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We're fixated on the way her lips move, the way every word she says changes their shape. I don't have to confirm with Brandon and Rex to know that the tiniest glimpse of the tip of her tongue has our blood running hot.

Fuck.

Who is she? And why does she have this effect on us, one we've never experienced before with any other woman? It seems we don't have to do much digging to find out who she is, since she is very vocally trying to see us, directly, in person, and warns the agitated security guard she won't be leaving until she sees us. This is after she promised him a lifetime supply of cupcakes. Is she a baker?

More to the point, she wants to see us. She's here for us. We're the reason she's harassing our staff.

A grin erupts on my face, the same way it does on Brandon and Rex's faces. And that's saying something because while I'm the charmer of the three of us, Brandon never smiles—his scowl can send people to hell—and Rex is so neutral no one but us knows what he's thinking at any point in time.

I stop a man in a suit, who fumbles his way through greeting us before he's able to understand we've instructed him to take over from security and bring her up to our office directly. We'd be happy to see her. Whatever it is, she looks like trouble, all fiery passion in heels, but one small sighting of her and we're already addicted. Does she know we always get what we want? And she's what we want at any cost.

The immediate possessiveness we feel for a woman we know nothing about is staggering. She doesn't have a ring on her finger, we made sure to check, so that just means she's ours now.

This should be fun.

By the time she's led into our office, the scent of her perfume immediately seeping into our senses and marking us for an eternity, we're already waiting for her.

Time to find out exactly what this stunning beauty wants with us.

It takes her a moment or two to get herself oriented. She seems overly flustered as she stares openmouthed at us. We are not so humble as to not know we have that effect on women. Being rich helps with the image, but most women just want us for our bodies, something that doesn't faze us in the least. Except now. With her. We're highly amused as her gaze flits between us, the pulse on her throat beating so chaotically, I want to run my tongue over her skin and make her more breathless.

We don't help her out by starting the conversation with asking how we can help her, not when we're enjoying her being so flustered, her cheeks a glistening red as she stumbles over each breath she takes.

"Hello," she says, a little awkwardly, before she catches herself, murmurs something unintelligible—as if she were giving herself a pep talk—then resumes, more confident this time.

Purposefully, she marches toward us, her hand outstretched. Fuck. We're going to touch her.

"Hello, my name is Tia Langley. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wright," she says, shaking Brandon's hand. "Mr. Stevens," she continues, placing her hand in Rex's, and then it's my turn. "And Mr. Bates."

She smiles, but that smile is for her, as if she were congratulating herself on getting through phase one.

"What can we do for Ms. Langley?" Brandon asks. He uses his most dominant tone, gauging how much he could talk her into submission. It takes her a beat to recover from Brandon's voice, but again she rights herself and continues.

"Well, you can do a whole lot for me, if you're so inclined, and I hope you are." She doesn't take a breath but carries on full steam ahead.

"You see, I run a small little bakery—Tia's Cupcake Confessions. It's situated in a cozy, quaint town called Darling Rose, as I'm sure you've heard of," she says, her tone now full of accusation.

Darling Rose. Where the fuck is that?

"As a businesswoman myself, I understand the value of seizing an opportunity when you see one. So, you know, I'm here to ask you to reconsider digging up my town for that battery metal thing or something like that. We're very attached to the land of Darling Rose under our feet. Very attached, and we would so appreciate it if you'd just move along and leave us alone."

Ah, so Darling Rose is the name of the town situated just north of the city, where we discovered a significant deposit of a valuable metal. The project alone is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Our second biggest venture since we'd taken over the running of Apex Industries from our fathers. Apex Industries may have started as property developers under our fathers, and it's how we are known to this day, but we decided to take our legacy and expand it into every area of business known to mankind.

Ironically, we came across the land on which Darling Rose stands through a sale we made a few months ago, only to discover it was a hot spot, to say the least.

"So you're asking us to cancel the project?" I ask, with a grin on my face. I have to admire her for thinking she could come in here and change our minds.

"Yes, please. I knew you would see reason," she says, happiness spreading all over her stunningly gorgeous face.

"Unfortunately, the project isn't something we can cancel on a whim. We've already invested billions of dollars into it," Brandon says.

"Perhaps you could reconsider moving to another town? We would, of course, compensate you generously. Pick another small town and we'll make it yours," I say, holding my breath in anticipation of how she's going to take it.

"I don't want your money. I don't want to move to another town. Darling Rose is my home—"

"You were born there?" Rex, who's been quiet for the most part, asks.

"Well, no. I moved there a year ago, but it's so incredibly dear to me. And the people. And Mr. Almaty, whose livelihood you are playing with when you bribed the other store owners into selling up, which in turn is forcing him to give up and sell out. That building is so dear to him. He built it with his bare hands, with his wife beside him. It's in memory of her, for goodness sake," she says passionately.