Page 69 of Dollhouse

Eli groans in annoyance at having King’s arms around the both of us, but he makes no attempt to move. Rowen joins in on our group hug and all three men kisses over my face, eliciting a burst of giggles from me. This is what happiness feels like.

“Stop, my dick is getting hard and unless my butterfly plans to give me relief, then I suggest you let go,” King says, causing me to grin and wriggle away from the middle of the hug fest. Eli and Rowen pull away quickly too, clearly wanting no part of King’s boner, and I can’t blame them. I don’t right now either.

“Sorry, my vagina is off limits for the next day or two. I’m way too sore to get anymore dick.”

“That’s fine, but how’s your mouth?” King smirks, taking me in his arms and kissing me crazy.

Rowen takes me away from him and kisses my forehead, trailing kisses down until his lips connect with mine. “Hi, angel.” My lips curl up in a smile. “Did you miss us?”

“Actually, no. Eli kept me too busy to miss either of you,” I joke, eliciting snickers from all three of them. Eli wraps an arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek.

“Damn right I did, baby.” The laughter dies down and I watch the three exchange a look with each other. “We’re going to my office for a little bit. Watch TV or something.” Eli walks away from me, leaving me standing in the middle of the living room with my eyebrows raised.

Placing my hands on my hips, I roll my eyes in annoyance. “Fuck that. If you have something to discuss that involves me, then you’re going to talk with me in the room.”

“Angel, I think it’s best that we discuss this alone. We’ll fill you in on anything that needs your attention.” Rowen says, raising his hand to brush a strand of hair behind my ear.

“That’s not going to work for me. I’ve spent too long having men tell me what to do, and you’re not going to discuss me while I sit pretty in the next room.” I cross my arms over my chest, standing my fucking ground. They can speak in front of me, whatever it is that they need to discuss. “I watched King kill a man. I’ve earned the right to be in the loop about what’s going on.” They share a look to each other, and without waiting for any of their responses, I walk right past them and down the hall toward Eli’s office.

Taking a seat on the corner of the desk, I look toward the three men in front of me and wave a hand, gesturing for them to begin speaking.

King and Rowen take the two seats in front of the desk and Eli sits behind it. “We had our security team looking into Sebastian. I know you don’t believe that he’s got anything to do with this, but we had to look into him anyways.” I nod, remaining silent to allow Eli the chance to explain what he needs to. “You were right, he’s not involved with anything.” He leans forward and brings his computer to life, turning one of the dual monitors to face King and Rowen and the second one to face me.

“He completely checked out. As far as him and everyone else are concerned, you are dead. His financials are clear, there’s no affiliation with any gangs or mercenary groups, he’s clear a hundred percent,” Eli says. I am not even angry that they looked into Seb after I told them he wasn’t involved. They were only trying to keep me safe, and I appreciate that.

“Sebastian was taken in for questioning. Obviously, there wasn’t a body for them to find. The police believe foul play was involved, but Sebastian was cleared as a suspect.”

A cold laugh erupts from me. “Of course, he’d be cleared. His father is the chief of police, and his grandfather is a fucking senator. He comes from a powerful family; he can get away with anything.”

“Is his family aware of your past? I’m sure they looked into you considering they are as wealthy as they are,” Rowen pipes up, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the desk.

“They did, and all that they found was exactly what I told them.” When I left the last house I’d been living in, I had a hacker friend of mine change my past and create a new one. I wanted to start fresh with my life and didn’t want anyone to ever learn the truth about what I’ve been through. “I had a friend who erased my past and reinvented me on paper.”

“Does your friend have a name?” My eyes shoot to Eli’s, my eyebrows pulling together.

“Why? I haven’t seen him in years.”

“Tate, who’s the friend that helped you?” His dominant tone sends chills down my spine.

With a roll of my eyes, I answer him, “His name is Ace.” The three of them look at each other. “What?” I snap; I know there’s something they’re not telling me.

“Ace Jackson, your former foster brother who was stalking you?” Rowen scoffs.

Everyone has always had misconceptions about Ace. Especially my foster families and caseworker. “He never stalked me. He helped me when I needed it. He looked out for me,” I defend, pointing my finger to each of them. “Ace is a friend, and you three need to stop thinking what you’re thinking.”

“What are we thinking, butterfly?” Hazel eyes meet mine, and I fight the urge to smack that smug grin right off King’s beautiful fucking face.

“You’re thinking that he’s behind the ambush and the one that wanted me, but he’s not. We’re friends, he’s not trying to kidnap me.” I was willing to defend Ace until my dying breath, because without a doubt I know there’s no way he would do this when he’s never done anything to harm me. Ace may be a little… different, but he’s never been dangerous toward me. He’s not a threat, regardless of what they think. I’m not exactly going to share further details about my relationship with Ace, but I know he’d never hurt me.

“Rowen says he stalked you. I’m inclined to believe him.” Eli raises an eyebrow, his plump lips curling into an amused smirk.

“What exactly has he done for you?” Rowen asks, and I narrow my eyes at him.

“He didn’t stalk me! After we parted from the home we were at, he’d come to check on me sometimes. He’d bring me food, clothes, any other things I needed,” I huff in frustration. He gave me my first tampon for crying out loud! I didn’t know how to use it and had no one to show me. The home I was at was disgusting. They wouldn’t wash my clothes or allow me to, and I was bleeding through everything. Three days later, he returned with a box of pads and a sandwich I know he stole. “During the time I was placed in the same home with Rowen, we stopped meeting up. He tried to see me during that time, but he didn’t want to make things worse, plus I had Rowen who was protecting me.” I sigh, turning to face my green-eyed savior. “After you killed Greg, I ran away just like you said, but I had no place to go. I was thirteen and scared, so I went to Ace. He helped the best he could.” That’s not entirely what happened, but they don’t need to know that. Not when they’re keeping who knows how many secrets from me.

“Those people you lived with, the ones you told everyone were your aunt and uncle, how did you end up with them? If you were with Ace after you left Rowen, how did you end up in another foster home?” Eli asks, and I gulp. Luckily, he continues speaking before I can create a lie to tell.

“They died in a house fire.” Eli sits back in his chair, pulling a file from the top drawer of his desk. “Willa and Bill Adamson, along with their son, Colton, who was visiting from college, were killed in a house fire during the middle of the night. Tragic accident.” He looks up at me, accusation clear as day in his chocolate eyes. “You were so lucky to be out of the house when the fire started.” I look at each of them to scope out their expressions.

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