She tried to remember if she had even seen Maxim holding a knife in her kitchen. She searched the recesses of her mind, but Adria grasped at ghosts and came up empty.
She was hot from her dream and the Mexican daylight creeping into their bedroom wasn’t helping.
Their bedroom.
She glanced over. Bryson was already awake, laying with eyes open, staring at the ceiling fan. He seemed to sense her gaze and looked over at her. Their eyes locked, and despite the heat, goosebumps prickled across her skin. Seth was curled against Bryson’s side, one arm draped possessively across his chest. Kaydon’s warmth pressed against her back. Last night’s conversation on the balcony replayed in her mind—Bryson’s whispered confession,I want you to take care of them.
Now, watching him absently stroke Seth’s hair, she wondered what this meant for all of them. Their dynamic was evolving beyond the violence and pain that had previously defined them. The tenderness they were sharing felt like discovering a hidden room in a familiar house—both foreign and safe. Yet beneath Bryson’s newfound softness, she sensed the jagged edges of his trauma. Adria knew firsthand how well pain could hide itself.
Her gaze drifted to Kaydon’s protective arm and to Seth’s sleeping face; she knew Bryson wasn’t the only one carrying invisible wounds.
Things were changing so fast, and none of them had been given any room to breathe.
Bryson ran his fingers through Seth’s hair, rousing him. Kaydon’s arm curled around her middle, pulling her closer. His body enveloping her in warm safety.
“Morning, boss,” Kaydon said into her ear, sending a new shiver across her back.
Seth’s eyes flashed open, and Adria watched as he hit her with one of his sweetest smiles.
Kaydon’s erection was impossible to ignore, and Adria was having her own reaction to the proximity of the three. The air between them thickened with possibility, but there were words that needed to be said first, conversations they couldn’t afford to postpone any longer.
“We need to talk,” she said seriously.
Kaydon nuzzled his face into her hair, breathing her in. “We need to eat.” His voice rumbled in her chest. “Youneed to eat. Then we can talk,” he whispered.
She was about to chastise him. Tell him that he wasn’t in charge here, but her stomach growled, and Bryson and Seth laughed.
Adria tried not to be self-conscious when the four of them arrived at breakfast. Vega’s eyes acknowledged their arrival, but they held no judgment. The table was filled with eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit and accompaniments. Bryson sat down first next to Elena.
“So, what’s the plan?” Elena said from across the table.
Adria dished up a pancake with fruit. “I talked with X last night, and he thinks if we stay here about a week, the tail on us will die down.”
“Getting there is another problem,” Vega said. “If what you told me is true, your papers and plane have been compromised. You could take a charter, but that has risks.”
Kaydon said, “We could take a boat.”
Vega took a moment to think. “That could work. But we wouldhaveto be sure that you were not followed.”
“We could send a lookout party, make sure our port entrance is uneventful,” Seth said.
“That’s brilliant,” Eric said as he slid into the vacant chair, the dark circles under his eyes more pronounced than usual.
“I agree,” Vega said. “That could easily be arranged.”
“And what would be in it for you?” Bryson chimed in, his voice icy.
Adria had to take a deep breath in order to stop herself from reprimanding him in front of the whole table. She had to remind herself that their bedroom dynamic didn’t extend into their regular life. Bryson was a Winters heir. He was going to be a family head someday. She needed to start treating him that way.
Vega placed a hand over his heart, feigning injury. “I can assure you my interests in you, young prince, have long since sailed. I can see the four of you are happy together, and I would never deign to get in between that.”
He turned his gaze to Adria. “I only ask that you consider my request.”
Adria coughed. “Vega, if or when I’m able to go home. Not to mention what happened before…” she trailed off, not sure how to explain herself.
“We would be willing to try.Whenwe make it home,” Eric said, his voice sure.
Adria cocked an eyebrow at him.
