Alyssa seems to have caught on that something’s up because she’s stopped talking. Instead, she’s looking at me curiously. “Uri? Something wrong?”
“Everything’s fine,” I say in a voice too brusque to be believed.
I park haphazardly on the drive and get out of the car. Alyssa follows me towards the house in silence. I can see her adjusting her dress from my peripheral vision. She looks like a woman who’s been recently ridden hard and put away wet—which, to be fair, is accurate.
“Little brother,” Nikolai greets in an amused murmur.
When I stop in front of Nikolai, Alyssa stops next to me. I give her only a cursory glance. “Go to bed. The evening’s over.”
She flinches instantly, hurt pooling in her eyes so fast that I want to kick my own ass. She glances at Nikolai, then back at me. Then,
