10 MEN: A MEGA MENAGE REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE (HUGE SERIES Book 7)

by Stephanie Brother

  “No, it’s this way.” I take the turning to the left and start walking. There are the faint sounds of classical music and more doors that are closed, giving absolutely nothing away. The music gets louder and I’m really tempted to turn around. Am I about to stumble across Roderick’s office? Ugh. I don’t want to see him right now. I’m still smarting over the breakfast debacle.

  There’s an open door and as a come level with it I turn and am almost blinded by the light streaming in from floor to ceiling windows. Amazing canvases of brightly colored nudes line with walls. I’m considering that fact that this could be Donnie’s studio when I see feet poking out from behind a giant canvas. There’s some humming going on, too.

  “Wow,” Danna says from behind me. “That is amazing.”

  Donnie’s head pokes out from behind the canvas. He’s clutching a brush and his hair is a crazy mess. I know from watching him sketch that he has a habit of running his fingers through his curls when he’s concentrating. All I can say is that there must have been a lot of concentrating going on this afternoon. “Laura,” he says.

  “And Danna.” Danna leans around me and waves. “Hi.”

  “Oh, hey.”

  “This is my friend, Danna,” I say, pulling a face that reveals my awkwardness. “We’re trying to find our way to the den.”

  “Ah, well, you need to go back the way you came,” Donnie says. “Nice to meet you Danna. You hanging out with us tonight?”

  “Maybe,” Danna says, just as I say, “No.”

  Donnie looks between us and smiles. “Well, either way is cool.”

  “What are you painting?” Danna asks. She actually has no reservations.

  “A female figure,” Donnie says. He looks kind of awkward as Danna strides towards him. “It’s not finished. I usually don’t let people look at my work while it’s in progress.”

  “Oh, it’s okay,” Danna says. “I’m no expert. Promise I won’t judge.” She doesn’t wait for Donnie to agree. I watch as she strides around him and takes in the painting. From where I’m standing I have no idea what she’s looking at but I see her face break out into a sly smile and her eyes scan the painting and then me. “Well, Donnie. You’ve captured Laura perfectly.”

  Fuck. Has he started the painting already? I was sure he’d told me that he was going to wait until I could sit for him properly later. I start to walk around, watching Donnie’s face turn from normal tan to beet. What the hell is on that canvas that has him so embarrassed?

  I round the canvas and can see exactly why Danna looks as though she’s stumbled on the juiciest gossip this century. Donnie’s painting of me is no simple portrait. It’s a rainbow colored abstract and I’m fully nude.

  Oh. Fuck.

  How the hell are we going to explain this one?

  He has the shape of my breasts perfect and most mortifyingly, the butterfly shaped birthmark I have next to my right nipple. Danna must be able to see how realistic he has me. She’s seen me naked plenty of times when we’ve been getting changed for a night out. We’ve been friends for such a long time, we’re more like family. There’s no way he’d know about my birthmark unless he’d seen me naked.

  I’m thinking that denial is the best course of action here. “Wow, Donnie. That’s erm, really good.”

  “Thanks,” he says. He can’t meet either of our gazes. He’s only been painting but it’s as though he’s been caught looking at porn by his mom. The painting is so explicit; way more than I thought it would be.

  “So, that’s a pretty amazing likeness, isn’t it, Laura,” Danna says. “I mean that Donnie really has captured you in so much detail.”

  I think Donnie knows what she’s getting at and he glances at me, widening his eyes as if to say sorry.

  “It’s lovely, Donnie,” I say softly. “We should leave you to it. Come on, Danna.”

  I take her by the arm and tug her towards the door. My cheeks feel hotter than the Sahara sun and my heart is beating double time. This is exactly what I feared.

  I’ve admitted to Ford and now she knows about Donnie.

  What the hell am I going to say?

  We’re a few yards down the hallway before she tugs me to stop. “You fucked him, too?” she says with utter glee in her voice. “He knows about your birthmark so that must mean he’s seen you naked.”

  “No,” I say with as much conviction as I can muster.

  “LAURA!” Danna puts her hands on her hips. “Are you seriously going to lie to me like this? I’m your best friend and like the least judgey person in the whole world. Do you think I’d give a fuck if you’d fucked all the McGregor men in one weekend? No. Would I want to hear all the juicy details and giggle like a school girl with you? Yes. Of course I would because that’s what we do. So why are you hiding this shit from me?”

  My shoulders slump. I can’t look at her. She’s my best friend and I didn’t feel as though I could trust her with such a big secret. That doesn’t say much about me. Danna has never broken a promise or my trust. She’s been my strongest supporter through really tough times, but in the end I just didn’t want her to think badly of me. She might say she’s not judgey but if she was the one telling me she’d fucked four of her stepbrothers in two days, I’d be pretty damn judgey of her. Maybe that’s what this is. I’m applying my own standards to her and that just isn’t fair.

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “You’re right. I…we can’t talk here but I promise I’ll tell you everything. You just have to promise that it won’t go anywhere, okay?”

  “Do you even need to say that to me?” she asks, looking half mad and half completely intrigued.

  “Let’s go and get coffee and we can chat after, okay?”

  “Not really. I think if you don’t tell me soon I might combust with the not knowing, but I guess that Casey is waiting for us and I wouldn’t want to keep that man too long.”

  We start to make our way down the nearby stairs and I’m looking around, trying to work out where the hell we are. Danna stops suddenly before we reach the next floor and grabs my arm.

  “Wait, did you fuck Casey?”

  I shake my head. “No.”

  “Okay.” She looks relieved as though she’s interested in trying to make a move on him. The though causes a stab of jealously to hit me in the throat. I love Danna but Casey is off limits.

  That rush of possessiveness has me reeling. I guess that, despite all my concerns, these boys really have started to get under my skin. We start walking again, coming to the dining room, then further on towards the hallway I think leads to the den. All the while I’m questioning myself. Why don’t I want Danna to be with Casey? He’s not mine. I haven’t got any claim on him. Yes, his father has plans for him and me but I’m still thinking that ten is a crazy number. I know my little group of three is good. Ford, Donnie and Antony work well together. There’s no conflict and I feel comfortable with them all. I like Grant a lot, too. The time we spent together was really special, but he’s not into his father’s plan at all, so I have no idea where that will leave us.

  But there must be a part of me that wants more otherwise why would I be feeling jealous at Danna being interested in Casey. The realization is more than a little overwhelming.

  We’re near the den and the sound of deep male voices tells me that Casey is not alone. My heart skitters, palms sweating as I brace myself for what is coming next. I hesitate just outside the room and Danna is so excited about arriving that she almost knocks me over. We end up practically tumbling into the room and all eyes turn the to see the spectacle we’re making of ourselves.

  There are so many men in this room.

  Casey and Cameron.

  Ford.

  Elliot.

  Blake and Barrett.

  And Grant.

  I haven’t seen him since the family breakfast of doom when Roderick announced that I’d had a little something-something with Elliot. Our eyes meet across the room and I’m expecting him to be mad but it doesn’t appear as th
ough he is. He gives me a smile, then looks back at the sport that’s blaring on the television. He’s nonchalant and I have to admit that I don’t like it.

  Ford is the first to welcome us. “Well, looks like we have some girls in the house for a change.”

  He pats the sofa next to him. “Come and sit down and have some coffee. We’re talking football but I’m sure my brothers would be happy to change to something less boring.”

  “Boring!” Blake bellows. “There is nothing boring about football. Where did your balls disappear to all of a sudden?”

  “I’m not saying I find it boring,” Ford says. “I’m just pretty certain that these women here don’t want to get drawn into a discussion about the season.”

  I sit down next to Ford and Danna sits on my other side. “I have to say I agree with Ford. Football isn’t exactly my area of expertise.”

  “Women only watch it to check out all the bulging thighs and pert asses,” Danna announces and everybody laughs.

  “I’ll have to remember that,” Cameron says. I know it’s him because he’s wearing different clothes from his brother. Their dirty blond hair even looks a little different today. I wish all the twins would think more about making themselves distinguishable. I mean, it’s only fair for newbies like me, but to be honest each set of twins looks so alike I wonder if the other brothers can tell them apart.

  “Yeah. Ball game isn’t a good first date,” Danna laughs. “You just introduce your potential new girlfriend to whole team of rugged sportsmen.”

  “Are you saying that we don’t match up to football players,” one of the B twins says. He puts his hand on his heart. “I’m mortally wounded by your friend, Laura.”

  “I wouldn’t be,” I laugh. “This is Danna by the way.”

  “Hi Danna,” they all chorus. I don’t know why but I find myself blushing again. I still feel really out of place in the house, even though I’ve been intimate with two of the brothers here, and kissed a third. Even though I know what they have planned for me. I look across at Grant who’s still watching the game. It’s as though he’s purposefully tuning out of the conversation and I feel bad.

  Is he angry with me? Have I made the situation worse for him?

  I would never want to cause any problems between these men. Family comes first.

  I’m going to need to seek him out and have a conversation with him. I feel as though I’ve mislead him by telling him I was against the plan and then diving into bed with his brothers. I guess if he was thinking that I was trustworthy, he must be thinking again.

  One of the household staff comes in with coffee, soft drinks and plates of snacks. There’s mini sandwiches and wraps, fries, muffins and other delicious looking cakes and cookies. They put it all on the sideboard and the boys are up like a huge scrum. I guess they’re all pretty hungry after a full day of work. If this is what they eat to tide themselves over until dinner, it’s a miracle that they’re not struggling in the waistline department.

  “Hey boys,” Elliot says, laughing. “How about we let the ladies go first?”

  “Oh yeah,” Blake says. He limps back from the table and his face contorts into a grimace. I sympathize with him so much. Although my leg is feeling better after Grant and Elliot gave it some attention, I know it’ll come back. Coping with injuries is so damned tough.

  “Come on girls,” Barrett laughs. “You better grab whatever you want because it’s unlikely there will be much left after we’re done.”

  Danna grabs quite a bit but I’m a little more conservative. I mean, I love my food but eating in front of all these guys isn’t my idea of fun and somehow I’m anticipating having to step in at some point. I’m not going to be able to do that very effectively if I have a mouth stuffed with sandwich.

  “So, Danna. . .are you at college with Laura?” Barrett asks. He’s wearing navy blue sweats and his feet are bare. It’s like a Sunday-morning themed photoshoot for GQ in here.

  “Yeah but we’ve know each other for ages. Since we were eight.”

  “Wow,” he says. “So you’re the one to come to for embarrassing photos then?”

  She laughs, taking a seat on a big recliner, the chair nearest to the food! “Definitely! We both went through some pretty tragic hair stages. And don’t get me started on our slogan t-shirt stage. Ugh.”

  I laugh too, remembering the time Danna’s mom agreed to trim her bangs. She ended up with long sections at the sides and a short bit in the center of her forehead. She had to clip it back for weeks while she waited for it to grow out. I don’t tell the boys that, though. I’m scared of what she might bring up. Not that I have a lot of skeletons in my closet but I’m thinking that keeping my embarrassing stories away from these guys would be a good idea.

  “And what about boyfriends?” Ford asks, slumping back on the sofa with his overloaded plate.

  “Are you asking me to spill secrets on my friend?” Danna asks. “Because if you are, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Besties don’t reveal secrets.” She looks at me pointedly. “We take them to the grave.”

  “Wow,” Ford says looking at me. “I think Danna is a keeper.”

  “I think Laura already decided that, Ford. They’ve been friends since they were eight!” Barrett puts his feet up on a foot stool and pops a chip into his mouth.

  “Why? Is Laura going to have lots of secrets for me to keep?” Danna asks, feigning innocence. There is absolutely nothing innocent about that question.

  “I don’t know, Danna. Laura, are you planning on giving Danna lots of secrets to keep?” His eyes flash with amusement.

  I shake my head. “I’m the picture of innocence,” I say sarcastically. Grant was taking a swig from a bottle of soda and spits some out at my comment.

  Danna looks at him with interest as he finds a napkin to wipe himself.

  “You got something to add, Grant?” Ford asks.

  “It went down the wrong way,” Grant says, turning his attention back to the sport.

  “So, is this what you guys do every afternoon?” Danna ask.

  “No day is the same in this place,” Blake muses. “Sometimes we have to work really long hours. Other days, we get to finish early. It really just depends on where our projects are at and what needs to be done. I guess that’s the perks to having your own business.”

  “It’s not our own business yet,” Blake says. “We still have one pretty big hurdle to overcome before pop lets go of the reins.”

  The boys trade glances.

  “Oh really,” Danna says, licking some mayo from her fingers. “What’s that?”

  I have a feeling I know exactly what it is but I’m not going to give her an answer. At least not yet.

  20

  I somehow manage to steer all the conversation between Danna and the boys to subjects that aren’t revealing about the plan or our antics over the weekend. I’m not sure how I manage it but by the time we’re done eating and drinking, my stomach is in knots with indigestion.

  “We should go,” I say to her. “I’ve got some work to do before…” I stop because what I was going to say was before I pose for Donnie’s painting but that definitely wouldn’t be advisable to reveal.

  “. . .before dinner.”

  “Okay, sure.” We both stand.

  “Thanks for this,” I say to the boys generally but looking towards Casey who was the one who had organized for us to join them.

  “This is your home now,” Casey says firmly. “You don’t need to thank people for letting you eat and drink in your own home.”

  “I think it will take me time to get used to that,” I say.

  “Well, you have time,” Cameron says, “but don’t take too long!”

  We say our goodbyes in a way that feels way too formal and awkward and then I shuffle out of the room with Danna, trying desperately to remember which way we need to go.

  When we’re a way down the corridor she starts giggling. “For fuck sake, Laura. You really are living the dream. I do
n’t know what you did in a past life to deserve this but it must have been something deserving of a Nobel prize.”

  “I think you might be right,” I say.

  “I mean, if the amazing surroundings weren’t enough, there’s the luxury of having staff to bring you what you need. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

  “All the boys are capable of looking after themselves, though,” I tell her. “It’s not like they’re a bunch of spoilt assholes.”

  “I was about to get to the boys. I think I’d be happy to live in a shed if I got to spend time surrounded by those fine specimens,” she whispers. “Damn. I don’t even know where to start.”

  “I know,” I giggle. She’s right. There aren’t enough words to describe how amazing my stepbrothers are.

  We’re making our way down the corridor when a door flies open and Roderick steps out into our path. Danna practically stumbles into him.

  “Oh.” She gasps, brings herself to an abrupt halt.

  Roderick looks at us both, drawing himself up to his full height and putting his arms behind his back. “Laura,” he booms. “There you are.”

  “Yes,” I say.

  “We missed you this weekend. Your mother was particularly disappointed that you chose to disappear.” His tone is condescending and chastising, something that angers me immediately. He might be about to marry my mom but that doesn’t give him any right to treat me as though I’m a naughty child, especially when it was his lack of politeness that sent me running in the first place.

  Danna looks at me, waiting for me to respond. Roderick hasn’t even had the manners to introduce himself or at least give me time to introduce her. This whole thing is so awkward and I have no idea what to say to him. Maybe it was a little immature of me to storm off with Ford. It wasn’t what I was intending at all but Roderick has put me in this weird situation. He’s the one that turned what should have been a really nice breakfast into a horrible and embarrassing public exchange. What did he expect me to do?