We sat in silence, just looking at one another. It was as if we were drawn to each other as our faces got closer and closer. Before I knew it, our lips touched as we shared our firstkiss. Nothing in my life had felt more right. There was no way something that made me this happy could be wrong.
Cody and I were lost in our kiss when I heard my father's raised voice, igniting instant fear in me.
“WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SEE?!”
I sprang up in my bed, covered in sweat. That night had haunted me for thirteen years. As much as I’d tried my hardest to forget it, I couldn't. That night changed me. Sire did the unthinkable to ensure that I would never act on those feelings again.
Refusing to go down that rabbit hole, I hopped out of bed and got into the shower. I needed a nice distraction. One of the club bunnies would take my mind off things. I had been here since I was eighteen. At first, I thought the club was like a cult, too, until I started partying there often. I realized the guys had plenty of freedom to do and be whatever they wanted.
They were truly a brotherhood. Since I never had a real family, I was drawn to the place. I wanted to be part of something where I would be embraced, not shunned. The guys often teased me because I was considered the quiet and shy one out of the bunch. They didn’t know I dealt with childhood trauma that made me second-guess myself.
In fact, no one knew my story. When I turned eighteen, I changed my name and did everything I could to distance myself from my past. As far as I was concerned, Allen died the day I turned eighteen and ran away.
I finished my shower and got dressed. When I opened my bedroom door, a very ticked-off Blade stormed past me.
“Marco! Hannah! Where are you two little deviants?!” he shouted.
I chuckled and locked my door before following him into the dining hall. As I turned the corner, I saw Crystal, Blade’s mom,standing there with her hands on her hips. “Don’t call them that.”
I went over to the breakfast table and fixed my plate while watching the show.
“That’s what they are. I know they’re the ones who put the pop-it's under my toilet seat lid.”
That caused most of the room to laugh. Hannah and Marco were always playing practical jokes, so it definitely sounded like something they would do.
“I bet that scared youshitlesswhen you sat down, huh?” Cara teased him.
That made the room laugh even harder, as no one was taking him seriously. Blade gave everyone the middle finger before storming back up the hallway.
I took a seat at a table with Gunner, Big Red, Dice, and Capone.
“Are y’all ready to see the nannies?” Dice asked excitedly.
“No,” we all answered in unison. I didn’t see why this was a question. Cara had warned us to stay away from the nannies.
“Well, why not? That’ll be two new ladies on the compound.” Dice frowned, looking around the group.
Capone chuckled and shook his head. “It’s clear you weren’t listening to Cara the other day. She swore that if any of us fucked the nannies, she would cut our dicks off. She doesn’t want us running them off. And it's only one female nanny. The other is a guy.”
“Damn, only one. I guess she didn’t want to give me double temptation.” Dice had a salacious grin plastered on his face.
“Temptation? There shouldn’t be any at all. Did you not just hear him say that Cara said she would cut our dicks off? I’m not scared of anybody, but I refuse to piss that little ankle-biter off,” Big Red said, cracking a joke about Cara’s height.
We all roared with laughter. Cara was indeed a tiny little thing, but she wasn’t anything to be played with. I’d seen that women do things that I didn’t even think were possible.
“Well, it sounds like you’re scared to me. You all listen to Cara, and I’ll see what the nanny has to offer. If she’s sexy enough, I don’t mind ducking Cara’s blades.” Dice shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat his breakfast.
No one said anything else on the matter. It was his funeral. Literally.
After breakfast, I did my morning sweep of the grounds to check the cameras. I didn’t have too many tasks as a brother, so I took my tech duties seriously. As I was making my way around the west wing, I noticed a few of the cameras looked to be a little out of place. It wasn’t surprising since we had a really bad rainstorm last night with high winds. That could have easily shifted their position.
I pulled out my phone to look at the feed for the west wing and noticed it was going in and out. I had to fix this immediately. Even though Cara and Sara had designed our entire security system, they taught me everything they knew.
I made my way back to the clubhouse and to the cave where we kept all our equipment. As I made my way up the hallway, I noticed the cave door was open. I knew the girls had to be there. We were the only ones with access to that room.
“Sara, Cara, have you noticed the cameras on the west wing are glitching?” I asked as I stepped into the room.
As soon as I saw the man standing next to Sara, my mouth went dry. He had chestnut-brown hair cut short. His soft features made him look young. Almost like he had a baby face. I stared at him, taking in every single detail, from his brown doe eyes to his full, pouty pink lips. He was beautiful.
