Yawning, Everly waved at Zane and Reid from the conventioncenter’s entrance as they pulled off into traffic the next day. Turning in hisseat to look out the back window, Everly could see Zane’s uneasiness from whereshe stood. It didn’t have to be said aloud, it was easy to see that he did notwant to leave her unchaperoned.
Walking into the convention, Everly flashed the doorattendant her day pass for admittance as her thoughts stayed focused on Zane’suneasy behavior. Did he think she was going to leave? Squeezing through thecrowds, Everly noted there was a lot more people here today than there wasyesterday. Fanning herself with her pamphlet she debated taking off andcarrying her thick coat. Sitting down in the steadily crowding panel room,Everly looked around at the other attendees. There were lots of young womenaround her age in attendance, laughing and talking with one another. Ignoringthe flare of jealousy, Everly focused on the panel speakers taking their seatson stage. Still, Zane’s face popped into her head no matter how hard she triedpushing it out.
By the time the panel discussion ended, Everly’s nerves wereabsolutely frayed, she was hot and had too many things on her mind to enjoythis any longer. Stepping outside she breathed in the cool air deeply, it feltso much better outside than inside the convention, there was no way she wasgoing back inside. Looking at her watch, she had little less than two hoursbefore the convention ended, and Reid was scheduled to pick her up. Taking acab, she headed back to the skyrise condo, she needed time away from crowds andmore importantly away from the brothers to think. Day in and day out, she wassurrounded and consumed by them, she needed time to just think on her own.
With no key to the condo, Everly sat in the far corner ofthe bar on the first floor. Sipping at the glass of cranberry juice she ordered,Everly finally let herself relax.
The bar was trendy and posh just as she imagined anydowntown bar would be. The walls were covered in deep royal blue velvetwallpaper while gold sconces barely lit the place enough to see. She should bepulling out her laptop. She should be applying all the tips she learned in thepanel today, to her new online commission she received. When she got the emaillast week that she was accepted to work on a children’s book, Everly wasecstatic. Without thinking she rushed to tell Reid and Zane. But what surprisedher the most was Zane’s reaction. She expected him to be over the moon with thenews, what she did not expect was the look of terror that flashed through hisblue eyes.
Resting her chin on her palm, Everly stared broodingly outthe window. How dare he not be happy for her?! She didn’t have to be with them.If they were not going to support her dreams, she could leave. Taking a big sipof her juice angrily, Everly slammed the empty glass on the table. The fantasyof just leaving right now in this moment played through her head, just gettingup and walking out that door and not looking back.
A woman and a man plopped down heavily on the booth in frontof hers. “Sorry we’re late,” the woman sighed to her awaiting companion, as shegrabbed a cocktail menu. “The convention center down the way had a fire alarm,so the streets are crowded with people leaving.”
Good thing she left when she did, Everly thought.
“Would you like another juice, miss?” The waiter appearedbeside Everly.
Nodding she thanked the waiter and stared back out thewindow.
Who was she kidding, she frowned, there was no way she couldjust get up and walk out without looking back. Everly would always look back,she would always think about the men who loved her so much at first sight thatthey risked everything to be with her. How could she ever forget the two menthat were prepared to love her child like it was theirs? Those two horrible menwere monsters, but they were her monsters.
“Miss,” vaguely a voice broke her thoughts. “Miss?”
The woman who had sat down in the booth in front of her wasturned around in her seat pointing at the booth seat opposite Everly. “I’msorry to bother you, but is that your phone vibrating?” She gave her anapologetic smile. “It’s just that it’s been vibrating nonstop and…”
“Oh!” Everly blinked for a moment, before realizing what thewoman was trying to say. “Yes, I’m sorry about that.”
Grabbing her bag off the opposite seat, Everly dug out herphone and sat back down in her booth seat. Looking at the screen of her phoneEverly’s heart practically stopped. Forty-six missed calls, and her battery wasat five percent.
Scrolling through the log, they were all from Zane.
The phone started vibrating again, shakily she accepted thecall.
She didn’t even get a chance to say anything before sheheard Zane’s roar. “Everly where the fuck…”
Looking at her phone in a panic, her heart felt like itturned to stone. The battery died.
Glancing around the bar, she tried to think. She didn’t haveher phone charger, she didn’t yet have a key to the condo, nor had sheremembered their phone numbers yet. Everly had no clue what to do. Looking outthe window, she could see the sky darkening with each passing minute. Maybe sheshould go talk to the concierge desk, they could possibly have their numbersand call them for her. Getting up, she was setting her money down on the tablewhen she saw him walking past the bar window. Rushing out the bar, she stoppedin the hall and watched Reid push through the revolving door, his eyessearching rapidly like a hawk through the milling crowd. Too stunned, andfrankly a little nervous to say anything, she just stood stone still until hisdark azure gaze caught hers. Even though they were yards apart, Everly couldpractically feel the tension leave his body and the fury enter. With long,violent, purposeful steps Reid made his way towards her. The stone mask of hisface said it all—she was in trouble.
Without saying a word, Reid turned her by the shoulders andwalked her to the elevator. Stepping inside, Reid was pressing the button fortheir floor when they saw Zane push through the same revolving door at the endof the hall and make eye contact with them.
The fury on Zane’s face frightened her. Clutching on toReid’s shirt, Everly stood silently as Zane stepped onto the waiting elevator.No one said anything as the metal box started to ascend.
“I was…”
“Nope,” Reid said sharply. “Inside. We discuss this inside.”
Hurt, Everly tried to keep from pouting.
Once the doors were open, she was led inside the condo.Standing side by side, both men stood strong and tall effectively making herfeel like a cornered rabbit.
“Do you even know how scared we were…” Both men startedyelling at once.
“I thought something had happened to you…” Zane’s voiceedged out over Reid’s.
“I love you,” she said quietly.
Wide-eyed silence stared back at her from both men.
