28. Hazel
HAZEL
I squeal as Conal carries me off to the main bedroom. He wastes no time on pleasantries before pushing me up against a wall, opening my robe, and sinking to his knees in front of me.
He’s there only long enough to get me good and wet. He pulls a condom from his pocket, hastily rolls it on, and fucks me while I’m standing up.
It feels good, but it’s his urgency that makes me hotter than anything. He missed me, and I missed him, too. I cling to him as he pumps into me like a desperate man, and I quickly grow desperate myself.
I’m not sure I’ll be able to come in this position, but I do—and hard—even without him touching my clit .
His dark eyes are watching me as I return to him, studying my face like he’s never seen it before. He holds eye contact as he speeds up, rattling pictures on the wall, in a frenzy, until finally he grunts, contorts his gorgeous face, and ruts into me like a wicked, wild beast.
He’s never looked so fucking hot, and for Conal Curran, that’s saying something.
“Hi,” he says against my mouth as he comes down from his high.
“Hi.”
“I missed you.”
It shouldn’t melt my heart, but it does. “I missed you, too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Still keeping me pressed against the wall, his hands under my ass, he kisses me and strokes my body, continuing to tell me all the ways he missed me—until my stomach growls. He laughs, sets me down, and we go clean up.
When we go down to breakfast, my hand tucked in his, there’s a commotion at the front entrance .
Conal releases my hand and strides ahead. “What’s going on?”
Jack breaks away from a cluster of security men and comes over to us. He starts to speak, then glances at me.
“It’s all right,” Conal says. “Go ahead.”
Jack nods. “It’s Celeste. She got past the perimeter gate somehow and was trying to get into the house.”
Peering past him through the picture windows at the front of the house, I see a slender woman with blonde hair being led away. She’s struggling, looking back at the house, saying something. I wish I could read lips.
“Does Rafe know she’s here?” Conal asks.
“No, we just intercepted her. I didn’t think he’d want to see her.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
Rafe emerges from the dining area then, followed by Bron. Jack returns to the security team as the brothers join us. I can’t see Celeste anymore.
“What was the ruckus about?” Bron asks.
Conal doesn’t beat around the bush. “Celeste was here. ”
A flurry of emotions rushes over Rafe’s face. Surprise, confusion, and then what looks like baffled irritation. “Why would she come here?”
“I don’t know.”
He scowls. “Maybe her Hollywood adventure didn’t work out like she planned.”
It’s Bron who sees my inquisitive look and fills in some of the missing pieces. “Rafe and Celeste dated for a few months, until—” he spares his brother a sidelong look and an apologetic shrug before he finishes “—she left him for some Hollywood type. She wants to be an actress.”
“A Hollywood type that Alan introduced her to,” Conal says, and there’s no mistaking the bitterness in his tone.
I stare at him. “Alan? Your PR guy?” He nods. “I don’t understand.”
“One of his media contacts told him Celeste was trying to sell private information about us to the press.” Rafe’s mouth twists. “So Alan got rid of her by dangling some juicy bait, I guess.”
“How long ago was this?”
“She left a couple of months ago. ”
I frown. “And has she sold any stories about you to the press since then?”
Bron shakes his head. “Alan told her he could get her a meeting with the Hollywood guy on the condition that she keep her mouth shut.”
“Oh.” I frown. “But … once she’d met with him, there would be no reason to honor that arrangement, if she really did want to sell information. Would there?”
Rafe sighs. “Alan said she had a history of drug use, and he threatened her with bad publicity that would ruin her career if she pulled any stunts.”
“Oh.” There are still questions crowding my mind, but it doesn’t seem polite to keep asking them.
Rafe seems sad about what happened, but in a tired kind of way.
He doesn’t strike me as a man who’s had his heart broken.
Still, I don’t think it’s a good idea to make him relive the situation any further.
“Are you going to be in the studio this afternoon?” Conal asks during lunch.
“I was planning to. Is that okay?”
“Of course. I wanted to let you know there’s going to be a photographer there. Roddy hired them to take promotional pictures of us working. I told Roddy you could do it, but he already had this arranged.”
He sounds apologetic, and also way too confident about my abilities. “Oh! I’m not ready to take professional pictures.”
Conal frowns at me. “Your stuff’s great, Hazel. Don’t downplay it.”
I’m pleased at his confidence, and love that he seems proud of me, though it’s unwarranted.
“Anyway, you should definitely come in. Maybe you’d like to talk to them.”
I’m not sure I should, and I definitely don’t want to be in the way, but the photographer arrives before the guys go back in the studio, and Conal immediately introduces me, telling her that I’ve been taking pictures of them, too.
Fortunately, the photographer, an older woman named Maggie, is clearly a long-established pro and doesn’t see me as any kind of competition.
“I’m here early,” she says, looking around the kitchen, where some musicians and crew members are still finishing their meals. “Want to show me your work? ”
I fumble around for words, feeling like I should politely decline her offer, but all three Curran brothers are looking at me like they’re proud, and that gives me the confidence to fetch my laptop and show her a few of my favorite images, both from the studio and outdoors.
I’m expecting more or less a polite pat on the head, but Maggie assesses them seriously, then asks, “How long have you been doing this?”
“I took a class years ago, back in high school, but I just started again a few days ago.”
She nods. “You’ve got good instincts. Photography skills can be taught, up to a point, but it sure doesn’t hurt to have a natural talent for it.”
“Thank you.” I’m thrilled, but trying to play it cool. “I really appreciate it.”
She nods once. “No problem. Keep taking lots of pictures, and play around with different techniques. You’ll develop your own style.”
“I will. Thank you.”
I trail behind when she goes into the studio, tucking myself into a corner where I’ll be as invisible as possible but still able to watch her work. I note how she doesn’t hesitate to move quietly around the studio for the best angle on the candid shots. Her actions are fluid and efficient.
My phone vibrates in my pocket; my sister’s calling. I duck out of the studio and head toward the back patio to take the call, answering on the way. “Hey, Ember. How are you?”
“Hi. I’m good. More importantly, how are you?”
“I’m great. Just like last time we talked.” My sister and I keep in touch often, but she’s been texting and calling a lot more this past week. I’m glad she cares about me, but wish that she could trust that I could handle myself if something was wrong.
“Good. Listen, I can’t talk long because I have a meeting in a few minutes, but I wondered if you and Conal could come over for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Me and Conal?” I pause. “And Rafe and Bron, too?”
There’s a longer pause on the other end, then, “Do you mean what I think you mean?”
More silence hangs between us as I quickly calculate whether Ember will be more or less concerned about my situation if she knows I’m involved with all three men. I purposely haven’t said anything to her about it yet, but I’m not in the habit of lying to my sister. “Yes,” I confirm .
She lets out a huff of air. “I thought his brothers were looking at you like they wanted to be more than in-laws. Are you sure you’re okay, Hazel?”
“You’re in a relationship with three men. Why should you be worried about me doing the same thing?”
Her tone amps up to maximum Big Sister haughtiness. “Don’t you dare compare our situations. I didn’t drunkenly marry a stranger and upend my whole life to be with him—and his brothers.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she has a point. If she had done this, not that she’d ever be so reckless, I’d be worried, too. “I know it sounds bad, Ember, but things have been really great. I promise. They all treat me wonderfully. They’ve been generous, kind, and patient.”
She’s silent again, and I assume she’s reading between the lines and realizing what I mean by patient. Finally, she says, “Can you come for dinner? I need to get going.”
“If we come, I don’t want it to be some kind of attack, or you trying to convince me to leave them.”
“That’s not why I’m inviting you. I just want to get to know him—them—better. ”
“They’re busy in the studio right now, but I think it’ll be okay. I’ll text you later to confirm.”
The uneasy feeling in my stomach only gets worse after I end the call. There are so many ways this dinner could go wrong, but the awkwardness and conflict is something we need to work through, and sooner would probably be better than later.
I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be here in Vegas, and who knows how often I’ll get to see my sister if I go on tour with the band.
I haven’t made any decisions about that, or even gotten many details, but the longer I’m with Conal, Rafe, and Bron, the harder it is to imagine being away from them.