Page 57 of The Billionaire Player

“Thank you, Samantha. I think I can handle it from here.”

Samantha looked at me and then at Lexi one more time and then back at me. I gave her a slight nod and she tucked the broom under her arm and stormed towards the kitchen.

“JD. I’m,” Lexi began.

But that was as far as she got before I pulled her into my arms and held her tight.

Chapter 24

Alexandria

JD was hugging me. Not just hugging me, but holding me like he was happy to see me and didn’t want to let me go. He felt so strong, so sure, that I leaned into him and just held on. My arms wrapped around him tightly and I inhaled his scent as I tried to absorb his strength, his comfort, and just him. The last couple of hours had been hell and seeing JD and his reaction allowed me to give into the stress and worry I hadn’t allowed myself to.

“Nice of you to show up,” Mac said from behind JD.

JD let out a soft sigh, dropped a light kiss on the top of my head, and leaned away from me, but still held onto my arms.

“How are you holding up?” he asked.

“Me? Shouldn't I be asking you that question?” I countered.

“I have Curly and Moe here to keep me company,” he said and pointed behind him to Mac and Walker.

“You are not Larry. You were never Larry,” Mac interjected, mentioning the leader of the Three Stooges.

“Definitely, wise guys,” JD said and I smiled.

“Shall we continue this conversation at a table?” Walker asked.

“Yes,” JD said.

We turned to follow Mac and Walker. As we did, JD took my hand, surprising me yet again. I looked up at him and he gave me a reassuring smile. I could only imagine the morning he had. I could see he was worried about me, that he was taking the time to reassure me was almost too much to take in.

Samantha was nowhere to be found, the rest of the staff was in the kitchen prepping for the day or it was too early for them to be there. For the most part, the four of us were completely alone. JD pulled my chair out for me as his brothers sat down across from us. They wouldn’t meet my eyes but they didn’t look too upset either. I expected to have JD sit down with us but instead he held up a finger as if to tell us to wait for him and walked into the kitchen.

“Where is he going now?” Mac asked.

“Doesn’t he know now isn’t the time to be making menu changes?” Walker asked.

“I don’t think that’s what he’s doing,” I said.

Mac started to say something but Walker put his hand up to stop him.

“Wait until JD gets back so we can all be on the same page,” Walker said.

Mac nodded slightly and we sat in tense silence until JD came back. He gave us a strange look when he saw us just sitting there and not talking. Walker gave him a look as if to ask him what the hell was so important that he had to up and leave.

“Phil is making us something to eat. I haven’t eaten and Lexi looks like she’s about to keel over. If that’s okay with you two,” JD said as he sat down.

I could feel the tension and stress that hung between the three men like it was another person at the table. I hated to think that any of it was because of me.

“JD, I’m so sorry that this happened. It’s all my fault. If I had any idea that Georgia would do this, I never would have let her,” I said.

I looked at JD when I spoke, he was the one that I cared about the most. The one I wanted to make things right with, but I knew that wouldn’t happen without his brother's support and approval.

“Why don’t you start from when you left your apartment on Tuesday,” JD said.

I nodded at him and then looked over at Walker and Mac. They were sitting and waiting for me to speak. I took a deep breath and started to talk.

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