“Polly is involved with Braden and I. If any of you have an issue with that, walk the fuck out right now. She’s here to stay, and I won’t let her be disrespected,” Declan told everyone at the table as I blinked and shrunk back against Braden. They cleared their throats and said that it was fine as Jarrod stumbled out of the door. I allowed Braden to pull me into the booth alongside him and answered their questions as they were asked, but Jarrod’s words played back through my head on repeat.
CHAPTER 8
We went back to the city the following day, and the guys talked about the apartment being near completed. I was moving in one week after Valentine’s Day, a day that I told them they could have complete control over me. It was going to be the christening of the new place, and I had no idea what they had planned.
I didn’t care right now.
“Polly, are you alright?” Braden asked as I looked at him blankly. “You’re so quiet.”
“Tired, I guess,” I replied as I shrugged.
“It’s Jarrod, isn’t it? He hurt you.” Declan looked at me, and I looked away.
“Is that what they all think when they smile at me and laugh at what I say?” I asked as Braden and Declan looked at each other. “Do they think I’m your whore? Would you rather hide me?”
“Fuck, no. We love you,” Braden said as he moved towards me. “Fuck what they think, and nobody will say anything again after yesterday.”
“I know. You guys just…defended me so fast.” I said as I started to cry.
They moved closer to me and held me as I cried for what might be the third time since we got together. “You’re up for moving in still, right?”
“Yeah, I am. I just don’t want to ever have a man look at me like that again,” I said as I shuddered.
“Baby, we have the muscles and money to prevent that. You’re with the right guys,” Braden assured me as he kissed me softly. We drove to New York where we all went to the hotel, and I showed them how much I loved them.
Sometimes, I liked being their whore.
I started as an intern the following week at MacMillan US, the publishing company. I was under the head editor, and they showed me all the tricks to work quickly as well as thoroughly, providing me with my own MacBook to help them with some of the smaller projects. I loved learning there and talked about it every night at the hotel. They smiled as they watched me read constantly and I realized that my grades started climbing, knowing I had something to go to after graduation.
I began to pack the week before I was set to move. I was excited as I worked on one room at a time, going through everything as I decided what to keep, donate or throw away. Nicki came over and helped me, smiling at me as she watched me carefully place things into a box. “You’re really doing this, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” I replied as I laughed. “The day after Valentine’s. I am moving in with two men.” I looked at her and giggled. She moved in with Rob a few weeks ago, and I was waiting for a ring to show up on her finger anytime. While the guys initially knew one another casually, the guys got along great now and spent a lot of time together. Nicki liked Declan and Braden for me, even though she was still a bit concerned with what could go wrong. I got that because I did as well. It was unique.
There were still the people that looked down at us and judged us. There always would be. I just dealt with it better now and held my head high. It was a bit tougher to do when my own father called me having heard that I was with the billionaires and we had a heated argument ensued. He ran in similar circles. I told him that he was dating a woman barely older than I was while his soon to be ex-wife was living in an apartment in Long Island that was barely acceptable for some of the college students. I told him that I’d give up college to see my mom living a better life, knowing that it wouldn’t be a problem now. He hung up after a few minutes, and I set the phone down with a long sigh. “My dad doesn’t approve.”
On the other hand, my mother was accepting of the situation. She was stunned at first when we told her over dinner, but as she got to know the brothers, I think she was as charmed as I was by them. She was a bit traditional with life, but it was clear that they cared deeply for me. More than that, she could see that I was happy. That is what mattered the most.
She loved them more when the guys found a cottage for her in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Long Island since she preferred living there, buying it for her. It was a cute two-bedroom place, and she was thrilled with it, hugging all of us repeatedly once we took her to it the first time. My father was pissed off, but he finally went to court with her where they settled the assets that were fair, and Mom was taken care of.