The corner of Eli’s mouth kicked up. “Yes, but being open means admitting you’re the kind of girl who enjoys being beloved to four men at once,bella.”
“Oh.” I suppose that should upset me, but I kind of like it. It makes me sound cool. Like one of the bad girls from school who snuck into nightclubs and sold feet pics.
“She’s into it,” Doc said. “Conversation over.”
But Eli held up a hand. “January, you need to understand, once Parker and the arbiters of this contract know you’re ours, the whole world will know it. And the whole world includes your family, your school friends, and the New York Society pages.”
My first thought was panicky—my mom is going to kill me—but then I remembered that she sold me to Mr. Parker, stole the last of my life savings, and isn’t my real mom. My second thought was that my brothers would be mortified, not to mention my uncles and the many other Whitehalls who don’t want a slutty relative. “What happens if I don’t want people to know?”
Everyone at the table exchanged glances.
“You won’t come to the meeting, and we’ll tell Parker we’ve sent you to Italy,” Eli told me. “You won’t have to go, but you’ll have to stay hidden until we can find you a secure apartment. After that we can meet at arranged times. Work out a system so it’s not obvious how connected to us you are.”
“I’d have to leave Velvet House?”
“Yes.”
Eli’s brow was furrowed with lines and Doc, Bobby, and Adriano all looked murderous. The thought of having me live somewhere else was clearly distressing them, yet they were still offering me a way out.
“I don’t want to go,” I told the table. “I like living here and cooking and hanging out with whoever’s around. And if I’m hidden away in some apartment, I won’t be free.”
“JJ,” Bobby said quietly. “It’s your reputation on the line.”
I thought of my brothers and uncles. They were always kind to me, but as far as I knew, none of them intervened when my stepmom sold me to Mr. Parker. If they were going to judge me, it would be very hypocritical.
“I want to stay,” I repeated a little louder. “I want to live here with all of you.”
Bobby let out a long breath and Doc smiled, but Eli and Adriano remained stony-faced.
“I’m not sure you know what you’re agreeing to,” Eli said. “Anyone who mocks you within our hearing will die, but we can’t protect you from whispers.”
“Whispers don’t bother me. There were always whispers about me because I had bodyguards and I was engaged. I would rather there were whispers about things that make me happy.”
At that, a rare smile spread across Eli’s face, one that reached his eyes, turning them caramel. “Spoken like a brave princess. Then it’s settled. You’ll come with us and be ours forever.”
His words buzzed through me like an electric shock.
“Forever? I mean, are you all happy to keep…seeingme like this? Exclusively?”
“Of course,” Bobby said.
“Get with the program, Tits.”
Eli clucked his tongue. “I thought that was obvious from the fact we’re about to sign away our sworn revenge to protect you,bella.”
I pressed a hand to my pounding heart. “I just… Didn’t you want to have fancy pedigree children?”
“And we will.”
“I…what?”
Bobby nudged him. “Don’t scare her.”
Eli sighed. “We don’t need to have all the answers tonight,bella,but I want you to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
I felt a tiny pang of fear. “What exactlyamI getting myself into? Is there some line in the contract that says I belong to you now? Like I’m trapped at Velvet House?”
“No,” four voices said at once.
