Falling for my Enemy's Brother
Chapter 25: Unspoken Ties

Chapter 25: Unspoken Ties

Merlina froze for a second too long. It wasn’t just the suddenness of the greeting. It was the person standing in front of her.

"Hi there. Can I help you?" Adriana repeated the question, a soft smile on her face, her tone polite but curious.

Merlina hadn’t expected to be greeted so warmly. Adriana’s voice, when she spoke, was velvet-wrapped and disarmingly kind. She didn’t need an introduction. She had seen her at the party, close to Craig in a way that didn’t need explanation. The way they moved around each other, how he let her in without hesitation. His girlfriend, obviously.

She was beautiful. Of course she was. The kind of beautiful that didn’t ask for validation. Poised, self-assured, with the kind of grace that made Merlina suddenly aware of her frizzing hair and scuffed sneakers.

And to top it all off, she was polite.

Merlina straightened her spine. "Hi. Sorry to show up like this. I was just... I’m looking for Conor Lesnar."

Adriana’s brow lifted just slightly, the only visible sign of surprise. But even that was perfectly measured. "Conor?" she asked, as if tasting the name.

Merlina nodded once. "Yeah. I was told he might be here."

Adriana shook her head gently. "He hasn’t been around."

Merlina blinked. "He hasn’t? Not even this weekend? At Brandon’s party, someone said—"

"No," Adriana said again, more firmly this time. "I haven’t seen him. He’s been out of town."

Merlina’s breath snagged in her chest. Adriana spoke like she had nothing to hide, but Louis had been so sure.

Did he lie? Or was it all some baseless rumor?

Her mind spun with questions, and for a moment, she forgot to respond. A shift of movement near the marble fountain pulled her gaze.

And then she saw him.

Craig.

He stood at a distance, halfway in shadow, as if he was still deciding whether to come closer or disappear altogether. His body was taut with hesitation, one hand curled loosely at his side, the other dragging across the edge of a stone bench, like he needed to anchor himself to something real.

Yet his gaze held hers—steady, searching.

Something stirred in his eyes. Not just recognition. Not just surprise. But a slow, aching softness that looked like longing dressed in restraint. Like the weight of memories neither of them had spoken out loud.

It wrapped around her like warmth she didn’t ask for. The kind that made your breath hitch and your chest ache in quiet places.

And still, he didn’t move.

Still, he looked at her like she was a secret he had never stopped keeping.

The moment between their eyes stretched, subtle and charged.

Her fingers curled into her palm. She hadn’t come here for him, but now that he was here, it was like everything she’d been holding back snapped into focus. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but seeing him here like this felt like stepping into a memory she hadn’t agreed to revisit.

Then Adriana’s voice sliced softly through the stillness.

"Are you... a friend of his?"

Merlina blinked, disoriented. The question seemed simple, but it tangled her completely. She could still feel Craig’s eyes on her from a distance. Still feel the weight of whatever it was passing between them, thick and wordless.

"I—no," she said, stumbling over it. "Um... no."

Adriana gave her a small, thoughtful nod, but her attention shifted towards Craig’s approaching footsteps.

Slowly, cautiously, like each step carried its own consequence.

He stopped just a few feet away, glancing between the two of them, but his eyes kept landing on Merlina like gravity didn’t give him a choice.

"Merlina," he said, voice low and steady. "What are you doing here?"

Her throat tightened.

She didn’t want this. Not here. Not with Adriana watching. Not with the air between them so thick it felt like it could slice through the silence.

"I wasn’t here for you," she said, her voice even, despite the tightness in her chest.

Adriana’s smile wavered, barely noticeable, but enough to betray a flicker of discomfort. She quickly shifted her gaze to Craig, then back to Merlina, offering nothing more than a quiet, polite silence.

Merlina gave a small, formal nod toward Adriana. "Thanks for your time."

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away, trying not to feel the heat of Craig’s eyes on her back. Each step felt too loud. Too final.

Craig didn’t follow.

Still as stone, he held himself in check, whatever he was feeling buried beneath a surface that gave nothing away.

Adriana watched her go with a quiet interest. Her expression never quite changed, but the shift in the air wasn’t lost on her.

She waited until the silence settled, then asked softly, "Who was that?"

Craig didn’t answer immediately.

His eyes lingered on the path Merlina had taken until she was no longer in sight.

Then he exhaled. "What did she say to you?"

"She was asking about Conor," Adriana replied, her gaze flickering back to him.

Conor?

The name struck like a blade—not because he hadn’t expected it, but because he had. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d known her being there wasn’t about him.

But why now?

Craig stared at the ground, as if the answer might be hidden in the gravel.

He knew she didn’t come here on impulse. No way. Merlina wasn’t careless. She was measured, even when she pretended not to be.

If she came looking for Conor, it meant something had unsettled her enough to risk crossing paths with him.

Craig’s hands moved to his pockets, then back out again, restless. Her essence still hung in the air around him. Her voice, her walk, the way she didn’t flinch when she saw him. Like she had prepared for this moment and wished it away in the same breath.

Adriana’s voice was even, almost casual. "Do you know her?"

Silence hung between them.

Craig’s mind raced with thoughts he couldn’t say out loud, the way Merlina had made him feel unsettled, her presence hanging in his mind like a question he couldn’t answer.

But with Adriana watching him and the sound of Merlina’s steps fading away, he pushed it all down.

"No," he answered, finally. "I don’t."

And he said it like it didn’t hurt.

Even though it did.