Chapter 56
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
HANNAH
Ihaven’t been able to stop thinking about what Camilla said since they left, and maybe that’s just what I needed. I needed someone who knew better than I did to tell me that everything would be okay once I let go of my reservations about being in a relationship with more than one man.
The guys have been upstairs most of the day working, and I’ve taken the opportunity to unpack some of the boxes the moving company dropped off last week.
The cat statue I picked up at the flea market with Asher when we first started dating now sits on the coffee table beside a stack of books I used to decorate my apartment with.
Beneath the TV, I’ve lined up the few photos I’ve always kept around, including the one of Rowan and me the weekend we met and a couple of Asher and me early in our relationship.
I take a step back to check the positions and run straight into a hard body.
Tattooed arms wrap around my waist, holding me in place so they can rest their chin on the top of my head.
“You’re unpacking,” Asher murmurs.
“The boxes were beginning to get to me,” I admit.
“And maybe you’re accepting that this is where you belong?” he asks hopefully.
“Maybe.” I bite my lip to hold my smile at bay. Being with Asher has always come as easily as breathing.
He gets me in a way no one else ever has.
“Do you need help?”
I shake my head. “No, I think I’m done for today.”
“I just ordered us some pizza. We’re low on groceries, but I’ll have some delivered tomorrow.”
I frown. “We can’t just go out and get them?”
Asher is quiet for a beat, and my stomach flips at his hesitation. “After what happened last night, Rowan thinks it’s best we keep it close to home for a few days.”
I press my eyes closed and drag in a deep breath. I wish I could say it’s an overexaggeration, but at this point, I’m not sure what my grandfather is capable of.
Would I like to think he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me? Of course. But after last night, I wouldn’t put it past him to do something rash, especially when he’s not getting the response from me that he wants.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“It won’t always be like this, Han. This is all just temporary.”
I nod, but how can he possibly know that? We have no way of knowing what his plans are or how far he’s willing to go to get what he wants.
Another set of footsteps alerts me to Rowan’s arrival, and a moment later, he’s standing beside me, taking in the photos I’ve lined up beneath the TV.
He steps forward and picks up the one of us, brushing his fingers over the photograph. “You kept this?”
“It used to remind me what it felt like to have someone in my corner,” I explain.
“And now?” Asher asks.
“Now it reminds me where it all started.”
Rowan tugs me out of Asher’s arms and into his crushing embrace, and I can’t help but melt into him. All the times I thought I felt safe pale in comparison to every time these men wrap me in their arms.
“I have this same photo on my desk in my office,” he mumbles against the top of my head, and my chest tightens with emotion.
All those years I spent thinking he wanted nothing to do with me once he and Mom divorced, I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
He spent that time building a life that I could fit me, and now here we are, living the dream we both had but only one of us made happen.
“Can you two stop bickering and choose a movie already?” Rowan rolls his eyes, but there’s a content smile resting on his lips.
Asher and I are arguing over whether to watch a thriller or a rom-com, and let me tell you, I am not the one on team rom-com.
I shouldn’t be surprised. Despite his size and occupation, Asher is a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to movies, which is exactly why I suggested a thriller.
“Can’t we just watch the cute love story?” Asher pouts.
I shake my head, unable to wipe the smirk from my lips. “Rowan and I don’t want to watch a rom-com.”
Rowan sighs, brushing his hand down his face. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Hannah.”
“Or what?” I challenge with a quirked brow.
“Or you’ll spend the whole movie warming my cock with no other stimulation.”
My lips part on a silent gasp that earns me a rough chuckle.
“That’s what I thought.”
Before I can reply, the doorbell rings. He turns to head toward the front door, but not before he throws over his shoulder, “You two better have decided what we’re watching by the time I get back, or I’ll make good on that threat.”
I roll my eyes and turn to Asher. “How is that a punishment for you?” I whine.
“Because I’ll have to spend the whole two hours knowing he’s inside you and I’m not.”
Heat spreads across my cheeks. “Fine, we’ll watch the rom-com, but next movie night we’re watching what I want to watch.”
A wide grin tugs at his cheeks as he closes the distance between us and plucks me off the ground like I weigh nothing.
I squeal a moment before a giggle erupts from my chest.
I’m dropped onto the couch cushions, and Asher covers me, his huge body pinning me in place as he drops kisses to every inch of skin he can reach, only making me laugh harder.
“Well, I see the rumors are true. You and your delinquent son have made my daughter a whore.”
All humor falls away at the sound of her voice. A voice I’d all but forgotten because it’s been so long since I heard it in person.
I crane my neck to look over the back of the couch, and dread settles low in my stomach.
“Mom?”