Page 34 of Room One Hundred and Five

“I miss the person I used to be. Now, I hide in my apartment and write books about the adventures I wish I could live.”

Getting those words out lessens the tight bands around my heart.

“Stella, breathe, baby.” Having an apartment with an open floor plan makes moving around easy. Only downfall is there is nowhere to run or hide when Stefan ignores my plea for him to leave me be.

He crosses the room and invades my personal space. His arms come around me and I bury my face in the crook of his neck as he lifts me into his strong arms. My legs come around him and I settle over his lap when he sinks into the nearby couch cushions. Adrian and Emilio join us. They hold my hands as Stefan places his palms over my bare thighs. The feeling of being grounded is instant. Instead of falling into a heap of tears, I focus on the way their touch soothes my nerves.

I sit back and tell them the rest. “I don’t know how my sister knew to check on me that night. But she found me nearing my end from the amount of blood I lost and she is the only reason I am alive today.”

Emilio holds my gaze. Flickers of sunlight feather over light strands of silver. His hair is shuffled around and strands havefallen over his forehead. It conflicts with the tight compression of his lips and the lines forming along the edges of his eyes. He looks relaxed and stressed out at the same time. I didn’t notice the silver last night, but in the morning light I can appreciate how it lends to his handsome features.

I look at each of them and take note of the lines across Stefan’s forehead. The scar through his lips. To me, it only makes him appear more handsome. He always looks like he’s thinking about something. His age agrees with him. And Adrian. I love the way his gaze never misses a detail. Silver brushes along his temples and in the stubble on his chin lends. When his eyes are on me, I feel seen. Like he can read the words written on my soul and I can never hide from him.

“Stella.” Adrian coaxes softly, holding my gaze fondly. “What are you afraid of telling us?”

“I can’t have children. When I was rushed to the hospital, the doctors tried everything they could to repair the damage but they couldn’t. You know the irony in all this? It’s because of William’s assault on me that they found that I had stage one breast cancer.”

I don’t fight to tears as they fall down my cheeks.

“My sister and I were so focused on our mother who was sick at the time we never thought we were in danger.”

Everyone is silent one second and then there’s a wave of warmth and love rushing at me from all sides.

Arms, kisses and sweet words I didn’t know I needed to hear fill me with renewed strength.

Emilio palms the back of my head, and he brings me in to rest our foreheads together. “Tell your daddies who the bad guy is, Stella. He’ll never be able to touch you again.”

My stomach flips at the way he uses daddies for me and against me.

“Daddies?” I ask, shuddering.

I look at Adrian whose eyes darken. “Tell us, little flower,” he urges with a low timbre to his voice that does things to my core.

Stefan’s hand runs the length of my back before settling in the middle. He fists my shirt, and he pulls me in until our lips are only whisper apart. “Tell us, and your daddies will reward you, baby.”

Everything these men do to me helps all the bad memories fade. But what really makes my panties grow damp is the way each of them uses ‘daddy’ on me.

Fuckkkk.

Emilio chuckles deeply, a sound that sends a rush of goosebumps over my skin.

The corner of Stefan’s mouth tilts up and there’s an unabashed glimmer in his pretty eyes. I’m pretty certain he just discovered a weakness he can use on me from now until the end of time because I give him exactly what he asks for with only a sigh.

“William Allen Brigh.” I swallow back the bitterness of the name.

All three men share a look that has chills running from the base of my spine to the top of my head. “William Brigh as in Hawthorne and Brigh law firm?”

Disbelief is written all over their faces.

Mine too, probably. Because how freaking small can this world be for them to know that?

“You know him?” Wads of sour dread drop into my churning stomach. Why can’t I meet just one person on this planet who doesn’t have a connection to my filthy ex?

All of them suddenly look very pissed off at something over my left shoulder.

“Small world, isn’t it, Stella Moone?” My addled brain agrees, oddly enough and then someone hits fast-forward on the next five minutes of my life.

My eyes widen with surprise. I stiffen at the sound of the familiar voice. My blood turns to liquid ice.

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