Page 93 of Bae

Traitor.

Everyone filed in the house. Prada, Darcy, and Ralph all danced around excitedly. Ralph leapt up toward me, and Romeo jerked.

I gave him a look. “Don’t you yell at my dog.”

“Who wants a bone?” Ivy called from farther in the kitchen, and I heard a bag of dog treats rattling.

All three stopped what they were doing and raced away.

“Here you go,” Ivy said as she passed out the treats. “Go lie down.”

All three dogs trotted off toward the living room, content.

Romeo stood in the middle of the spacious kitchen and made no move to put me down.

“Here’s your cider.” Ivy brought me the mug and handed it to me.

“Hi, Romeo,” she said, giving him a smile.

“Princess,” he replied, gruff.

“Coffee’s on,” she told him.

I mouthed,Thank you,and she smiled.

“How badly are you hurt?”

“Not much, just bruises,” I replied.

Her blond head bobbed with relief. “Thank goodness. What happened?”

Romeo went rigid, and I glanced up at him, worried if I went into the whole story again, he’d really flip. When I first told him and Braeden, they’d both went deadly, calm silent.

“She’s been through a lot, baby,” Braeden said. “I’ll fill you in upstairs.”

Ivy glanced at Romeo, then away. “Okay.” Her eyes found mine again. “You’re sure you’re okay? Can I get you anything at all?”

I wiggled to get out of Romeo’s arms. He didn’t budge. I made a sound of annoyance and held out my hand to Ivy. It was the closest I could come to a hug. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“We’ll talk in the morning. Have coffee.”

“No leaving this compound,” Romeo declared. “Both of you.”

Ivy sighed. “Well, we have coffee here. Since all four of you want to be such cavemen, you can watch Nova while Rimmel and I drink our caffeine in peace.”

With that, she turned away. But beneath the archway of the kitchen, she pivoted back with a sigh. Her footsteps carried her to Drew first. She slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him close.

“Love you,” she whispered.

Drew hugged her back. “You, too, sis.”

Ivy then went to Trent and did the same thing.

Afterward, she held her hand out to B, motioning for them to leave the room. Braeden took her hand but glanced over at Romeo. That was the true measure of brotherhood. I’d only ever seen it between the four men in this room.

Romeo was like a bear with a butt rash tonight. He threatened Braeden’s man parts, smacked him in the head, and growled at him more times than I could count. But he was still here. He wasn’t pissed. He was reluctant.

Reluctant to walk out of the room in case his brother needed him.

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