Chapter 4
Four
Ella
I’m not a jealous person. I’m not a jealous person.
I’m not a jealous person, and yet I want to yank this woman away from Sebastian. Not only does he look uncomfortable with her attention, but he’s actively trying to take his hand away from her.
“Ella,” he says, standing up.
The woman has no choice but to let him go—or cling to him in a really awkward way.
She looks like she’s considering clinging, but thankfully, she doesn’t.
“Who’s your little friend, Bastian?” she asks.
“I don’t know you,” he says to her. “Please leave me alone now.”
The look on her face is pure indignation, but she walks away, throwing an icy glare over her shoulder at me as she goes.
He steps toward me and looks like he wants to hug me, but is afraid of my reaction.
I try to smile even though my face doesn’t want to work properly. I’m exhausted after a double shift of cleaning—at a hotel downtown that needed an extra maid for the morning, and then at Dorado Terrace. And then I come in here to pick up my check, and…this?
“Hey,” I say, forcing out the greeting.
“Hey,” Sebastian says.
I step into his arms and wrap my arms around him. Holy crap, how did it come to be that hugging Sebastian feels like home ? It feels so right to have his arms wrapped around me and to lean into him.
“I didn’t want that woman to touch me,” he says.
“I know,” I say, pressing my face to his chest and breathing in his refreshing scent.
Even though I know he didn’t invite that woman’s attention, it doesn’t change the fact that the whole world tilted sideways when I saw her hand on his.
Kingston and Sebastian have told me repeatedly that they want this to be a real relationship, the three of us.
They want to take me on a date. The fucking we do is unbelievable, but I’ve been trying to approach it casually.
My reaction to seeing another woman hitting on Sebastian?
There’s nothing fucking casual about the way I wanted to rip her fingers from her hand because she dared to touch him.
I take a deep, fortifying breath, trying to calm down my racing heart and chase away the residual jealousy washing through my brain. Stepping back a tiny bit, I look up at Sebastian’s handsome face. His beard gives him a roguish look.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” I ask.
“I went to the Kitty Cat, but there were too many fans.”
That’s right. I’m dating a rock star. If him being hot as fuck wasn’t bad enough, the rock star status also makes him a magnet for women—and men—to hit on.
“We need to talk,” he says.
Someone over his shoulder catches my attention. Natasha. She’s mouthing something at me. When I mouth what? back at her, Sebastian turns around to see who I’m talking to.
Natasha quickly looks away and marches toward the coffee maker.
Sebastian faces me again. “Is there somewhere private we can have a word?”
“Um…sure.” Natasha was trying to tell me something, but she didn’t want Sebastian to know. Feeling off-center, I move down the bar to where Kevin’s pouring beer from the taps.
“Hey, Ella,” he says. “You’re here for your check? It’s in the office.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Hey, can I borrow the office for a few minutes to talk to my friend?”
Friend? Boyfriend? What do I call Sebastian and Kingston? Can I borrow the office to talk to my daddy doesn’t have quite the right tone for my workplace.
“Sure.” Kevin waves me away and gets back to work.
I grab Sebastian’s hand and lead him through the swinging door of the kitchen.
I say hi to Francine and Mikey, who are cooking tonight.
At the back of the kitchen, next to the large, walk-in refrigerator, is Kevin’s office.
It isn’t any bigger than a walk-in closet, but Kevin somehow squished a desk and office chair into the space.
I pull Sebastian in after me and close the door, then face him. He seems a lot closer now than he did a moment ago, even when I was hugging him. I tilt my head back to see him better. “What’s up?”
“You haven’t been honest with King and me,” he says, those hazel eyes fastening on me and getting darker.
Crap. This is what Natasha was trying to warn me about.
“I—” I don’t know what to say. What, exactly, does he know?
“Where are you living right now?” he asks.
“Natasha’s couch. Well, tonight, I’m not sure. It’s complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” he says. “Between King and me, we have two large apartments.”
“We haven’t even gone on a single date,” I say. “I’m not moving in with you guys. I can figure things out on my own.”
“It’s almost ten p.m. Where are you planning to sleep tonight? Here at the pub?”
“I’m waiting to see if Mrs. Dali is home and I can sleep on her couch. Or maybe Kevin would let me sleep on his couch tonight…”
“Or you could come to mine,” Sebastian says. “Or Kingston’s. You’re killing me, princess. It doesn’t have to be this difficult.”
I look to the ceiling, searching for more patience. I don’t find any. “You’re not listening. I can’t move in with you. We’re maybe doing this relationship thing—”
“ Maybe ?” he asks, incredulous.
“Um, we are doing this relationship thing.”
He takes my hands in his and his eyes are searching, intense on mine. “Ella. We’re going to King’s right the fuck now. And the three of us are going to have a nice, long chat about your disobedience.”
“My—disobedience—”
“You lied to your daddies,” he says simply. “You’re going to face the consequences. But first, I need to do this.”
He holds my wrists in one of his hands, then uses the other to grip the back of my neck and bring my face toward his.
He kisses me sweetly at first, his lips soft but scorching.
In the span of two heartbeats, though, the kiss turns dirty, his tongue pushing into my mouth, his grip on my neck moving to my hair.
He lets go of my wrists and reaches for the hem of my t-shirt, which he shoves up to expose my bra-clad breasts.
“Sebastian,” I start to say.
“Daddy,” he corrects in a whisper against my jaw.
“Daddy, we shouldn’t—”
“Shouldn’t what?” He reaches for one of my nipples and rolls it between his fingers. Lust spikes like a drug through my body.
“Oh…fuck,” I say. “We should. We really should.”
He backs me against the door, and his cock is a hard length pressing against my hip and stomach.
I don’t care that we’re in Kevin’s office—I want Sebastian to take me right here, right now, to hell with all the consequences.
He kisses me again and I moan into his mouth, craving his fingers everywhere.
My clothes are too constricting. I want to take everything off, and I imagine climbing his body, letting him hold me up while he fucks me.
Abruptly, he pulls away. A soft smile lifts the corners of his mouth as he looks me over—my shirt’s shoved up, my nipples are hard behind the lacy fabric of my bra, and I can feel that my skin is flushed with heat and desire.
“Are you ready to be punished, little girl?” he asks.
Oh, I’m more than ready.
Kingston
Sebastian’s text sends me rushing home from the office. Yeah, once again, I’ve worked late. I know I need to cut back, but there’s so much that needs to get done. Fucking hell.
At least I get to my place before Bash and Ella do. They come up in the elevator just as I’m removing my jacket. Ella’s cheeks are flushed and her lips are red and swollen. I smirk at Sebastian, who looks fucking pleased with himself.
“Come give Daddy a hug,” I say, holding my arms out.
She steps into my embrace, and damn, it feels so good to hold her. Keeping her tucked in my arms, I say, “I’ve missed you, little girl.”
“I missed you too,” she says.
“What’s this I hear about you not being honest?”
“You told him already?” Ella says, turning to look at Bash.
“We don’t keep secrets from each other,” Bash says. “It’s time you learned that, princess.”
Ella gives me a concerned look.
“This is very serious,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell us the truth?”
“I didn’t really mean to lie about anything.” She sighs.
I take her by the hand and lead her to one of the sofas, where I invite her to sit before taking a seat, myself. Bash, of course, remains standing. He leans against the wall and folds his arms across his chest.
“Do you really not know how we feel about you?” I ask her.
She purses her lips and looks down. “We’re having fun, and I figured that’s…that’s about it. I mean, I know you guys care, it’s just…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence.
“It’s just, you haven’t seen it,” I say.
“Not that, I’ve seen it. But we’re not far enough along for me to let you find me an apartment, and pay for it. Jeez. You could get me in there, and then, what if we break up? I’ll be without a place once again.”
“I’d pay for an apartment for you in perpetuity,” I say.
“That’s extreme,” she says. “You’ve got to hear yourself, right?” She looks over to Bash.
He shrugs. “To us, it’s not a lot.”
“And that’s another problem with it,” she exclaims. Her eyes go shiny with tears, but she doesn’t cry. “You can just throw money at any problem and make it go away.”
Sebastian jolts as if he’s been slapped.
“That’s—no, Ella. We just want to help you.
We want you to be safe and happy. We want you with us, but if you won’t stay with us, we at least want you safe somewhere else.
That building of yours is terrible. The front door is hanging open half the time, so anyone can just walk in, and you said your apartment door was kicked in.
It shouldn’t be that easy for someone to break into your home. ”
“I’m getting a new door.”
“And the front door to the building?” I ask.
“I’ve asked the manager to fix it.”
“How long has it been broken?” I ask.
She shrugs. “A while.”
I stare at her.
“A few weeks,” she admits. “Maybe a couple of months.”
“And he still hasn’t fixed it,” I say. “He must be aware, yet not doing anything.”
I don’t want to ask her why she hasn’t escalated the problem—because a part of me knows why she hasn’t. She’s tired. The poor girl is working two jobs and, from what it seems to me, barely staying afloat financially.
“Okay, here’s the thing,” Sebastian says, striding forward and kneeling in front of Ella.
“We’re your daddies, princess. We take care of you.
Right now, you aren’t able to care for yourself, and there’s absolutely no fucking shame in that.
But we cannot let you couch-surf while your apartment manager sits on his ass and doesn’t fix the safety hazards of your building. ”
“I’m handling it,” she says.
I arch an eyebrow and hold her gaze until she looks down.
“I’m not handling it,” she whispers.
“No, you’re not,” I say.
I take her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Bash takes her other hand.
“We have some options,” I say in a quiet voice. “One: we find you an apartment and help you move. Two: you move in with one of us.”
She starts to shake her head.
“Let me finish, please,” I say.
She bites her lip and holds still.
“Or three: you let us apply some pressure on your landlord and on the building manager. I don’t love that you’re staying in the Bellefleur District, but it is your home, and this is your life, and you get to choose where you live.
As long as it’s safe. That means functioning doors and locks, good lighting outside, and possibly some security monitoring. ”
A tear leaks from the corner of Ella’s eye. She lets go of my hand to wipe it away, but I get there first, brushing it from her skin with my thumb.
“Can you tell us what you’re feeling right now?” Bash asks softly.
She’s quiet for a moment. “Just…nobody has cared this much about my safety since my dad. He would hate what I’ve been doing.”
“With us?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intended.
“No.” She gives me a watery smile. “He would’ve liked you—he would’ve liked both of you.
But he would hate that I’ve been working late and coming back to that building.
I’m not ready to move in with either of you, or accept your help in paying for another place.
But if you could help me get the building manager and landlord to fix a few things, I would appreciate that. ”
Outwardly, I give her an encouraging smile. Inwardly, I frown. It’s not the answer I want, even though it’s the answer I expected.
But it’s something, and I think it’s the most we could’ve hoped for.
“Now,” I say, “take off your coat.”
“Is this the punishment part of the evening?” she asks, looking a little too eager.
“Not yet,” I say, standing up and grabbing a shopping bag from behind the sofa. Without a word, I hand it to Ella.
“What is it?” she asks.
“Open it and see.”
Looking quietly pleased, she opens the bag and reaches inside, then pulls out the light blue puffer coat I ordered for her.
“It’s…you got me a coat,” she says.
“I told you, we like to take care of you,” I say.
“Try it on,” Sebastian says.
She pulls it on. “It fits perfectly. It’s so warm and soft.”
The shiny sleeves embrace Bash and me at the same time as she says thank you over and over again, her eyes tearing up even more. We take turns kissing her, and I feel, finally, that all might turn out all right in the world.
“Now,” I say, trailing a finger over her throat and down to the neckline of her t-shirt, “about those consequences.”
Sebastian
I watch you sleeping
Your fists clenched at your chin.
Always a fighter
Winding me tighter
Baby girl, I fight to win.
My heart’s on the line
I’m watching for signs
I’m placing my bet
I’m pulling ahead.
I said we don’t keep secrets
As I dove into your sweetness.
There’s always a risk,
Always a risk,
But baby, this fight was fixed.