Page 50 of Her Forever Daddies

“Maybe we should go over there,” Zane said.

Yeah, because it wouldn’t be at all awkward for Ruby to have to explain to her prim and proper parents why two men were in her apartment. Not that Jace gave a shit what they thought, but he had a feeling they would give Ruby hell for it and he wouldn’t be able to just sit by and listen to them say nasty things to her about her relationship or life choices. They hadn’t really even raised her. They shouldn’t get a say in how she lived her life.

“She’ll text us. We need to give her space. I know you don’t know what that means so you might need to look it up in the dictionary,” Jace told him.

Zane’s scowl turned toward him and he grinned when his friend flipped him off.

“She’s different than any of the others,” Zane said quietly as he flipped his pen between his fingers.

Letting out a sigh, Jace nodded. “I know. She’s the one. I feel it, too. I’m in love with her, Z. I know it’s crazy to say that but I am. She’s so lost and sad but at the same time she’s playful and sweet and she lights up everything inside me.”

His friend grinned. “I love her, too. I love her so fucking much and it scares the shit out of me, but at the same time, I feel alive for the first time in years.”

“Are you saying I wasn’t enough to keep you feeling alive?” Jace asked playfully.

Waggling his eyebrows, Zane tilted his head. “No offense, bro, but your ass isn’t nearly as cute as hers, and you’re not even close to being as sweet as she is. Besides, you probably suck at giving head.”

Throwing his head back, Jace burst out laughing. Sometimes Zane could be so weird and off the wall and it was one of the reasons they were best friends. They balanced each other’s idiosyncrasies.

By the time he got his laughing under control, he practically had tears coming out of his eyes.

“You’re fucking crazy, dude. Come on, let’s go do some rounds out in the club to keep ourselves busy so we don’t drive ourselves insane waiting to hear from our girl,” Jace said.

Zane stood but grumbled under his breath. “I still think we should just go over there.”

Yeah, he needed to keep his friend busy because it was only a matter of time before Zane actually did show up at her apartment.

“Love you, man,” Jace said, slapping Zane on the back as they walked out of the office.

“I love you too, bro,” Zane said with a warm smile.

Now they just needed to show their little girl how much they loved her.

27

RUBY

Letting out a deep sigh, Ruby closed her laptop and fell back against the couch cushions. After twenty minutes of talking to her mother, she couldn’t decide if she wanted to cry, scream, break something, or sleep for three days.

How was it possible for the woman to drain her as much as she did? Now she wasn’t just dreading their upcoming anniversary party, she just didn’t want to go. But her mother had been explicit about what would happen if she were to not show up.

It really was sad that her mom knew Ruby had no other options for money so she used it as a weapon to get her to do whatever she and her father wanted.

Even though she had a degree in business management, she had no work experience and would never be able to just walk into a company and get a decent paying job right off the bat. Which meant she wouldn’t be able to afford even a decent apartment in Seattle with the way housing prices were, and she had no idea how to even find housing or pay bills because her parents had never taught her those lessons.

Yet she sure knew the importance of diamond coloring and what kind of gems were the rarest and how much money twenty carat yellow diamonds cost. Because apparently those were the only things that mattered to the Montgomery’s. Not the fact that they’d pretty much isolated their daughter all her life, gave her no emotional or mental support, and were pretty much holding her hostage in a penthouse apartment that felt so stuck up that she never really felt at home there.

The only place she’d ever really felt at home was at Jace and Zane’s house. No matter where she was in their house, she always felt comfortable and welcomed and cared for. And Zane and Jace had said that they’d love it if she lived with them, but they couldn’t have really meant it. She brought nothing to the table.

She was intelligent enough to know the second she decided to be done living under her parents’ thumb, she would be disowned and cut off from their fortune. Not that she cared about money, but she knew enough to know that expecting her Daddies to just step in and take care of her financially would be unfair and just plain rude.

The weight that had felt lighter over the past week was suddenly so heavy she could barely breathe, but her heart was racing and her skin felt clammy. Closing her eyes, Ruby told herself that everything was okay, but no matter how many times she said it, her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she forced herself to take several deep breaths. In her mind, she knew she was having a panic attack, but she was still scared and hated that she was all alone. She could die right there and no one would ever know until her housekeeper showed up. And would anyone really even care if she disappeared?

Your Daddies would care.

That single thought alone calmed her slightly and she felt her heartbeat slowing. After several minutes of deep breathing, she felt her entire body relax as exhaustion washed over her. She needed to sleep but she needed to text her Daddies and let them know she was off the call. They probably wouldn’t be happy that she didn’t want them to come pick her up. But she was too tired to worry about it right then. Picking up her phone from the cushion next to her, she fumbled through typing a message to them.

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