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“Fair point.” Konrad shrugs, leaning over to press a kiss against my cheek once I’m seated. “I can’t help it if Christy has my dick rock fucking hard twenty-four seven.
“Ditto, brother, ditto,” Leon agrees, adjusting himself, and this time it’s my cheeks that are heating.
“Well, I appreciate it. Thisisnice. Thank you,” I say, picking up a roll from my side plate and breaking off a piece to eat, if only to give my hands something to do. I’ve suddenly become very nervous, and this time it’s not from fear.
“What would you like to eat? I had the cook make us a selection of dishes because I wasn’t sure what you liked,” Jakub says.
I follow his hand as he lifts the lid off a large bowl of spaghetti tossed with chargrilled vegetables, garlic and parmesan. Next to it is a plate piled high with slices of meat. There’s grilled fish, skewered prawns, all manner of vegetables, salads, soup and even fondue filled to the brim with bubbling cheese that smells devine.
“It all looks delicious. You choose,” I say.
Jakub nods then glances over all of the items, finally settling on the pasta. He piles some onto my plate. “I think you’ll like this.”
Picking up my fork, I twirl it around and around in the pasta then place it in my mouth. The taste is delicious and I can’t help but moan around the burst of flavour that hits my tongue. My eyes flutter shut as I chew. Swallowing, I open my eyes, my fingers coming up to my lips as I laugh, embarrassed. “It’s delicious,” I say.
“Fuck,” Konrad mutters, licking his lips, his gaze hyperfocused on my mouth. “Watching you eat is so erotic.”
Leon swallows a mouthful of red wine. “Fuck, yes it is,” he agrees, his voice thick with approval.
I squirm in my seat, their combined attention making my skin heat. I look between the three of them, uncertain what to do. This is new territory for all of us. We don’t exactly have a good record of spending time together at a dinner table.
Jakub coughs, sensing my hesitation. “Ignore my brothers. Eat, drink. Let’s talk. Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise.”
“I know,” I nod, helping myself to another mouthful as the three of them dish up food onto their plates.
For a while we sit and eat in silence, the air thick with tension and an undercurrent of nerves. As much as I know these men, I don’t really know them at all and that becomes more and more obvious as time passes. If these men are to be mine, and me theirs, then we have to know more about each other than just our painful pasts. Leon was right that we should talk, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to do that.
“That was heavenly,” I say, placing my knife and fork on my empty plate and taking a sip of red wine. It has a deep, woodsy flavour with a sharp aftertaste that somehow reminds me of the three of them.
“There’s plenty more,” Leon says, eying up the remaining food.
“I’m full. Perhaps the staff might like to finish it?” I suggest.
Leon nods. “Give me a moment and I will call for the staff to come and clear the table,” he says, getting up and striding over to a phone in the corner of the room. After requesting the table be cleared and dessert brought up, he returns, taking his seat. “Masks,” he says, just as there is a light knock tap on the door a minute later.
“Come in,” Konrad instructs as soon as they’ve covered their faces.
Half a dozen staff enter the room and within a couple of minutes have cleared the table and left behind a trolley loaded with numerous desserts, all of which look tempting.
Once we’re alone, they reach up to remove their masks. “Wait,” I say, a sudden idea popping into my head. “Will you keep them on for a moment?”
I can see the confusion in their eyes, but they nod in agreement. “What is it?” Leon asks, canting his head to the side as he looks at me.
“I wanted to tell you something about myself. Something that you don’t already know about me, but I’m only going to do that once you’ve told me five things about yourself. Once you’ve done that, I want you to remove your mask and tell each other something you’ve kept secret.”
“We don’t keep secrets from each other,” Jakub says.
“Yes you do,” I reply, daring him to argue. “We all have secrets.” They remain silent, each of them unsure. “Please, this is important to me,” I say, realising in the moment that it is. I want to know the real men behind the masks, beneath the trauma.
“Okay. I’ll go first,” Leon says. He meets my gaze and blows out a breath. “So five things about me. I like classical music. Bach is my favourite composer. I prefer rain to sunshine. I hate coffee. I got this tattoo because it reminded me of you,” he says, running his fingers over the black reeds on his forearm, his muscles flexing beneath his touch. “And finally, I still get turned on by blood and knife play. That hasn’t changed despite the fact I have…”
That hasn’t changed.It’s not meant as a threat, just the honest truth.
Picking up a dessert knife from the trolley, Leon runs the blunt edge across his palm. A shiver tracks down my spine at the memory of what happened in the dungeons between us. Swallowing hard, I lift my gaze up to meet his. “And something about you nobody knows.”
Reaching up Leon removes his mask and rests it on the table, before fixing his attention on me. “The night I pulled you from the fire, I broke in through the downstairs window of your cottage. It was thick with smoke, and the fire had already gutted your kitchen,” he says, letting out a long slow breath. My skin turns cold, goosebumps rising across the surface of my arms as I listen. “I saw your mother. She was covered in flames, stumbling towards me.”
“Oh my God,” I say, bringing my hand up to my mouth. Tears prick my eyes, but I blink them back, forcing myself to stay strong.
