“We?” Vincent is quick to catch on. “You’d better be honest about this, Deanna, because if I open that box and I don’t like what’s in it, the whole crew will have to answer for it.”
Deanna tries to laugh it off and pulls back. “It was just an innocent joke.”
“It’s a weight-loss package, complete with cardio workouts and meal replacement shakes,” I add, because I don’t want to let her get away with this sort of aberrant behavior.
Vincent takes a deep breath.
“It was just a joke,” Deanna says, increasingly worried about the repercussions. “It was not to everyone’s taste, obviously.”
“Not toanyone’s taste,” Vincent replies. “Consider this your one and only notice, Deanna. If you continue to create a hostile work environment for other staff members, this will be your last winter at Haus of Sin.”
She gasps, utterly offended. “I’m your most sought-after host!”
“But you are not irreplaceable,” he shoots back. “Don’t fucking test me, Deanna. Now take that garbage and get out of my sight.”
She grabs the box from my hands and walks away. I listen to the sound of her heels clicking as she heads to somewhere on the ground floor of the west wing, then I turn to face Vincent.
“You never told me the two of you were an item,” I say.
“It was insignificant,” Vincent says. “Raina, I assure you, it meant nothing.”
“It didn’t sound like nothing to Deanna.”
“She pulled the plug,” he replies.
“So it meant something.”
“At the time, yes, fine, it meant something,” Vincent admits, “but not anymore, not in a long time. I got over it pretty quickly, actually. Deanna just likes to test limits, to maintain some sort of control. It never works out in her favor because I’ve already moved on. Unfortunately, I can’t ask her to be more reasonable because she’s a woman who lost her reason years ago.”
I shake my head slowly, unsure of how I should react. Every inch of me wants to hurt her and get some sort of retribution. What the guys and I have shared over the past week was supposed to be sacred, yet Deanna somehow managed to cast a shadow over it all. I shouldn’t have allowed her to have such an influence.
“Raina, listen to me,” Vincent says and takes me in his arms. “I am not my past, just like you’re not yours. We’re human beings. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and honestly, I’m proud to say that Deanna was my biggest mistake. I don’t regret much of anything else. I certainly don’t regret you.”
“It just makes me so mad that she can?—”
“Get under your skin? I’ll admit, she’s very good at that. But this has to stop, baby,” he says, then gently kisses me on the lips. “What we have is different. It’s something Deanna only ever dreamed of.”
“You never shared her with Alex or Max,” I realize, giving him a curious glance.
He laughs lightly. “They couldn’t stand her, let alone bed her.”
“Oh, wow.” I burst into a wholehearted laugh, realizing what this means.
“Deanna was a momentary slipup for me. I was in a vulnerable state. You could say that I hungered for something different, something of my own. But she certainly wasn’t the woman I thought she would be. I kept telling myself it would work out, but obviously, it didn’t. I learned my lesson. I promise you, Raina, it was just that: a lesson.”
“I can’t hold that against you, not when I’ve had Jeremy lurking around,” I concede with a dissatisfied grumble and lower my gaze.
“What matters is what we have now, who we are today,” Vincent says and lifts my chin so our eyes can meet again.
And when they do, it’s as if a whole new world has opened up to me, one of sweet tenderness to overlap with the frantic and fiery possession I’ve submitted to from the moment I said yes to their deal, a layer of gentle kindness over the hunger and the ecstasy and the insatiable arousal I experience whenever I lose myself in their arms.
“It’ll work out one way or another,” he adds and plants another kiss on my lips.
This one feels softer, sweeter, all-encompassing. But the reality soon comes back to bite me in the ass as I exhale sharply and pull away from his embrace.
“Just until tonight,” I bitterly remind him. “Tomorrow, it’s over.”
I walk away, rushing to my kitchen, and leave Vincent behind. I don’t want to beg; I don’t want to ask for more. They set the terms, and in their way, they proved Deanna right. I’m a trend, a morsel for them to enjoy. Tomorrow morning, I’ll just be Raina, the chef, again. They’ll be my bosses.
