Breaking point

POV MADDISON

The ride back to the Blackwood estate in the limousine was a heavy, suffocating silence, charged with an electricity so thick it practically bit. Richard was finished; I had seen the absolute ruin in his eyes right before security escorted him out of the gala. I had won the first battle. Yet, the adrenaline that had kept me standing through the entire event began to evaporate, leaving a cold, hollow ache in its place. The memories of my marriage, the years of quiet sacrifice thrown away for my stepsister’s cheap thrill—it all crashed down on me at once.

The moment we stepped inside the foyer of the mansion, I walked past the brothers without a word. I hurried down the dark hallway into the first-floor library, desperately searching for a quiet place to breathe. I shut the heavy oak door and leaned my back against it, but the air wouldn't reach my lungs. A choked sob escaped my throat, followed by another. My legs gave out, and I slid down the wood until I was sitting on the floor, burying my face in my hands. I was shaking, completely undone by the sudden weight of my past.

The door clicked and swung open, shattering my isolation.

"Go away, please," I whispered without looking up, my voice raw from the tears.

Heavy boots thudded against the hardwood floor. Asher dropped to his knees right in front of me. Without asking for permission, his large, calloused hands gripped my wrists with a firmness that brooked no argument, forcing my hands away from my face so I had to look at him. His dark, wild eyes searched mine with a relentless intensity.

"Are you seriously crying over that piece of trash?" Asher growled, his deep voice vibrating with an aggressive mix of irritation and possessiveness. "After what we just did to him out there, does he still have this much hold over you?"

"I am not crying over him!" I flared, my sadness twisting into sudden anger as I tried to pull my wrists from his iron grip. "I’m crying for myself. For being so stupid, for wasting years of my life building up a man who discarded me like I was absolute nothing!"

"You are nothing like that anymore, Maddison," Caleb’s smooth voice cut through the dimness of the library. He had slipped inside without me even noticing. He walked over slowly, unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket and tossing it carelessly onto a nearby armchair. "Look at you. You’re wearing our dress, you have our contract, and tonight you brought the man who broke you to his knees. You are a queen in this house now. And queens don't weep for insects."

Caleb knelt down on my other side. His long, elegant hand slid up my neck, catching a stray tear with his thumb before cupping my cheek. The contrast between Asher’s rough, brute force and Caleb’s gentle, calculated focus was completely dizzying.

"Leave me alone," I breathed, though my body betrayed my words, leaning subtly into Caleb’s warm palm.

"No," Asher commanded flatly.

Before I could even process his movement, Asher hooked his strong arms under my knees and my back, lifting me off the floor as if I weighed nothing at all. I gasped in surprise as he carried me over to the massive black leather sofa in the center of the room. He deposited me onto the cushions, but before I could scramble back, his heavy body settled right between my thighs, pinning me down. The crimson silk of my dress slid high up my leg, exposing my bare skin to the cool air of the room and the intense heat of his chest.

"I told you I’d make you forget him, doll," Asher murmured, his face inches from mine, his dark eyes devouring my mouth. "And I don't break my promises."

Asher slammed his lips onto mine. It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was a dominant, hungry invasion that forced my mouth open, demanding everything. The sharp taste of scotch and danger flooded my senses, instantly short-circuiting every lingering thought of Richard or my past. My hands, which had risen to push him away, clawed into his broad shoulders instead, tangling in his hair. The adrenaline of my heartbreak instantly melted into pure, desperate desire.

As Asher claimed my mouth, the leather sofa shifted under an extra weight. Caleb had slid onto the cushions right beside me. His long fingers glided up through the high slit of my dress, tracing a path of fire along my inner thigh that made me whimper directly into his brother's mouth.

"That's it, Maddison... let it go," Caleb whispered against my ear, his hot breath sending shivers rushing straight down to my core. His hand firmly gripped my hip, anchoring me to the sofa. "Focus only on us. Feel what it's like to be held by real men."

The library, the cold, the betrayal—everything ceased to exist. I was entirely caught in a storm of four demanding arms, ragged breathing, and an overwhelming, possessive attention that burned through my defenses. Asher dragged his lips down to my throat, biting sharply at the sensitive skin of my collarbone, tearing a loud moan from my lips. Caleb seized the opportunity to capture my mouth with an intense, strategic hunger, while Asher’s hand reached behind my back, dragging the zipper of my red dress down with a sharp, definitive hiss.

I was falling down an absolute precipice of shared sensations, completely surrendering to the terrifying, breathless heat of their combined touch.

"Well... it seems the celebration started without me," a chilly, deeply authoritative voice rang out from the entrance.

Ethan stood under the doorway, his hands shoved into his trouser pockets, his icy gaze fixed entirely on the tangled mess of limbs on the sofa. The air in the room instantly froze solid.