เข้าสู่ระบบMARIAN.My eyes sting with tears that I refuse to let fall. Heat flares under my skin, but I force my voice to stay level even though my hands want to shake, and I can feel the chilling in my bones.“Really?” I scoff, forcing steadiness into my voice even though I feel the direct opposite of steadiness. “Well, good luck finding someone who can close a hundred-million-dollar deal in one night.” I add.“You want the divorce? Fine! Fucking take it. You want Velmora? Take it too, even though it’s my blood and my sweat that built every single floor of that place. But you know what I’m not going to let you do, Malcolm?” I ask, boldness mixing with the terror that fills me.“I’m not going to let you dare stand there and pretend the company will keep running without me. It will crumple. It will fall straight to the ground, and you know it. You’ve always known it.” I laugh, the sound betraying no emotion. “You think I’m replaceable? Let’s put that theory to test, why don’t we?”His face darken
MARIAN.My heart has never been this full, the smile on my face feels as though it has finally found a permanent place to stay, and I can’t help the butterflies that swarm my stomach as I watch.When I looked back at the brothers, it had taken everything I had in me to not go back and tell them to take me with them. I shake my head, I know they’re still behind me, and I know they won’t leave until I’m inside.Taking in a deep breath. “You can do this, Marian.” I say to myself as I place my hand on the door knob, daring to actually go in even though every cell in my body is screaming for me to… well, not.“It’s just Malcolm, and he’s in bandages and crutches, you also told him you were going to be late.” I say to myself, prepping myself mentally.“Deep breaths.” I add, and do exactly as I say. After a few quick deep breaths in and out, I eventually turn the knob, and make my way inside with the smile on my face completely disappearing.The second the front door clicks shut behind me, t
ZAYDEN.We all freeze, and my chest tightens hard enough that I feel it in my throat. Across the table Aeron’s eyes meet mine for half a second, and I know he’s feeling the exact same thing. Marian’s tears had caught every last one of us off guard. One minute she was looking at the food like it was the best thing she’d ever seen, and the next those quiet, steady tears were slipping down her cheeks like they had every right to be there.And now she’s thanking us? For what? What could we have possibly done to earn a thank you from her?My eyes meet Aeron’s again, and he nods at me as if he knows that I’m about to say something, and he’s trying to let me know that I can say whatever I want to say.I clear my throat, the sound rough in the quiet. “Bunny…. Why are you thanking us? What’s the matter?”Aeron’s voice comes low and careful from across the table. “Yeah. What exactly are you thanking us for? Because so far we haven’t done a single thing out of the ordinary for you. Everything w
MARIAN.“What?” I scowl at them, the heat already climbing my neck even as my stomach gives another embarrassing growl, can it just shut up already?“Why the hell would I want any of you to carry me when I can walk in on my own two legs?” I ask, looking from Zephyr to Zayden to Aeron, and then to Tristan, who I just know will have an answer to the question.Quite frankly, all of them seem to always have an answer to my question. Sometimes it feels as though they’d rehearsed everything I’m going to ask them and then the response they’ll give.Tristan’s amber eyes spark with mischief, that soft-looking smile turning a little wicked, and it still manages to make my stomach heat up. “Because you’re tired, bunny.” He says, and I roll my eyes as I shake my head.“We thought you might want to indulge in a little… Dreadmoor loving. Trust me, it’s perfect. It’s just the thing you need.” He adds, and honestly, I have never seen such grown men act like a child before.All four of them command ro
TRISTAN.The second the door shuts behind Marian, I slide in after her, and the others follow after me, doors closing after us as if we’ve rehearsed this moment a million times already.We might not have, but with Marian, everything comes down easily that it feels like a reflex action. We don’t have time to think too much about it, all we have to do is just act.Eventually, she ends up between Zephyr and me, thighs pressed to both of us, and the second the engine starts I feel the tension drain out of her shoulders in one long, quiet exhale.I wish we could just leave with her, take her home, and not to her stupid ass husband. I wish we could treat her like the queen she is, and not just tonight but every single day.I want to go to bed knowing that when I wake up, she’ll be right there, curled up between my brothers and I. Before I can stop myself—and quite frankly, I don’t want to—I brush a loose tendril of hair away from her face.“You look really tired, bunny. Did you even get eno
MARIAN.I hang up the phone and release a long, shaky sigh. The silence that follows feels different—cleaner. I don’t feel as though I’m carrying a heavy weight on my shoulder, I don’t feel like bawling my eyes out in the silence because there’s no one here.Instead, I let a small smile play out on my face as I take a couple more breaths in and out. My heart feels full, and the more I replay my lawyer’s conversation in my head, the more I feel like I have a chance.“Finally.” I mutter into the quiet office. Peace settles into my chest like warm honey, slow and thick, and the quiet certainty that I might actually win this war against Malcolm makes it sweeter. All I have to do is make sure I follow the lawyer’s instructions. If Malcolm is blindsided, then my victory will feel even better. God, I can’t wait for all of this to be over. I can’t wait to divorce him and not lose every single thing I worked so hard for.I think about how disappointed twenty-five years old me would be, but th
MARIAN.My eyes grow wide at the sound of the voice, and I can hear my heart racing as if it’s desperately trying to tear through my ribs. My head still pounds, but the rest of my muscles feel relaxed, so I’m guessing the headache is because of how much whiskey I consumed.Running my fingers throug
MARIAN. The VIP section is quiet as I feel all four brother’s eyes on me. My body burns, and my grip around my clutch tightens so hard that my knuckles turn white, it’s almost as if it’s the only thing I’m looking to as an anchor. A low guttural laugh emanates from Zayden as he stands to his feet
MARIAN.Walking as fast as my legs can carry me into my safest space in this house, I slam the door to my private bedroom shut behind me, the heavy click echoing like a gunshot in the quiet space. My chest heaves, lungs burning as I lean back against the polished wood, fingers trembling against the
MARIAN.His eyes stay on me, and it feels as though I’m in a staring contest with him, a contest I know all too well that I’m going to lose, and true to that, I did not just blink, but I also looked away.When he looks at me like that, I think in directions I shouldn’t. I start imagining things I k







