34. Investment Strategy
Investment Strategy
Sara
After we set up a girls’ night for Friday, I get busy with my work of balancing trial balances and reconciling accounts. It’s not nearly as fascinating as digging in to Mafia accounting, but it’s satisfying work.
The guys stay at the office a little later than normal, but when they come home, Finn drags me into the kitchen to help him make dinner.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask.
He’s pulling out meat and vegetables from the refrigerator when he lifts his eyes to mine with a smirk. “Dessert, flower. You make the best dessert.”
My cheeks flush, knowing he’s not just talking about my baking skills. I put my hair up in a messy bun so I can work on making something relatively quick for dessert.
“I can’t wait until Tom is out of the house and we can go back to Wyatt’s rules.
” Finn sets the food on the island and moves behind me, trapping me against the counter with his hands on either side of my hips.
His lips press against the nape of my neck and my head falls forward, giving him access.
He slides his hand across my stomach and presses into me from behind.
“I like playing with you, flower. I’m going to fuck you in every room of this house. ”
He kisses down the side of my neck. My eyes close and I breathe in the smell of sex and sin his cologne invokes. I place my hand over his on the countertop.
“Finn.” His name is a breath on my lips as desire wraps around me.
His chuckle is dark as he pulls away, leaving me aching with need for so much more from him. “Don’t worry, flower. I’ll keep you warm for Wyatt.”
He shifts to the side and begins working on dinner. I drag a breath into my starving lungs. When I glance toward the door Tom usually appears in, he’s not there this time.
Because he got shot. My heart tightens. I checked on him and Natasha earlier to make sure they were doing okay.
Natasha gave Tom his pain meds and they were going to order in dinner and stay downstairs tonight. At least that’s what they said, but Tom tends to wander up here when they need something.
I blow out my breath. It isn’t worth fucking around in the kitchen and having Tom catch us. But I want to. Instead, I focus on making a cherry crisp.
Finn and I work together seamlessly as we move around the kitchen. Both working on separate tasks. For a second, I stop and watch him. He’s less tense than he has been. Even before Tom went missing, Finn always had this underlying tension beneath his flirty playboy persona.
“Are you settled with your dad then?” I can’t help asking.
Finn smiles. “He has a protégé and we’re free to do what we please. Yeah, we’re settled.”
I nod. Good.
But he continues, “I was never going to be the person he wanted me to be. I don’t want to live that lifestyle.
He knew it. Mom knew it. But for some reason, he still thought if he waited long enough, maybe I’d want a piece of his empire to call my own.
” His gaze lifts to mine from the asparagus he’s trimming.
“He finally seems to understand this is the life I want. I want to go to my job and work with clients. See my best friends every day at work and come home to you every night. I want a future I can be proud of, and hopefully, my dad will be a part of it without seeing me as his heir.”
When I brush the flour off my hands and step into his space, he looks down at me. I straighten his collar with a smirk.
“I want that too, Finn.” I could drown in his green eyes. Spend hours touching every inch of his body while he returns the favor. “I love you.”
His fingertips graze my jaw. “I love you, flower.”
He lowers his head and his lips capture mine. I give in, just like every other time he’s kissed me. I never fought the attraction between us. Holding back was a given since I’d decided on Wyatt, but once Finn kissed me, I was all in.
He lifts his mouth and touches his forehead against mine. We breathe each other in. He brushes his lips across my forehead and I step back to work on the dessert. My heart is bursting in my chest.
It doesn’t feel real that everything is dealt with and things can go back to normal. Well, not normal. I glance at Finn. The others are in the living room, making sure everything they have on Peter and Alexander is well documented before they hand it over to Finn’s dad.
I keep waiting for the next thing to happen. The next catastrophe.
We finish preparing the meal and the cherry crisp is cooling. I’m greeted with hugs and kisses from Wyatt, Dante, and Drew before I sit down at the table. We eat dinner family style, passing around the dishes to fill our own plates.
As we eat, the guys are more relaxed than I’ve seen them in a while.
Wyatt leans back. “I thought for sure Roger was going to draw on that guy.”
“The guy on the left?” Drew nods. “Yeah, he looked a little trigger-happy.”
“No one drew on anyone else, pip.” Dante winks at me.
I remember to breathe as Wyatt and Drew turn their attention on me, like they realized I might have an issue with guns after being shot at. Or fear for their lives after Tom got shot.
“It was tense, but it didn’t feel like a dangerous situation.” Wyatt reaches across the table and takes my hand in his. “More like a board meeting.”
“My father’s men wouldn’t have allowed them in with weapons.” Finn sets his fork down and picks up his glass of wine before leaning back in his chair and taking a sip. “The only one armed in that room was Roger. My father made sure of it.”
My eyebrows rise at that.
Finn smirks behind the rim of the glass. “Dad knew Roger needed to feel comfortable. And having Roger armed made us feel more comfortable and Alexander’s team feel less so. So win-win.”
I shake my head. “I’m glad I wasn’t there. My heart probably couldn’t have handled it.”
“You take a lot, princess.” Drew winks. “You would have behaved beautifully.”
My cheeks heat and I glance at the door to the basement. It’s times like these Tom tends to come into the room. But he’s probably resting downstairs.
All the posturing in the world doesn’t negate Tom getting shot. I was shot at. I don’t know that I’ve fully processed everything. It’s not like I left the house today or since we got back from the hospital.
I need to ask Hope about her therapist. The break-in, the kidnapping, the shots fired. The guys will be here for me for whatever I need, but...
“I’m going to look into therapy.”
The guys had moved on to discussing other things while I was thinking. Now they all look at me.
“Whatever you need, pip.” Dante slides his hand onto my thigh under the table and squeezes it gently. “If you need time off to deal with it, we’ll make it work.”
I smile and place my hand on his. “I need my internship. After watching Hope go through her kidnapping, I just want to get ahead of it. Even though I’ve got you guys, I’ll need help processing what happened.”
“If you don’t have someone in mind, I might know someone.” Drew meets my gaze steadily. “A family friend. Deals with a lot of PTSD cases.”
“Thanks.” I reach out to take his hand. “Hope has been seeing someone who’s really good. I’m going to see if I can get an appointment with her. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll check out your person.”
Drew lifts my knuckles to his mouth and kisses them softly. “I’ll do whatever it takes to take care of you, princess.”
“How do we know this is going to work?” The words come from nowhere. “I mean, I love all of you and want to stay with you, but what happens in the real world? What happens when we aren’t going from crisis to crisis?”
What happens when you don’t want me anymore?
“Pip.” Dante captures my chin with his fingers and turns my face up to his. Those blue eyes search mine and I know he’s seeing my fear. “We’ll do this one day at a time. It most likely won’t be smooth sailing, but every relationship needs work to keep it strong.”
Finn leans in. “None of us have been in a relationship before—"
“Speak for yourself.” Drew smirks.
“A real relationship.” Finn rolls his eyes. “And we’re going to be doing it with shared time. But you’re worth it. Whatever it takes to make this work.”
I glance at Wyatt and he nods. “We’re all in, trouble. There’s no backing out now.”
Wyatt
Sara sits in the center of my bed in her pajamas with her knees up and her arms wrapped around them. Her red hair falls around her shoulders as she watches me perform my nightly routine.
“Are you going to get bored of me?”
“So many negative thoughts, trouble.” I shake my head and turn off the bathroom light, closing the door softly behind me. “Where’s all this worry coming from?”
As I approach her, she unfurls, opening herself up to me. Her long legs stretch out in front of her, while her arms fall behind her to hold her up. How many nights did I imagine this? Sara waiting in my bed for me. A nymph, waiting for my touch.
“With everything falling into place, it just seems like there should be more obstacles in our way.”
I sit down on the edge of the bed and pat the space beside me.
She crawls across the bed to sit next to me, her side pressed against mine. All I have on is my boxers while she wears a pair of shorts and a chemise top. I take her hand between mine and hold it on my lap. Her head rests against my shoulder.
This is what I’ve always wanted from Sara. The sex is good, but I want her softness. I crave it. Her vulnerability. Her trust.
And I almost lost it by being a fool.
“It feels too easy.” Sara rubs her other hand along my bicep.
“I not only get the loves of my life, I get Drew too. My parents are okay with it. My friends are cool with it. Though Kayla keeps wanting pictures and I don’t think that’s ever going to stop.
My brother is even learning to deal with it.
Everyone who’s important in my life is on board with me living with and loving four men. ”
“It’s not always going to be easy, trouble.” I brush a strand of her hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear. “We’re not always going to get along. And it’s not just two of us making the hard decisions in life. It’s all five of us.”
I bring her hand up to my lips and kiss it.
Looking down at her hair, I say, “We’ll argue over houses, pets, kids. But what we won’t argue over is loving you.”
She turns so her eyes are searching mine.
“I can’t see this ever working any other way, trouble.
” I cup her jaw and trace my thumb along her cheekbone.
“You and me alone together would have argued about everything. My guilt would have eaten me alive. Our tempers would end up getting the best of us. Drew and Finn can be fun, but Dante’s seriousness balances us all out.
I don’t think the next year will be easy, trouble, but I know loving you is as easy as breathing. ”
She smiles. “I don’t want to let any of you down. I’m afraid of playing favorites or being accused of playing favorites. This feels like a balancing act and someone’s going to push me off.”
“Then I’ll catch you, Sara.” I take in a slow breath and release it. “You’re everything I never thought I could have. There’s nothing I won’t do for you.”
Her eyes search mine cautiously. She needs my reassurance.
“There’s always going to be Veritys and Olivias looking to come between us. Trying to knock you down. But you have real friends now who will do anything for you. You’re never going to go against anyone on your own again, Sara. We’ll never let that happen.”
She smiles. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime, trouble.” I lean in and press my lips softly to hers.
“I’m yours tonight.” She touches my jaw with her fingers and those green eyes look at mine with mischief. “What do you want to do with me, sir?”
My cock hardens. “So many things I want to do with you.” I trace her neck with my fingertips.
“We have a lifetime to explore each other.” She shivers beneath my touch.
When I slide my hand around her throat, I push her down onto the bed, careful to keep my hand in a V-shape. She doesn’t resist me.
“You’re right, trouble. We have all our lives to explore the depths of your depravity.”
Her lips part like she’s going to refute my statement, but I lean down and capture her lips with mine. Her hands slide up my sides, but I grab them and force them down on the bed beside her head.
I lift my head. “Come on, brat. You can do better than that.”
“What if I don’t want to fight?” She arches her eyebrow.
“Then take what I give you, trouble.”