Page 87 of Tempted By her Daddies

“People, yes. My girl, no.”

“Dear Lord. How has no one smothered you in your sleep?” Salem snapped.

“They’ve tried. They never succeed,” Alexei said.

Hmm. Buthe’dnever tried, had he?

Salem didn’t say that out loud, though. Alexei would likely dare him to try.

“It’s all right,” Tamsyn said, taking hold of both of their hands. “I don’t need a lot of alone time. I feel like I’ve been on my own for most of my life.”

He didn’t like that. It also reminded him that they didn’t know a lot about her early life. Roman had done a bit of research into her when they’d hired her to make sure she was who she said she was. But he hadn’t gone in-depth and Salem knew he wouldn’t want to now. It would feel like an invasion of her privacy.

But she kept things so close to her chest that it made him wonder what life had been like for her up to this point.

They’d find out in time.

“If you do want some, you can tell us,” Salem told her, giving Alexei a firm look.

“Yes, well, I might like to go to the bathroom alone,” she said dryly. “And I doubt you’ll want to be around me when I’m sick or it’s that time of the month.”

What?

Salem was taken aback, and Alexei was silent so he guessed she’d shocked him too.

“I think those are the times when we definitely wouldn’t want to leave you alone. Or when you’re upset or scared,” Roman told her. “We’d want to be there to support and take care of you.”

“But wouldn’t that be annoying? I might be moody. Or I might get you sick. I wouldn’t want that.”

“You think that we’d worry about a bit of grumpiness or germs?” Alexei asked.

“Yes, if that was the case we’d never be near Alexei,” Roman added solemnly. “He’s grouchy all the time.”

A smile graced her face, and her shoulders relaxed.

Poor girl.

Was that what her family had done? Left her when she was ill? That sickened him.

“We always want to know if you’re not feeling well. No matter why. Understand? That’s part of the communication rule. We want to know if you’re unwell or in trouble so we can help you.”

“It’s kind of part of rule three too,” Roman said. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. But I can circle back. I’m flexible.”

Now she was hiding her smile behind her hand.

“Let’s move on,” Salem suggested before Alexei could make any remarks about Roman’s flexibility. “Number three rule is about safety. We don’t want you to put yourself in danger andto tell us if you ever are. Danger can include your physical or emotional health.”

“All right. What is number two?” she asked.

“Respect,” Alexei said. “That’s gonna be a hard one. You seem to like to speak badly about yourself.”

Roman gave her a firm look. “Yes, no disrespecting yourself or us. No speaking badly about yourself. Understand?”

“Yes, Rome.”

A flush entered his cheeks. “I like when you call me Rome.”

“I know, Rome.”

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