My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 235: An Unlikely Alliance

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Adrien turned to me, his expression a mix of betrayal and exasperation, as if I’d just suggested we invite a vampire to a garlic festival. "Noah—"

"He’s Logan’s nephew," I pressed, meeting Adrien’s eyes. "If anyone understands how he thinks, it’s Ethan. What if we’re fumbling in the dark and he’s the flashlight we need?"

Ethan crossed his arms again, ever the skeptic, eyeing us both cautiously, but I caught a flicker of curiosity beneath the doubt.

"And why should I care?" he asked, bewilderment in his voice. "Especially when this is coming from him?"

His gaze shifted to Adrien, the past resentment bubbling up again, creating tense air between them. "Why would I risk anything for Adrien Asshole Fell? Last I checked, we weren’t exactly sending each other Christmas cards."

I didn’t argue. I just stepped closer to Ethan, the carpet muffling my footsteps, and before I could overthink it, I reached out and took his hand. His skin was warm, surprisingly soft and I felt that familiar spark zipping between us, even amidst this chaos. "Because Logan won’t stop controlling your life as long as his secrets stay hidden,"

I said softly, my eyes locked onto his. "You know that better than anyone. You’ve lived it...the manipulation, the abuse, the way he twists everything to keep you in line."

Ethan tensed, his fingers curling in mine, but he didn’t pull away, which I saw as a small win in this emotional tug-of-war. I continued, thumb brushing over his knuckles in what I hoped was reassuring, though I was a bundle of nerves.

"If he really was involved in Joanne’s death, then exposing that means he loses his power. Over everyone, over you. Imagine that, Ethan...you deserve that freedom."

Something shifted in Ethan’s expression; the defensiveness cracked like a dam under pressure. I watched as his jaw tightened, gaze dropping to the floor, as if the plush carpet had the answers to all his pains.

Ethan exhaled slowly, a relieved breath escaping him, and he finally met my gaze again, anger fading into something heavier, more wounded.

"I don’t trust this," he confessed, laying his cards on the table. "And I definitely don’t trust you," he added, glancing back at Adrien, who was still holding onto skepticism.

"But... I won’t stop you. If there’s truth to this, maybe it’s time to drag it into the light. Just don’t expect me to hold your hand through it...except maybe Noah’s."

A small, reluctant smile crept onto my face at his attempt at levity, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me, easing the knot in my stomach. "That’s more than enough for now," I said, squeezing his hand before letting go, the warmth lingering on my skin like a promise.

With that tentative truce in place, the three of us turned back to the room and searched it again, more carefully this time, our movements awkwardly syncing up like we were in a slapstick heist movie.

Ethan checked under drawers I’d missed, his fingers probing with the precision of someone used to navigating Logan’s secrets, while Adrien rifled through the closet with obsessive determination, muttering about how Logan probably had a secret compartment hidden in plain sight. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

I peered into the bathroom again, checking behind the mirror and even unscrewing the drain cover in a fit of desperation, but all I found was a stray hair and a whole lot of nothing...a sense of frustration creeping in. I held up a tiny shampoo bottle like it could reveal the universe’s secrets, cracking a joke that earned a snort from Adrien and a half-smile from Ethan, which felt like progress.

But ultimately, we found nothing, clean lines and crafted emptiness, the room mocking us with its sterile perfection. Finally, Ethan rose from examining the safe in the closet, shaking his head, resigned. "You’re not going to find anything here," he said matter-of-factly but not unkindly.

My heart sank a bit, disappointment settling in like a fog, but I tried to mask it with half-hearted humor. "So that’s it? We risked our lives and probably our invitations to Keith’s future galas for a big fat zero?"

"No," Ethan replied, meeting Adrien’s eyes with a seriousness that made the tension in the room palpable. "It just means you’re looking in the wrong place. If Logan has anything that could end him, it wouldn’t be in a hotel room where maids or random family could stumble across it. It’d be somewhere he controls completely...every lock, every camera, every inch."

"Willow Haven," Adrien muttered, the name hanging heavily in the air, his expression darkening with memories of that sprawling estate.

Ethan nodded, determination sparking in his blue eyes. "His...our house, I mean. That’s where the truth is buried, if it exists at all. But breaking in there? That’s a whole other level of insanity. Count me in, I guess, to make sure you two don’t get arrested."

The silence that followed wasn’t defeat; it was a quiet resolve that wrapped around us like a blanket, intertwining our fates in a web of secrets and unexpected alliances. As we slipped out of the room, the hallway lights casting long shadows, I couldn’t help but think about how absurd this all was—three guys, each carrying our own baggage, teaming up against a common enemy.

If this were a movie, it’d be the type with witty banter and outrageous escapes, and for the first time that night, I felt a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, we’d pull this off without everything blowing up in our faces.

"If this has nothing to do with me, why are you two playing detective here? You could’ve at least tried to be subtle about it—left a calling card or something."

"Adrien," I interjected firmly this time, putting a hand on his arm to ground him before things got ugly. I turned back to Ethan, softening my voice as I met his gaze, trying to reach the part of him buried under defensiveness, the vulnerable guy who’d shared bits of his messed-up family stories with me late at night. "It does involve him, whether you want it to or not. That’s why we need Ethan now more than ever."