22
GOLDIE
The conversation between Evan and Hunter sounds urgent. Evan takes himself into my bathroom and shuts the door, so all I can hear is the rumbling shadow of what’s being said. Hunter and Robert are at my store right now and whatever they’re discussing is centered around me. If it’s about my store, why the hell are they talking in private?
When Evan emerges, his face is grave.
“It was definitely arson,” he says. “They can smell accelerant there. The fire spread from the door and into the store.”
“You think someone set the fire on purpose?”
“It was started deliberately.”
My heart sinks, not because an accidental fire would have been any less devastating, but because someone out there intended to hurt me. Apart from the incident yesterday, I have no enemies. Why anyone would want to destroy my little store, to burn down my dream, is beyond me. Was that man from yesterday so angry with me that he did this?
I suppose it’s a possibility. Not all people in the world are rational. If he felt I slighted him by resisting his request and if I messed up his plans, then maybe it’d be enough for him to turn nasty. But why would Evan step away from me to have that conversation?
Is Robert’s crazy wolf explanation real? Is that what Evan was trying to hide from me?
“So, I should call the sheriff?”
“Yeah. Not that he’ll do much. He’s more concerned about his stomach and an easy life to do much about crime, especially if it’s not obvious who the perp is.”
“But if he doesn’t find the person who did this, how can I go back?”
Evan tells me with just one look. “You’re staying with us.”
“But I need to earn money. I need to pay my bills.”
“None of that's an issue.”
“You’re not paying for me. I barely know you.”
Evan puts his hand on my arm. “I know you just fine.”
“This feels like you’re paying me for sex,” I say with a shake of my head.
“Goldie, why the hell would you say that? This has nothing to do with what we did. We have generations of wealth at our disposal. A few utility bills won’t make a ripple. I don’t want you to think like that again.”
I gather the blanket around myself as my mind whirs over what to do next. I’m here to collect enough of my things so I can survive at the Bjorn house for an indeterminable timeframe. Things are getting messy and complicated, and I don’t have the time or headspace to really figure out if what I’m doing is right.
“We should go,” Evan says. “My brothers are on their way back to the house. We should be there when they arrive.”
I’m pushed along by his insistence and stand to grab some yoga pants and a sweatshirt to put on. I won’t need my overalls. Not for a while.
Evan dresses quickly, then takes hold of the handle of my case and waits while I throw the last things I’m going to need into my purse.
“Ready?” he says.
The truth is I’m not sure.
Back at the house, we're just inside the front door when the sound of the truck rumbles outside. Hunter and Robert crunch over the ground and let themselves into the house. I feel the air change when the triplets are all in one place, as though uniting them causes a difference to them physically and a difference to the surrounding environment. When Hunter enters the kitchen and sees me, he inhales deeply. I see his eyes flick to Evan immediately.
“You claimed her?”
Evan shifts on his feet, taking a step back and leaning against the counter. Robert’s eyes move between his brothers. He’s wary of what could happen next and the hair on my forearm’s bristles.
“No.”
“You fucked her?” Hunter asks. “I smell it on both of you.”
I place my hands on the table in front of me. “I’m definitely not comfortable with this conversation,” I say. “Who fucked me and when is none of your damned business.”
Hunter’s face flushes and his fists ball. He’s raging over what? Because he’s the last to get his dick inside me? He’s never getting anywhere near my pussy with his terrible attitude.
“We’re not starting this again,” Robert says. “Hunter, you need to back off right now.”
“Back off what’s mine? While you and Evan get to fulfill your destiny? That isn’t how this is going to be.”
“It is if you keep on walking down this path. Can’t you see the impression you're making on Goldie by talking this way?”
Hunter focuses on me, his eyes like raging volcanoes of fury and passion. “Goldie can think what she likes. She’s our mate, and there’s nothing she can do about it.”
“Really,” I say, standing and pushing the chair behind me with my legs. “What are you going to do, Hunter? Throw me over your shoulder and carry me upstairs so that you can force me?”
Hunter scoffs like I’ve said the most foolish thing he’s ever heard. “Force. How can you force your mate? You’re mine. I can’t force what’s mine.”
“If I don’t want you to, then you would need force. What else would it be?”
Robert takes a step closer to his brother, and I brace myself for what might happen. Hunter punching the table or wall. Hunter raging enough to grab hold of me. What would his brothers do if that happened? Step in to protect me? “Would it be force to give you what you’re destined for? ”
“Hunter,” Evan says in a warning tone.
“I’m not destined for you to fuck,” I spit.
“No, you’re destined to carry my babies,” Hunter says, banging his fist on the table as predicted.
Evan and Robert seem to cringe. Robert shakes his head. Is this what they didn’t want Hunter to tell me?
“Babies?”
Robert and Evan both used condoms. They weren’t looking to impregnate me when we were together. What’s Hunter talking about?
“Hunter, this isn’t the time.” Robert’s hand on Hunter’s shoulder sets him off. He shrugs him off violently and turns on his brother.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you denying us our birthright? This is about so much more. We’re the future of our line. It’s our duty to do what we need to do to keep our kind alive into generations that we can’t even imagine existing.”
So there it is. This isn’t about being fated to be together for love. It’s not a match made in heaven, my other stupid notion of a destiny of four hearts. It isn’t about love and happiness like my mom’s dreams and my stupid, childish fantasies. This whole thing is just about procreation. I’m just a vessel for their offspring—a surrogate who’ll give birth to the next generation of bear-humans. I feel sick to my stomach; used in a way I never have before.
It’s one thing to want to make a child with someone you love and who loves you. It’s one of the most beautiful things there is. I love kids, and I’ve always wanted a family. But not like this. Not at the whim of a man who’s looking at me like a prize cow, not a woman he cares about.
“So, I’m just your baby-making machine? ”
“No,” Evan says abruptly, stepping forward. “Hunter, you never know when to keep your mouth shut, do you? You always barge in like a bear in a china shop, but not this time. Not anymore. You need to shut your fucking mouth before I shut it for you. I won’t have you hurt Goldie, in any way.”
My chest aches from hearing Evan defend me and from understanding what my role is in all this. Robert and Evan don’t deny a thing that Hunter has said. They’re just going about reeling me in sensitively.
I don’t know what’s worse. Their softly-softly approach where they’re keeping the truth hidden until I’m too involved to pull away, or Hunter’s upfront, brutal honesty. Hunter’s an arrogant ass, but at least he’s telling me everything I need to know. He’s putting it all on the line.
My throat burns at all the angry faces in the room, and my situation comes crashing down around me.
I’ve lost my business. I no longer feel safe out in the world, and I won’t until they catch whoever set the fire. I could go to my parents. I could try to escape this house and ask for their help, but I know what they’ll say. I never should have stepped away from what they wanted for me. My mom will tell me she was right all along, and I don’t know if I have the strength to fight them all over again. If I go home, I’m going to end up being forced to give up my business and join the family one, and I’ll be miserable. They’ll bring up Aiden and his marriage prospects again.
I can’t deal with the ‘I told you so’ or the ‘just one date with Aiden’ conversations.
But being able to leave depends on the Bjorns’ willingness to let me go, and the way Hunter looks right now, I’d have to kill him to escape, and that’s not happening.
I feel crushed, and tired to my very bones. It’s not even the afternoon, and I already want to curl up in my bed and escape into sleep. A tear finds its way loose and trickles down my cheek, and Robert immediately steps forward.
“Goldie.” He reaches out for me, but I put my hands up.
“Don’t touch me,” I say. “I’d be grateful if you could show me to a spare room and leave me alone. I can’t deal with any of this right now.”
Robert glances at Evan, who nods. “Okay, let’s take your bag and settle you in.”
“Hold me hostage, you mean?”
I don’t wait for Robert to take my bag. I pick it up myself and storm from the kitchen toward the staircase.