Page 221 of Bound By Her

Bryson stormed through the kitchen, passing Eric as he was cooking dinner. He glanced at him, but for once, the man kept his opinions to himself.

Bryson thought about going for a run, but rejection burned around him, zapping his energy. He tried to push the images of his brothers and her out of his mind.

Moving to his bedroom, he pulled the shades and slammed the door. He told himself that they only had one more day.

One more day and they would be gone.

He never needed to think about her again.

CHAPTER 54

NORTH CAROLINA

Adria’s limbs tangled and intertwined with Seth and Kaydon as the three of them collapsed in a pile on her bed.

The butterflies in her stomach were not from regret, but from the piece of her that seemed to click into place when she was with them.

Seth grabbed her foot and started kneading his fingers into its underside. She opened her eyes. Seth was so interesting to her. Against the Romanian family, his blond hair and pale skin stood out. It marked him as an outsider, but he never acted like an interloper. He was completely at home with Kaydon and Bryson.

“How did the three of you get together?” she asked, pushing her foot into his hand.

Seth glanced at Kaydon, whose snoring was hard to ignore.

“My family lived a few miles down the street from the Winters. I thought they ran a dry cleaner,” he said, a smirk growing on his face. “Cause they were always so well dressed and talking about laundry.”

Adria grinned back at him.

“I asked one of them for a job. Started small: deliveries, errands. Didn’t take long before I got the brand.”

She lifted her foot, pressing her big toe gently against the four-knife burn on his chest.

“And by then, you figured out they weren’t a laundromat?” she asked.

Seth laughed softly. “Yeah. I figured that out pretty quick.”

The way he said it pulled at her heart. He was still so young, even now.

“I was fifteen when I got my first assignment with Bryson,” Seth continued, leaning his head against the headboard. “I was nervous. He and Kaydon had so much more experience. I don’t think I said a word the entire time.”

“We thought he was mute,” Kaydon chimed in, suddenly awake.

He reached out, pulling Adria up between them. She settled against his chest, her cheek pressing into warm skin as his large arm wrapped around her. She melted into the comfort of it.

“Okay, so he was mute,” she teased. “Then what?”

“Bryson started noticing bruises on the kid. Wouldn’t shut up about them,” Kaydon said, his voice a low rumble vibrating in her chest.

Seth shifted, but Kaydon reached across her to touch his stomach, grounding him. Adria followed, trailing her fingers down Seth’s arm. He shivered under her touch and leaned into her, soft and small.

“I was so careful,” Seth whispered. “Always changed in private. Told them I was shy.”

A cold knot formed in Adria’s stomach.

“Bryson must’ve known. One day, he just...burst in and saw me.”

“Seth made him promise not to tell me,” Kaydon added.

“And he didn’t,” Seth said, with something like wonder. “I thought for sure he would.”

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