Page 199 of Savage Hearts

I shrugged. I was probably a little bothered that the woman who worked for them had seen all three of them naked at some point, but I was sure she wasn’t the only one. What could they do, fire every woman they had slept with?

Scratch that, they probably would.

There was something messed up about the entire concept, though.

“Don’t,” I said. “Not for me, and not over this.” I turned back to Silas and redirected the conversation. “I’m hungry.”

He looked down at his phone. “Food will be here soon, okay?”

I nodded. There was still tension between us—between me and all three brothers—that I didn’t know how to address. I was still angry, but at this point, it felt like I was holding onto my anger because that was what I wassupposedto do.

What they had done wasn’t okay, and we all knew it, but it wasn’t like they had betrayed me in any way, nor had they presented a false picture of themselves. I’d known they were bad men to begin with.

Perhaps what bothered me the most about it was how similar this was to my time living at the clubhouse. I was still so fucking helpless to do anything, and still without my freedom.

The surrounding tension got heavier, and it was getting hard for me to even take another breath.

I stood quickly.

They all turned to me. Silas frowned.

I blurted, “I have to use the bathroom.”

“It’s three doors down the hallway to your left, sweetheart,” Maverick answered.

I avoided looking at any of them and hightailed it out of the office, moving in the direction Maverick said.

It didn’t take me long to find the bathroom, and I quickly walked in and locked the door. I didn’t really have to go. I just needed to get out of there and try to get my emotions under control.

I splashed cold water on my face before confronting the mirror. There had been days living at the clubhouse when I couldn’t bring myself to look at my reflection. I was afraid of seeing what everyone saw.

I was afraid to see the girl who was so fucking unloved that her mother had left her, and her father whipped her in front of his men for daring to run away.

I was afraid of seeing the girl who was so fucking alone in this world, she was afraid to fall.

Now, all those feelings, though still very much present, took a back seat to something else.

I was afraid to see the girl who was stupid enough to fall in love with her captors that she could easily forgive them for doing something unforgivable.

I was afraid to see the girl who didn’t belong to herself anymore, and that scared me shitless.

I couldn’t be in love with the Tiernan brothers.

“Impossible,” I whispered to the mirror. No one answered me. Not that I had expected someone to. I had the urge to see the brothers again. Would it give me a clearer answer?

Heart in my throat, I force myself to move to the door. My hands shook as I reached for the doorknob and turned it. I came out to an empty hallway.

Each footstep I took toward the office felt impossible, yet…

Inevitable.

I didn’t close the office door on my way out, and I could hear the brothers talking. Perhaps I would have made myself known had I not heard my name fall from Silas’ mouth.

I stayed behind the wall as they spoke.

“You know she will never forgive us once she finds out,” Silas said.

“And how will she?” Maverick asked. “Are you planning on telling her?”

---