Page 85 of Broken Dreams

“If there’s anything you need, this oaf has my number,” Adira says with a sigh as her body begins to regulate from the outburst of emotion. “I swear, this baby has made me more emotional. It’s weird.”

Quinn’s eyes widen as if remembering, and I grab the tablet for her that’s on the table.

Are you sure you should go to this meeting?she asks.

Adira smirks as she reads, nodding. “I’m not broken, just growing a person. I’ll keep more guns on me, despite preferring knives. Sometimes, done is better than perfect, and that goes for dead men walking as well,” she explains. “I trust Cian at my back.”

“Well I appreciate that,” the alpha in question says before waving. “I’ll see you soon, Adira and Quinn. Goodbye.”

There’s a chorus of goodbyes as we begin to walk toward the exit. I’m still apprehensive, but it’s not up to me. There’s clearly larger things at play.

My fingers link with Quinn’s and then I’m helping her into the SUV, even though I know damn well she can do it herself. As I walk around to my side of the vehicle, I find Callum leaning against his door, waiting for me.

“Feeling pissed off, huh?” he asks sympathetically.

“More like anxious and worried,” I sigh. “I don’t know anything about what’s going on, and it always feels as if I’m being surprised with something new. I feel emotionally ambushed.”

Callum blinks slowly before he curses under his breath. “I can see that now that you mention it,” he says. “We’ve been so busy getting things into place, we forgot to explain the steps. We do this shit to Adira all of the time, and she wants to murder us. I’m surprised I have a knot at all at this point.”

My lips twitch as I lean against the door. “There’s just days where everything feels like a lot, and I wasn’t prepared for today,” I explain. “The first day of work, when Quinn met Adira for the first time, I was ready for that. Mafia shit is over my pay grade, but if Quinn is involved, I want to be aware.”

“What’s going on?” Duncan asks, coming around the car, and I sigh.

“I didn’t mean for this to be a whole thing,” I say, reaching for the door handle.

“No, it’s not,” Callum insists, his hand squeezing my shoulder. “We need to slow the fuck down and loop Linus and Quinn into things more, Duncan.”

“Okay,” he says, nodding. “I acknowledge that I didn’t think about that the way I should. I’ll try to limit the surprises. Sometimes, things need to be staged that way or I won’t have enough time to tell you, but this I could have mentioned in the car ride. It was dumb that we didn’t.”

Wow. I didn’t think it would be that easy.

“Anything else?” Duncan asks teasingly. “I swear, we’re really easy going. We’ve been bachelors for a long time, and only had to clear shit with each other. It’s an adjustment for us too.”

“No, that’s it,” I say, still trying to process this conversation. Aren’t men supposed to be assholes by nature? I’m not one andI have a dick. Maybe I need to reframe that thought. “Ah, thank you.”

“We’re still dicks,” Callum reminds me, cuffing the back of my neck with his large hand and pulling me toward him. “We should make it up to you.”

He’s a little taller than I am, so he easily uses his thumb under my chin to push my head up so he can kiss me hard. Duncan steals me away to kiss me as well, and I’m dizzy by the time he lets me go.

“We’ll do better,” he rasps, his voice deep and husky as he steps back. “We better get you and Quinn to work, Linus.”

Biting my lip, I move back to the door and open it, climbing in. Quinn’s blushing, the car strongly smelling of lilacs. I don’t have to worry about her being jealous because she’s clearly turned on by the sight of the brothers and I.

“Doing okay?” I tease her, enjoying the raspberry I get in return. Chuckling, I watch the guys open their doors and climb inside, and begin to count in my head as they shut them.

5…4….3–

Their nostrils flare as they turn to gaze at Quinn, their eyes hooding with lust.

“Why do we have to take you to work,” Callum groans. “I just want to sit you on my face until you scream, cry, and slick all over it begging for a knot.”

I guess the kid gloves are being set on fire.

“Fuck,” I mutter, adjusting my pants.

Quinn whimpers as she attempts to squeeze her legs shut, and I suddenly begin to feel very mischievous. Maybe we’ll give them just a taste…

Scooting over to her, I pick her up and place her between my thighs, legs splayed over mine. My fingers twist in the cotton fabric of her dress, my lips brushing against the shell of her ear.

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