Chapter 18

When Daniel got home he wasn't surprised to find the door not just locked but safe-locked… the key alone did not help at all. What was there to do besides bursting the door open with his shoulder?

Carl run to meet him. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Kindly lil' brother, do not test my patience," Daniel retorted, "I have gone easy on you in front of Natasha, isn't that enough for one night?"

"How could you take her away from me to begin with?" The raven shouted.

"For once, I have to admit I did pursue your girl," Daniel nodded, agreeing, "but if you weren't the liar I know you to be, she wouldn't have left you, not for me, not for anyone."

Carl all but growled at that, "How dare you…"

Daniel shushed him, closed the door the best he could, for he didn't want to make a scene in front of the neighbors, and then made a bee line past his brother towards his room.

"Are you trying to dismiss the discussion just like this?" The med student asked, looking slightly more composed, from where he leaned against the doorframe.

"I think I just did," Daniel smirked as he opened his laptop and turned it on.

"I can't live with you anymore," his little brother drawled on a sigh. "I can't see you with her."

"You won't have to," the talented architect responded readily, "I'm not going to bring her here. You're a drama queen after all."

"How can you call yourself my brother?" Carl let out angrily.

"Because I'm the one working my ass off, all to pay your tuition fees for the next three years," Daniel looked him straight in the eyes while saying that, and Carl couldn't help but shiver for some reason.

His brother was serious about what he was saying, despite everything.

"We've rented the villa," Carl argued weakly.

"Not only is it not enough, but you had to spend more than half your share on outfits and car enhancements like a kid," Daniel rolled his eyes.

"I… I…" the raven couldn't find the right words to say. Nothing fit with what he knew – or at least thought he knew – about Daniel.

"I may be a bad boy, my sweet little Carl, but I'm the good brother."

And yes, he was.

Only someone who cared about his brother deeply would pay fifty thousand dollars for his brother to get into college.

Natasha hadn't left him because his brother had snatched her away. She had left him because he didn't deserve her, but Daniel might be worth her time. That was what roamed inside Carl's head as he left his brother's room.