Chapter 24
Adriana
Bryant had commanded us all to get cleaned up and to meet in Landon’s office as soon as we went ashore again. While I showered, my ears were still ringing from the shock.
Bryant owns the Pacific. The thought played over and over in my head as I got dressed, as I served the guests, and as we sailed back. I was barely paying attention to anything, wondering how I had ever let things get this far.
There was no way I’d be keeping my job after this. I was going to have to call Sierra when I left Landon’s office, and beg her to let me work at the frame shop.
It felt as if everyone was watching me as I walked through the hotel, even though I was certain that none of them knew what had happened on the yacht.
All four of us had been incredibly discreet; even Bryant had said nothing after he’d caught us.
I had a feeling that wasn’t a good thing, though.
I fully expected him to explode once the office door closed behind me.
Inside, Bryant was sitting in Landon’s chair, while Landon and Nolan stood solemnly in front of the desk. They all turned toward me as I walked silently to stand between Landon and Nolan.
I had no idea what to say. I felt as if the weight of the world was hanging over my shoulders. Nolan and Landon didn’t know what was between Bryant and me, but I had a feeling that I would need to come clean to them right then and there. I stared at the floor, waiting for the yelling to start.
“So,” Bryant said calmly, and I lifted my head to see him leaning forward with the tips of his fingers pressed together. “Tell me, how did this degeneracy come to be in my hotel?”
He sounded more amused than angry, which surprised me. It was as if he was curious about what had happened between the three of us rather than angry. Or jealous.
I didn’t really know what to say. I glanced between Landon and Nolan, who were both frowning as though they had their own set of questions.
Still reeling from the fact that Bryant actually owned the Pacific, it was hard to land on any kind of response that made sense.
The whole situation was bad enough when I’d believed he was nothing more than a VIP guest. This revelation had taken it all to a new level, and it was dawning on me now what I’d gotten myself into.
I’d known from the beginning that Sierra was right, and now I was facing the consequences of not listening to her.
“We fell for her,” Landon started explaining, looking at Bryant rather than me. “I know we should have remained professional, but we found it impossible.”
“At first, I didn’t know that she and Landon had been together,” Nolan added, his hands in stressed fists at his sides. “And he didn’t know about her and me. We found out, and decided… perhaps it would be better for both of us to stay with her.”
“Interesting,” Bryant said, now leaning back in the chair. “Is that where the rumors of cheating came from? I’ve heard some things from guests, you know.”
I thought of the incident in the kitchen, and how everyone had been talking about it. I shifted my weight on my feet uncomfortably. Bryant wanted me to say something, too, but the lump in my throat was preventing that. There were no words that could explain any of this away.
“It wasn’t cheating,” Landon answered quickly, as if he was offended on my behalf. “We hadn’t been exclusive.”
“Are you exclusive now?” Bryant’s replies were fast and hard-hitting. My heart began to race and my palms felt sweaty.
Landon and Nolan might not have known why he was asking that question, but I did. I couldn’t look at any of them. I could hear my pulse deep in my ears and my body felt like lead.
“Why do you want to know that?” Nolan asked, and I could sense his eyes turning to me. “Adriana? What’s going on?”
“So they really don’t have any idea, huh?” Bryant sounded almost like he was about to let out a dry laugh, but he didn’t.
My jaw clenched and my mind went blank. I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t talk. I was about to lose them all, and my job on top of it. This was bad.
“Adriana.” Landon’s tone this time was lower than before. “What is he talking about?”
I was completely frozen as they watched me carefully, waiting for some kind of explanation. All I wanted to do was to run away and pretend that none of this had ever happened. I was well aware that I couldn’t; I had to face up to what I had done. But that didn’t stop me from wishing it.
“I didn’t plan any of this,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I swear. I didn’t mean for it to get this far.”
“What?” Nolan was stunned, and when I looked at him, his expression was difficult to read. It seemed as if he was actively building walls as this conversation was unfolding, like he was turning to stone right here in front of my eyes.
It made my heart fall to my shoes.
“Adriana— Have you been seeing Bryant, too?” Landon’s question slammed the breath right out of me.
“I’m sorry.” I had no idea what else to say. I didn’t want to give away all of the details of everything that had happened. Whatever I told them, I was sure it was only going to make me look worse.
Why hadn’t I listened to Sierra? I chastised myself. Why had I allowed myself to fall into such a dangerous fantasy? Now I was going to lose everything.
“Since when?” Nolan’s voice was tight, but nobody was yelling yet.
I wasn’t sure that this could be salvaged, but maybe I could at least keep my job. I doubted that, although I had been wrong before.
“Not long,” I answered shortly, hoping they wouldn’t make me say more.
“Did you know about us?” Landon shot at Bryant. “Before today?”
I glanced at him, sitting behind the desk with a look on his face that told me he was both watching and thinking. “I had an inkling. But neither of you did, did you?”
I wondered why he was bending the truth. He absolutely knew about the two of them. I’d told him everything, essentially. Was he playing some sort of game, or trying to see how they would react? Was he trying to punish me?
“No,” Landon and Nolan both said at the same time, turning to face me as they each took one step back.
“Why, Adriana?” Landon added, and something started bubbling up from inside of me.
I could feel my calmness slipping away and crashing over a cliff, and it took everything I had to keep it all under control.
“I’ll be honest,” Bryant said before I could answer, and got up from behind the desk.
He walked around it to lean against the front.
Of all of us, he was the one who seemed the most at ease.
I couldn’t sense any anger at all from him, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing. “I have to say, I’m not surprised.”
Everyone was staring at him now, including me. Mostly because I had no idea where he was going with this.
“You’re beautiful, smart, driven,” Bryant said, counting each word on his fingers as if he were creating a grocery list. “Not to mention how incredible you are when you manage to let loose. Any man would be crazy not to want you.”
I noticed in my periphery how both Landon and Nolan reluctantly nodded in agreement.
I didn’t get it. Bryant wasn’t put off by the fact that there were two other men in my life at all.
In fact, it looked like he was trying to convince them to share me with him, too.
Was that idea something that excited him?
“You might be too much for one man, anyway,” Bryant continued flippantly, as if he had prepared this argument beforehand. “Or not. Either way, it really is up to you, isn’t it?”
“So, you have been with him, too,” Nolan muttered, clearly not convinced of Bryant’s ideas.
“Why won’t you speak up, Adriana?” Landon added on, and I noticed him folding his arms from the corner of my eye. “Don’t you think you at least owe us some kind of explanation? Don’t you have anything to say?”
I stepped away from between the two of them, pulling my updo tight and fixing my blouse before I turned to face them.
I needed a second to catch my breath and to think, but it didn’t seem like I was going to get that.
I was literally in the corner of the office now, with three men all watching me expectantly.
Even in this situation, they were so attractive that a part of me wanted to take them all right here and now. Each one had something different that drew me to him, far more than what was physically obvious.
I couldn’t imagine choosing one over the other, or having any one of them leave my life. Things had moved fast, and I was still confused, but that was the one thing I was certain of. But how could I explain that to them without sounding selfish and greedy?
“I care about all of you!” I finally snapped, knowing that it probably wasn’t enough to say just that.
“I don’t know how it happened, okay? I tried to stop myself, but…
I couldn’t. I fell for Landon, and for Nolan, and— I’m falling for Bryant, too.
I don’t know how to choose, and I don’t really want to. I can’t deny it. I want you all.”
“I can’t blame you for that, either,” Bryant said with a shrug, seeming like my emotional meltdown wasn’t bothering him. “We’re all highly successful, and from what I’ve been told before, damn good-looking. Not to mention we have personalities to match. Isn’t that right, boys?”
Landon and Nolan’s expressions were completely unreadable now. I couldn’t tell if they were furious, confused, or interested in where Bryant seemed to be going. I didn’t know how I felt about it, either. It seemed as if he wanted all three of them to share me.
Things were already complicated enough as it was. I felt as if I was being pulled in all kinds of directions, and my heart had no idea which lead to follow.
I knew what Sierra would have told me. To leave all three of them behind immediately and focus on my work, if I still had a job.
But at this point, it didn’t look like either Bryant or Landon intended to fire me.
I wasn’t completely sure what it was they wanted from me, though.
Nolan wasn’t really saying anything. As usual, he was clamming up.
“I know they’re a bit bummed right now,” Bryant went on as his gaze met mine. “They’ll come around to the idea, I promise you. Neither of them want to leave you, and neither do I. The choice ultimately lies with you, Adriana.”
I could barely hear him above my heartbeat now. I wanted to agree with him, to fall into his arms and theirs, to curl up with the three of them without anything going wrong. But I couldn’t do that. Letting this go on was only going to blow up in my face. Sierra had been right about that.
“I can’t do this,” I finally breathed, crossing my arms and hugging myself to keep my emotions under control.
Now they were all staring at me again, surprise etched onto their faces. Even Bryant’s amusement seemed to falter. I didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to break away from this, but I had to.
“You’re my bosses,” I went on, trying to hammer that sentence into my own mind, too. “All of this… it’s unprofessional. It’s inappropriate. It should never have happened.”
None of them spoke. The atmosphere was thick and the tension tight.
“This job… It’s my dream,” I continued, wringing my hands together. “I should never have done anything to jeopardize it, and I’m sorry. It— It’s important to me, and I can’t afford to lose it.”
“What are you saying?” Bryant finally questioned, his gaze turning hard.
“This was a mistake,” I answered, taking a step back. “All of it.”
I turned, opened the door, and rushed out of Landon’s office, fighting back tears.