Contentment relaxed my arms and curled me around Harper. She nestled closer to my chest, her hair fanning out across my arm. Another shift in position, and my cock slid closer to her entrance.
Grinning, I pumped my hips while teasing her earlobe with tiny nibbles.
“Julian?” Her eyelashes fluttered, and an adorable smile appeared. A pillow crease cut across her cheek when she lifted her head. “What are you doing?”
“If I have to answer that, I’m doing it wrong.” I kissed the corner of her mouth and cupped her heavy breast in my palm. “I’m never going to get enough of this.” I brought her nipple up to my mouth and lapped at it with my tongue.
Her stomach clenched, and she wrapped a hand around my shaft. “Me either.”
Alexander snorted and rolled over, his hand flopping across Harper’s side. His eyes opened, and he raised his head to look around. “Huh. So it wasn’t a dream.”
“Not even close.” I rubbed my chin back and forth over Harper’s nipple as it peaked.
Dante sat up and ran his hands through his hair.
A creak sounded from the door, and the knob turned.
Before I could do anything other than curse, it opened and a thin young man in a hotel suit pushed a silver cart into the room. “Good morning. Thank you for–” He looked up as he lifted the silver domes off one of the platters. His mouth fell open, and the look on his face would be comical if not for the possible repercussions.
I threw myself out of the bed and between him and Harper. Alexander and Dante cursed and stood, but they were on the other side of the bed. I didn’t need to turn to know what the man saw. Three men in bed with one woman. We were recognizable. Our names were on the registry for this room. This man had seen more than anyone should. We were all naked and we’d been aroused until the door opened. I grabbed the nearest robe and threw it across my shoulders.
“My apologies.” He ducked his head, his entire face going crimson.
I shoved him toward the door. “What are you doing in here?” The question came out low and guttural.
Throat dipping in a hard swallow, he averted his gaze from the bed where I knew Harper lay naked. He stumbled over nothing, his arms windmilling to keep him upright. “I. You.” He regained his balance and slammed into the door. “As guests of the hotel, you are offered a complimentary breakfast. Since you did not opt out of this service, I was sent up with the cart.”
“Where in the fucking fine print does it say thatanyoneis allowed into our room without our permission?” I grabbed a fistful of his jacket, turned the knob on the door, and shoved him into the hallway. “We chose this hotel because we were promised discretion and no interruptions. That means no turn down service. No housekeeping. And it sure asfuckmeans no one is supposed to enter our room unannounced. Not even for a motherfucking complimentary breakfast.” I released his shirt and he stumbled away from me.
People often thought Alexander and Dante were the more intimidating, and Dante sure as fuck was more dominating, but I scared the shit out of more people than the two of them combined.
No one expected it of me. Not sure why. Standing in the hallway in nothing but a robe with a full body of tattoos on display was enough to scare the majority of the population.
This kid was no exception. He swallowed several times and smoothed his hand down the front of his jacket. “I’m sorry. It’s hotel policy. I was just doing my job.”
“I understand that.” It took considerable effort to control the rush of protective instincts that begged me to shred this man. He was right. It wasn’t his fault. But he had seen things we wanted to keep hidden. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. “What’s your name, kid?”
“A-Arthur. My friends call me Archie.” He kept his gaze pinned on the ground. “I don’t want to get fired. I need this job.”
“It’s okay, kid.” I patted his shoulder, grimacing when he flinched back. “I’m sorry I came down so hard on you. It’s just…” I hesitated and took a second look at Arthur. Clean cut and dressed in the hotel’s uniform, he looked too young and innocent for this shit. “Look, we need you to keep your mouth shut.” I held out both hands, showing him my palms. “Do you understand?”
“Like…if I don’t you’ll kill me?”
“Jesus. No.” I shook my head. “We’re not the fucking mafia. We’re not doing anything illegal or immoral, we just don’t want you blabbing to your friends. I’m willing to give you money, if that helps keep your mouth shut.” But if he did blab to his buddies and I found out about it, I had a few friends who could make sure it never happened again.
I hated thinking that way, but protecting Harper mattered more to me than anything else.
“You want to bribe me to stay quiet?” Arthur’s eyebrows drew together. “I’ve never been bribed before.”
“Consider this your lucky day.” I held up a finger. “You stay put. And from now on, you knock on people’s doors before you go in. No more of this using the employee card to sneak in. You’re going to end up walking in on some shit that will get you in serious trouble.” We were not the mafia, but they’d been known to frequent this hotel and they’d slaughter Arthur without a second thought. I backed into the room and shoved my feet into my pants, then threw a shirt on in place of the robe.
Alexander and Dante had Harper at the table, the three of them leaning together and having a hushed conversation, but then she stood and began pacing.
Dante gave me a look, and I dipped my head in a nod that told him I had everything under control. I rejoined Arthur in the hallway, and the kid hadn’t much more than breathed. “Here.” I peeled off a stack of hundred-dollar bills and held them out to him. “Swear to me you’ll keep your mouth shut.”
“I swear.” He nodded so hard his eyes bugged out.
He reached for the money, but I snapped it away from him. “Ifanyoneasks you what you saw up here, I need to know about it. You tell them you don’t know shit, and then you call me.” I handed him one of my business cards that had nothing except my first name and phone number. The number went to a burner phone that I used for situations like this, just in case the card fell into the wrong hands.
