14. Read the Fine Print
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Read the Fine Print
"Thanks for stopping by, Caleb. It means so much that you came."
Caleb smiled empathetically. "I'm so sorry about Lena."
Mrs. Peters wiped her tears and smiled gratefully. "I'm just shocked. Losing my little girl like that. I've been telling the mayor to close off those construction sites. I swear this will finally get his ass out of office."
Caleb smiled sadly. "...how's Phil?"
She shook her head. "He won't leave his room."
Caleb nodded before turning and heading to Phil's room.
He softly knocked. "...Phil? It's Caleb.
" Seconds later, the door cracked open, and a red-faced Phil stared at him.
"Can I come in?" Caleb asked. Phil silently walked back to his bed, staring at his phone.
Caleb cautiously stepped inside. "I'm sorry about your sister. .."
But Phil remained silent.
Caleb approached the bed. "You know you can talk to me..."
Phil finally looked at Caleb. "I don't think it was an accident," Phil finally spoke.
Caleb looked at him cautiously. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't believe the shit they're saying about Lena and her dumb friends getting caught in that cement machine. I know they're stupid, but they're not that stupid. Especially Lena..." Phil muttered. "I think someone set them up."
Caleb sighed. "You're in shock, Phil. It's normal to try to rationalize trauma-"
"I'm not fucking crazy, Caleb!" Phil snapped. "I know I'm right! And I'm going to prove it!"
Caleb raised his hands. "Okay. Well, if you need anything, I'm here,” Caleb reassured him. But Phil only muttered to himself as Caleb headed for the door. Caleb glanced at him one last time before leaving.
Deja's heart thumped aggressively loud. Her throat was dry. She was at a complete loss for words, staring at one of the men who had been haunting her nightmares.
"Ms. Louis? Are you okay?" Kim asked, concerned.
"Just surprised," Ian smiled charmingly. "Ms. Louis and I go way back. Do you mind giving us a moment to reconnect before our meeting?"
"Yes, of course!" Kim said. "There's coffee in the breakout room."
Deja finally snapped out of it. "Wha-no-"
"Thank you," Ian smiled, holding the door open for Deja.
She stared at Ian apprehensively before cautiously stepping inside the breakout room.
She glanced around the empty conference room and heard the door close before quickly turning around.
Her chest tightened as Ian stood across from her, wearing that signature Donovan grin.
"My beautiful Deja… You look absolutely radiant ," he smiled. His eyes roamed her body, lingering on her stomach. "And very pregnant. What are you… 37 weeks and 4 days?"
Deja's eyes widened, disturbed by his accuracy. "You're breaking our contract, Ian!"
"You smashed my head with a lamp and took off into the night, sweetheart.
That contract should be null and void," Ian smiled.
Biting his lip, Ian stepped forward, and Deja instinctively stepped back.
He sharply exhaled with a tilt of his head.
"Inches away from the obsession that torments my soul, yet still, she distances herself from me. .."
"Esme told me you were going to uphold the contract," Deja said anxiously.
Ian smiled knowingly. "And I still am. Did you not read the Fine Print?"
Deja looked at him, confused. Ian chuckled softly. "Sweetheart...You must read the Fine Print of every contract you sign. That way, you'd know exceptions include engaging with you in business matters. The Donovans have an 80% share of your project."
Deja's eyes widened. "I understand you probably skimmed it as you were so eager for us to have our way with you… Or get away from us. Maybe both," Ian said, placing his hands in his pockets just to stop himself from grabbing her.
"Definitely the latter," Deja snapped.
"The Fine Print also stated we get to have you at minimum once each winter solstice," Ian continued. "That is… at least once a year, we get to ravage that body of yours for 24 hours. From sunrise to sunset… you're mine."
"Excuse me?!" Deja blurted angrily.
"May I remind you that this contract was drafted for your protection?" Ian said, walking around her. "In case you forgot, an entire Society of killers has targeted you for my brother's murder." Ian paused. "In this family, we protect each other… keep each other's secrets..."
Ian turned to her and smiled. "The Fine Print also stated that the Donovans are allowed to reconvene as we see fit to discuss family matters."
Deja looked at him, annoyed. "What you and Keith discuss is none of my concern."
Raising his brow with a tilt of his head, Ian glanced down at her stomach. He looked back at her with a knowing smile. "You've got a Donovan in you, Deja Louis. And I don't mean the one I've been dying to put inside of you since the moment you arrived..."
Deja panicked. "It's not a Donovan!"
Ian chuckled, amused. "My beautiful Deja… I'm not stupid. You're due in less than three weeks, and you ran away from us less than 7 months ago." Ian smiled, showcasing his dimples. "That baby is a Donovan."
Deja was on the verge of an anxiety attack as Ian walked behind her.
"No need to worry, darling..." he said, gently tracing her arm with his fingers.
"We'll keep our distance until we're ready to have you again.
Which is always, actually, so I guess the proper wording is…
when you're ready for us to take you again. .."
Deja trembled with panic as Ian's lips brushed against the nape of her neck. "I-I… have absolutely no power," she exhaled.
"Actually, darling, you have all of it. And you don't even realize it. I'm the one who flew all the way out to this shit town, looking for any excuse to be near you because I can't get you out of my goddamn mind."
Deja sharply inhaled as Ian grabbed her hips before his hands slid around the front of her skirt. "You have all the power. And it's driving me fucking insane."
Ian's fingers pressed against her skirt, trying to feel her when Deja abruptly grabbed his hand. "Are you the one who told my friends about the baby? Where I live?" she demanded.
Ian sighed. "Actually, no. Sophie was so elated to find out you were pregnant, but disappointed she couldn't throw you a shower. So..." Ian said, caressing her. "From her private luxury asylum, my dear unbalanced sister manipulated her security and hacked into your emails to find your address."
Ian tenderly kissed her shoulder. "Of course, I could have stopped her, but… You seemed lonely ..."
Deja scoffed at what she knew to be true all along. "You've been spying on me..."
Firmly grabbing her hips, Ian pushed his nose into her hair and chuckled softly. "Why? Don't you like being watched, sweetheart…?"
Gritting her teeth, Deja shoved Ian off of her. "I don't want anything to do with you, Ian!" she snapped, heading for the door. Just as she reached for the handle, the door swung open. Eyes widening, she stumbled backward.
Wearing a black suit with sleeves rolled to his elbows, Keith smirked as he closed the door behind him.
"Well, fuck me. Deja Fucking Louis. In the flesh. Finally! And look! She’s got a mini-me cooking in that fine-ass body of hers.
" Deja started to hyperventilate. She cautiously backed away from him until she bumped into Ian behind her.
"I fucking hate suits. But Ian said this shit was necessary if I wanted to see you again. And, I dunno. Got kinda tired of slicing off faces for not being yours," Keith smirked.
Deja tried to calm her breathing as Keith backed her up against Ian, who grabbed her hips and pulled her back against him. "W-why are you here?" she stammered.
Tilting his head, Keith caressed her cheek with two fingers. "Why the fuck else would I be here, baby girl, if not for you? It's always you."
"How quickly she forgets..." Ian hummed into her hair, affectionately kissing her temple.
Keith leaned down, pressing his lips to her neck. "God, I missed her fucking smell. Her taste. Her moans."
"Keith," Deja said, pushing him back. "Please just leave me alone."
Keith raised a brow before bursting into laughter. "Why? So you can go back to your fucking farmer boy?"
Deja's eyes widened in shock before Ian gently tugged her head back against his shoulder and buried his face into her neck. Meanwhile, Keith was already unbuttoning her blouse before his face was in her cleavage, peeling her bra to suck her tender nipples.
"How dare you let him fuck you?" Ian groaned angrily, hiking her skirt up to her waist. "Why would you do that to us?"
"Fuck our pussy for that matter," Keith muttered, tugging her panties down. "Damn you, Deja!"
They almost sounded hurt.
Deja gasped as Keith's fingers invaded her so abruptly, so intensely, as if he were starved to touch her again. Ian's fingers joined Keith's, torturing her clit as she writhed between them. She was embarrassed and annoyed by how wet they made her.
"There wasn't anything in the contract about you fucking anyone else. Are you trying to piss us off?" Ian asked, biting her earlobe.
"Do you want him dead?" Keith threatened. "You want us to kill him? Is that it?"
Deja panted breathlessly, trying to ignore the way her body loyally responded to them. Her mind in disarray at their threats. "No," she whimpered. Her pussy throbbed with need, tossing her into utter chaos, as her body craved their touch so badly. "He has-ah he has n-nothing to do with-oh, god!"
"It kind of seems like that's what you want," Keith said, pulling her apart with his fingers.
A grin decorated his face, amused at how her body still responded to him.
But a bridling rage was behind his blue eyes at her audacity to touch someone else.
"You must want us to rip out his throat.
Smash his skull into the fucking pavement.
Turn his body into a goddamn pincushion. That must be what the fuck you want."