Page 59 of Their Dark Rose

Later, at least one of the men would have a lot of fun pulling my locks out of the knot. Violently so.

I descend the stairs, inhaling the smells of coffee and eggs. Today is the second day in a row they’ve been in charge of breakfast, and I can’t say I’m mad about them taking over my role.

Despite how I enjoy cooking for them—for me, prancing around the kitchen is more meditative than a chore—I appreciate the gesture. They make me feel special. Really special.

“Let me clear things up for you because I think you’re very fucking confused.” Mason’s voice over the phone booms in the hallway before I even turn into the dining room. “You’re going to finish the penthouse by the deadline we agreed on two years ago. You won’t like the outcome if you fail to do so.”

Yikes. Someone’s about to get royally fucked.

“Morning,” I whisper to the room.

The clinking of my heels is far less quiet, the noise on the marble floors demanding the attention of the two brothers inside.

Finn acknowledges me first, lifting his head from his laptop. He sits at the far end of the heavy wood rectangular dining table, wearing a black T-shirt and one of his leather jackets. His black hair is damp, and he pushes it back and out of his eyes.

“Morning, little rose.” His smile is less sinister this morning.

Not innocent, he could never.

Only a fool would confuse his quirked smile as such.

Especially when his tongue drags lasciviously on his lip ring.

When his hazel eyes darken, his mind undoubtedly runs image after image of my spread butt cheeks. How he entered me back there.

A shiver courses through me, and I clench my fists to rein the tremors in.

“What outcome, you ask?” Mason huffs a scary laugh.

I gasp.

He turns to me then, all his six-four in a navy-blue tailored suit. The ice in his blue eyes thaws a fraction. His body’s way of telling me good morning.

Before he returns to the sucker on the other side. “I don’t know, Rhett. Maybe I’ll ask my brothers for advice. Between the three of us, I’m sure we’ll figure something out. You know how creative we get.”

He keeps the explicit threats to himself. Smart.

I take mental notes while I search for Falk, who’s nowhere in sight.

A second later, I smell him behind me.

“Excuse me.” He brushes past me to the table, his tone detached.

My breath hitches at his touch. My guts twist with anticipation. With another sliver of hope.

That once again is met with disappointment.

“Morning, Falk,” I say hesitantly to his back.

“Hi.” He settles into a seat across from Finn. Where he doesn’t have to look at me.

My shoulders slump. My lips curve downward.

Mason and Finn without their walls around them make me the happiest woman alive. It really does. I’ve been praying for them to break. Wishing hard they’d love me the same as before, and as an adult too.

And they have. I’m grateful for the change.

But my heart won’t be complete without the three of them. It won’t survive another one of Falk’s cold shoulders.

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