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“I’m done,” Ransom says suddenly, jerking me from my thoughts. He’s holding up his clean plate as though it needs to be inspected. “Can I get the gifts now?”
He’s so excited that I’m starting to get a bad feeling about said gifts.
Scarlet sighs. “Alright, alright. Go ahead.”
The guy shoots back from the table like he’s just been shot out of a cannon. He rushes off and returns a few minutes later with all manner of shopping bags, which he sets right by my side. I’m so shocked that my fork drops from my hand.
“I have men watching your parents’ house,” Scarlet says softly. “They’re safe, but right now, it isn’t safe for you to be out and about, and it’s not okay for us to go to your place and get any of your things. Kidnapping you wasn’t my plan….” She gives Alden a dirty look that I fully second. “But now that it happened, you can’t go around wearing the same set of clothes, so I asked the boys to go out and get you the things you’d need. I laundered your clothing last night, so I knew your sizes. I hope you can forgive the intrusion into your privacy.”
I’m dumbfounded. It’s slightly creepy that this little old lady checked out all my sizes and relayed them to burly guys who then had to shop for them, but it’s also kind of funny. What about this, after all, is actually normal? Right. That would be nothing. Not one bit. I find my face getting red as Ransom proudly holds out a bag.
“I did the honors of getting you this. I hope it’s suitable.”
I take the bag with shaking hands. When I pull back the pink wrapping to see black, red, and bright pink lacy panties, I gasp and shove the tissue back into place. “Uhh, thanks.”
“Do you like them? I went in and got them myself. Turns out that men don’t actually get the stink eye when shopping for women’s undergarments. I didn’t even have to make excuses about them being for a partner and not myself.”
“Duh, did they think you’d be buying frilly, lacy, pink shit in a small size, bro?” Atlas snorts. “You’re clearly an extra, extra, extra, extra fucking large.”
“Did you get a matching bra?” Orion eggs him on.
“Just how much fun did you have with that?” Lennox goads.
Ransom turns scarlet, and no matter how red I am, I lean forward and touch his big, tattooed hand, which is resting on the table. “Thank you. That’s uh…very kind.”
He shakes off his annoyance with his brothers and passes me another bag. I’m relieved that this one just has regular clothes like skirts, shirts, and pants. Another has a pair of sandals and a pair of runners, while the last ones contain pajamas, a hairbrush, a bathing suit, makeup, and other toiletries.
“W-wow.” I lean back weakly against the chair. This whole thing might be incredibly awkward, never mind the fact that they shouldn’t have had to do this because I shouldn’t have been kidnapped in the first place, but I’m actually touched. “Thank you for everything. All of you.” I don’t include Alden in that. I’m sure he didn’t participate, and now that I know he wasn’t supposed to nab me, I’m even more pissed.
Scarlet clears her throat. “Well, I have an afternoon of showing you boring files and letting the boys demonstrate their skills, so I think we should get to that. Like it or not, you need to learn that you can trust us. You need to see that we’re just people, but we’re going to do everything we can to keep you safe and help you figure this out. Right now, your life depends on us, in a way, so we all need to learn how to work together. You’re not at our mercy, but you do have to learn to cooperate.”
“That’s highly convenient,” I croak. I wish I could be meaner, but sitting here surrounded by all the things that these guys took the time to get me, I can’t find it in myself to be mean. Even sans gifts, my forced mean streak and natural indignation are wearing thin. I’m a practical person, and I know that what Scarlet is saying is true.
“It might be,” Scarlet cackles. “Lucky for us. Anyway, we should get a start now. We want to be done in time for the special dinner Alden planned for you. An apology dinner, which he is going to make and serve himself.”
Alden’s head snaps up, and mine snaps up too. Identical snaps. We probably both have whiplash now. He looks confused for just a second before he shuts that down and slams on a neutral expression.
Right. If he was planning a dinner or any sort of apology, I’m a blue-speckled toad. I’m not a blue-speckled toad. Not even close.
