Page 29 of Room One Hundred and Five

So we stepped up and took over Astor Enterprises with Adrian at the helm and Stefan and I as his partners.

In truth, it’s a monster that might end up consuming us whole, but I’m with Adrian. We have to save the business. Funny thing is, corporate life is just as cut-throat as any criminal empire out there.

Sharks act like sharks no matter the waters you swim in.

We are hardened men with decades of experience between us.

But Stella isn’t like us. She’s delicate. Strong, but fragile at the same time.

Ghosts haunt those beautiful green eyes, and she doesn’t trust easily. Someone hurt her deeply. It might take me a minute, but I’ll eventually get the name of the bastard and see to it our shady friends over at Club Genesis have a talk with the unlucky bastard.

Stella didn’t say it, but the scar on her abdomen came from dealing with her own sharks. I know and so do my brothers. Fear enters her eyes and her muscles lock up every time her fingers brush over the jagged edges on her abdomen. Once I get a name, my brothers won’t need any convincing to revert to the days of filling graves.

I leave the bed and make my way to her. The shower left her hair a sexy mess of waves falling down her back. I love it. She feels real to me and for the first time the family I crave to share with my brothers and a woman we can all love doesn’t seem so out of reach.

I glance at the table. Adrian turned the lights low, but there’s enough glow to see the three faces of men staring back at me from a photo. Men I've seen in this club before.

I grab the picture and gather my little flower in my arms. I can’t wait to hear how she explains this.

“Friends of yours?”

She tenses against me, and I can feel her muscles quivering. It starts at her knees and works all the way up her delicate body.

“Stella?” I murmur against the softness of her neck.

The way she clears her throat, a sexy sound between a squeak and laugh, calms my nerves against there being anyone else waiting for her once the sun rises.

“They were meant to be my dates for the evening and then you three brutes happened,” she explains in a hushed voice.

“We’re regular thugs. You should have kicked us in the balls and run away.”

“I should have,” she agrees with no heat to her words. “But then again, I liked my elevator pirates too much to refuse their kisses.” She leans her head back against my shoulder like we’ve done this a million times.

“Pirates, huh?”

“Sexy ones.”

Her voice dips. She turns her head and I take her lips in a fervent kiss. I can’t resist her allure.

“I feel sorry for the other guys. But I have to admit, I would fight them and anyone else for a chance to touch you. Hold you.Revenge you.” I didn’t mean for the conversation to lose its light heartedness, but I don’t regret saying those last two words once they are out.

She turns in my arms to face me, her hands coming to rest over my bare chest. “You would slay my dragons? You don’t know me and you are ready to spill blood in my name?”

“Weareyour dragons. Your protectors.” Her hair is silk through my fingers and she loses her balance for a moment. I steady her with an arm around her and let her lean into me, our bodies touching from knees to chest. My strength is hers. Everything I am is hers.

She grows silent and turns back to watching the rain run down the window.

“Who hurt you, Stella?” I force myself to be calm and to keep my tone even. The last thing I want to do is scare her.

Her chest rises and falls with shuddering breaths. “It doesn’t matter, really. I rather not spend the last few moments we have together talking about things that will never change.”

I turn her to face me again. I drop to a knee in front of her. If she doesn’t want to talk right now, fine. But she’s not leaving. I don’t care what she says. It will be fun showing her how well she fits into all our lives. Some people have to experience it to believe it and I'm okay with that. Even if we have to tie her to our bed to help her see.

“Then let’s use our time wisely.” I push her back against the glass and peel back the sides of the shirt open, exposing her beautiful skin. I run my hands up the backs of her smooth, creamy legs. All the way up until I have her bare ass in my hands.

I dig each of my fingers into her tight flesh and massage the warm flesh.

Her gasp is husky, but I catch a slight panic under the layers of arousal, too.

---