Page 11 of Room Twenty-Three: Tangled & Teased

Chapter 4

Erin

NewYork...

Nope—New Orleans.

I was expecting to stay in a fancy penthouse, go sight-seeing in New York. I was hoping to buy a hotdog and get lost in the Big Apple, not staring at the house in New Orleans we’ve just arrived at.

Beau drove the rental car from New Orleans airport to a house they’ve booked on St. Charles Avenue. I overheard them on the flight talking about a missing girl. The house is in the perfect location to explore the places the girl frequented. Close to where she studied at the nearby university, and also not too far from the place she was last seen.

Beau drives between two large brick pillars on either side of the driveway, stopping the car outside an enormous duck-egg blue house. It’s beautiful and has a white wrap-around balcony that looks like delicate lace.

From the outside, everything screams exuberance. It even has a fancy turret that rises from a large window and points to Heaven.

I yawn. Two long-distance flights and a lack of sleep have worn me out.

Jove turns to me from his front seat in the car and says, “Pick a bedroom, unpack, and have a nap. Later tonight, we have a meeting with the manager at Club Sin.”

“Club Sin?” Sounds sexy. “You’re taking me with you?”

“We’ll be taking you everywhere until we know there is no threat to you here. As of right now, we don’t know that.” Jove unbuckles his seat belt and gets out of the car.

Atty rubs his hand over my thigh. I know he is trying to be kind to me, but whenever he touches me, my skin sizzles. I wonder if he feels it. The undeniable shiver that starts at his palm and stops between my thighs. It’s not just his palm he touches me with. He had plenty of room on the seat as we drove to the house, but his leg brushed against mine the whole way here.

“I’ll help you,” Atty says.

My throat makes a squeak and I’m sure my flushed face is letting him know the thoughts that run through my head. Thoughts of the night in London when his hand stroked my bare skin as his fingers slid higher and higher, our faces mere inches apart as his hazel eyes searched mine.

Then he had to suddenly leave me, but not before saying, “Now be a good girl and wait for me to call you.”

And I waited.

What the hell is wrong with you, Erin? He never called you. Stop looking at him like that.

Atty takes my suitcase as Beau opens the door to the house. There’s a strange moment between the two men.

I expect Beau to step to one side and let Atty pass, but he doesn’t. He waits for Atty to pass and once he does, Beau winks at me, before he turns and follows Atty up the staircase.

I gulp.

Beau is gorgeous too. It’s going to be a nightmare sharing this house with these three men. Atty and Beau are giving me enough vibes to know they both like me. Not Jove though, he is definitely not feeling the same way.

It’s strange, but my body is reacting in a way it’s never done before. There is something alluring about them. Not even my father’s friend, Adrian, affected me like this.

Atty takes my suitcase and steps into the bedroom I chose. His vast chest and broad-shoulders take up enough space for me to not see the room properly.

He is the largest of the three men and everything about him screams safety. But it’s the way he looks at me, rather than his size, that lets me know he will do anything to protect me.

He steps to one side to let me inside the room, following me. His arm flexes against his black tee shirt as he lifts the suitcase and places it on a stand on the far wall.

“Do you like the room?” Beau asks, his warm breath ghosts against the back of my neck, making me gasp.

“It’s lovely,” I say, turning to him.

He nods as he meets my eye.

He’s gorgeous. The typical tall, dark and handsome cliché. The more I think about it, the three men are all gorgeous, but all in their own unique way.

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