Page 20 of Gilded Lies

I’m surrounded. Rune on my left. His black-on-black suit is nothing more than shadows encasing beautiful muscles.

Oliver is on my right. He opted for a deep red tie to wear with his flawless black ensemble. Like a hint of his inner light among all the shadows he walks among.

Fine-tailored material of Danika’s suit jacket strains over his broad shoulders. He unhooks the front button, and the sway of the silk gray tie draws my hand. I finger the soft material before hooking my attention on him. When our eyes connect I feel like I’ve dived into an Olympic-sized pool filled with emotions.

“You’ve only just met me. How do you know I would make a good mother?” I hear my words and want to slap a hand over my mouth. I want this. I want them and the family they are offering. And their babies. All of it. And here I am mentally throwing on the brakes.

“I could be anyone or anything. And yet if I am reading this right you want me to carry your children.”

Oliver looks to Danika, and they exchange an entire conversation in a three-second glance.

“Do you want us?” Danika asks me directly, his hands on either of my knees. The fine lines at the edges of his eyes offer hints of his age. If I had to guess mid-thirties. But I know he’s closer to his mid-forties. They all are. Everything is on the internet.

His suit moves and molds to the broad form of his shoulders and the thickness of his arms. Around us, sensual music is nothing more than white noise. It’s the sighs of the women and the men’s groans of pleasure that play havoc with my libido.

“Come here, beautiful.” Oliver’s fingers twine through mine and he pulls me down the sofa until I’m sitting directly in front of him. He traces the outer edge of my face with the tips of his fingers. “You’ve stayed with us, shown us the heart you have, and we hope we have done the same. Something in you keeps you at our sides.” Soft lips meet mine and the world fades to only this man.

I shut out my surroundings and fuse all the emotions the three of them have stirred inside me into our kiss.

Fear and excitement merge inside me.

Possessive hands come to rest on my hips when he takes the kiss deeper. I open for him and give the man what he’s searching for.

They always tell me the truth. Otherwise, I would have ditched them after one night. I’m like a walking lie detector. It’s one thing I am good at. Knowing a liar when I hear one speak. I will not disrespect them by lying to them. Or myself.

He breaks the kiss and repeats Danika’s former question. “Do you want this? Want us? You can be honest.”

“I do. But I’m scared.” And that is the truth. “You know nothing of me or my past and I know enough about you three to understand you should come with warning labels. Your lifestyle is not accepted in modern-day society. And I’m not talking about three men and one woman.”

“The guns, the late-night meetings.” Rune nods in understanding. He strokes the back of my hand with his thumb. He comes to sit beside me and raises an arm over the back of the sofa, opening himself to me. I can’t read lips worth a damn, but body language is a second language to me. Reading when a man is about to attack has kept my virginity intact.

Rune wants me to know he is an open book. If anything, I am the one who can hurt him.

I can appreciate that. But the same is not true for Oliver. He’s staring at my hand and the monsters raging in his brown eyes are heartbreaking. He’s gone from open to distant in the span of a few seconds.

“Oliver?” I ask tentatively and turn my hand over to where our fingers interlock.

He raises his gaze to mine and the impact of his emotions are fierce. I almost fall into his arms and wonder who hurt him so deeply to make him so quiet.

I clear my throat softly. “Talk to me, lover.”

“Do you fear us? Is that why you haven’t answered us? Have we ever given you a reason to think we mean you harm?”

I turn to Danika and then Rune who are watching me with their best friend.

And then I confess another truth while surrounded by their intense heat. “I see the blood on your shirts when you return at night when you think I am asleep. The new wounds and bloodied bandages in the trash. It’s not my place to say anything, but I have eyes and I see the lives you live. When you return to your home, I’m there, but I am always on the outside looking in.” I’m careful when using that word. The penthouse they’ve shared with me is not my home. It’s theirs. And I am nothing more than a guest.

All three consider me for a moment and like a stone statue their expressions remain unreadable.

Oliver’s brows climb in understanding from the way he slowly nods his head. And then those dark brown eyes morph from patient to determined in a single blink. “That is not an answer,amore mio. Do you fear us?”

I watch intently as Oliver’s lips move with each word. I feel the other two waiting for my answer. That first night together I fell in love with the way his lips moved over the foreign words.

In all the moving around and getting passed from one lap to another, my dress has ridden up my legs to nearly indecent exposure. Danika strokes lazy circles over the top of my thighs silently watching us.

“That’s the crazy part, Oliver. And I don’t understand how or why, but no. I do not fear you.” I look between all three of them. “Any of you. But I fear what comes next. I’ve never been in any kind of relationship.”

I physically see their shoulders ease.

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