Hell, she could sense it, too. We both eyed each other curiously as if looking through a distorted mirror.

“Getting a little touchy, Kill.” Sam looked mildly entertained. “It’s just a woman. They make over fifty percent of the world’s population, last I checked. Is Persephone failing in her duties to keep you entertained?”

The woman shifted on her heels awkwardly, obviously not appreciating being spoken about like mystery meat in a dodgy deli sandwich. Despite everything, I felt bad for her. She was a prop, and she deserved more than whatever Sam had in store for her.

“This is Becca…” Sam gestured toward her, without looking at her, like a salesman exhibiting a flashy car “…Becca, this is Cillian, the CEO of Royal Pipelines, and Hunter, my brother-in-law and the head of the PR department of the company. And this is Aisling …” He jerked his chin in my direction offhandedly, the way you would the family dog. All eyes snapped to me. “She is their younger sibling, of undisclosed occupation. I’m sure it is something interesting, but I never mustered enough interest to find out.”

“Aisling is a doctor,” Cillian snapped.

“And I’m Marie Antoinette.” Sam bowed theatrically. “Fancy some cake?”

“The first time you acknowledge my sister, and you talk to her like she is trash.” Hunter frowned, getting heated. “Now I remember why none of us wanted you anywhere near her.”

“Hello. I’m right here!” I waved my hand in the air, trying to seem unfazed. “No need to fight my battles for me. Also, I think it’s time to use your right to remain silent, Brennan.” I bared my teeth, rage humming beneath my skin. “Nothing that comes out of your mouth is worth listening to anyway.”

He directed his gray eyes at me, and they sparkled with open delight. The first time I’d seen him happy since Halloween. Since we shared a sordid night together.

“Is it shark week for the entire Fitzpatrick clan? I hear women who live together get their period at the same time.”

“I suspect you lost all rights to make blood jokes with your track record, Sam.” I arched an eyebrow in his direction.

He threw his head back, full-blown laughing now.

“Touché, Nix.”

Hunter dropped his water bottle. Cillian choked on his whiskey. Everything stopped, my heart included.

“Nix?” both my brothers asked in unison.

For the first time since Sam walked in, I forced myself to cool my jets, interested to see how he was going to get out of it. Becca octopused her arms around Sam possessively, the realization that she stepped into something bigger than her trickling into her system.

I smiled coolly.

“Oh, do tell them the story of how I got my nickname, Sam. It’s a good one.”

The carnival.

The kiss.

The confessions.

You’re a monster and I’m a monster. We’re both demons, looking for our next pound of flesh.

A platinum bullet could kill a Nix, but no, you gave me gold. You want me alive, Brennan. Well and capable of fighting back.

Becca clutched tighter onto Sam’s arm, treating him as a human life preserver, not knowing his job was to make people drown. She had not spoken a word since she entered the ballroom, and I knew it wasn’t accidental. He must’ve told her to keep her mouth shut.

Sam’s silver eyes flashed with malice. “You sure you want me to tell them?”

“Now’s not the time to act chivalrous,” Cillian snapped. “Aisling and you have never exchanged as much as a sentence, yet you have a nickname for her? You’re going to have to give me an explanation, seeing as I pay you extra not to touch my sister.”

A ball formed in my throat, and I knew if I opened my mouth, I would scream.

How dare my brothers interfere with my love life?

How dare they dictate who I could and couldn’t see?

And how pathetic was I that Cillian had no trouble at all saying this right in front of me?

I was Aisling. Sweet, angelic Aisling. The doctor. The nurturer. The good one.

Becca looked agonizingly embarrassed as the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. She took a step sideways, away from Sam. He didn’t even notice.

Sam turned to look at Hunter and Cillian, his expression grave.

“It was the first time I saw your sister. At dinner when Sailor and Hunter started living together.” Uh-huh. Already, he was lying. That wasn’t the first time we’d met. “I excused myself to go to the bathroom just as she got out of it. Her dress was stuffed inside her underwear from behind, her ass and legs on full display. I told her that she needed to untuck her dress. She cried in horror and said, ‘Oh, no, my knickers!’ She explained to me that underwear are called knickers in British English. Since then, I call her Nix, because she is a goofball who can’t dress properly. Isn’t that right, Nix?” He winked, flicking my nose like some protective big brother.

I felt close to nuclear explosion.

Frustrated.

Humiliated.

Fuming.

Sam stared at me, waiting for me to call him out on his bullshit.

“Since when do you date?” Hunter changed the topic, obviously unamused by Sam’s story.

“Since I changed my mind about marriage.”

“You changed your mind about marriage?” Cillian sneered at him, skepticism all but leaking from his cold gaze. My older brother played with the golden band of his wedding ring as he spoke. “Riveting. I clearly remember you giving me a one-hour speech about the merits of staying single shortly before I married Persephone. Should I bill you for my lost time?”

“People change.” Sam’s eyes turned into slits. “You should know that better than anyone.”

“People, yes. Monsters, no.”

“So is Becca the one?” Hunter goaded, and I wanted to throw up all of a sudden. Because Sam was exactly the kind of psychopath to marry someone else just to spite me. I wouldn’t put it past him. Buy into the idea that he could be happy with a replica of me and forget about the real thing.

Sam looked down at Becca, tugging her close.

“I hope so,” he whispered, placing a chaste kiss to her mouth. “She has everything I look for in a woman. Beautiful, well-educated, and honest. Bonus points: her family is not a complete mess.”

Jealousy made way to anger, and I groaned, turning my back to Sam and Becca, looking directly at Hunter and Cillian.

“Anyway, I delivered the message Mother sent me here for. Do with it what you will. Enjoy your evening.”

With that, I stormed off. I could faintly hear my brothers calling Sam a jackass behind my back, which only served to make me feel worse. Like a charity case. A silly, naïve girl incapable of standing up for herself in front of the big bad wolf.

I never felt a part of them anyway. Cillian, Hunter, and Sam had their own friendship going, and Persephone and Sailor were a part of it because they were a part of my brothers. Emmabelle and I were always pushed aside, associated but not initiated into their pseudo-secret society.

I spent the rest of the night being the perfect daughter to my mother. I listened to stale jokes, laughed, clutched my pearls whenever was appropriate during longwinded, boring stories, took pictures with donors, and even introduced my mother onstage when it was time for her to deliver her speech.