LOGINSARAH Can someone please tell me why Jaxon has been weird as hell all freaking afternoon? Between his awkward silence and weird obsession with his phone, it’s really hard to pick which is getting on my nerves more. And every single time I’ve called him out on it, he’s looked at me with innocent eyes round with remorse—only to do the same fucking thing again. During my mani-pedi, he excused himself twice to make calls. And now, as I step out of the car at the vineyard, he’s practically vibrating with nerves. I’ve asked, believe me, over and over again if he’s okay, and I’m about to do it again. For the fifteenth time in five hours. PSA: I’m not exaggerating. “You okay?” I ask, watching him fumble with his keys.He fiddles with the top button of his grey shirt. One would think it’s ninety degrees out here with how much he’s sweating. I watch him blink twice before turning to me, the brightest fake smile glued on his face like a mask. “Perfect. Great. Why wouldn’t I be?”Uhmm, I
RONAN “Sir, I really hate to be that guy, but are you certain we will be able to finish the arrangements before she arrives?” Donald, Malachi’s personal assistant asks while handing me a Budweiser. Without turning to him, I snatch the glass bottle from his hand and crack it open with my teeth. “Do you want to lose your job, Donald?”He pales beside me. “No…not at all.”Slowly, I tilt my neck sideways to look at him, tearing my gaze away from the lake. “So, what do you have to do to make sure you still have a job by the end of today?” The smile on my face is everything but friendly. He swallows hard. “Make…make sure that everything goes according to plan, and just in time.”“Good boy.” I pat his shoulder and nod. Barely seconds after I return my attention to the lake, he sprints away, and I scoff. Where is Malachi anyway? I look around. He should be here with me. Jaxon has already played his part by helping us take Sarah out of the house. She’s on a shopping spree as we speak.
SARAH “I still can’t believe you’re making me pack at seven in the morning,” I grumble, tossing another shirt into my suitcase. “This is cruel and unusual punishment.”Ronan leans against my doorframe, arms crossed. He looks way too good for someone who’s been awake since the crack of dawn. I wonder how they stayed awake long enough to drive here without falling asleep and crashing into a pickup truck. I had tried to get them to sleep over last night, but Kevin wasn’t having it. “Don’t you miss the feeling of your own bed?” He had asked, and the scowl on his face was enough to send his best friends right out of the door. Back to the present. “You said you wanted to leave early.”“I said I wanted to leave at a reasonable hour. I don’t see how making a trip by seven in the morning is reasonable.”Jaxon appears behind Ronan, already carrying two of my bags. “We’re not even going that far,” he laughs. “Would you be carrying these two?” He holds the bags up to me. I look over them bri
SARAH His words, strict and straight, flips the butterflies in my stomach on their backs. His jaw clenches. “You think we want you because you’re carrying our children? Sarah, we’ve wanted you since the day you walked into the party, all those years ago, with that bastard locked in your right hand,”I push the lump of saliva down my throat. “We’ve wanted you every day since then, craved you, wondered what it’ll feel like to be with you, in you. We never missed your face on TV. Wherever you showed up, we wanted to see. Why do you think we held on to you so tight after seeing you at the club that night? ” His voice softens.“Shit,” He sucks in a deep breath, scratching the back of his head. “I sound like a fucking broken record now, baby.” I’m fully sobbing now, and Malachi’s hand finds mine, threading our fingers together.“You want to know what happens next?” Ronan leans into me, pressing his lips against my head. I turn to him, angling my head to take a full look at his face. So
SARAH Ronan looks up with his keen, blue eyes shining with curiosity. He stretches his hand out, calling for me. “Here, baby,” he taps the empty space on the couch between him and his brothers. “Come sit with us.” We’re all sitting on the couch now. I stay perched on the edge just in case I need to run at any moment, you know, to escape the conversation, and they’re arranged around me. Ronan to my left, as solid and quiet as always. Malachi to my right, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating off him. Jaxon moves to the center table directly in front of me, elbows on his knees, and keeps his eyes glued on my face.I hate how exposed I feel right now, but it’s them…it’s worth it. “Okay,” I say, and my voice sounds too loud in the quiet room. “So. I’ve been thinking a lot, alright? And we need to talk about…” shit. Why is it so heavy to say? “Our plans for the future.”“We’re listening,” Malachi says gently, reaching for my hand. I take a breath. Then another. My han
SARAH “Hiding out here, Berry?”The cold night breeze blows past my face. I free my fingers from the sleeves of my shirt and tuck loose strands of my hair to the back of my eyes. I don’t look at him when a sigh escapes my lips. “No.” I say, shaking my head. “I’m not. It just feels hot inside.”“Yeah,” from the corner of my right eye, I watch him. Kevin nods, kissing his teeth. “Right.”He takes his place beside me on the steps of my front porch. I still don’t look at him, but I can tell he’s smiling when he throws his right arm over my shoulders, and kills the distance between us by pulling me in. “The thing is…I don’t believe you.”A tired sigh. “Kevin…”“Let me finish, Berry. You never want to be away from them, believe me. As someone who tried to tear you guys apart, that’s one thing I know for sure. If you’re out here while they’re in there, something is definitely wrong.”I tug on the hem of my shirt to keep my fingers busy as he speaks. My mind doesn’t waste any time drifti







