Page 32 of Room One Hundred and Five

Emilio drags my stool into his personal space and peels the collar of my borrowed shirt to the side. His lips trail a hot path over the slope over my neck. “I’m sorry, little flower. But you’re not alone anymore. You have us now, too.”

I inhale softly and tilt my head, pressing my forehead against his.

“I really wish it was that simple.”

Adrian moves closer from my left and both men’s heat wraps me in a cocoon of warmth. From across the kitchen island, Stefan reaches for my hand and curls his fingers around mine.

Blue meets green.

“My brother is right. You never have to worry again. Let us take care of you.”

His voice is low and raspy.

The look in his eyes is one of hope.

“Are you three family?” They have very similar muscular builds and jawlines. Even their dark hair color makes it easy to see them as brothers.

At first I’m shocked by the palpable connection pulsating just beneath the surface between all of us. It is not merely lust for another person that I feel shimmering between us like it runs off our energy alone. It’s deeper.

I tuck in closer to Emilio and take Adrian’s hand with my free one.

Adrian looks to Emilio and then Stefan. “We are not brothers by blood. Only by choice. We’ve waited a long time to meet someone who we all connect with. And we believe that is you, Stella.”

The part of me unfamiliar with giving others my trust says I should bite my tongue and feed them lies until I can get away. I for damn sure should not be sitting between them wondering what could have been if I had found them first, instead of William.

They believe we have a chance at something beyond a one-night stand. They will not let me out of their lives without an explanation. Telling lies and hiding the truth of what I’ve gone through doesn’t serve anyone.

“You three must have trusted each other pretty early on in your relationship.”

Emilio tips my chin his way as he answers me. “It was instant, yes.”

“You were lucky. For me it didn’t turn out so well when I tried that. It’s nice to see that isn’t true for everyone.” I look at each of them and let them see I truly mean my words.

“What’s on your mind, little flower?” Stefan takes in my somber expression and the way my hand grips his.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Talk to us.” He doesn’t let me release his hand. Instead, he locks our fingers together.

He shares a look with Adrian and Emilio that says I’ve got their undivided attention.

“My father allowed very few people into our little sphere. He kept nearly everyone away. It was just my mom, my sister, me and him against the world.”

Nostalgia creeps in for the family we once had.

“When he passed I was so hungry for any kind of connection with another human beingnotin our tiny bubble. I understood why he did it, but I was also very lonely. I was foolish. I didn’ think I just acted. Men my father worked with stopped by the house often to check in on us for a while after the funeral. William was one of them. A couple of stolen kisses and off I went running into the arms of the first person who told me they loved me. I was in pain with the death of my father and I couldn’t see clearly. He was nice and I wanted someone to need me.”

“We know that pain.” Adrian splays his hand wide over my back and rubs up and down my spine in a soothing way that has my muscles relax.

My sniffles aren't sexy by any means but they don’t look at me any differently than they had back at the elevator. “It’s blinding, isn’t it?”

Emilio reaches for a silver case from the suit jacket he tossed on a nearby tool when we came in. He pulls a cigarette out and brings it to his lips. “It is, baby. What happened with this William character? Does he have a last name?” He pulls a lighter out of his pocket and lights up, the very epitome of relaxed. But I hear the tension in his words and I know he’s out for blood.

For a moment, I get caught in the way his left eye shutters closed a fraction to block out the spiral of smoke climbing toward the ceiling.

“Everything went to hell pretty quickly, as you can imagine. I couldn’t see the danger I put myself in. My father was a wise man, but he didn’t prepare me or my sister for the world beyond his protection.” I shrug at a loss of words for a moment. When I find them again, tears are there waiting, too.

I brush them away as they fall. “He thought he would live forever.”

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