Page 217 of Bliss & Her Idols

Immortal brightens.

Rory steps closer to lay his hand, as if he half expects it to be broken, on Torin’s arm. “I know now that you’re both in love. I realized it almost as soon as I reported you. I made the wrong choice. I’ve beaten myself up for it ever since. I never guessed that Mena would exile you. To start with, she was intending to send you to the Alpha Center for five years.”

I gasp.

That would have broken Torin.

“I managed to talk her down from that by sacrificing…a lot…to send you to our relatives instead.” Rory squeezes Torin’s arm. “I know that it was still unfair, but at least you were able to work as a musician and songwriter there with more freedom than you could have here. Can you forgive me?”

I remember the intimate way that Philomena touched Rory’s hair. How she wants tobondwith him.

I shudder, imagining those sacrifices.

“Brother,” Torin says like the word has been wrenched out of him.

Then he hauls a startled Rory into a hug.

Both men don’t appear to know quite how to handle it, before thumping each other in a manly way on the back.

I take pity on them, sliding off the bed. I stroll to the two brothers and drag them out of the awkward hug back to the bed.

I deliberately don’t comment on how both men have tears glimmering in their eyes.

“You look like shit,” Rory says conversationally to Immortal.

“Right back at you.” Immortal reaches out his arms in invitation.

Torin watches with a grimace, as Immortal wraps himself around Rory like a wild cat, and Rory fusses over the Idol’s bruised cheek and busted lip.

“I am never going to get used to seeing you both like that.” Torin stares at the way that Immortal preens under Rory’s attention. “Why did you act like such a hardass to all the other Idols?”

“Someone get a dictionary. We need to read him the definition ofundercover,” Immortal declares.

“Can we read the definition ofbrat?” Torin mutters.

Torin settles on the side of the bed against the headboard. He lifts me onto his lap, running his fingers through my hair.

“If I played the cold manager in public,” Rory says, “then I could advocate behind the scenes.”

Torin studies his brother. “I understand that.”

“The ice wolf thing you have going on isn’t an act, Charming,” Immortal points out.

“Hey, I still outrank you.”

“In your dreams, grumpy.” Immortal waggles his eyebrows. “Back me up, pretty Omegas.”

“We love his hunter vibes.” Cricket daringly raises his head, unable to hold back his chirp.

His cheeks flush.

“It’s always the quiet ones.” Immortal laughs.

Jin wraps his arms around Cricket’s shoulders, kissing his head.

“Ice in the streets, fire between the sheets.” I can’t help it; Torin’s increasingly outraged expression is just too funny, and we need the tension to be broken.

Immortal laughs harder.

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