LOGINCASSIAN Penelope—as I’ve come to discover is her name—is asleep on the couch, tucked under one of Val’s many blankets. She’s so small, so fragile. And ours. Ours to protect now. And why the fuck does Val have so many blankets in his study? Did you know she ran away?” The words come out leveled, more controlled than I can give myself credit for.I turn to Val, whose eyes are locked on the screen of his phone, furiously scrolling through tabloids, I imagine.“Of course not,” he tosses his phone onto his desk.He hasn’t looked this ready to kill in years.“I should have known,”His knuckles are white where he grips the armrests. “When she panicked after I tried to take her to the hospital… I was so fucking carried away.”You can say the same for all of us,” I answer. The smile that curls my mouth is cold. “Seeing her again after all this time…” I don’t finish my sentence. There’s no need to, they understand. She was hurting. Postpartum, abused, alone for years with no one. Not e
MELANIE “Oh no!” I hurry to my feet, shame heating up my cheeks with bright red colors. I’m suddenly aware of how naked I am, how bare I’ve laid myself in front of these men I vowed to do anything and everything to stay away from. I keep my eyes on the ground as I search relentlessly for my underwear. I can feel their gazes burning the skin of my back. “This was a fucking mistake.” It’s a curse underneath my breath, but I know they can hear me. Not that I care much about that. Right now, Penelope is my main priority. “Are you there, mummy?”Shit. I turn around to find the brothers fully dressed, besides Cassian. Val had brought me here in my underwear, what the hell am I supposed to do now? I sure as hell can’t show up to the door dressed like this. I’m not even dressed at all! Great. How responsible of me. I got away from Brandon to protect Penelope from her father, and the first thing I did was fuck men far more dangerous. Mother of the year! Who knows? If I keep up wit
MELANIE Yeah. If he thinks I’m just going to walk on over to the couch because he said so, he’s got another thing coming for him. “Make me,” I snap, the words flying out before I can stop them.I don’t expect Cassian to take my bluff seriously, but the next thing I know, he hauls me over his shoulder like I weigh as little as a bag of chips, one powerful arm locked around my thighs as he carries me to the couch. He’s really really strong. He sets me down on all fours on the cushions, and my back arches instinctively, pushing my ass up toward him.Shit. It’s almost like my body already knows who it belongs to. He moans, it’s a low and filthy, so fucking delicious. “Fuck. All this ass.” His big hands sink deep into my soft, fleshy ass cheeks, squeezing hard. He spreads me open, and my pussy clenches hard, seeking for something…anything, to take away the hollow ache. I have a feeling he’s going to punish me for my defiance. The idea pushes me further towards the edge. This is n
MELANIE Val’s strong arms hold me from behind, his massive cock, hard as a rock, is pressed hot and heavy against the curve of my bare back, throbbing with every frantic beat of my pulse. Wild Xavier’s eyes sparkle with dark desire and wicked mischief as he watches me. I am happy to know that one of us hasn’t lost our spark. “Of course, brother,” his voice drops to a dangerous pitch, already moving toward me. Every step he takes makes my heart slam harder against my ribs, heat flooding my naked body. When he reaches us, Val releases me. I don’t even know why I start backing away, feet moving on their own. Perhaps, somewhere at the back of my mind, my voice of reasoning is trying to send signals to my brain, to warn me that this is an awful idea. It might have been a “mistake” six years ago, but what excuse would I give my conscience now? “Are you running from me, baby girl?”Xavier chuckles in amusement. I swallow hard for lack of words. My mouth feels so heavy, I doubt it’ll
XAVIER That’s it, that’s my girl. Bite down on your tongue until you can’t anymore, until a pleasurable scream tears through your throat. My fingers curl around her neck as I dig deeper, inching my body closer to her. Melanie whines, right hand reaching for her back. I pull away from her immediately. Yes, I do want her to make sounds, but those of pleasure, not pain. My gaze drops to her back, carefully cleaned and covered with a bandaid, and the lump in my throat thickens. I had tried to ignore it before, pretending it wasn’t there. To allow my desire overcome the watery, insatiable thirst for vengeance in my mouth was the only way to stop myself from booking a ticket for his city and tearing him from limb. She should never have married him. We should never have let her walk out of our room that morning…ever. All I can do is place my hand on her shoulder. If I move to touch it, I would lose every ounce of self control. When I look at my brothers, I can see they’re all thin
MELANIE “I thought you said they’ll be spending the night outside.” I shoot Val an accusatory look. Was this his plan all along? To have me cornered here?“Let’s just say our spidey senses began to tingle. Told us something fun was happening, and we…weren’t invited,” Xavier replies.I can’t help but notice how much he’s grown taller, and bigger, and…hotter. The length of his blonde hair is in a neat bun behind his head. His ocean blue eyes sparkle with mischief as he walks towards me. In his bright red shirt and matching suit pants, he stands tall, muscles pleading to be set free. Unlike Val and Cassian, he is still free of any tattoos. He was always vain about his looks. Some things never change. Cassian follows beside him, jet black hair slicked back, green eyes never leaving me—not even for a second. I’m like a baby lamb surrounded by really hungry wolves. I swallow hard, slowly moving backwards. I shouldn’t be here. If anything, this proves to me that I was right; coming







