8. Izzy

Chapter 8

Izzy

I t was odd being back in the mansion I first truly became acquainted with Emilio.

Where I lost my virginity. Where we spent the summer together.

Where I told him I loved him.

My face heated at the thought as I relaxed into the couch, it was soft, plush, corduroy. A stark difference to what it was years ago.

Noticing my attention to it, Emilio turned to me on the couch, sliding closer to me. “You didn’t like the leather, I wanted to make your home more inviting.”

A shiver of need ran across my skin as his words tickled against my ear. As a distraction, I surveyed the rest of the space and noticed other subtle changes. Brighter colors, throw blankets, a pile of manhwas I’d read before on the coffee table. Before, his home had felt sterile, hardly lived in, but now it was warm. Welcoming .

Oliver, who was sitting in the armchair across from us, stood up in anger. It wasn’t often I saw him this bothered. He was a control freak through and through, including how he showed his reactions.

“She is not going to be living here.” Oliver threw the words at Emilio’s face.

Emilio placed a gentle kiss on my cheek before separating from me. He rose up from the couch moving until he was toe-to-toe with Oliver, practically the same height, but Emilio was noticeably bulkier .

“Come here,” Maddox grunted out from the other side of the couch tugging me back into the security of his arms. “They seem to have some history.”

That was new to me, but then again, I was recognizing more and more that I had been ignorant to several facets of my life.

“You are still the same asshole—” Oliver was slinging the words out, but I did my best to ignore him.

Their bickering was irritating. It seemed ongoing and it was beginning to make me really anxious.

It won’t be like this forever, right?

I fucking hoped not, but I could acknowledge we were all on edge and life’s curveballs were coming fast and hard.

Is this what happens when you keep burying your feelings?

“Here’s your phone, we found it on the ground. You scared us baby girl.” Maddox handed me the device before burrowing into my neck. His next words were a breathy whisper, directly into my ear. “This is the man who left his come behind isn’t it? Are you going to let all three of us wake you up on our cocks?”

I shivered in anticipation, rubbing my thighs together.

This was wrong, my reaction was wrong. But why did it feel so right? As if every horrible decision and tear shed was to lead me to this exact moment. On this couch. Surrounded by these three men.

“That’s what I thought, but first we need to sort all of this out. Communicate as you said. But later?” His tongue lashed out against the rim of my ear as his hand moved to the nape of my neck, gripping me there.

An uninhibited moan left my lips.

“What are you doing?” Oliver’s anger cut through the desire that Maddox was building shovel by shovel along my nerves.

Burying me in his essence .

Maddox carefully disentangled, offering a quick searing kiss to my lips, before turning to Emilio and Oliver.

“Are you two done now? We all have secrets, we’ve all been lying. But as Ellie so elegantly put it, the best way to a healthy relationship is a solid foundation. So, let’s start with the elephant in the room. Why are you two wearing wedding bands?”

Emilio let out a long booming laugh, his head tipping back. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re married.”

Apparently, that was the breaking point for Oliver.

“You son of a bitch!” Oliver screamed as he lost the last of his control. His face red, a vein throbbing in his temple as he launched himself at Emilio.

Crash!

Where was the fucking gun when I needed it?