Breaking Bro Code

Chapter 9

The ride back to the penthouse was silent. The storm outside was relentless, lashing rain against the floor-to-ceiling windows and turning the city lights into blurred, watery smears of neon.

Roman didn't head for the kitchen or turn on the TV. He walked straight to the window and stood there, his back to me, his shoulders rigid as he watched the rain. He looked less like the league’s golden boy and more like a man vibrating with suppressed frustration.

I walked over, my bare feet silent on the hardwood. I stopped a few feet behind him. "Roman?"

He turned sharply, his eyes hard and piercing as they landed on me. "Do you have any idea what you just did? You’re acting like I’m some guy you can just claim, but you’re complicating everything."

"I told the truth," I said, my voice trembling but defiant. "I’m tired of being the secret you hide in your guest suite."

"You aren't a secret," he growled, closing the distance between us in two long strides. He gripped my shoulders, his fingers digging into my skin with a raw, demanding intensity. "But you’re acting like everything else in my life just stops because you’re here. I have a life, Allie. I have a reputation. I have people who expect me to be the man they think I am."

"And who is that?" I challenged. "The guy who has a different woman on his arm every time he steps out of this building?"

His eyes flashed. He knew the rumors—the ones about the models and the socialites—and he knew I saw the notifications on his phone. He didn't deny it, but he didn't confirm it either. He just pulled me flush against him, his body a wall of solid, heated muscle. "I’m here with *you*, aren't I?"

"Are you?" I pushed against his chest. "Because it doesn't feel like it."

He let out a dark, jagged laugh. "Fine. You want transparency? You'll get it."

He grabbed his phone from the counter, his thumb hovering over the screen with aggressive purpose. He hit a button and put the phone on speaker, holding it out as if to dare me to listen.

*Nolan.*

The name flashed in the darkness. Roman stared at it, his expression hardening into a mask of pure, cold focus.

"Roman, where the hell are you?" Nolan’s voice boomed through the quiet penthouse, laced with his usual impatient authority. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours."

Roman didn't look at the phone; he kept his eyes locked on me, his gaze cold and calculating. "Allie’s with me, Nolan."

There was a stunned silence on the other end, followed by a pause. "Allie? Since when? What is she doing at your place?"

"She’s staying here," Roman said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low register. "She had a situation with that guy she was seeing, and she’s not going back. She’s under my roof now."

I braced myself for Nolan’s fury, for the shouting, for the "Bro Code" to explode. But the silence stretched, and then Nolan let out a long, weary sigh.

"She's with you?" Nolan asked, his voice softening with relief. "Thank God. I've been worried sick about where she disappeared to. If she's with you, I know she's safe. I trust you with her more than anyone else on the planet, Roman. Just... keep her away from that bastard, alright?"

"She’s not going anywhere," Roman said, his voice clipped.

"Good. Keep her there. I'll check in tomorrow," Nolan said, and the line went dead.

The sudden silence that followed was deafening—not because of a fight, but because of how easily my brother had handed me over.

Roman turned back to me, his chest heaving, his frustration still radiating off him. He didn't offer an apology. He just stood there, eyes cold and calculating.

"There," he said, his voice clipped. "Nolan knows. He trusts me to keep you 'safe.' Are you happy now?"

He grabbed his coat from the back of the sofa, his movements sharp and dismissive. "I have things to take care of—obligations I can't just cancel on a whim because you decided to play hero. I'll be back late. Stay in the guest suite and don't wait up."

He headed for the door without a second glance. As the door clicked shut behind him, the silence of the penthouse felt heavier than ever. He had staked his claim to my brother, and Nolan had fallen right into step. He was still leading his life, and as I stood there in the dark, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to keep a foot in both worlds until I gave him no other choice.