Chapter 59 Jasmine #2
“I offered suggestions. Measurements. I don’t hand-select everything.” Julien smoothly pushes in my chair as I sit, like he isn’t having a strained mental conversation. “Although… I will be using this as inspiration for all future clothing.”
“Agreed,” Ezekial and Sai say in unison.
“Only in the house.” Kane again. Final.
Another round of mental agreement echoes back.
“Do you think she knows we’re talking about her?”
I keep my eyes fixed on the rim of my glass, pretending their words aren’t echoing through my mind like a chorus of sin as Sai glances at me. I arch a brow like I’ve no idea why, but slowly cross my legs, letting the slit fall open.
His eyes snap to it, flaring piercing blue as he starts to… kneel—
Julien grabs his shoulder, yanking him back up while offering me a polite, apologetic smile.
“Restraint, mon ami,” he murmurs to Sai, then drops him in the seat beside me.
I sip my wine, giving Sai a slow, teasing smile.
He swallows then grins back. “Guys, I think she knows.”
I try to hide my laugh in the glass, especially difficult when Kane glares across the table to his brother. “Ezekial.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “I may have dropped the barrier.”
“When? Why?”
“I got distracted,” he quietly admits, pouring himself a large glass of wine.
Then dead silence, mental wall back in place. I smother my laugh with another sip.
At some point, while distracted by wine, suits and sins, the table has transformed again. Multiple dishes of varying sizes, rich with colours and scents, now set artfully between the candlelight.
Flitting into the seat on my left, Julien refills my glass as Kane and Ezekial take the chairs beside Julien and Sai. But my attention is locked on the table, on how every single plate is different, but also a little familiar.
I tilt my head. “This is…” My voice trails off as I take in the smaller details.
The wine, the perfectly balanced sides, the garnishes—every one of them a small indulgence added to my favourites only yesterday.
“You used the app,” I whisper, turning to Julien. “You picked everything...”
“I refined,” he corrects gently. “The list told me your cravings, and preferences. I filled in the rest with instinct.”
“This is…” I lose my words, eyes busily tracing over every delicious looking thing. “This is incredibly thoughtful, Julien. Thank you. But I don’t think we’ll be able to eat everything…”
“It’s a dégustation.” At my frown, his smile tips into a grin, revealing his fangs. “A tasting. You’ll have small samples of everything to help narrow down your favourites, so we can learn what you like for future meals and… other indulgences.”
I smile back. “You mean dessert?”
Four sets of eyes lock on me.
I trail a finger along the stem of my glass. “Can’t wait.” I raise it, idly brushing the rim with my lower lip before taking a sip.
“Fucking hell,” Sai mutters, shoving his glass forwards. “Pass me the wine.”
I laugh quietly into mine, and the sound seems to break the heated tension.
Light conversation stirs with their soft movements, and I watch as my plate fills with small, careful servings by flickering shadows.
Each offering somehow carries a signature of each man.
Kane slides a portion of roasted vegetables beside the meat he placed before, Julien adds a perfect spoonful of something creamy, Ezekial piles on crispy potatoes with surgical precision, and Sai drops two golden-fried things I can’t name but already want.
I don’t say anything, just sit there smugly as they serve me, curious how they’re choosing.
But then it becomes clear as I watch. These decisions aren’t random, their shadows manoeuvre between and hover over certain plates, searching and selecting.
If I were to make them a plate, I know how I’d start. With things I love.
That’s what they’re doing, offering me small tastes of their favourites.
And I love it. It’s like they’re feeding me parts of themselves, and I’ll gladly indulge.
“Mon ame… is something wrong?”
I blink, realising I've been staring at a plate that they’ve stopped filling. Then I glance at their plates—empty. “Just wondering why I’m the only one with food in front of me,” I say. “We all eat on Fridays, remember?”
All the men are lit into action, using their hands or shadows to select certain dishes.
When another item is placed onto my plate by a familiar sliver, my gaze follows it to Kane. He’s been so still and silent, but now his eyes are locked on me.
Slowly, he cuts into a piece of meat, brings the fork to his lips, and eats. But his gaze never leaves mine, making the simple action of eating a silent decree.
He’ll do anything I ask him.
I feel myself losing my cool disposition as I shamelessly stare, and when Kane swallows, his lips twitch. Barely. But enough.
The bond swells with a mix of amusement and heat, as soft chuckles break my focus. And finally, they all start eating. Not because they’re hungry, but because I asked.
I don’t think I stop smiling as I eat.
They keep eating, talking, but their attention never really leaves me. Every shift of breath, every flicker of bond energy, like they’re taking mental notes on my reactions. Which things make me hum, which make my eyes flutter close, which do I reach for again until a shadow intercepts.
When I try some mashed potato, it’s so unexpectedly rich and creamy that I sigh. The bond spikes. Every fork freezes.
I look up. Kane’s fingers tighten around his knife, Ezekial’s jaw flexes, Julien clears his throat, and Sai stares like I just licked the plate clean.
I lower my fork slowly, swallow, then reach for my drink like nothing happened.
Soon, I’m too full to consume anything but wine. I lean back in my chair, sated and happy.
“Thank you, Julien,” I say with a full smile. “That was… perfect.”
“I helped,” Sai cuts in, leaning closer.
Ezekial scoffs. “What, peeled a potato?”
“More than what you did, didn’t see you in the kitchen.”
“You know where I was,” Ezekial mutters, dropping his gaze.
Oh. I don’t like that feeling at all. I look to the others for clues, but only Kane holds my gaze.
“Preparation for lockdown removal.” His words cut clean through the warmth of the evening.
They’re all watching me again, but it’s not hunger in their eyes anymore, far from it. It’s hesitation swaddled with dread, barely hidden behind a well-practised facade of calm.
But now, I know them all too well to miss it.
“I can’t believe it’s happening tomorrow,” I murmur quietly, not quite sure what else there is to say.
We fall into silence, but they don’t need to speak, not when I can feel them through the bond. Their fear weaves deep, buried beneath fracturing control, but before I can ask why, Julien explains.
“You’ll be able to leave.” His smooth voice is clipped with tension. “If that’s what you choose.”
“You said you’d stay, but...” Sai’s voice is too quiet, too uncertain. I despise it.
“We’re not doubting your words,” Ezekial assures, but his words are also too soft. “But we…” He pauses, eyes darting to the others. “We just need to hear it again.”
Even now, knowing we’re bonded, knowing the painful ache that comes whenever the distance is too far—they’re still offering me a choice.
Like it hasn’t already been decided. Like I haven’t already chosen.
The fact they’re giving me this, a chance to walk away, after everything we’ve shared, everything we are—only makes my decision more certain.
“Whatever came before doesn’t matter,” I say, smiling softly. “I know where I belong, and it’s with the four of you.”
The tension shatters all at once, like a tide finally returning to sea.
Ezekial exhales, dragging a hand down his face. Julien’s expression flickers into something heartbreakingly tender. Kane’s jaw unclenches, grey speckles softening his gaze like a storm losing strength. Sai closes his eyes and mutters something under his breath.
When he looks at me again, he’s leaning forwards with that familiar wicked smirk… but his eyes warily flick to the others.
Kane gives a single nod.
Without another word, Sai reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small box, setting it in front of me.
“What’s this?” My hand hovers near it.
“Something we made,” Kane says.
I open the lid—and still.
Nestled in black velvet lies a pendant, a gem at its heart, alive with midnight blue and crackling veins of silver. Shadows dance inside it with threads of metallic red swirling through the core—blood, I realise.
Their blood. Their essence. Their power. All of it, woven together.
Not just a gift. It’s a piece of them.
My fingers tremble as I reach for it, slipping it out to feel the weight of it in my palm—warm, solid, grounding.
It feels like protection, power, a promise. No—more than that.
A vow.
“You’ve been wearing our things.” Sai shrugs. “So we just thought…”
“You should have something from all of us,” Ezekial finishes.
Julien leans over the table. “No matter what you choose, Jasmine, this is yours.”
A cold shadow slithers around my ankle as Kane says, “We’re yours.”
My vision blurs at the edges as I run my thumb over the smooth pendant. I can’t look away from it.
“I didn’t get you anything,” I whisper.
“That dress gave us plenty,” Sai mumbles, releasing the last thread of tension.
I laugh, still staring at the pendant, warm in my palm. “Can someone help me put—”
A chair clatters to the ground and another scrapes, my gaze darts up to a violent blur of blue and silver—too fast to track—until two figures emerge, revealing Sai in a headlock.
“Mine,” Ezekial growls, tightening his hold until Sai taps on his bulging bicep.
“Still wasn’t hard enough.” Sai rubs his throat, but he’s smirking as his eyes catch mine. “I let him have it.”
I bite back a smile, because he chose to say that just to me.
Ezekial’s already flitted behind me, his fingers gently brushing my hair aside as he fastens the chain around my neck. His delicate touch lingers against the back of my skin as the pendant settles against my chest with a soft hum.
When I look up, they’re all staring at it. My choice no longer in words, but worn.
“You two. Out.” Sai’s sudden order makes the shadows spike, and my gaze snaps to the ones he’s talking to.
Kane’s gaze drops into a terrifying glare. Ezekial doesn’t move from behind me, but the air shifts as more shadows creep across the floor.
Julien sets down his glass with a subtle clink. “My friends, you’ve had your time,” he says mildly to the brothers, but there’s an unmistakable edge to it. “Now, it’s ours.”
I frown. “What’s going on…?”
“Nothing,” Sai says with a bright smile. “Definitely not a carefully orchestrated seduction attempt.”
My cheeks flush, but I hide it in my glass, taking a gulp. Thankfully, the boys are too busy glaring at each other to notice.
It’s Ezekial who relents first, exhaling sharply, before leaning down to press a soft kiss to my cheek, my jaw, ending on my lips.
“If you need us, we’ll know,” he murmurs, then steps back.
Kane remains seated.
Sai sighs. “Possessive Papi, come on. Don’t be like this.”
I almost laugh—almost. Especially when that’s the line that gets Kane moving.
He flits behind me, a cool caress brushing over my shoulder then dropping away. I frown, a little disappointed by his restraint—fingers slip into my hair, curling tight at the strands as my head is tilted back and his lips find mine.
He kisses me deeply, searingly, like he wants me to remember his taste.
Then—gone. Both of them.
Pressing fingers to my lips, I exhale shakily as Julien shifts closer. The heat of him soothes the ache of the brothers’ absence as his gaze pauses on my lips, then sweeps up to mine.
“You made your choice,” he murmurs, irises burning molten. “Now we’ll show you what it means to be kept.”
On my other side, Sai leans in. “They held back.” His voice drops into a low rumble. “We won’t.”