Chapter 35
***Aggie***
I sat at the top of the stairs and listened to Zander tear multiple parents to shreds for gossiping about us.
He was a force when he was angry and I realized quickly that he’d never truly been angry at me.
The way he spoke to them was so cutting that I wasn’t sure how they were going to be able to sleep that night. Not that I cared about how they slept.
Any given moment not filled with Zander reaming them was filled with either Kyrin or Knight going off.
It was a beautiful display of them standing up for me.
As I eavesdropped with my arms wrapped around my knees and one of Knight’s shirts swallowing me, I felt my heart rate finally slow down.
The burning at the back of my eyes faded and the lump in my throat slid back to the hell it came from.
With the knowledge that I wasn’t near tears making me feel strong again, I walked down the stairs and slowly moved to stand off to the side of the guys.
Still facing the parents that remained, I looked at each of them, disgusted that they would say the things they’d said.
The jerk, Bo, was sitting in the middle of them all, his shirt clutched to his nose.
I noticed the woman next to him clutching his arm with a large diamond on her ring finger and shook my head. Of course, he was married.
“Believe me when I tell you that if any of you open your mouth and think to say anything about my family, including Aggie, you’ll be left with nothing to your name.
I’ll make sure that no one ever remembers anything about you, or your family.
Do you understand me?” Zander didn’t wait on an answer before turning to me. “Anything to add?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and pointed to Bo.
“Your wife deserves more respect than what you showed her today. Your daughter deserves more respect than this, too. You should be ashamed that your daughter might’ve internalized in any way that a man sexually harassing a woman is acceptable.
You should make sure she knows to expect better from her own partner in the future so she doesn’t end up in the same ugly cycle as her parents. ”
“You’re all dismissed.” Zander stepped forward when Bo tried to pass. “You should know that my brothers and I don’t forget. The only reason you’re walking out of here today is that little girl waiting on her father outside. You may not be so lucky next time.”
The sound of the front door shutting left the house is a tense state of silence that made my skin crawl. Shaking out my hands, I looked around at the mess that had been left and started picking up.
“Stop, Aggie. Someone else will get that.” Knight pulled a glass out of my hand and put it back where I’d gotten it. “We’re going out.”
I took a deep breath and looked at them. “Do you think it would be okay if we stayed in tonight? I just want to feel normal for a little bit. I miss cleaning my apartment. I know it sounds silly, but I do.”
“As long as you let us help you. And promise to go swimming with us tonight. Just the four of us.” Zander gently pulled the neck of my shirt out and looked down it. “Before all this shit happened, I was working my way to a jealous fit. Seeing you out there in this bikini was killing me.”
I bit my lip and smiled while rolling my eyes at him. “A jealous fit?”
“Let me spell it out for you.” He grabbed my hips and pulled me close.
“I didn’t like that those men were getting to see you.
It may not be gentlemanly of me, but I feel more than a little possessive of you.
I’m not saying I grab your ass every night before I go to bed and tell myself that I own that ass, but I’m not saying I don’t, either.
Seeing other people looking at my ass, it was making me angry.
Since I can’t beat the shit out of every man who glances at you, I was going to self-soothe in my favorite way. ”
“What way is that?” I rested my hands on his chest and toyed with the buttons on his shirt. “I’m just ignoring the rest of that, by the way.”
“My absolute favorite way to self-soothe is to bend you over and spank your ass until it’s red and hot and decorated with my fingerprints.
” He palmed my ass and slowly ran his nose up the side of my neck.
“Seeing my handprints on this ass makes me feel calm, because I know that anyone who saw them would know that you’re taken.
You belong to men who aren’t afraid to use their hands.
For pleasure on their woman and for wreckage on anyone else. ”
I tried to calm my breathing. “So problematic...”
“Should we check how problematic you truly find it, baby?” He nodded to Kyrin and grinned when I gasped at feeling Kyrin’s hand between my thighs. “Tell me, Ky, how wet is our woman?”
I gripped his shirt tighter as Kyrin slid his fingers through my wetness. “Your woman? I told you, I’ll never be-”
Zander quirked his eyebrow at me. “You sure you want to finish that sentence, baby?”
Knight tsked at me. “Good girls don’t lie, Aggie.”
Knocking at the front door saved me from having to lie. Even if they knew that I was theirs, that didn’t mean I had to say it. I slipped out of their embrace and laughed at the frustration on their faces. “Don’t pout, boys.”
“Her attitude is out of control. I think she needs to be tied up and taught a lesson.” Kyrin licked his lips. “I can have ropes here in less than five minutes, baby.”
I knew my face was red as I thought of what being tied up by Kyrin would be like. Heat swarmed my whole body and I stumbled over my own feet.
Kyrin caught me and kissed me gently before letting me go. “Later.”
He opened the door and my dad was on the other side, a big smile on his face. “I’m ready to be Grandpa Marky Mark!”
I shuddered. “God, Dad. We talked about you calling yourself Marky Mark.”
“You talked about it. I ignored you. Where’s Gracie?” He winked at Kyrin. “Notice how she didn’t revolt at the part where I called myself a grandpa? Big things are happening, aren’t they?”
“She’s upstairs with Mary. Thanks for coming even though we keep changing the plans.” Pulling me under his arm, Zander went on talking to Dad like they were the best of friends. “You’re sure Brenda and Gracie will get along?”
I scowled up at Zander and then at Dad. “You two have talked about Brenda?”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Ag, we’ve talked about Brenda. She’s kind of a big deal. The farm is her playground and we just exist around her. Kyrin’s giving me some pointers on how to make her less of a bitch.”
“You’re talking to Kyrin about Brenda, too?” I looked at Knight. “Are you also have secret conversations with my dad about his pet cow?”
Knight shook his head. “Nope. We don’t talk about cows.”
“I’m sorry. Are you implying that you talk about other things?” I threw up my hands and headed upstairs. “You’re all weird and I don’t know how I feel about it. I’ll get Gracie. I owe her an apology anyway. I think I ruined her first friendship here.”
“We’re not the ones who mailed shit to our ex.” Dad had always been sensitive to being called weird and he was clearly throwing me under the bus because of it. “You call me weird? I’m original. Nothing weird about me.”
“Stop right there, baby.” Zander saw me start up the stairs faster and gave chase. “I just want to know about this shit you mailed!”
I let out a laughing scream and ran faster. “My dad’s a filthy liar! Chase him!”
Dad’s grunt followed me up the stairs. “Ungrateful brat.”