“Hey, Thorn,” Kairo says, but his voice doesn’t have its usual playful edge. He sounds cautious and almost gentle. “How are you feeling?”
I look around at the orange sauce bubbling on the stove and the fresh chicken that Roman is beginning to dice on one of my cutting boards. “Umm, okay, I guess? What are you doing?”
Maddox turns to me, a small, coy smile on his face. “We’re cooking for you. You like Indian food, right? I think I heard that during one of your interviews that Kairo can’t stop watching—”
The blonde grips the back of Maddox’s neck quickly, his lips pulling over his teeth. “Shut up. Stop talking.”
I glance between all three of them, my brow raising. “I do…”
“Good,” Roman says. “Why don’t you go sit at the table, and it’ll be ready soon.”
I’m reeling as I walk over to a chair and ease onto it. I stare unseeing at the table as the bright lights overhead cut into my eyes. As dishes clank and spoons stir, there’s chaos unfolding inside my head. They’re completely unaware of howfucking catatonic I am. This little act of kindness doesn’t mean anything.
I lose track of time as everything melts together. When a plate of steaming hot food is pushed right under my nose, it all comes rushing back to me.
The three men taking their seats at the table converse casually, as if this is some fucking peace meeting and I’m just going to have a lovely pity dinner with them. My eye twitches as Kairo’s hearty laughter fills the dining room and the tether snaps.
My chair scrapes harshly against the ground as I stand and swipe the plate of food onto the floor. The ceramic shatters, sending butter chicken and jasmine rice splattering across the clean marble, and it feels sogood. The sounds die down as my ragged breathing fills the dining room.
“Rosalie…” Roman trails, and my eyes snap to him.
He’s calm and collected, and it makes my anger boil over. Something about seeing him so whole and unbothered twists my insides unpleasantly. My teeth grit. “What? Did you thinkcookingfor me would ease your guilt?” I laugh bitterly, resting my head back against my shoulders as my eyes sting with more unshed tears. I throw my hands out as if to say, ‘Look at what you’ve done to me.’ “Hate to break it to you, but this sweet little gesture is nothing compared to what you put me through. You could make me a hundred dinners, and I would still think of you as lower than the fucking gum stuck to my shoe!”
Maddox’s expression gentles as he moves a hand closer to me. “Rosalie—”
I fist my hair at my temples, wanting to scream, curse, shout, do something! “No! You want to be my fucking saviors?” I decide, tilting my head. “Then let me give you a breakdown of what my life was like.”
Roman’s expression stays cool and impassive, but it’s the twinge in his jaw that’s his giveaway. He’s hanging on by a thread, too, and if I’m going down, I’m taking them with me.
Kairo holds a supportive hand out to me, but it feelsuncaring and unforgivable from my perspective. “Why don’t we take a breather, Thorn. You’ve been through a lot today—”
I jab a finger at the blonde, a bitter sound escaping past my lips. “Oh, you don’t even know the half of it! None of you do!” I’m spiraling hard, and I can’t stop myself as I rise up onto my chair and step onto the sturdy table. I jab a finger at my chest harshly, my eyes wild as they bite into Roman. “To show up to that god forsaken school every day and deal with the three of you was my hell! Then I got to go home to no food, no love, no fucking compassion! All I knew was a fist to the face, and how to serve a man who never cared about me! To live in that constant cycle for years has fucked me beyond comprehension, and you thinkcooking dinnercan fix me?!” I step towards him, my legs eating up the distance between us until I’m staring down at the leader with so much raw hate and anger that it hurts. “I AM BROKEN, AND I WAS LEFT TO PICK UP THE PIECES OF MYSELF EVERY TIME!” I rub a hand over my mouth, feeling like I’m losing control of everything. It isn’t until I feel the warmth track down my cheeks that I take a moment and end this. “The next time you want to help me,” I lean down, staring into that impassive, tight, expressionless face of his, “leave. Me. Alone.”
Roman doesn’t even blink. “Feel better now?”
My hands lift suddenly in exasperation, my palms facing up as my fingers curl into an almost fist. “UGH! I could slap you!”
His hands slam on the table, loud and booming as he rises from his chair and angles his head up to me. “Then do it, Siren.” He commands. “Slap me, Rosalie—”
My hand cracks across his face, and though he doesn’t budge, it feels fucking amazing. Pain stings my palm, but it’s so freeing of the crushing weight that’s been sitting on my chest since I left the therapist’s office. It’s a reprieve, and I can finally breathe.
His jaw works as he effortlessly shakes off the pain. “I’ll ask you again. Do you feel better?”
I suck air into my lungs as I feel three heavy sets of eyes staring into me rather than at me. I nod slowly, my voice barely a whisper. “Yes.”
“Good,” he rolls his shoulders, his t-shirt bunching around his chest as his eyes darken. “Everything has a price, Siren.”
That sounds ominous, and it’s only heightened by the two other chairs scraping across the floor as Maddox and Kairo rise. Maddox pushes the plates aside as I take a hesitant step back.
“What’s going on—” I squeal when Roman reaches for me faster than lightning. His hand wraps around my ankle, and I fall to my ass before he pulls me to the edge of the table.
“Hold her legs,” he commands, his voice dark before Kairo’s hand wraps around my throat, and he eases me onto my back.
“What are you doing?!” My feet kick as I claw at his wrist, but the men subdue me from all angles.
Kairo releases my throat for a moment, only to hook his elbow into the crook of my leg and shove my thigh back into my stomach as he latches onto my throat again. He leans down, a sinister smirk on his face. “Aw, don’t fight us, Thorn. We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Maddox grabs the back of my other knee, putting it in the same open position, then reaches across me and untying my robe. It falls open, and the cool air hits my skin. My breasts and pussy are bared to them, and I can’t do anything to stop it as Roman growls low in his throat at the sight of me.
