.

Ten points to Anna for excellent vocabulary.

His mouth lifted just slightly, like he was trying not to laugh.

“Yeah,” he said, pushing a hand through his dark curls. “Sorry for the… informal introduction.”

Informal.

Right.

If informal meant walking into the kitchen looking like he ate Greek gods for breakfast.

I nodded, even though my brain was screaming HOLY SHIT HE'S REAL.

Behind me, Daniel groaned dramatically.

“Dude, seriously?” he muttered, rubbing his eyes. “You were supposed to be here last night. You missed the wedding.”

Nicolas didn’t look at him. Didn’t even blink. His eyes stayed on me like I was something he was studying.

Or choosing.

I felt my stomach flip.

“Flight got delayed,” he said simply.

Daniel huffed. “You could’ve at least texted.”

“Did,” Nicolas replied.

“You texted Dad, not me.”

“That counts.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Daniel snapped.

I almost laughed at how childish Daniel sounded next to Nicolas.

Daniel was… Daniel. Slouchy, sarcastic, sweet.

Nicolas looked and sounded like a storm in human form.

Quiet. Dark. Powerful without trying.

And he still hadn’t stopped looking at me.

I cleared my throat. “Um… do you want breakfast? Or a donut? Or—”

“Anna,” Daniel interrupted, stepping between us like the human shield he apparently believed himself to be. “Stop flirting.”

“I was NOT flirting,” I hissed.

Nicolas’s smirk told me I very much was.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Nico, this is Anna. She’s been my best friend since we were like five. She’s basically our sister.”

I winced.

Basically our sister.

Ouch.

Way to kill the vibe, Daniel.

Nicolas’s gaze flicked slowly, deliberately from my face to my lips to my bare shoulders I had opened earlier and back to my eyes.

If he heard the word “our sister,” he ignored it. Completely.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he said quietly.

And again he sounded nothing like Daniel.

Deeper. Rougher.

Like someone who spoke only when necessary and when he did, people listened.

I swallowed. “You too.”

Daniel grabbed a donut and shoved it in his mouth like he needed sugar to survive the tension.

“So,” he said through crumbs, “Nico’s staying with us for a while.”

My heart dropped.

“A while?” I repeated.

Nicolas lifted one shoulder. “A few months. Maybe longer.”

Oh.

Oh, that was dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Daniel kept talking, oblivious. “Dad set up the guest room last night. He’ll be working from home for a bit. Something about… finishing some big security project.”

Security.

Yeah.

That made sense.

He had the vibe of someone who could break your door down and fix your Wi-Fi at the same time.

“How long have you been awake?” Nicolas asked, and the question was so simple, so normal, yet it wrapped around me weirdly intimate.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Since seven.”

He nodded like that meant something to him.

Daniel clapped his hands, destroying the moment. “Right. I’m going to shower. Nobody talk about anything interesting until I get back.”

Such a kill joyyyy.

He left.

The kitchen felt instantly smaller.

Quieter.

Hotter.

Nicolas twisted the cap back onto the bottle, slow, like he had all the time in the world.

“You live here too?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” I said. “Half here, half with my mom. But mostly here.”

He hummed, low and thoughtful. “I see.”

The silence stretched.

Thick. Charged.

My pulse thudded in my ears.

He chuckled and stepped closer. Just an inch. Enough to make my breath hitch.

“You really shouldn’t stare at people like that,” he murmured again.

“I wasn’t staring,” I lied.

He smirked. “You were.”

I opened my mouth to deny it again, but then his fingers, just one, slid a crumb from the corner of my lips.

I froze.

He held it up between us, voice dropping.

“You missed a spot.”

Holy…

I stepped back so fast my heel hit the cabinet.

“I.....I should go.....”

“To where?” he asked, head tilting.

I had no answer.

Because I wasn’t running away from him.

I was running away from myself. Running away from the whole embarrassment.

“Just… somewhere,” I muttered, grabbing my phone from the counter.

He said nothing.

Just watched.

Watched like he already knew I’d be back.

I hurried toward the hallway, heart beating so fast it almost hurt.

But right as I reached the doorframe, his voice slid down my spine again.

“Anna.”

I stopped.

Slowly turned.

His eyes traveled over my lips, my hair, my shoulders, my legs, before meeting mine again.

“I like your name,” he said softly.