Chapter 9

Olivia

Playing hide-and-seek with Lily shouldn’t have been this entertaining.

But the little girl was absolutely thrilled by it.

Honestly, it almost felt like she didn’t get to play very often, which made me strangely sad for her.

Most of her hiding spots were painfully obvious.

Like right now.

I could clearly see her tiny legs sticking out from behind a giant potted palm near the upstairs hallway.

But I pretended not to notice.

“Hmmm,” I said dramatically, tapping my chin. “Wow. Lily is really good at hiding. Wherever could she be?”

I immediately heard muffled giggling from behind the plant.

Cute.

I noticed one of the nearby bedroom doors cracked slightly open.

Perfect.

I’d pretend to search there before “finding” her.

“Hmmm…” I mused loudly. “Maybe she’s in here?”

I pushed the bedroom door open.

And instantly froze.

Both Ethan and Logan were inside.

Oh my God.

I absolutely had not expected both of them to be standing there staring at me like I’d interrupted some top-secret meeting.

For a second, nobody spoke.

The tension in the room was so thick it almost felt physical.

“Uh…” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Sorry. Lily and I are playing hide-and-seek. The door was open, so I thought maybe she hid in here.”

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them blinked.

Honestly, it was starting to get creepy.

Finally Ethan muttered, “Try behind the plant.”

Right.

So they knew too.

“Yeah,” I said awkwardly. “Okay. Thanks.”

I quickly turned to leave.

“Liv, wait.”

I stopped at Logan’s voice and glanced back over my shoulder.

“Yeah?”

Both brothers looked at me silently again.

What was with these men and their intense staring problem?

Finally Logan spoke.

“Are you comfortable here?”

Comfortable?

I’d only been here a few hours.

Why was he asking me that like it actually mattered to him?

“I’m okay,” I answered slowly.

Then I escaped before the weirdness in that room got any worse.

The second I shut the bedroom door behind me, I headed toward the potted palm.

“Hmmm,” I said thoughtfully, pretending to inspect it. “Could that possibly be Lily behind this giant tree?”

Lily burst out laughing and jumped from her hiding spot.

“It’s me!”

I crouched down to her height with a grin.

“Well,” I announced dramatically, “you are officially the hide-and-seek champion.”

Lily beamed proudly before suddenly throwing her little arms around me in a hug.

The gesture caught me completely off guard.

But my heart melted instantly anyway.

When she finally pulled back, I smiled warmly at her.

“You know what champions deserve?”

“What?”

“A snack.”

Her eyes lit up.

“Okay!”

Then she glanced behind me suddenly.

“Aiden!” she yelled proudly. “I’m the champion! I hide really good!”

I turned to find both twins standing outside the bedroom now watching us.

Ethan’s expression softened slightly when he looked at his sister.

“I heard that, squirt.”

“We’re getting snacks,” Lily informed him importantly. “You wanna come?”

Ethan smiled faintly.

“I’d love to, but I have to go talk to Dad about work stuff.”

Lily sighed dramatically.

“Okay.”

“Next time,” he promised.

Then Lily grabbed my hand and started dragging me down the hallway.

“Come on, Liv!”

As she pulled me away, I glanced back once.

Both twins still stood there watching us.

And for some strange reason…

A weird ache settled in my chest.

Like I wanted them to come with us.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I barely knew these men.

Sure, they were attractive, but that didn’t explain whatever weird pull I kept feeling around them.

I shoved the thought away quickly as Lily dragged me into the kitchen.

I grabbed an apple from the counter before searching through cabinets for a cutting board and knife.

Eventually I found what I needed and started slicing the apple while Lily sat at the kitchen table swinging her legs beneath the chair.

She watched me like I was the most fascinating person alive.

Honestly, it was adorable.

As I cut the apple, I finally asked the question that had been bothering me.

“So…” I said carefully, “why exactly aren’t you allowed outside?”

Lily shrugged.

“Because of rogues.”

I paused mid-slice.

Rogues?

Maybe I’d heard her wrong.

“Rogues?” I repeated slowly.

She nodded seriously.

“They’re bad.”

Okay…

Still not helping.

“Daddy says they might take me.”

My stomach tightened slightly.

Was she talking about kidnappers?

Or had this family genuinely convinced their child monsters existed outside?

Honestly, with how strange everyone here acted, I couldn’t even tell anymore.

Then another thought hit me.

If Lily never went outside…

Did she even have friends?

“Do you have any friends your age?” I asked gently.

Lily thought about it seriously before answering.

“I have you.”

My chest squeezed unexpectedly.

“And my brothers,” she added happily.

I brought the plate of apple slices over and placed it in front of her.

She smiled brightly.

“Can you do the milk trick again?”

I nearly choked.

Oh no.

Right as I started to stand up to avoid answering, a deep voice spoke behind me.

“Milk trick?”

I spun around so fast I almost dropped the knife.

Logan stood leaning casually in the kitchen doorway watching us.

And judging by the curiosity in his eyes…

He’d definitely heard that part.