Judging from the guys’ skeptical faces, they don’t understand. But they don’t have to. I’m still crushed about Margot and my brothers, still mad at Corinne and worried about the look Mr. Parker gave me as he left the conference room, but I can accept it. And not in a stiff, angry way. The feeling inside me is softer than that. It reminds me of a word I’ve always liked, ‘yielding.’ You could see yielding as giving up, but to me it sounds more like giving way. Relaxing into what is instead of fighting the unknown and hurting yourself worse for no reason. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but like I told Margot, I’m willing to wait and see.
“Can we get out of here?” I ask. “I want to go home.”
That makes them all smile. Or Doc, Eli, and Bobby smile and Adriano just crinkles the corners of his eyes a bit.
“In a minute, Tits,” Doc says. “I’ve got a contract signing surprise for you.”
I look at his hands.
“Nothing you can touch, although…”
“Get to the point,” Eli growls.
“It’s a job. One night a week at Dreams.”
I stare at him.
“As a bartender,” he says firmly. “One shift a week behind the bar. The rest of the time, you’re at Velvet House sucking our dicks.”
“But you can keep all your tips,” Bobby says drily.
My insides vibrate with happiness and I clap my hands. “A job? I’ll have a job? I’ll work in a bar?”
“One day a week,” Eli says loudly. “Betty will keep an eye on you and if I find out anyone’s harassing you or trying to buy dances—”
“Give it a rest, Morelli,” Doc says. “Let the girl have her fun… That being said, I will slaughter anyone who lays a hand on you.”
I laugh, my heart lighter than it’s been in weeks, months, years. Maybe my whole life.
“Look at her,” Eli says, amused. “When we stole her, it was to make her hate us beyond words.”
Adriano gives an affirming grunt.
I might love all of you instead.
I don’t say it. Now isn’t the right time. Instead, I go around and kiss all of them on the cheek.
Bobby grabs my hips and pulls me closer. “I haven’t had you since Parker laid eyes on you. That feels wrong.”
“It does,” Doc agrees. “We should baptize her in our cum. Make sure she knows who she belongs to.”
Suddenly the chains of my dress feel much heavier along my skin.
“Sorry,” Eli says lazily. “But you’ll have to control yourselves. There’s a jet waiting at Thompson Airfield. We need to be there in forty minutes.”
Doc, Bobby, and Adriano turn on him.
“What the fuck?” Doc demands. “Work? Now?”
“I suppose it depends what you mean by work,” Eli says, but he can’t hold back his smile. “I’ve restocked the villa in Maui. I thought that after everything we’d gone through, we might want a vacation.”
“A vacation?” Doc repeats.
“Yes. A week of sunshine and swimming and fucking our little jewel senseless. Unless you’d prefer to stand around with your thumb up your ass, which you’re entitled to do.” Eli holds out a hand to me. “Coming,bella?”
I picture crystal water and lush forests. Canopy beds as big as whole rooms and drinks with chunks of pineapple in them. Twosomes that become threesomes and foursomes. Hours that run like honey, slow and sweet. I grab Eli’s hand. “Please take me to Hawaii, Mr. Morelli.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
