Page 29 of Doubts & Fears

“Let’s try this again. You have social media accounts, and you apparently spent a lot of time researching ours. Why don’t you post on them?”

Almost instantly, her breathing changed. It picked up, and the smile on her face tightened.

“We’re waiting,” I prodded.

She heaved, her chest rising and falling. Her eyes jumped to mine and saw something that convinced her I wasn’t going to let it go.

“I don’t like…I mean, I don’t want…” Her voice trailed off, and she dropped her fork entirely.

She brought her napkin up and wiped her mouth, and I sensed we might lose her again.

“You’re not leaving this room until you answer. Now what is it that you don’t like or want?” I asked, sensing something important.

“I’m a very private person. I don’t like cameras or recordings. Things like that make me…” She stopped talking and shuddered once more as she moved back to being silent. I exchanged looks with my brothers; they’d noticed it too.

“Could we get the next question out of the way?” she blurted out.

She looked like her nerves were getting the best of her. Like she wanted to run from the room.

“Patience. We have every intention of asking it, but we’ll finish in the drawing room,” I said.

Chapter 10

Kinsley

Plead Your Case

With slow, deliberate motions, I picked my fork up and took a small bite. I abandoned the idea almost immediately as I swallowed and went back to nudging the food around on my plate. This was becoming a habit—me losing my appetite as the knots of anxiety tightened in my stomach.

The men continued eating as I tried to mask the unease inside. Why couldn’t they ask here? Why did we have to go to the drawing room? And what did having or not having social media really say about a person?

No adequate answer existed. It wasn’t like I was going to offer up the reality that between the ages of eight and ten, I’d had hundreds of videos and pictures taken of me against my will. Owen had scoured the internet looking for them. I wasn’t sure if he ever found any. It was probably in the letter. I sighed.

“Are you finished eating?”

I snapped my head up at Ivan’s gruff question. Several minutes had gone by unnoticed. Unable to speak, I nodded. He wore a white T-shirt tonight. His muscles commanded my attention as the fabric stretched across his well-defined body, showcasing a breathtaking display of strength. It was such a stark contrast to the huge lifelike teddy bear that cuddled me yesterday.

I should have traced his muscles, too.

We did the green mile walk once more down the hall to the drawing room. They each poured another drink and sat down while I stood near the door.

“Sit,” Ivan thundered, making me jump. I took a seat as far from him as possible.

“Not another inquisition,” I groaned.

“Nope, just some clarification, is all. How long have you been in the lifestyle?” he asked.

“I’m not in the lifestyle, haven’t ever been. Just well read, is all.” I twisted my hands.

“Interesting, so game nights were what? You wanting to put into practice all that studying you’ve done?” Alek asked.

“I didn’t say I studied it, nor did I go to game night intending for it to end that way. I’d really like to forget about game night entirely, truth be told.”

“And why on earth would you want to forget it? I was hoping we could have another one,” Nik said, sipping on his drink.

“No thanks. Something about being around Jenna again probably isn’t such a great idea,” I retorted, thinking about our last encounter.

“We don’t need to invite her. The four of us can play,” Nik offered seductively.

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