Eira’s POV
I entered the room and went straight to the bed. Sitting at the edge with the box resting on my lap, I inhaled slowly a few tis, trying to calm the storm inside .
I opened the box again and pulled out the note and the necklace. The mont I read the lines written on it, my heart tightened. My fingers traced the finely carved initials and my na etched into the pendant.
But then the mory of Rafe exposing downstairs flashed through my mind. My grip tightened around it, and for a mont I was ready to throw everything into the trash.
I could not.
My heart refused to let go.
Instead, I smoothed the creases on the note, folded it carefully, wrapped the pendant within that fold, and placed it at the very bottom of the box beneath the rest of my belongings. Hidden away from my sight, yet not discarded.
After steadying myself, I began looking through the other items. Just then, a knock sounded on the door.
"Co in," I said quietly.
The door opened, revealing Kael.
"Will I disturb you?" he asked gently.
It was his room. Why was he even asking?
His tongue had been tied downstairs when I needed soone to speak. He could have stayed with his precious brothers for all I cared. Damn them, all cut from the sa cloth.
"It’s your room," I replied flatly, continuing to sort through the box.
He stepped inside anyway. Maybe guilt had brought him here after ignoring earlier. Choosing between brotherhood and must never be easy for him.
But then again, I could not be sure if he was the one who had brought this box back. The house had always been under his authority. If anyone could retrieve it quietly, it would be him.
He sat beside while I deliberately avoided looking at him.
Inside the box were small trinkets I had once collected. I moved through them slowly, one by one.
"Are you angry?" he asked softly.
"Are you asking the obvious?" I frowned, "Aren’t we?"
"I am sorry," he said. "But sotis..."
"I know what’s going on," I cut him off, still focused on the items in my hands. "I am not as dumb as you think. You five can keep protecting each others asses."
"Thank you for your understanding," he said quietly.
"At least tell this," I asked, keeping my voice calm. "Do you know who the other four are trying to protect?"
"I am sorry... again."
He did not answer.
If he had said no, I would have known it was not him who brought the box. That would have narrowed it down to the others. And if he had said yes, then he would have placed himself under suspicion as well.
They clearly did not want to know who it was, regardless of whether they knew the truth themselves.
If Kael refused to speak, then I would try with Roman. If I failed with him too, the rest would be impossible to crack. Roman was the softest target among them.
"What is this?" Kael picked up a small folded piece of paper from the box.
"Just so random scribbling from when I was younger, I guess," I answered casually.
"It looks like so sort of mark," he observed.
"I must have seen it sowhere and drawn it. I used to spend a lot of ti alone. Drawing and scribbling whatever caught my attention was how I passed my days."
He humd softly and placed it back.
"And this?" he asked, reaching for another item.
Before his fingers could touch it, I caught his hand gently. "That’s enough. No more digging through my things."
He withdrew imdiately. "Sorry."
Once I finished sorting everything and locked the box again, I paused, wondering where to keep it.
"You can put it in that drawer chest," he said, pointing toward the cabinet near the wall. "No one will touch it." He reassured even before doubt could form.
I placed the box inside.
"You ca back without having breakfast," he added. "You need to eat."
Well, he was right. I was hungry. And getting irritated with that bloodsucker earlier had only made it worse.
I followed him downstairs. At the breakfast table, the atmosphere felt quieter than usual. Their guilt over hiding things from seed to linger in the air.
But Raven’s presence softened my anger, and I chose to focus on him instead.
After breakfast, the others scattered to their own tasks as if they could not quite face , except for Rafe and Kael.
Kael had already made peace with through our conversation upstairs, while Rafe didn’t give a damn.
As usual, Raven’s teacher arrived for his lessons. We had missed them for the past two days.
Once Raven left for his session, Kael turned toward . "You asked for your own room yesterday?"
I nodded.
"It’s ready," he said. "Co and take a look."
I blinked in surprise. "Already? How..." But I was truly excited at the sa ti.
"We were out the entire day yesterday," he explained calmly. "They carried out the order quickly once I gave it."
"That was fast," I comnted, impressed. "Overly efficient, I must say."
He only smiled.
Finally I am going to have my own room, my own space, where no one will disturb .
"It’s upstairs," he added, and I followed him. When we reached our floor, he shook his head slightly. "Not this one. The floor above."
There’s another floor which I had never been there before. "What’s upstairs?"
"The whole level is mostly for recreation," he explained. "There’s a gym, a swimming pool, a gaming room, and even a small private theater for the family. More like an entertainnt floor."
This was not just a house. It felt like a luxury resort disguised as a ho.
The mont we stepped onto the grand upper floor, my gaze drifted toward a glass wall to one side.
Soone was there.
Lucian?
"It’s the gym," Kael said, though my attention had already locked onto the figure working out beyond the glass.
Damn the muscles!
"Too hot, isn’t it?" soone whispered close to my ear.
I found myself nodding as if in a trance, completely captivated by that forbidden, almost divine figure working in the gym like an ancient deity carved from perfection.
"I think the sa," the voice whispered again.
Just then, the man inside glanced toward . Our gazes t, and my breath caught sharply in my throat.
Like a guilty thief, I turned my face away at once, only to find the one who had whispered in my ear a mont before.
Rafe.
He stood there with a smirk, as if he had caught red handed again.
"Your jaw almost hit the ground," he said.
I quickly snapped my mouth shut, realizing it had been hanging open in pure awe.
"Bastard," I muttered, then noticed Kael standing nearby.
Kael lifted a brow slightly. "Do you want to see in the gym too?"
The question almost made ask if he was trying to drive insane, but I only shook my head. "Where is my room?"
"This way," he said.
We walked toward a large door, noticeably bigger than the other bedrooms in the house. It made wonder why my room alone was placed here. There were plenty of empty rooms elsewhere, I knew that much.
And if these n spent ti in the gym right outside, I would either stay locked inside my room or end up staring at them like a complete fool.
Kael opened the door and gestured for to enter first.
For fuck’s sake.
My eyes widened instantly.
This was not a room. It was sothing else entirely.
A gigantic bed dominated the space, larger than anything I had ever imagined. The couch looked like two full sets rged into one, and the wardrobe section was even bigger than the one in Kael’s already enormous bedroom.
I stepped closer to the bed, staring at its massive size. "Why is this bed so huge? I don’t even need one fourth of it."
"You don’t," a voice ca from behind , making swallow hard. "But the rest of us do."
I prayed he had put on clothes, or I would end up staring like a shaless pervert again.
"Rest of us?" I repeated slowly and turned around, only to see Roman and Jason had arrived as well.
All five of them stood there, watching as if they expected to understand sothing obvious.
"Rest of us," Roman said, gesturing toward himself and his brothers.
Realization hit all at once.
"You... you five are going to stay here... with ?"
"What did you think?" Lucian asked calmly.
"I asked for a room for myself," I said, my gaze shifting to Kael.
"This is your room," he replied evenly. "And we will be here only when there is a need. For that need, the bed has to be wide enough to accommodate all six of us."
The fuck.
The aning behind his words beca painfully clear. There went my dream of having a quiet space of my own.
"I... I don’t think I will need all five of you..."
My words faded when Lucian stepped closer.
"You will," he said quietly. "Trust , you will need us ALL." The last word carried weight, as if he wanted to carve it into my mind.
Under the pressure of his presence, the protest rising inside died before it could reach my lips.
Did I just trap myself by asking for my own room?
I glanced at Kael, who returned a calm, unreadable look.
No wonder he had agreed so quickly when I asked for a separate space. And no wonder it had been prepared overnight.
My hands moved instinctively to my belly as I stepped back from Lucian, nervousness creeping into my voice. "Let remind you, I am pregnant."
Suddenly, I felt like a fragile creature surrounded by dangerous wolves, my pulse quickening despite myself.
User Comments
0 comments from readers