Page 26 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

“I missed him, too,” I reply. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t here when he passed.”

“Nobody saw it coming,” Nathan says. “An aneurysm strikes hard and fast.”

“Teagan was lucky to have you guys come back when you did,” I remember. “She was terrified she might have to get involved with the company. Tony was just getting started back then. She worried a lot.”

Cassius shakes his head slowly. “We were always supposed to come back. We just thought we’d have a bit more time with him running the company. Life has a way of throwing you curveballs.”

“Speaking of life and curveballs, I’m sorry things didn’t work out in Los Angeles for you,” Nathan says. “Whatever happened at Perry-Sage, you didn’t deserve any of it.”

“Perry-Sage,” I mumble, giving him a confused look before I turn my glaring attention to Cassius. “You told him?”

“I think you forgot something, Christa. We share everything,” he reminds me. “We don’t keep secrets from one another.”

“Not even mine?”

“Not even yours,” River cuts in. “We’re completely open with you, and while we respect your privacy about what happened at your previous company, it doesn’t mean we’ll keep the details a secret from one another. It doesn’t work like that.”

“We’re not asking you to tell us more about Perry-Sage, but don’t expect us to change our dynamic for your comfort,” Nathan chimes in. “But I will promise you that no one outside of the three of us will ever know anything unless you’re willing to disclose it.”

“That’s reassuring,” I say.

River puts an arm around my shoulders, and his cologne short-circuits my senses. The top notes of mint and lemon make me take a deep breath so I can inhale more of him.

“I read about the Perry-Sage shakedown. They crashed and burned like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Hell, I still remember the havoc it caused on the stock market. So we know that whatever happened internally had to be bad enough for you to want to keep your employment with them a secret.”

“It was a difficult time,” I concede. “I thought I was doing something, making something of myself, but it just wasn’t the right fit for me anymore.”

“Were you there when the Feds raided their offices?” Nathan asks.

I give him a long look, tempted to lie. But I can’t. I shouldn’t. It’s bad enough I haven’t told them the truth about my role in the downfall of Perry-Sage and that I’m keeping one hell of a secret from them—even though it’s for their own good and my personalsafety.

“I left the company shortly before that,” I tell him.

“Good,” he nods slowly. “You’re better off staying off the FBI’s radar in general.”

Cassius gives me a warm smile. “I could do with some dessert after this. What do you say, Christa? They have an amazing cheesecake here.”

“Cheesecake?” I raise a curious eyebrow, thankful and relieved by the subject change.

“Your favorite. Strawberry,” he says.

“You’ll need your carbs for later tonight,” River quips and plants a delicate kiss on my temple.

That’s enough to get my blood flowing faster in a different kind of way. “Keep this up, and that fancy lace I’m wearing will be ruined,” I whisper in his ear.

“Keep talking like that, and we’ll be skipping the cheesecake altogether because I’m already dying to bury myself inside you,” he replies, his voice low and dripping with desire.

As the brightmorning light floods the hotel suite, my eyes peel open slowly. I don’t really want to wake up. I’m still coming down from heaven, still naked and tangled up with Cassius, River, and Nathan.

Judging by their steady breaths and closed eyes, they’re deep in dreamland, but I can hear my phone buzzing from the bottom ofmy purse, which is somewhere on the floor.

“You should probably get that,” Cassius grumbles, face half-hidden by the pillow. “And then come back here for round two.”

“Round two?” I giggle and rub my eyes. “We went at it all night.”

“The whole of last night is considered a single round,” River replies as he rolls over and grabs my breast, squeezing until I moan and part my lips. It’s all he needs to capture my mouth in a long, ardent kiss.

“Okay, fine, let me see what that’s about,” I reply and pull myself out of bed.

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