Page 17 of Hot Chocolate & Hitmen

I grimace at the reminder. "Well, not only was it nearly covered in snow, but we obviously got distracted. First by the hostage, then by..."

"Grace," Key supplies when I trail off. He sighs dreamily. "Our little sugar plum fairy works some kinda magic. I swear, I’ve never been so enthralled by a woman before."

Atlas grunts in agreement. "Can't believe she just jumped on my back trying to protect her piece of shit ex."

I scowl. The image burned into my brain of Grace clinging to me after she opened up to me about everything he’s put her through.

"She's too damn sweet for her own good. But we'll teach her better judgment," I vow. At my words, twin grins of anticipation spread across Key and Atlas's faces. I feel my own smile turn wicked at the thought of Grace at our mercy. The perfect woman for three deadly sinners.

“Speaking of the ex.” I sigh as I sit in the armchair off to the side of the bed and quickly fill them in on what Grace told me about the fucktard.

By the time I’m finished, both Key and I have to band together to prevent Atlas from storming out to kill the dickhead in question. Even though I’d rather let him dole out his own personal brand of punishment, I don’t know if that’s something Grace would be okay with.

Knowing that is the only thing that actually gets him to stop snarling and fighting us. Somewhat appeased, we watch him closely as we stop by the second bedroom to make sure that Jason and our first hostage are still secure. The former of which is now awake, and by the looks of it, is close to soiling himself in fear at the sight of Atlas’ beet red, angry face.

“You can have your turn later, brother. For now, though, Grace is waiting on us,” I console, clasping a solid hand over his shoulder to prevent him from doing anything he’s going to regret.

Jason’s eyes bug out as he shakes his head and trembles in fear. The sight only serves to appease my inner demon by the smallest amount.

I’m also very glad the guys decided to gag him because I have a feeling that he’d be screaming and pleading like a little bitch if he didn’t have that on right now.

“Boys, dinner’s ready!”

Atlas’ head snaps round at the sound of Grace’s voice getting closer, effectively breaking him out of his murderous trance. Shaking off my hand, he rushes straight down the stairs towards Grace, leaving us trailing behind.

“Oh hey- Atlas! What are you doing?!” She squeaks in protest as we round the corner to find her thrown over his shoulder, marching her back to the kitchen. Key tries to hide his grin behind his hand, while I bite on my lip to stop the smirk from spreading.

She sure looks good like that, and at any other time, the blood would be flowing south, but from the pale and almost distressed look on her face, I’d hazard a guess that she’s not quite ready for thatspecifictype of manhandling just yet. What a pity. Hopefully she’s open to the other forms of manhandling that we plan to put into action later.

“Put her down, Atlas,” I call out, command lacing my tone.

Doing as I say with a disgruntled huff, he puts her back on her feet but continues to stand in her way. Brushing the hair out of her face, smearing even more flour across her cheek, she blows out a breath before rekindling her inner fire and placing her hands on her hips while squaring up to Atlas.

This is going to be good.

“You can’t just use brute force to keep me where you want me,” she scolds, prodding a finger in his chest. “I know you have the guys up there. I was merely coming to see if they wanted-”

“They don’t get anything,” Atlas responds with a growl, causing Grace to falter in her stance.

“But, you can’t jus-”

“We’ll sort them out later, Sugar,” Key placates. “He’s just trying to protect your fragile little mind.”

A high-pitched, adorable growl escapes her lips as she swats at Key when he tries to hook her hair behind her ear with a cheeky grin on his face. “I do not have a fragile mind, and I most certainly do not need protecting!”

Swatting at a cackling Key, I look away to stop her from seeing the grin on my face in an attempt to avoid her adorable wrath. She may be full of sugar and all things nice, but she definitely has a fire as hot as the oven she bakes her cookies in, burning deep inside her.

Of course, none of us think she has a fragile mind. That’s just Key’s way of distracting her. And I’ve got to say, if her cute little outburst is anything to go by, it worked like a treat. Everything devolves into further chaos and disarray as he teases her, letting her know it was all in jest. Grabbing the dish towel, she proceeds to chase him around the kitchen, trying to whip him.

I clap my hands together to garner their attention and point towards the dining table.

“Dinner is getting cold. Let’s not waste Grace’s hard work.”

“Yes, Sir.” Key salutes, earning a caustic glare from me.

Settling down to eat, the sounds of cutlery clanging, Christmas jingles, and Grace’s jubilant laughter fill the void that’s been sitting in my chest for far too long. And if my intuition is correct, it does the exact same for my brothers too.

Atlas somehow has a massive grin on his face and looks like a besotted puppy dog, while Key’s enraptured gaze heats by the minute. He loves the back and forth that Grace engages in, giving just as much as she gets. Knocking back the wine, Atlas has to save Grace from toppling backwards off her chair on more than one occasion.

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