Page 62 of Emily

Yeah, that did things to her. And made her feel a little surer of herself. She met Daddy Double’s gaze. Bryce, Daddy called him Bryce... but he’d also called Daddy by his first name, which she knew, thanks to Katrina. She also knew that Daddy hated his first name and preferred Damian.

“Hello.” The man on the couch next to Bryce waved at her with a smile. He, too, had a full head of silver hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He was wearing a suit as well, but he was a lot friendlier. “I’m Desmond’s husband, Bastian. Don’t mind Desmond. He’s not always like this.”

Desmond. And now she was going to kick Katrina for never mentioning that her Uncle Desmond was her dad’s freaking identical twin.

“Just when I’m around,” Daddy said, shifting and guiding her toward the chairs on the other side of the room from the couch, which was when she noticed the final man in the room. He was sitting behind a big desk, which was clearly his, and he was the only one who had dark hair. Clearly a little younger than the others, he still had the same penetrating gaze of the other men. “Hey, Braden.”

Katrina’s other uncle, the youngest one, obviously.

“Damian.” Braden nodded his head in greeting, still watching her with curiosity as Damian sat down in one of the chairs in front of Braden’s desk before pulling her onto his lap. “And this must be Emily.”

Daddy rolled his eyes.

“You know it is. I’m sure you had plenty of time to look over her paperwork when I submitted the guest application.” Daddy gave her thigh a reassuring squeeze.

“Hi,” she said, waving at Braden, then directing it toward Bastian and Desmond as well. It didn’t hurt to be polite, even though she wasn’t sure she liked Desmond or the way he was looking at her. She realized it might not be about her, though. Clearly, the twins didn’t get along.

On the other hand, she didn’t like being judged based on her company, especially because she was with her Daddy.

“Isn’t she a little young for you?” Desmond asked disapprovingly, looking past her to meet Daddy’s gaze and confirming her dislike of him.

Emily scowled. Being on Daddy’s lap made her feel braver than she might have otherwise. “Aren’t you a little old to be this rude?” she retorted.

His eyebrows flew up in astonishment, and her Daddy chuckled but squeezed her thigh again. This time, it felt more like a warning… but he didn’t reprimand her. It seemed as if she was allowed to brat at his twin, but he didn’t want her to take it too far.

“Aren’t you?” Desmond was looking at her now, and his expression was fierce enough that if she hadn’t been emboldened by sitting on her Daddy’s lap, she probably would have tried to hide.

“Am I too young or too old? And besides, you started it. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” She stuck out her tongue at him, and Bastian quickly turned his laugh into a cough, causing Desmond to turn and glare at him. Braden didn’t bother hiding his chuckle.

“Blame Braden. He’s the reason we got to this point,” Daddy said genially. “If it wasn’t for that auction, I would have never touched her.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room changed. Braden sat up straighter, no longer chuckling, a confused frown on his face, and Damian and Bastian were exchanging an equally confused look.

“Auction? What auction?” Braden asked, snapping out the question in a way that made her jump.

“The auction… the one run through BDE? To fulfill people’s fantasies? The virgin auction?”

“The what?” Desmond was so outraged he leapt to his feet.

Emily scrunched in on Daddy’s lap, overwhelmed by the sudden outpouring of masculine rage around her. Daddy wrapped his arms around her, holding her more securely.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s fucking run through BDE. Look at Braden. I found out about it from another member. The site itself is full of our members, and I figured it was some new promotion Braden started. Are you seriously telling me it’s not?” Daddy didn’t even glance at his twin. He was looking directly at Braden, as if he could make Desmond disappear through sheer force of will.

“It’s not. I don’t know anything about it.” Braden held his hands up in surrender, looking back and forth between his two older brothers. “I swear.” He looked at Emily. “You aren’t a member here. How did you hear about the auction?”

“Uh… oh… well…”

“I’ve been wondering that myself,” Daddy said, shifting her around on his lap so he could see her face.

Emily blushed. Maybe she should have expected to have to tell him about it, but it hadn’t come up yet… and if Katrina’s reaction had been anything to go by, she had a feeling Daddy’s would be even worse.

“I…” She peeked over at the others. “Can I whisper it in your ear?”

Bad enough admitting the path that had led her to the auction to him; having to talk about it—including her money troubles—in front of a bunch of men who were basically strangers was more than she could bear. Daddy’s expression was blank as he nodded, as if he was very carefully trying not to give anything away. At least he realized he wasn’t going to like it.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

Damian

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