Both of them are waiting for me when I leave my closet. When I left the shower, neither of them were in my bedroom, but I guess they must have been dressing somewhere else, because now they are fully clothed and sitting in the small seating area, murmuring quietly to themselves.
“I’m starving,” I say cheerfully. “I always am after a workout.” I give them a wink, and they both stare at me with shock and no small amount of suspicion. I roll my eyes. “Well, are you coming to breakfast?” I don’t wait for them before I saunter out of my bedroom toward the elevator. I haven’t bothered dressing for work today. Instead, I’m in a pair of black skinny jeans that make my ass look amazing and a slouchy, off the shoulder emerald green sweater that shows a delightful hint of naked skin. On my feet, I wear a pair of chucks.
My footsteps are quiet in the carpeted hallway as I press the button to call the elevator. I turn to see if the boys followed, and they are close behind, still watching me with thinly veiled apprehension.
I chuckle. “Relax, you both look so uptight. I would have thought what we just did would have drained some of the tension out of you.”
They step into the elevator, and it’s like they don’t quite know how to take me. They are acting like they are facing down a cobra and can’t decide whether it’s going to dance or strike.
“It did, but then you started acting like this,” Tristan mutters, gesturing his hand up and down my body.
“Oh? Like what?” I ask as the doors close, and he frowns.
“Friendly, charming, flirty. Not once since we’ve known you have you looked so relaxed. Usually you’re wound tighter than a top and try as hard as you can to keep us at arm’s length.”
Xavier is quiet but watches me like a hawk, like he’s trying to figure out what I’m playing at. I sigh and shake my head.
“Yeah, you’re right, and I’m fucking exhausted,” I admit, and they exchange a shocked glance. “I don’t want to fight anymore. You’ve explained your reasons, and I am going to take it at face value and not search for anything else,” I tell them, and Tristan’s eyes light up with excitement while Xavier’s eyebrows furrow like he can’t quite believe what I’m saying. “But I swear if you betray me or lie to me again, I won’t hesitate to kill all of you. This is your last chance, no more after this.”
Tristan murmurs an agreement, but Xavier crosses his arms.“That goes both ways. No lying and betraying us either,” he says pointedly, and I nod.
“No more secrets or lies.” I can’t very well tell them everything, because I know we’re being monitored, and I see him relax slightly as he comes to the same conclusion. “Soon,” I promise as the door opens, and the three of us step out and head to the dining room. Tristan and Xavier crowd me on both sides, our arms brushing as we move, but none of us make a move.
When we push the door open, I wince as Stacey’s grating tones reach my ears.
“Well, fuck,” Tristan mutters.
“Ugh, brace yourselves,” I murmur out of the side of my mouth before pasting on a smile, grabbing their hands, and releasing a loud, flirty giggle to silence the room.
Everyone looks up as the three of us enter the room. The boys wear smug smiles on their faces as we take our seats, Xavier and I sit on one side, but Tristan grimaces as he realizes the only seat left is next to Stacey. I give his hand a squeeze before he leans in and kisses my cheek then goes over to take the empty seat.
“See?” Stacey screeches, jabbing a hand at us. “My fucking fiancé is being unfaithful with the whores in this house.”
Mario just leans back in his breakfast chair and looks smug as she continues her rant.
“Yesterday I caught him fucking her and the other slut, then last night I heard him getting fucked by him.” She jabs a hand in Xavier’s direction, and Mario scowls. “And now this morning, it looks like all three of them are cozy. Are you next?” she hisses at Colton who grins and shrugs.
“Maybe, could be fun.”
Vienna scoffs her amusement as she lifts her champagne flute and takes a sip. “Sounds to me like it’s a you problem, not a them problem.”
Mario prepares to chide the two boys now that Stacey dropped them in the shit, but I decide to distract him by rubbing my belly. “Who knows, maybe with all the sex, I’m already pregnant. I’ll have to get some tests from the pharmacy.” It’s truly not possible, but none of them actually know that.
Tristan’s eyes bulge comically at my comment, but Xavier turns and nuzzles my neck, placing his hand on my belly as well. “Thank you,” he murmurs gratefully, and I give him a swift kiss on the lips.
It works, and Mario beams before waving a hand at Stacey. “Shut it. This family will do what it needs to achieve our goals.Like I said, I don’t care who puts a baby in her belly as long as it’s one of those three.”
Stacey screeches again, but before she can continue, Gregor hurries into the room. Shows how distracted I was that I didn’t even notice he was missing. Mario turns his attention to him.
“Ah, brother, did you hear the good news? The family may be expecting a new bundle of joy.”
Gregor shakes his head, a scowl furrowing his brow. “The buy last night went balls up,” he announces bluntly, and Mario freezes. The tension in the room winds tight, and Stacey finally gets a clue and closes her mouth, shrinking in her chair like she wants to be out of the firing line. My heart starts to race.
Here we go, showtime.
Chapter Seventeen
“What happened?” he asks quietly with sudden, chilling coldness. He looks at Xavier. “I thought I told you to supervise that buy.”
