Page 38 of Auctioned to her Stepbrothers

It takes a long moment before I realize Honor just said something. "What?"

"Sparrow!"

More processing, before I finally realize what it is. The safeword.

Fuck.

I let go and pull out. "What's wrong? Jesus."

She rolls off Lyle while Nate rushes to undo the belt and free her hands, then curls up in a ball. "I... I can only come so much. Too much." Then, as if there's not a shred of tension in the room, she giggles. "If you guys keep doing this, you'll kill me. But what a way to go."

It's a moment before Nate chuckles, blowing out a relieved breath. He settles on the bed next to her and runs his hands through her hair. "We'd never hurt you."

Lyle laughs along and rolls on his side to spoon her, wrapping her up in his arms. "Never," he whispers into her ear.

Are they even listening to themselves? "Never? Ever?" Instead of staying on the bed with them, I stand up and start looking for my clothes. "This ends tomorrow. Fuck, we should just end it now. We've gotten our money's worth. This is it."

"What?" Honor pushes Lyle aside so she can sit up and glare at me. It's hard to ignore the sexy flush still covering her gorgeous tits, but I force myself to meet her accusing gaze. She’s proud, unfazed by her nudity, even if sexy times are over and done with. "Still? All you see in this is the financial transaction. Am I just a piece of property to you? Something you can discard. I thought we were more than that now."

"More, how?" I throw my hands out. "What do you expect from us? Instant forgiveness because you're a hot fuck? Do you want me to fawn all over you as Nate and Lyle do? Some of us still have our heads screwed on. I will never forgive Victoria for running, leaving us to deal with the fallout. Leaving me to protect these two idiots." I turn to make sure she sees the scars on my back before picking up my dress shirt from the chair.

I want her to imagine every lash I took and feel the guilt.

"I was a kid. You don't know what Dick-Ass was—"

"So were we, Honor. Fucking kids. And she—both of you—left us with him. Me, I could fucking take it, but Nate and Lyle? It was bad when you were there, but once you left? We—" I stop. Why am I spilling all of this onto her? She doesn't fucking deserve it. Our lives are our own , and now that this business is just about over, it's none of her goddamn business. "Fuck this. Nate. Lyle. We're leaving. Tonight is the last night. Never mind tomorrow. I’ll let the escrow know to release your funds. Your mom ran out with our dad’s money, and I hope you enjoy spending ours. I hope that the money gets you all the happiness you deserve from it. Have a nice life."

Nate and Lyle rush to put their clothes on. I'm going to hear it from them afterward, of course, but blood is thicker than water. Brotherhood comes first. That's fine. They can be as fucking pissed as they want to be, but I don't need any more reminders, any more gilded promises, any more pretending that somehow everything is going to be all right. It can't be, and it never will.

The others are still buckling their belts and struggling into their shirts when I slam the door behind us. When the elevatorfinally comes to get us, Honor still hasn't emerged from the room.

Part of me thought that she would try to stop us. That fact she hasn’t only proves my point.

Fuck.

17

HONOR

A CRESCENT MOON

Hearing angry words is hard. Hearing them when you know they’re not true and when they’re based on deep, grating hurt is devastating.

My mom was many things, but none of them were bad. Kylian makes her sound like a selfish woman who never cared, but he doesn’t know what really happened. All he knows is what Dick made up to taunt his sons and break their trust in the world even more than he already had.

As Kylian, Nate, and Lyle walk out of the room that has become such a central part of my life; they leave me empty and completely bereft.

It takes a long time to gather the shattered pieces of myself together so that I can dress. My bra is ruined, and my blouse only has two buttons left, but I wrap myself in them as best I can. Where did my panties go? I’ll just have to keep my sweater closed tightly around me.

I linger in room twenty-eight, knowing that this is the last time I will see this place. It’s hard to determine what memories I want to take when I go. I started off scared but resigned to doing whatever I could to change my circumstances. With a twist of fate, the universe brought Lyle, Nate, and Kylian back into my life and showed me what more years with their father had done to them. Experiences that shouldn’t have felt good awakened something inside me. Us being together changed them too, or at least I thought it did.

As I pull on my sweater, I look at the bed and chair; places I lost my innocence and also realized my own strength, places I experienced the fierceness and vulnerability of three men I once loved.

The three men I still love.

And I find my only regret is that I cut the contract short. I didn’t know then what I know now. I couldn’t imagine feeling the way I feel. I couldn’t have imagined ever wanting more. They paid for my body, but as I clutch the door handle, I realize that I would give them my heart for free.

It would be easy for me to believe all the hate-filled words that spilled from Kylian’s lips and ignore the looks in their eyes as they walked away. I could pretend there is nothing between us, take the money and walk into the life I’ve been planning for, never looking back.

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