He marched out of the conference room.
Abby sighed. She had let her fear surface in front of everyone. She smiled at the group. “Let’s reschedule this meeting for tomorrow. Ok? I think we all need a day after the Vegas success.”
She hurried out of the meeting, looking for a place to hide. She ran to the ladies’ room and splashed water on her face. She dabbed a towel to her neck. She had broken out in a sweat.
There was no way she was going to give Cal money, but if she didn’t, she could lose Cole and Deacon.
She didn’t have enough in her savings to make a payment that would satisfy her greedy cousin. She could take out a loan, but she knew that still wouldn’t be enough to make him happy. If she had been worth six-digits to Deacon in a poker game, Cal had to be thinking a figure somewhere near that.
She leaned into the wall for support. The chills ran through her. Heat and cold. Back and forth, controlling her body with fear and rage.
Where was she going to come up with that kind of money?
Douglas greeted her at the door when she arrived at the manor. Cole and Deacon were stuck at the office in a meeting. They told her to go ahead and eat dinner without them.
“Anything you need, Miss?” Douglas asked.
“No. I think I’m going to take a hot bath.”
“Should I draw it for you?”
She looked at him. Douglas had been doing thing for her since she arrived, but that wasn’t something she needed help with.
“I think I’ve got it.” She smiled. “Will you let me know when Deacon or Cole are home?”
“Yes. Dinner is at six.”
She rolled her eyes. She thought maybe since they were out for the night she could eat on her own schedule.
“Ok.” She climbed the stairs, feeling the exhaustion hit her.
Her phone buzzed. She saw Cal’s name appear on the screen this time.
“What is it?” she asked quickly.
“Are we meeting tonight?”
“What? I said I would call you when I had something for you.”
“I’m not patient.”
She reached the top of the stairs and rushed to her room. The last thing she needed was Douglas to hear her conversation.
“You’re going to have to be. I don’t have the kind of money you think I do. You gambled me into this situation, Cal. It’s not like you sent me with a dowry.”
“What the fuck is a dowry?”
She hung her head. “It doesn’t matter. It just means, I need some time.”
“You have until the morning. Or I go to the press.”
“Morning? There aren’t piles of cash lying around the house, Cal. I don’t know what you think happens with rich people and money. It’s in accounts, not stuffed in a mattress.”
He blew into the phone. “I don’t care how you get it. Just get it.”
Before she could protest again the line was silent. Abby looked at the phone. He had hung up on her.
“Shit,” she whispered, sinking on the bed.
Last night she had moved into her new suite of rooms, adjoining both Cole and Deacon’s rooms. They had slept together last night, christening the room with more sex than she thought was possible.
Her body was insatiable when it came to those two. She flattened her hand on the pillow where Cole slept and rolled to Deacon’s side. She could still smell them on the pillows. They were her everything.
They would be humiliated if they discovered what she had done. They wouldn’t be able to forgive her. They would never look at her the same way.
Her eyes burned. The tears stung. She loved how they touched her. How they kissed her. How they worshipped her body. The idea that she could lose it because of her past, was suffocating. She fell to the bed as the sobs filled her lungs.
She couldn’t lose them. Not now. Not ever.
32
Abby
She awoke to Deacon nuzzled to her breast. Cole was pressed against her back. She opened her eyes. Deacon smiled.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
“When did you two get home? I never heard you come in.”
They were naked. She felt the warmth of their skin under the covers.
Cole kissed her neck. “It was after midnight. You must have been exhausted.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“We shouldn’t have both left you alone all night,” Deacon answered. “Someone should have been with you.”
“I thought we established I have some independence now,” she teased.
Deacon trailed a finger over her breast, coaxing her nipple to perk. She felt Cole’s hand round over her bottom, cupping her heat.
She groaned.
“Do you want that independence right now?” Deacon taunted. “Or do you want us to fuck you properly?”