Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
HANNAH
Why do these sheets have to be the softest I’ve ever felt?
I grew up surrounded by wealth. It’s not like this is my first time sleeping in expensive bedding, but there’s something about this bed—hell, the entire bedroom—that feels right.
So why can’t I sleep?
It could have something to do with the fact that my stepfather and stepbrother just admitted to wanting me from the first time they saw me, keeping an eye on me all these years, and doing some things that border on stalking.
Or maybe it’s the fact that Rowan is a criminal.
And if it’s none of that, it’s probably that my grandfather set me up on a date with a misogynist piece of shit, and my wrist still throbs from how hard he held me.
I thought once the adrenaline dropped, I would be struggling to keep my eyes open, but that’s certainly not the case.
I wish it was.
My mind is a jumbled mess of contradictions.
The crush I had on Rowan when I was younger, mixed with how hard I fell for Asher when we met, battles with the fact that they’ve lied to me over and over again.
They tricked me into sleeping with Rowan that night at the Scarlet Lounge, but every time I think about that, all I can focus on is how they worshipped me.
They gave me everything I needed and more.
I can say they deceived me all I want, but if it were truly deception, why would they bother putting all their focus on me?
I agreed to let Asher share me with a stranger. Those were the terms. I didn’t ask for his identity until afterward, and only because I felt something for him.
If I’d felt nothing and it truly were a stranger, I probably would have just marked it off the bucket list and moved on.
Sighing, I sit up and look around the room blanketed in darkness.
It makes sense why this space looks like it jumped straight off my mood board, because it probably did.
Rowan and Asher made this space for me. They knew eventually they would bring me here, and they wanted me to have somewhere I felt comfortable.
Just another time they’ve given me what I didn’t even know I needed.
They’re so in tune with my wants and needs.
But they lied to me, I remind myself.
No matter how I try to spin it in my own mind, they did lie to me. They did trick me, and I don’t know if I can get past that.
I consider my options for another few seconds before slipping from between the sheets. I won’t be able to think clearly until I’ve separated myself from the situation.
I quickly change into a pair of sweats and tug on an oversized sweater I stole from Asher when we first started dating. Okay, maybe it’s a stretch to call it oversized because it falls to my knees and swamps my entire body.
The clock beside the bed tells me it’s four in the morning, meaning I should be able to slip out without anyone noticing.
I finish packing my belongings, throw the bag over my shoulder, and quietly tug the door open.
Once I’m certain the hallway is clear, I head down the steps toward the front door, checking each corner before I pass it just in case they’re lurking in the darkness.
I wouldn’t put it past them at this point.
Reaching for the front door, my stomach rolls at the sight of the keypad.
Maybe I should have assumed they’d have some kind of high-tech bullshit on the doors. Why can’t they just have a deadbolt like normal people?
“Going somewhere, Hannah?” Rowan’s voice startles me, tearing a small scream from my throat.
I whip around, the bag falling off my shoulder and hitting the hardwood floor with a loud thump. “You scared me,” I whisper into the darkness.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He stands at the base of the stairs, wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants that hang low on his hips. So low I can see the impressive lines of his abdomen, even in the dull light. His chest is dusted with hair, and while body hair has never been a turn-on for me, it is when Rowan’s involved.
Apparently, my libido has forgotten that not only has this man lied to me repeatedly, but he’s also my stepfather.
“I need some space.”
“No.”
“Rowan—”
“I said no, Hannah. You will be staying here until I see fit that you can leave.”
I open my mouth to respond, but what am I supposed to say to his blatant refusal?
“You can’t just say no,” I snap. “I’m an adult. I can do what I want when I want.”
“Not anymore.”
“Rowan,” I growl. “I have an apartment. I can’t break my lease. I have a job. I need to be in the city to meet a client on short notice. I have a life!”
“I’m putting your apartment on the market first thing tomorrow morning.”
I stare at him blankly for a second, repeating his words in my mind. “What did you just say?”
“I said I’m putting your apartment on the market in the morning. I bought it in order to give you a safe place to live until you could be ours, and now that time has come. There’s no reason to keep it.”
I press my eyes closed, warning off the tears that gather at the corners. Why do I have to be an angry crier? I mean, I’m kind of an everything crier, but angry is the most annoying.
No one takes you seriously when you start crying in the middle of yelling at them.
“This is too much,” I murmur, my chest tightening as a wave of panic crashes into me.
Rowan knew how much I hated living under my family’s thumb, how badly I wanted to make my own way in the world, and there he was in the background doing the same thing.
I don’t realize he’s moved until his arms are around me and my face is plastered to his bare chest.
“Breathe for me, sweetheart,” he murmurs against the top of my head.
I shove at him, trying to escape his hold, but the comfort he offers is too tempting, and I find myself leaning into his embrace.
Goddamn it. Why does it have to feel so good being in his arms?
My body melts into his, oblivious to all the reasons we should keep our distance.
Even ignoring the fact that he’s my stepfather and that there’s no way we can make a relationship between the three of us work, he left me.
He left me by myself. He made me think I was unwanted, the same way everyone else in my life has.
How am I ever supposed to trust him?
I don’t know how long we stand in the entryway, his arms holding me together while I fall apart on the inside, but eventually Rowan pulls back slightly, peering down at me.
“I think I know what you need, Little One. Do you trust me?”
“No,” I answer immediately, even when my heart begs me to tell the truth. That despite it all, I trust him with every part of me.
He chuckles but pulls me up the steps anyway.
His hand envelops mine, never allowing our connection to slip as he leads me past the door to the room he gave me to the one beside it.
Without hesitation, he tugs me through the door, and I notice the lump in the middle of the bed.
It only takes me a handful of seconds to realize this is Asher’s room. If it weren’t for the boxing bag hanging from the ceiling in the corner, it would be the wall of medals that tipped me off.
He had an impressive career, even if he rarely talks about it with me.
Rowan leads me toward the bed, pausing only when we reach the edge.
He doesn’t hesitate as he lifts the sweater over my head and pushes the sweatpants down my legs before crouching to remove them and my shoes.
When I’m standing before him in nothing but cotton panties and my favorite sports bra, he presses a kiss to my belly. “Perfect,” he murmurs.
Rowan pushes to his feet and lifts the covers for me, urging me to get in beside Asher, and I find myself following the silent direction without hesitation.
Asher rolls, dragging me across the bed until I’m pressed to his bare chest, and when I glance over my shoulder, expecting to see Rowan leaving, instead I find him sliding across the mattress behind me, only settling once I’m pinned between the two of them.
“Did you try to run, Little Doe?” Asher asks sleepily.
“Yes,” I whisper.
He chuckles. “You should know, Hannah, we really like the chase.”
Rowan sighs but doesn’t refute his son’s words as he presses a series of gentle kisses down my spine.
I tell myself I’ll stay for just a few minutes. I’ll let myself live in this perfect moment, and then I’ll make a plan.
But for what feels like the first time in my life, sleep comes to me with ease, and I fall into a dreamless state that feels a whole lot like peace.