Chapter 18 #2
With my pulse kicking up a beat, I sit forward just a little and pluck a card and place it on the table. “Jack.” I sigh, not sure if it’s a good thing or not. Easier than working out what they want from me.
Cruz tilts his head to the side. “What do you think, Ash?”
“Hmm. You forgot who was in charge and got silly ideas of running from us again. We all remember what happened last time you tried that.” He produces a pair of handcuffs and dangles them from his thumb. “For the rest of the night you will be wearing these.”
I go to argue, and Cruz places a finger to my lips to stop me. “Not a good idea to talk back. Take your punishment like a good girl, darlin’, and we will make it less challenging for you.”
My eyes narrow in on him, and he replaces his finger with his lips, kissing me quickly before he hops up and moves to the bar.
“I think we need a drink.”
I turn to Asher. Surely he doesn’t agree. “Ash.”
He takes my hands in his, the cool metal cuffs sliding over my flesh as he tightens them. He leans in, his lips brushing mine. “You run, it’ll kill me.”
His words sink right to the pit of my stomach, causing pain to radiate through my chest. I stare back at him. “I won’t run.”
“Can you promise me?”
“Yes. Can you trust me?” I ask, remembering our questions from earlier today.
His eyes search mine, boring deep into my soul. “Yes,” he answers, but he doesn’t sound convinced.
“Next round,” Jagger interrupts our moment, clearly needing the attention back on his grumpy ass.
I roll my eyes just to piss him off. And instead of taking the card he has held out for me, I take one of the shot glasses Cruz has left on the table and throw it back. Something tells me I need to be buzzed for the rest of this game.
Cruz settles back in beside me, kissing my cheek. “Love this look on you, little darlin’. You know I’ve been imagining you cuffed and helpless since that first night I brought you home.”
I can’t help but smirk back at him. “Guess all your dreams are coming true.”
“Oh, you have no idea, baby.”
“Good luck thinking I’m helpless just because you have my hands bound.” With a sassy smirk, I reach for a card, needing a distraction from the way he’s looking at me like he’s about to throw me over the coffee table and screw me. I turn a king, and my skin goes all clammy.
Jagger’s lips twitch at the sides ever so slightly as his dark menacing eyes meet mine.
He stands and walks over to the window, staring out into the night, his hands in his pockets.
“You know, I like the idea of attaching you to me permanently, but I have a better idea. Choose one of us to marry,” he says without hesitation, turning back to face the three of us.
My spine goes ramrod straight. “What the fuck?” I stare back at all of them in disbelief, thinking I must have misheard him. “You’re joking, right? You know how I feel about being married.”
“To one of them, some fucker your family chose for you.” His lips twitch into a smug smile. “But you said yourself you don’t want to run from us; you like us and what we have to offer. So stay and marry into the family.”
My mouth pops open to respond with something intelligent.
But I have nothing. That was the last thing I expected him to say right now.
I was expecting him to… I don’t know, ask me to drop to my knees and crawl to him.
Spank my ass or something like that. Not get into a legally binding contract with me.
Asher squeezes my hand, and I know he agrees with his brother.
“You said so yourself, your family know you’re not dead, Daisy.
If you want them to stop coming after you, take away their power, put it back in your hands by choosing one of us.
” He sounds so confident about it, like he’s also given this idea way too much thought and he knows this is the perfect solution.
I look at Cruz, and he offers me a lopsided smile.
All three of them watch me with hawk eyes, making my stomach churn like crazy.
Is this Jagger’s idea of punishment? Or his fucked-up way of making sure he can keep me forever.
Either way, I have to admit he’s not wrong.
If I’m married, I’m no use to my family, right?
But is this really any better or am I just as trapped here?
“I can’t pick just one of you, that… that…
I can’t.” I can’t form a sentence. My brain keeps short circuiting, because for the first time in a really fucking long time, I don’t hate the idea of being married to someone.
To one of them, and I can’t quite process what that all means.
Jagger nods like he knew it all along, his face serious, but I can still tell this is all kinds of fun for him. “The cards decide then.” He plucks three kings from the pack and shows them to me. “King of hearts is Asher, king of clubs is Cruz, and king of diamonds is me.”
I place my hand on his, stopping him from shuffling. “We can’t let cards decide a life-changing thing like marriage.”
“I decide then,” he growls back in a way that makes me want to kick him in the junk all over again.
I glance at Cruz and Asher for their input, no idea what the correct thing to do is here. I have feelings for all of them in such different but equally strong ways. I want them all, even though I know that’s wrong. Their faces don’t give much away. “Do you two agree with all this?”
Asher smirks back at me. “Princess, I would marry you tomorrow if I knew it would keep these assholes away from you.”
“Cruz?” I squeak.
“You know how I feel about you, baby, I wanted to keep you the first night we met.”
“Yeah, but…” I go to stand, needing space from the three of them. But Jagger pushes me back down to sitting. I glare at him. “What, did you have some meeting without me again?”
“This idea has been a decent option for a while; we just wanted to make sure you were ready for it.”
Tears well in my eyes. This is too much.
“Okay, let the cards decide,” Jagger snips, and it’s clear his patience is wearing thin. He shuffles the three cards in his hand. Leaving them face down. “Pick,” he demands.
I cross my arms over my chest, and I shake my head. A nervous flutter runs all the way through me. I’m not even sure who I want it to be. My mind keeps bobbing from one of them to the other and wondering what this means for the rest of my life, for theirs.
Asher pulls me in closer to him. He takes my face in his hand and stares into my eyes. “Just so you know, this won’t change what any of us have with you, princess.”
“It’s a document to keep you safe, that’s all,” Cruz agrees.
“Pick,” Jagger growls. It’s just like him to be an asshole at a time like this.
I know it’s more than a way of keeping me safe, I can feel it.
But at this point, I know I can’t walk away from them.
And even if it feels like signing yet another deal with the devil, it’s also the safest option and in truth the only one I want to entertain.
If I have to marry anyone, let it be one of them.
My nail slips between the two other cards and I pluck the middle one, holding it in my hand, too afraid to turn it over.
“Who is it, little darlin’?”
I glance up at Cruz, my heart racing like crazy.
I flip the card over to reveal a king of hearts.
“Asher,” I whisper. The least likely of them to ever get married.
But when my eyes lock with his, I see he’s not worried one bit.
They sparkle with a satisfied delight for having something over his brothers.
“Decision made then,” Jagger grumbles, sounding more pissed about it than I expected.
“Does this mean I’m going to be fucking my sister-in-law from now on?” Cruz’s chuckle fills the room, eating up the stupid tension.
I can’t help but laugh, and I don’t even know why, maybe because it’s laugh along with him or puke up my dinner.
Before I have a chance to say anything, Asher takes my face in his hands and plants a kiss on my lips.
I feel Jagger’s leg brush by mine as he stands up.
I pull back from Asher to find Jagger moving across the room. He takes a tumbler of whiskey and pours himself a drink, then throws it back. “I’ll get Mal to sort out the details,” he snips, heading for the door.
I give Asher the eyes like, is he okay, and he smiles softly and I know he’s not. Jagger wanted to be the one.
“You still have one more round to play. I’m going to pick for you,” Cruz says as he turns over a queen. “What will it be, darlin’?”
Jagger lingers in the doorway, and I know he’s waiting to hear my response before he stalks off to lick his wounds. But this is his fault.
“If I ask for all of you, would that make me greedy?” My teeth sink into my bottom lip.
I know it’s probably a terrible idea, with these kinds of egos and all.
But if I can’t ask for what I want with them, this situation is never going to work.
Especially now. And the last thing I need is them fighting with each other.
I might marry Asher, but I’m entering into something more permanent with all of them.
Asher’s smile widens all the way to his dimples. And I don’t need to see Cruz’s reaction because I can feel the way he’s touching me and know he’s all in.
I watch for Jagger’s reaction. His lips twitch, and instead of storming off, he steps back into the room. “Very.”