Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
BELLAMY
God, I hated him. I hated him so fucking much, even as I craved him. Okay, maybe hate was a strong word, but my body was burning with need, and it was all Mercer’s fault. I had no outlet, no time when the stylist was just down the hall waiting for me to emerge. It was his intention; I was sure. He wanted to leave me wanting and withering with the need for release.
You started this. You provoked him.
I preferred to ignore my inner monologue in favor of blaming him for looking so damn good as he was concentrating on whatever scheme he was creating. I didn’t have time to shower off the cum that coated my skin. I had to settle for using a rag to wipe it off, hoping that the stylist couldn’t smell Mercer on my skin. I dressed quickly, putting on a pair of leggings and a tank top before meeting Adam and the stylist in the living room.
The popcorn had been cleaned up, either by Mercer or Adam, and I tried not to let embarrassment consume me when I met Adam’s knowing eyes and secretive smirk. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He encouraged us to get close. It wasn’t wrong. It couldn’t be. Not when his body felt so right between my thighs.
“Belle, this is Genie. She puts together all our clothing for events.”
I reached out, shaking her hand. “Thank you for waiting. It’s nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, I promise you.” She smiled widely, friendly. “Mr. Ferrari informed me he would like you in something yellow and that he, Mr. Barrett, and Mr. Alexander are to be fitted in something to match. Are you in agreement?”
It took me a moment to realize she meant Ace and Mercer. I’d never put much thought into their last names since that first week in the house. I nodded, “If it’s as he wishes.”
“As he wishes?” She laughed. “You and I both know that the men rarely have a choice in these things. You have the final say. He may pay the bill, but your happiness matters.”
“This is why Genie is irreplaceable,” Adam pointed out.
“Well…” I bit my lip, not wanting to go against what he said, but I was nervous. “Yellow wasn’t a color I would have thought of.”
“I hear you.” She smiled. “Except, with a beauty like yours, I would hate for it to get lost in the sea of blues, blacks, and reds that consume these events. I think yellow will go beautifully with your skin tone.”
She had a point. If Adam’s purpose was to show me off, yellow would surely grab the attention he sought. I didn’t like to be the center of attention, but clearly, I had no choice when I was with these men. “Can we have a backup option? Just in case?”
She threw her head back in a laugh. “Like you’ll need one.”
Well, at least she was confident in her work. There was that. I guess she would have to be to be on Adam’s payroll. He only seemed to hire the best. After all, he hired my best friend.
“I’ll leave you two to it, then.” He put his hand in his pocket. “I’ll be in my office if you need me. I’ll call in dinner. You’re welcome to do the fitting here, or in our bedroom. I have Hannah coming for her dress fitting as well.”
“Hannah?” My heart picked up. I had just been thinking of her.
“Max will let her in,” he confirmed. “I can’t have my lead bartender not dressed for the occasion, and if I remember correctly, her previous employer was subpar.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew he was only including her for me, and I appreciated it. I also knew he wouldn’t admit to such consideration. These men were such softies, all while wielding weapons. Such a contradiction, but at least they were my contradiction.
“Thank you.” I closed the distance between us and stood on my toes. He automatically leaned down, offering me a quick kiss, and when I pulled away, I repeated, “Thank you.”
“I promise, little Belle, it’s for selfish reasons.”
Except, the look in Genie’s eyes only confirmed that he spoke the lies that I suspected. My smile was faint, not letting on that I was onto him. “Still. Thanks.”
Before he could say more, I turned to Genie, stretching my arms out. “Where do you want me?”
“Here is fine. Unless you want more privacy. But I could measure with what you have on.”
“Perfect.”
Adam disappeared as the doorbell rang, and a few minutes later, my best friend was escorted to the living room, a sulky Max trailing behind her. Hannah had no trouble being added to the mix, and the flurry of measuring began. While I opted for the yellow dress, designed with Adam’s insistence to be fit for a queen with sparkly rhinestones and lace, Hannah opted for a form-fitting pearl white silk number that I knew would look fantastic against her skin.
“Girl, you’re going to look so hot!” I promised Hannah as Genie cleaned up her supplies.
Ignoring the snort from Max, Hannah smiled widely. “I can’t wait. I’ve had nothing custom made before. Girl, your man is so fucking generous. You should see the place he set me up in. We can literally hang out every day once I’m fully moved in.”
Another huff from Max earned him a glare from us. He held his hands up like he was innocent, when we could all read the passive aggression coming from him. I turned back to Hannah. “Have you put in your notice for the other job?”
“Instantly. Adam – I mean, Mr. Ferrari has had me working my tail off training my crew and making sure everyone is compliant.” She sighed dreamily. “And Mr. Barrett has been training me.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Don’t get too dreamy.”
“Possessive much?” she teased.
When it came to those three men, yeah, I was. It was new to me. But I was willing to embrace it. “I just don’t want you to get attached, is all.”
“Attached to what?” Ace asked as he strolled into the room. He instantly went to me like a beacon, his hand wrapping around my hip as he leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Need help with your bags, Genie?”
She waved him off. “That’s what the big, burly, grumpy guard you got there is for.”
I pretended not to see the exchange between Max and Hannah as she stuck her tongue out at Max. I answered his question as Max stepped forward to grab Genie’s bag. “Attached to you, of course.”
“Clearly, no one is attached to me.” He laughed.
“I am,” I whispered, and his eyes heated for a moment as he looked down at me. Then his head jerked up. “Have a nice night, Genie.”
I guess the real question was, was he attached to me too? He made it so hard to read. His emotions, his thoughts, his wants, he was so closed down. Mercer made what he wanted clear. In fact, he didn’t just use his words; he used his body, his wit, his actions. But Ace? Sometimes I thought he wanted me. It was the little sparks of things here and there. The heat in his eyes, the soft smiles, helping with the garden, little things. But then he closed himself down again, making it impossible to know for sure.
I wanted to say more to him, but Hannah cut in, clearly not reading the moment. “Ace, I was telling Belley about how you’re a hard ass to work with and you’re teaching me the ropes at work.”
“Belley?” He raised a brow in question.
I cringed. The nickname is hardly favorable. Hannah beamed at my discomfort. “She hates the name, but I’ve been calling her that for ages.”
“And how long is ages?” Ace released me, and I wanted to pull him back. I liked their body heat near me. All of them. One of them. I just couldn’t get enough. He toed off his shoes before he let his body fall back onto the couch, and I couldn’t help it. I followed, sitting next to him. Close enough to feel his heat, but not touching. I didn’t want to cross the boundaries he was trying to set. Except it was he who reached over and pulled me closer to his side.
“We met in middle school. My father is a man of…” She pursed her lips. “Power. We went to the same private school.”
“A man of power,” Ace stated. “Should we be worried about this? You are living on our property, after all.”
“I can handle myself,” she stated.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” Ace defended. “But Bellamy and our child could be at risk if you’re holding out information of danger.”
Our . Every single time, the statement made me weak.
Hannah thought for a moment before speaking carefully. “I’ve not talked to my father in a long time, Mr. Barrett. I left that life and his rules, and I’ve been happy on my own since the moment I turned eighteen. I’ve struggled like most young adults, and I can admit I’ve done some things I’m not exactly proud of. But I can assure you I’d not put Bellamy in any danger. She is the only family I have now.”
“And us, by extension,” Adam offered as he stepped into the room, holding up some boxes of pizza. “Please, if you ever need something, ask us.”
“Yes, sir.” Hannah nodded vigorously.
“And Hannah?”
“Yes, Mr. Barrett.”
“When we are not at the office or on a work site, fewer formalities are fine.” Ace tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a moment before adding. “Besides, I suspect we are going to be seeing a lot of you. Probably too damn much, honestly.”
“Never too much.” I poked his side.
“Matter of opinion,” Adam said dryly. “Did Hannah tell you she already has a workplace admirer?”
I swore I heard Max grunt, but when I looked his direction, he was looking straight ahead. Hm, curious. I’d question my guard on that later. I grabbed Hannah’s hand, pulling her down in my lap, not missing the way Ace’s hand shot out to protect my stomach. “Tell me of this admirer.”
Hannah’s face instantly reddened. “Well, to start, it’s a one-sided admiration that I wished Adam would not try to put power to.” She stretched Adam’s name out and he only grinned, the look so damn charming I wished he would have been closer so I could kiss him. Damn, when had I crossed all the lines in my mind, went from being here temporarily to being all in with this beautifully scarred and broken man?
“It’s the head of housekeeping, Christopher Johnson.” Adam’s brows wagged. “He thinks your girl is something.”
“He gives me the creeps.” Hannah shivered. “He keeps talking to my boobs.”
Ace leaned forward, resting his forearm on his leg. “I’ll talk to him. I didn’t realize he did that.”
“I’ll talk to him too,” Max mumbled under his breath, and Ace glanced at him for a moment, trying to read him, except the man remained stiff, not moving a muscle.
“That’s inappropriate,” Adam cut in. “I hadn’t realized the disrespect, only that he talks to her like she’s a goddess. If it continues, I’ll have him fired. We don’t need sexual harassment in our establishment. Come eat before the pizza gets cold.”
Adam disappeared toward the dining room, but none of us moved. Partially because I had Hannah weighing me down, but also because leaning against Ace was comfortable. Finally, with a sigh, Hannah pushed herself off my lap, and I had no real excuse to stay here. Not when the smell of pizza wafted around me, and my stomach growled.
Ace got up first, offering his hand to pull me up. I took it, his palm warm as he gripped my fingers tight. When I was stable, he let me go before he walked toward the kitchen, and I couldn’t help letting my eyes fall to his ass in the perfectly tailored pants. When Ace was far enough ahead of me, Hannah whistled low. “You bagged yourself a house of deliciousness.”
“I-“ I couldn’t dispute that, actually. Everyone here, my guys included, was strangely attractive. “If I’m honest, they bagged me.”
My admission had her eyes going wide, but by then we were already in the dining room and Adam was walking toward us with plates in hand. She leaned over. “That’s a story for another day? Don’t fucking hold out on me, bitch.”
“Excuse me,” Adam growled.
“Sorry. Sir. It’s a… term of endearment.” Her eyes were as big as saucers, as if the man before us actually scared her.
“Not in this house,” Adam supplied.
“It’s fine.” I laughed. “Really, Adam.”
He placed a plate on the table before he pulled out a chair for me to sit. “It may be said jokingly, but I’ll have you only be addressed respectfully. I understand how females conversate. I’m just informing Hannah in the future that I don’t like the term to be used in this setting.”
Adam turned away and Hannah sat across from me, her mouth forming the silent word, conversate , as he walked away, mocking him.
Ace growled, “We’re going to have our hands full with these two.”
“Whatever do you mean?” We both looked at him, our eyes as innocent as we could force them to be.
"I think you know.” Ace reached forward, placing pizza on my plate, then his.
I looked around, noticing for the first time that Mercer wasn’t here. He was here a few hours ago. I knew because I swore I could still catch whiffs of his scent coating my skin. Adam came back into the room, an arm full of various drink options that he placed in the center of the table. Hannah grabbed a bottle of water before observing. “I feel like I should serve you guys.”
Adam’s hand waved away her statement. “We don’t like to be served. It wasn’t how we grew up. We don’t even have a personal chef on call, like most people of our status do. We’d rather cook ourselves. It gives us time to hang out and talk.”
“Where is Mercer?” I finally blurted out when he was done explaining to Hannah about the need to not have servants.
I saw the sparkle in Adam’s eye. The slight curve of his lips. The heat he tried to hide in his gaze. “Miss him already?”
“I… I was just curious, is all.”
“Yes. Curious.” He laughed. “He is on a job tonight.”
“Is it—“ I didn’t finish what I was about to say. The warning in Adam’s eyes told me all I needed to know. He trusted me. I was his wife, after all, but he didn’t know Hannah, and he didn’t trust her with information that could implicate our team if anything ever went wrong.
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flooded me.
“You can always send him a… text.” I knew exactly what type of text Adam was hinting at. The joy on his face said it all. He watched us earlier. He knew what had happened between Mercer and me. He wasn’t mad at it, clearly.
“I’ll wait. Thanks.” There was no way Mercer was getting a text or any sort of picture from me after leaving me unsatisfied with his cum all over my skin.
“She doesn’t text,” Ace, who clearly was out of the loop, reminded him.
Adam’s gaze was scorching. “I’d like a text, Belle.”
“I bet you would.” I sighed before taking a massive bite of pizza, ignoring any further hints. With my mouth full of cheesy, saucy goodness, I repeated, “I bet you would.”