Chapter 20
Addison
Axel’s penthouse in the city is familiar. I’ve woken up there, showered there, and left clothes in his closet. But when Axel mentions his house outside the city, somewhere I’ve never been, the invitation feels different.
The drive to his country house takes forty minutes. It sits on ten acres outside the city. Trees line the property, and there are no neighbors visible in any direction.
The house is smaller than I expected. Single story. Modern lines. Large windows facing the woods.
“I’m selling my penthouse in the city when we all move in together,” he says as we get out. “But I’m keeping this. It’s the only place where I feel like I can actually breathe.”
He leads me inside. Past a living room with minimal furniture, through a hallway, to a door at the back of the house.
The workshop.
It smells like sawdust and varnish, with tools hanging on pegboards above a workbench that runs the length of one wall. Wood shavings scatter across the concrete floor.
His callouses. This is where they come from.
I walk over to the workbench, where small wooden boxes line a shelf. There’s also a side table with curved legs and a picture frame with intricate corner details.
All handmade.
“What is all this?”
“Things I’ve made.” He moves to the center where something tall sits covered with a drop cloth. “Been working on this one for a few weeks.”
The cloth falls away.
The bookshelf is stunning. It’s made from dark walnut with adjustable shelves and carved details along the edges. The wood grain catches the light. Each joint is seamless.
“You made this.”
“For your office.” His palm runs along the side. “Thought you could use somewhere proper to put all those books you keep stacked on your desk at your house. But now...” He trails off. “Now I’m thinking it goes in our library. At the penthouse.”
Our library.
The intricate carved pattern along the top shelf draws my touch. “This is beautiful.”
Something vulnerable crosses his face. “You really think so?”
“Axel, thank you.” I pull him in for a kiss.
The kiss is different, tender instead of demanding.
He pulls back first, and then he smiles at me.
“This is the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever made for me,” I tell him, and his smile widens. “You know, I have always wondered where the callouses on your hands are from.”
“I work with my hands when I need to think. When everything else gets too loud.” He steps into my space. “Building something helps. Been doing this since I was a teenager.”
The pieces fit together. “You create things when you can’t control anything else.”
“Pretty much.” His hand finds my waist. “I started the bookshelf the week after you signed the contract. When I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
I wrap my arms around him and lay my head against his chest. “You were building me a bookshelf while we were fighting?”
“I needed something to do with my hands that wasn’t tracking you down to argue.”
I laugh. The sound surprises me.
He lifts my chin and kisses me.
I lean into him, my hand reaching for his belt buckle, when my phone buzzes.
Then his phone buzzes.
We pull apart.
We both get the same text.
Nolan: Check this link. Liam and I are coming to you now. We’ll be there in 45 minutes.
Below the message is a URL.
Axel’s already opening it. His face goes hard.
“What is it?” I ask as I click on the link.
The article loads on my screen.
BILLIONAIRE TRIPLETS’ SHOCKING RELATIONSHIP WITH CRISIS CONSULTANT RAISES ETHICS CONCERNS
Palmer Capital’s “ethical rebrand” takes a disturbing turn as all three brothers are romantically involved with a woman they hired to restore their company’s reputation.
I read the first paragraph. Then the second paragraph.
They’re painting me as a woman who traded sex for professional advancement. Every decision Palmer Capital has made since hiring me is now suspect, and now people think I manipulated three powerful men to secure my position.
Quotes from “anonymous industry sources” claim I was seen leaving each brother’s apartment at different times. Playing them against each other for personal gain.
There’s a photo. Me leaving Liam’s building last week. Hair disheveled. Still in the previous day’s clothes.
Another photo. Axel’s hand on my lower back at a restaurant.
A third. Nolan opening a car door for me.
“Fuck.” Axel’s voice cuts through. “This is bad.”
Bad. The word is inadequate.
Catastrophic.
“They’re making me look—” I can’t finish the sentence.
“Like you sold yourself.” A low growl forms from Axel’s throat. “Like we bought you.”
Everything I built. Every article I wrote exposing corruption. Every source who trusted me because I told the truth. Every reader who believed me because I never compromised.
Gone.
“Hey.” Axel moves in front of me and cups my face. “Look at me.”
Focusing takes effort.
“This is bullshit. Complete fucking bullshit.” His fingers run across my jawline. “We know the truth. That’s what matters. You can still write the article, and give your side of the story.”
“Nobody’s going to believe us now.” My voice is flat.
“Then fuck them.”
“We can’t just say ‘fuck them,’ Axel.” My panic wants to claw its way up.
I push it down. “This destroys Palmer Capital. Your investors will pull funding. Your portfolio companies will distance themselves. Everything you’ve rebuilt since Harrison Luxe is going to be destroyed.
” I take a deep breath. “And my employees. River. Everyone at Archer Media. Their reputations are tied to mine.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“How?” My face is hot. My chest is heavy. Sweat begins to form all over my body. “How do we fix that I’ve compromised every shred of credibility I had? How do we fix that our relationship is a much bigger problem than the Harrison Luxe scandal?”
He opens his mouth. Closes it.
No answer.
But I don’t blame him. I don’t have an answer either.
My phone buzzes again.
Liam: Don’t do anything until we get there.
And now we have to wait forty-five minutes. Fucking great.
Axel tries talking to me. I respond in monosyllables. My brain runs calculations. Damage assessment. Exit strategies.
He paces. Checks his phone. Looks at me like he wants to fix this, but he has no idea how.
I sit on the floor of his workshop. Wood shavings stick to my jeans.
The bookshelf stands in front of me. Beautiful. Thoughtful. And I hate how this beautiful moment was destroyed.
Headlights finally cut through the window.
Axel opens the door before they knock.
Liam walks in first. Nolan follows. Both look grim.
“I had the source traced.” Liam wastes no time. “The leak was a private investigator hired by Harrison Luxe.”
Of course. Revenge for the exposé.
“They’ve been following her for weeks,” Nolan adds. “Documenting everything.”
“So, what do we do?” Axel asks.
“We respond. Fast. Addison writes her first-person account. We publish it tonight, before this gets worse,” Liam answers.
“It’s already worse.” There’s distance in my voice. “Publishing my account now looks defensive. I already told Axel that nobody will believe it.”
“Then we sue,” Nolan says. “Defamation. These quotes are fabricated. The implications are false.”
“Suing takes months.” The words come out mechanical. I’m talking, but the voice doesn’t sound like mine. “Years. By then, the damage is permanent.”
“So, we weather it,” Nolan says quietly. “Together. We knew this was a risk.”
“We knew speculation was a risk.” I gesture to my phone. “Not this. Not a coordinated attack designed to destroy everything.”
Liam closes the distance between us. “We can work through this.”
Can we?
“Addison.” Nolan takes my hand. “We’ll figure this out.”
I squeeze Nolan’s hand before letting it go. “I need time to think.”
“Think here.” Axel’s voice cracks slightly. “With us.”
“I can’t think here. I need space. I need to process this.”
“Don’t leave.” Liam’s voice carries an edge I’ve never heard before. Not commanding. Pleading.
“I’m going home.” My stomach is roiling. My head is pounding. “I need time to think.”
“We should do this together,” Nolan says.
“I can’t. I can’t think when you’re all looking at me expecting me to have answers I don’t have.”
“Are you leaving us?” Axel asks.
Maybe. The thought feels like it is crushing my soul.
So, I don’t voice it out loud. “I’ll call you tomorrow. After I’ve had time to think this through.”
Liam steps in front of the door. “You can’t leave.”
My hand closes around his wrist. “You can’t force me to stay.”
He flinches, and his look nearly destroys me.
“I’m not leaving for good.” I make eye contact with Liam, then Nolan, and finally Axel. “I’m thinking. There’s a difference.”
“Is there?” Axel’s voice is rough.
And at that moment, I realize that I don’t just like these men. I love them. With all of my heart. And I’ve just destroyed their lives.
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now except that I need space to figure out what happens next.”
Liam moves aside.
Axel chases after me and catches my arm before I walk out the door. “I drove you here. Let me at least drive you back to the city.”
I shake my head. “Thank you, but I am fine. I will order a car.”
I’m grateful that he doesn’t fight me.
None of them follow me, and the door closes behind me.
I pull out my phone and order a car. Forty minutes back to the city. Forty minutes to figure out what I’m going to say tomorrow.