by Anya Nowlan
I’m seeing ghosts where there are none, she assured herself, but it didn’t sound very convincing.
The twins’ girlfriends didn’t seem to last longer than a month or two. If the tabloids were to be believed, so that already showed a troubling history. She didn’t want to be one of those women who believed they could change a man.
There was plenty of information online about how Dominic and Dante lived their lives. Did she really believe she was special to them, that they wouldn’t drop her once they grew tired of her?
Feeling her chest constrict at the thought, she closed all the tabs open on her computer and leaned back, squeezing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
If it turned out she had fooled herself into thinking she had something real with the brothers, she wasn’t sure if she could take it. It had been so long since she’d opened up to someone and to have it blow up in her face… She didn’t even want to think about that possibility.
A part of her wanted to confront them, but a larger part of her was too scared to. She had given them more of her trust than any man before, and the thought of being just a plaything to them was crushing.
At the end of the day, she was glad she’d asked them for some space. Being around them only served to cloud her judgment. Even now, things were becoming clearer. Now that she didn’t have to look at their stupidly handsome faces every day, the thought of risking her whole career for an off chance at a relationship with them seemed insane.
Maybe it’s better we left what we had in Shifter Grove, where it belongs, she thought, even as the idea felt like an icepick to her chest.
Seeing how quickly she went from all but despising them to developing feelings for them, going forward with their relationship suddenly looked like a giant chasm waiting for her to jump into it. There was no safety net, no guarantees, and she was already in way over her head.
Dominic and Dante had gotten so deep under her skin, carrying on with whatever this was between them would only end in utter heartbreak. She might not want to admit it, but she cared about them, more than was probably appropriate for the time they’d spent together.
If she gave them even more time to burrow their way into her heart, she wouldn’t be able to take the pain when it was over.
And it would be over, sooner or later.
There were too many reasons for why it couldn’t work out. Her career. Their career, full of temptations and travelling around for games.
The whole part about sharing herself between the two of them, which no one who hadn’t been through the same thing could possibly understand.
Chloe wanted to think of herself as someone brave enough to not care about what society thought about how she lived her life, but she did. Having a secret tryst with two brothers was one thing, announcing their non-conventional relationship to the world was a whole other ball game.
In the end, she knew she was being a coward when she decided to keep avoiding Dominic and Dante, but she didn’t know what else to do.
It’s the only option, she convinced herself.
Easy options tended to feel like the right ones during times of desperation, after all.
Chloe jumped when Janice’s voice suddenly sounded from right behind her as she stood at the copy machine, yawning into her coffee cup the next morning. Janice’s tone was as casual and disinterested as ever.
“Chloe, I need you to go home early today and put on something nice. The Kenners have been asked to attend a fundraiser, and there’s talk of an open bar. We can’t have any incidents, especially not while the Shovelers are still deciding who’s going to be on their team next season.”
Fearing her totally dumbfounded silence might not go over well, Chloe forced out the first non-curse words that popped into her head.
“Sure thing, boss-lady, I’m your gal.”
Did I just turn into a 1950s gangster? her thoughts screamed at her, as she prayed for the ground to swallow her up and put her out of her misery.
“I appreciate the… enthusiasm,” Janice remarked evenly before walking away.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Chloe let her head fall onto her desk. Not only did she manage to look like a total dork in front of her boss, again, her plan of avoiding Dominic and Dante just came crashing down around her.
What did I expect? I’m their goddamn agent, she chided herself.
She didn’t like the way her heart started beating faster at the thought of seeing them tonight, or that her palms were suddenly sweatier than they had been in her entire life. It was important she stay professional at the event, and that the brothers did the same.
And it’s important I don’t fall into their arms the moment I see them.
Besides her brilliant idea of just steering clear of them for the foreseeable future being a bust, nothing had changed. All the reasons why she couldn’t trust them, couldn’t pursue a relationship with them, were still there.
And it frightened her that a part of her didn’t care about that at all.
Thirty-Two
Dante
“I just spoke to Janice. Chloe’s going to be there,” Dante said to his brother, unable to hide the smile taking over his face.
Dominic was hogging the mirror in his dressing room, busy tying his tie. Or Dante’s tie, to be exact. He wasn’t sure Dominic even actually owned a tie, or a proper suit for that matter. Why else would he keep stealing his clothes every time they had an event to go to?
“Nice,” Dominic grinned, looking surprisingly respectable in a navy suit and a white shirt.
One could hardly tell this is the same man who was caught running around the local park with nothing but his helmet on.
“There’s no way she’ll be able to stay away from us once we’re actually in the same room together.”
“And it’s not like we asked to go to this event or that Chloe be there,” Dante added.
He didn’t feel totally comfortable with going against Chloe’s wish for some distance, but like he’d said, it wasn’t planned. The event they were going to was to raise money for better sports equipment for schools and he and Dominic had agreed to attend ages ago. To be completely honest, he’d almost forgotten about it.
And talking to his father had put things into perspective for him. Douglas only had a few short years to spend with his mate before she passed away, and that only drove home how short life really could be.
Dante didn’t want to waste any more time. He needed to know if Chloe really was swamped with work, or if she was having doubts about a relationship with him and Dominic. She had a tendency to get stuck in her own head, and Dante didn’t want to give her a chance to talk herself out of giving this a shot.
The urge to claim Chloe as their mate was primal and only growing inside him, making being away from her even more difficult. To think, he hadn’t even put much stock into the whole mate concept only a few short weeks ago.
She definitely had me changing my tune in no time.
The thought of seeing her had instantly put him in a good mood, and also filled his mind with all kinds of possibilities for tonight. They could easily slip away from the crowd together, get in Dante’s car, drive back over to his house…
“Dude, stop daydreaming,” Dominic nudged him, before running a hand over the front of his suit. “Let’s get going. I don’t want to be late.”
“Now that’s a first,” Dante scoffed.
“Can you blame me for wanting to get to her sooner?”
No. No, I can’t.
The banquet hall was full of smiling people in fancy clothes, the sound of laughter and clinking glasses filling the large room. Dante’s bear was up on his hind legs, trying to sniff out their mate. This type of anxiety was new to Dante, and he couldn’t concentrate on anything but singling out her face from the crowd.
“There are so many smells,” Dominic murmured, craning his neck. “I can’t even tell if she’s here yet.”
Catching a glimpse of dark hair in the far left cor
ner of the room, Dante clapped his brother on the shoulder.
“There,” he said, starting to weave through people with Dominic following in his footsteps.
He hadn’t even seen the woman’s face yet, but something in him was certain it was Chloe. It wasn’t long until he was close enough to know he had been right. There she was, keeping to herself near a potted plant of all things, with a glass of red wine in her hand like she was planning to wield it as a weapon against anyone who dared approach.
The floor-length gown she was wearing fit her like a glove, made even sexier because Dante knew exactly what lay underneath. She looked like a present he couldn’t wait to unwrap, making him unable to think straight.
That was just the effect she had on him. When she was around, the whole damn place could be burning to the ground and all he’d have eyes for would be her.
“Chloe,” he nodded at her, watching her green eyes light up at the sight of him and Dominic.
“Couldn’t stay away from us, could you?” Dominic winked, subtle as ever.
“This is a work thing,” Chloe sighed, even as she scanned them up and down and gripped the stem of her wine glass a little tighter. “You can go mingle, I’ll keep an eye on you from here.”
Dante worried she’d break the delicate glass in half if she squeezed any harder.
She was trying to distance herself from them, he could tell. And he wasn’t about to let her get away with it. It was clear being back here, living her normal life again had gotten to her. Those pesky human ideas about what was decent and acceptable were distracting her from the truth – they belonged together, all three of them.
He was going to remind her of that.
Fuck being professional.
“It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve mixed business with pleasure,” he said, making his voice warm and inviting. “We can find another elevator to get stuck in if you’d like some more privacy.”
“I still remember all the right buttons to press,” Dominic added, clearly on the same page as Dante.
We are twins, after all, he grinned to himself.
“Can you please stop, we’re in public,” Chloe insisted under her breath, scanning the crowd nervously. “Anyone could hear you.”
“So let them. I don’t care. All I want is to take you home and hear you moan my name, all night long.”
“Hey, that was my line,” Dominic ever so helpfully interjected.
That blush Dante loved so much was back on Chloe’s cheeks, but her eyes were narrowed and her lips in a thin line.
“That’s all you’re after, right? Have your fun with me, then just move on to the next female agent at TP? Do you even care that you could very possibly ruin my career? Or do you not care about that, because I’m a shitty agent anyway?” she hissed, keeping her voice low even as her knuckles turned white around the glass.
“Whoa, where did that come from?” Dominic asked, glancing at Dante like he might know something he didn’t.
“What are you talking about, you’re a great…” Dante started, but was cut off.
“I know you went behind my back in Shifter Grove, having Janice set up that doctor’s appointment. What, I’m good enough to fuck but you can’t trust me with things that really matter?” she said, her tone icy.
“Are you fucking serious? That’s what you think of us, really, even now?” Dante demanded, losing his cool. “We tell you we think you’re our soul mate, and you think we’re biding our time with you until TP hires a new hot chick for us to bang?”
Dante hadn’t meant for his words to come out this harsh, or this loud, but it was too late now. Chloe’s words had hit a sore spot, and he lashed out, not knowing what else to do. He had bared more of himself to her than to any other woman, so the fact that she judged him unfairly hit especially hard.
Chloe blanched for a second, noticing the way people were starting to stare, before straightening her spine and staring both of them down.
“I’ve looked up your history. I know your reputation. You can’t tell me you’ve changed who you are in a week or two. That’s not how it works,” she half-whispered.
“You know us so well,” Dominic said, with absolutely zero sincerity. “I think you’re just scared. We predicted you’d freak out. Why don’t you face it – you’re the one that’s not ready to change, not us.”
Dante was momentarily taken aback at his brother’s insightful words, until his hurt and anger distracted him from using any logic or reason in this particular situation. All he could do was glare at Chloe, in disbelief of what a one-eighty she’d managed to do in just a few short days.
But it seemed his evening was only about to get worse.
“Are these gentlemen bothering you?” Tyler’s unbearably snobby voice sounded from behind him.
Just fucking perfect.
Thirty-Three
Chloe
Chloe would never have guessed seeing Tyler and Trent Solomon would ever make her feel relieved, but things weren’t exactly going as she’d expected as of late.
All her doubts, reservations, fears, frustration and disappointment had come pouring out all at once. She had asked for space from Dominic and Dante, yet here they were, cornering her and taking about their sexual exploits loud enough for everyone to hear.
Just a couple of arrogant athletes, thinking her job didn’t matter, using her for their own entertainment.
Everyone was always out for themselves. That was something Chloe had always been aware of, and she couldn’t believe she’d had her blinders on for so long.
Dante looked seemed genuinely angry, and Dominic looked ready to start a fight. They probably weren’t used to being rejected, but Chloe was done playing along with whatever game they were playing. She chose to ignore the flash of hurt flitting across Dante’s face before he turned to address Tyler, fearing she’d grow to doubt herself again.
I’m doing the right thing. People don’t change overnight, even if they think they can. And I can’t be with someone who doesn’t respect me enough to not keep secrets and to not keep their mouths shut when I ask them to.
“Keep out of this, Tyler,” Dante growled.
“Don’t think we won’t kick your ass just because we’re in a room full of people,” Dominic snarled, his body language turning threatening in an instant.
She had never seen Dominic and Dante look more predatory than in that very moment. Their suits suddenly looked too small for their powerful bodies, like their bears were about to leap out of their skin and slash everyone who got in their way.
It was still her job to keep her clients from causing a scene, so she squeezed herself in between the two pairs of burly men, and put on her most authoritative voice.
“Chill out,” she ordered, throwing Dominic and Dante an especially pointed look. “This conversation is over,” she said to them, before turning to Tyler and Trent. “I think it’s about time for the speech, do you guys mind showing me to my seat?” she asked, smiling at them despite being in no smiling mood.
“Sure,” Trent happily agreed, and off they went, Chloe setting the pace with her hurried steps, hoping Dominic and Dante didn’t follow.
They didn’t. And to her surprise, that disappointed her.
Throwing the covers over her head at the sight of sunlight after having taken a sick day, Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and hoped the morning would just go away. The sun was too bright and the birds too loud, and she wanted the whole world to stop until she got her bearings again.
The fundraiser had gone by in a flash between multiple glasses of wine and desperate attempts to avoid Dominic and Dante. Tyler and Trent had insisted on keeping her company, but she managed to ditch them early on.
The consequences of the event were harder to shake, though. She expected to feel liberated, but instead, she felt stomped on and empty. Cutting ties had been the right thing to do.
Better to rip the Band-Aid off now, rather than later.
Yet she hadn’t anticipated exactl
y how painful it would be. Dominic and Dante’s faces and words kept invading her thoughts, messing with her mind. Nothing about the situation seemed to make sense anymore.
Something drifted along the edge of her consciousness, prodding at her, whispering to her that she’d made a mistake, but she sank her face into her pillow and ignored it as thoroughly as she could, choosing to focus on her hangover instead.
I did what I had to do. I was too close to letting them in completely, to falling in…
Letting out a frustrated groan, she tossed her blanket aside and swung her feet over the edge of the bed, her bare feet landing on the cold floor. Her brain was too awake for her to go back to sleep, so she decided to keep herself otherwise occupied.
Wrapping herself in a tired old robe, she padded to the kitchen and made herself some tea, sipping it listlessly as she opened up her laptop. If there was ever a day meant to be spent looking up cute cat videos, this was it.
Yet even as she watched a little tabby fight its own reflection, her mind wandered from kittens to other baby animals, to that nature documentary she once saw. And in that documentary there were bees, and the narrator with the comforting voice said that bees literally work themselves to death.
And once she got to thinking about bees, the next logical step was to think about bears, and that lead her straight back to her sexy shifter clients, who looked better in suits last night than any man had any right to.
What is going on with me? she groaned internally, feeling like she was losing her mind.
She was supposed to be done with them, yet the thought of never having their hands on her body again, never feeling so safe and cared for as she did with them filled her with despair. It felt like she’d crossed a line she couldn’t come back from, and now it scared her more than she would have liked to admit.