Grey brings his hands to the outside of my thighs, rubbing beneath the hem of my skirt, his hands hot on my naked skin. “We fucked up badly. We know that. We never meant to hurt you.”
“But you did,” I whisper, averting my gaze.
You said you loved me.
Misha moves closer, reaching out to nudge my chin up and make me look at him. “We’re so sorry. We got caught up in something we shouldn’t have, but it came from a place of caring about you.”
I huff. “Caring? Is that what you call it? Spying on me to get more data for your project? Stalking me?”
“This wasn’t about the AI,” Oliver says, and I turn to scowl at him. “It wasn’t! You were never a project to me. We were worried about you. You were always so alone, and we just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he explains, stroking circles on my back.
Now, all of them are somehow touching me, and some of the anxiety I’ve felt for days eases, while at the same time, the hurt intensifies.
How are they the best and worst thing that has ever happened tome?
More tears start spilling over. “You had no right to watch me like that. I trusted you, all of you.”
“But did you?” Grey challenges, his voice steady but filled withsomething. “At the start, you wouldn’t share shit with us, and it was like pulling teeth to even get you to eat lunch at our table. We needed to earn your trust, and yes, we cheated. But would you have let us in otherwise?”
I bite my lip, the truth of his words hitting me hard.
He’s probably right.
I was closed off, guarded.
Grey reaches out to pull my lip out from between my teeth with his thumb. “I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you, and you had to find out on your own. But I’m not sorry that we watched you. It wasn’t planned. Jamie barged his way into your system and we got a glimpse into your life. A glimpse of the smart, beautiful, sassy, but so damn lonely woman who we all couldn’t stop watching while we were falling for her. Hard. Watching you was wrong, yes, but I needed to know everything about you. My girl.Ourgirl. How you tick, what you like,if you’re safe.”
Their girl.
“You could have asked,” I murmur, the tears still flowing.
“And what would you have said?” Misha interjects. “Would you have let us in, or would you have pushed us away? You were alone, Amelia.So fucking alone.And we couldn’t stand by and watch you struggle when we had a chance to be there for you, even if it was from a distance at first.”
I glance between them, and the truth of their words stings, but it also makes me see things from their perspective. They did what they thought was necessary to break through my walls, to reach me when I wouldn’t let anyone else in.
But still…
“Okay. But that didn’t give you the right,” I insist, though my voice lacks the conviction it had moments ago.
“No, it didn’t,” Oliver agrees, scooting closer. “But we did it because we care about you. So much. And maybe we went about it the wrong way, but our intentions were never to hurt you.”
Grey cups the back of my knees. “We know we fucked up, Amelia. But we can’t change what we did. All we can do is try to make it right and hope you can forgive us.”
The anger and betrayal still burn within me, but beneath that, I can feel the stirrings of something else—understanding maybe.
“Give us a chance to prove that we’re worthy of your trust,” Misha adds.
Part of me wants to cling to my anger, to the feeling of betrayal, but another part of me knows they’re right. And somehow, it feels good. Good to know they cared enough to watch me.
For weeks.
God, this is so bloody confusing.
“We never watched you sleep or shower, I promise. But I binge-watchedTwilightwith you once.” Misha grins, trying to reassure me with humor while he’s holding my calf.
“So, you didn’t watch when Jamie made me come?”
Did I really just ask that out loud?
