Eli drew in a shaky breath.
Caelen's reaction… hadn't truly surprised him.
The frozen expression.
The sudden, complete stillness.
It fit too neatly with everything Eli had already noticed—the tension whenever Kairo's name came up. The way Caelen's joking bravado dulled whenever their rivalry surfaced. The way something darker always lingered underneath his charm.
Whatever bound the brothers together wasn't just competition.
It was something deeper.
Something buried.
And clearly… something secret.
Eli swallowed.
'Yeah… I figured it would hit a nerve.'
Carefully, he leaned forward the slightest bit, prepared to soften the impact of the bomb he'd dropped.
"I—I didn't mean to spring it on you like that," Eli said quietly. "I found out when—Kairie… your mother… told me earlier. I wasn't snooping or anything like—"
Caelen's hands jerked on the steering wheel.
Hard.
The car swerved sharply to the right.
