ENTANGLED

chapter 3

Marcus's house was exactly what Sophia had expected, modern, expensive, and completely masculine. Dark leather furniture dominated the living spaces, steel and glass surfaces reflected the city lights, and not a single personal photograph was visible anywhere. It was the home of a man who didn't let anyone get close enough to leave traces of themselves behind.

But tonight, Sophia was here. And the way Marcus had been looking at her made her feel like she was the first woman who'd ever stepped foot in this carefully controlled sanctuary.

A few minutes after she'd retreated to her room, still trembling from their encounter in his bedroom, she heard a soft knock on her door. Sophia's pulse immediately accelerated as she rushed to open it.

There Marcus stood in the doorway, now fully dressed in dark jeans and a black t-shirt that clung to his muscled frame. In his hand was a tumbler of amber liquid, whiskey, by the look of it.

"Are you hungry?" Marcus asked, his voice carefully controlled despite the slight rasp that suggested he'd already had more than one drink.

Sophia shook her head. She couldn't possibly eat right now. Her stomach was twisted in knots, and every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire from their earlier encounter.

"I should let you get some rest," Marcus said, but he made no move toward leaving. Instead, he took another sip of his whiskey, his steel-gray eyes never leaving her face.

As Marcus finally turned to leave, Sophia caught his arm, and the contact sent electricity crackling between them like live wire. "What you said downstairs... about me being like a younger sister. Did you mean that?"

She paused, her cheeks flushing with renewed embarrassment. "And I'm sorry for barging into your room earlier."

Marcus went completely still under her touch. When he looked down at her hand on his arm, Sophia saw his jaw clench, noticed how his knuckles whitened around the glass.

"Sophia..."

"Do you think about me?" she pressed, her voice barely above a whisper. "The way I think about you?"

Marcus's gray eyes met hers, and Sophia saw the exact moment he stopped fighting whatever was happening between them. His expression darkened, became hungry in a way that made her breath catch in her throat.

"Every damn day," he said roughly, then drained the rest of his whiskey in one burning swallow.

Before Sophia could respond to his raw admission, Marcus's phone started ringing. The sound cut through the charged tension like a blade, and Marcus moved away from her to answer it, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Ethan," he said into the phone, his voice turning cold as winter.

Sophia could hear Ethan's voice through the speaker, angry and demanding. "Where is she, Marcus? Kent showed up here looking for her, and she's gone. If you helped her run away with that piece of garbage..."

"She's not with Kent," Marcus cut him off sharply.

"Then where the hell is she?"

Marcus's eyes found Sophia's across the room, and she saw something protective and possessive flash in their depths. "She's safe. That's all you need to know since you left her outside in the cold with me."

"Don't play games with me, Marcus. She's my sister."

"She's a grown woman who you just threw out of her own home!" Marcus's voice exploded through the room, his control finally snapping. "What did you think was going to happen?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Ethan's voice, quieter but infinitely more dangerous: "Where is she, Marcus?"

"Somewhere you can't hurt her feelings anymore."

"I never hurt her...."

"You broke her heart tonight, Ethan. You said things that can't be taken back. So no, I'm not telling you where she is."

Sophia heard Ethan curse violently, then: "Marcus, I swear to God, if you're trying to f**k my sister, I'll kill you."

The words hit the room like a detonation. Sophia felt all the blood drain from her face as Marcus went deadly still, his entire body radiating lethal tension.

"What did you just say to me?" Marcus's voice was quiet, but there was pure violence threading through it.

"You heard me. Sophia's had a crush on you since she was sixteen. If you're taking advantage of that....."

"Go to hell, Ethan." Marcus ended the call and hurled his phone onto the dresser so hard Sophia was surprised it didn't shatter into pieces.

The room fell into suffocating silence. Sophia stared at Marcus, humiliation burning through her chest like acid. Ethan had known about her crush this whole time? And now Marcus knew too?

"Sophia," Marcus began, his voice gentler now.

"Don't." Sophia backed toward the door, her face burning with shame. "I should go. This was a mistake."

"Sophia, stop."

"No, Ethan's right. This is stupid and pathetic and—"

Marcus crossed the room in three quick strides and caught her arm. "Look at me."

"Let me go."

"Look at me, Sophia." Marcus's voice was firm, commanding.

Reluctantly, Sophia raised her eyes to his. She expected to see pity there, or embarrassment, or disgust. Instead, she saw something that made her knees go weak.

"Ethan's right," Marcus said quietly. "You have had a crush on me since you were sixteen."

Sophia tried to pull away, but Marcus's grip tightened, not painfully, but possessively.

"But what Ethan doesn't know," Marcus continued, his voice dropping to a rough whisper, "is that I've been going crazy trying to ignore you since you turned eighteen."

Sophia's world tilted on its axis. "What?"

"You think I didn't notice when you stopped being Ethan's annoying little sister and became this beautiful, intelligent, incredible woman? You think I didn't see the way you looked at me, the way you'd find excuses to be around when I came over?"

Sophia's heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe. "Marcus..."

"I stayed away from you, Sophia. I forced myself to ignore you, to treat you like you were invisible, because I knew if I didn't, something like this would happen." Marcus's hand moved to cup her face, his thumb brushing across her lower lip. "But I can't ignore you anymore."

"We can't do this," Sophia whispered, even as she leaned into his touch. "Ethan will never forgive us."

"Ethan threw you away tonight," Marcus said, his voice hard as steel. "He chose his pride over his sister. So I'm choosing you over him."

The words sent fire racing through Sophia's veins. Marcus was choosing her. After years of feeling invisible, someone was finally choosing her.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

Marcus's eyes darkened with something dangerous and hungry. "Sophia, if I kiss you, I'm not going to stop. And once we cross this line...."

"I don't want you to stop." Her voice was breathless, desperate. "Just kiss me."

That was all it took. Marcus's mouth crashed down on hers, and Sophia felt like she was being consumed by wildfire. The kiss was desperate and hungry, years of suppressed desire pouring out between them like a dam had burst.

Sophia had been kissed before, but never like this. Never like she was oxygen and the man kissing her was drowning. Marcus's hands moved from her face to tangle in her hair, and she could feel the tremor in his fingers, the way his whole body was shaking with barely controlled restraint.

When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing hard, their foreheads pressed together.

"God, Sophia," Marcus's voice was rough and desperate. "Tell me to stop. Tell me this is wrong, and I'll take you to a hotel right now."

Sophia looked up into his gray eyes and saw her future there—dangerous, complicated, forbidden, but hers.

"The only thing wrong," she said, reaching up to touch his face, "is that we waited this long."

Marcus groaned and kissed her again, deeper this time, more possessive. Sophia could feel his control snapping, could feel the careful walls he'd built around himself crumbling piece by piece.

That's when Marcus's front door exploded open with a sound like thunder.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"