“Are we still going to open tonight?” I ask, sitting down on the couch in our loft.
“As long as everyone that Dean hires is able to get the job done in…” Finn looks down at his watch. “Three hours.”
“Well, that seems unlikely,” I reply, cuddling into him when he sits next to me.
“Nothing is impossible when you give people enough initiative,” Finn says with a smile.
“You mean if you throw enough money at them?” I ask, returning his smile.
“Exactly, it’s best if we open as normal. Don’t show that we have been affected at all.” He turns to Sebastian, who’s sitting in the seat across from us. “You’ve been awfully quiet, Seb. You didn’t say a word when the cops were here.”
“Embarrassed she’s seen your undies?” I tease with a laugh, hoping to bring the smile I know and love to his lips.
“No, it’s not that. It just seemed really bizarre. They didn’t seem very fazed that our place of business had just been vandalized,” Seb replies with concern in his tone.
“I don’t like her,” I say shortly.
“I don’t know, she seemed nice enough to me. I will say that Rosalie seemed to like Ausar quite a bit though, couldn’t keep her eyes off him,” Finn jibes, looking at me with a wicked grin.
“Oh, shut up,” I growl, feeling slightly embarrassed. “He seemed like he cared for our situation, like he wanted to help us.”
“He probably wanted to help one of us more than the rest,” Finn says with a laugh. “Three men aren't enough for your harem? Looking to add one more, baby?”
I gasp in shock. “What? No! You three are more than enough. I love you guys.”
Dean joins us, sitting down on the other side of Finn and sighing loudly. “He is fucking with you, Rose.” He sets his phone down and leans his head back. “Everything should be done before we open, and it’s best to show that this doesn’t faze us either. Although, I truly doubt this is an attack because of our species.”
Sebastian raises his eyebrows. “Do you think this is related to all these reports against us?”
“Maybe… It’s all too odd to completely discredit it,” Dean replies with a shrug. “It is very interesting that Silver Springs now has two supernatural police officers. The force has been mostly human for as long as I can remember.”
“What is that bitch?” I hiss, causing Finn to chuckle.
“Jealous, baby vamp?”
“No, I am not jealous. I just don’t understand what her problem was, or why they were both so weirdly attractive. I mean, she was awfully touchy.” I scowl.
Finn raises his brows in mock surprise. “So, you did find him attractive?”
“Oh, leave her alone, Finn,” Sebastian complains, seemingly over Finn’s teasing. “As Shani said, Dean met her that night she caught us out in the snow. They are both something, but it’s difficult to ascertain. Something ancient, but what?”
Dean leans forward, nodding. “Yes, they are also Egyptian. That much is clear.”
“How is that clear?” I ask, having only gained that they were very attractive and tanned from the small interaction with them.
“Their coloring, their tone of voice, and their names.” Dean goes on, “We have two Egyptian supernatural beings that have just come to a small town like Silver Springs to join the police force?”
“It doesn’t seem that crazy,” Finn says, shrugging it off.
“Why don’t you just ask them what they are?” I offer, eliciting smiles from the three men.
“You can’t just ask someone that; it would be rude,” Finn tells me with a wink.
“Since when are you worried about being rude?” I ask skeptically.
“There is being rude, and there is being without sense. Finn does have some sense,” Sebastian jokes.
“Har har har,” Finn grumbles. I perk up a bit as I hear a familiar meow issuing from the other room. Pumpkin walks into the room, his butt swaying back and forth. He has fattened up a lot since we moved here, and I know it’s because of how much the guys feed him. Finn acts like he doesn’t like animals, but I’ve seen him giving my sweet baby boy treats. I make a clicking noise, and he runs over to me, jumping onto my lap. Finn groans as Pumpkin snuggles in between us.
“What do you want, you furry little bastard?” Finn says softly to Pumpkin, his words not matching his tone.
“I’m calling Reg and Randal in for a meeting. All the staff. We have to brief them on what’s happening and look at hiring more security,” Dean says, grabbing his phone and exiting the room.
I watch him go, sadness filling my chest. “I’m worried about him.”
“He’ll be fine, babe. We all will. No one would dare mess with the Whitakers,” Finn says, trying to comfort me.
“I’m not a Whitaker,” I say, poking him.
Finn pulls me closer into his chest and kisses me. “No, I guess you are not. But all the same, no one would dare mess with the Whitaker brothers’ lady.”
I make a noise in agreement and continue to love on Pumpkin. Sebastian gets up suddenly and walks out of the room, muttering the word shower as he leaves. My men are off—well, except for Finn—and it worries me. I feel helpless, and I don’t like the feeling. I promised myself I would never feel helpless again.
Sebastian
Standing in the shower, I let the hot water run down my face and body while I ponder our situation. A health inspector fining us for drinking in unauthorized areas. Bullshit. Sure, it’s illegal to allow patrons to take drinks into areas such as the bathroom and outside, but shit happens. It’s a nightclub, and some people are too drunk to read signs. Then a citation for overserving? Also bullshit. Rose has always been one to cut a person off when they are too drunk, even when she was a human and her senses were less sharp. Our other bartenders are the same. They know when to cut a person off, they don’t make the drinks too strong, and they call a complimentary Uber for anyone looking like they shouldn’t be behind the wheel. Now someone decides to vandalize the bar, in the afternoon, when it would be well-known to any supernatural being that we would most likely be sleeping.
I hate to agree with Dean, I truly do, but it does seem like we are being targeted. Finn never takes anything seriously, and I am okay with it in this situation. Rose doesn’t need all of us freaking out, and him brushing this off as nothing is helping her sanity, I’m sure. Dean is off, unashamedly, and I know that I am also acting weird. Ever since I woke up to the alarms blaring, I’ve been off. Have I kissed my beautiful mate since that moment? The answer is no, and that pisses me off. I don’t want this mess to throw me; I don’t want it to upset this small piece of happiness my brothers and I have found with Rose. I want things to be relaxed, normal. I want to be able to live in the moment with her, to just cherish our happiness for the rest of our existence. Is that too much to ask?
The last few months have been spent settling into our new life. We have all moved into Finn’s room, and Dean and I have talked about expanding it by combining it with Dean’s old room next door. Even that comment from Rose had my heart flying. I’m not a Whitaker. I want to fucking change that. I want to make her ours in all ways possible, even if she is already our mate.
I startle slightly when I hear the door creak open, but I don’t move. I stay standing in the stream of hot water, washing away all these worries. The curtain slides to the side, and small hands touch my chest, then reaches up and pushes my wet hair from my eyes.
“Are you okay, Seb?” Rose asks in a quiet, timid voice. I hate that she is worried about me, that she feels the need to act timidly at this moment. I open my eyes and take in her beauty as she stands in front of me butt naked with water streaming down her face. Her hair is already starting to get wet, bunching in dreads around her face. Water gleams off her perfect body, and it makes my mouth water. I grab her and pull her against me, putting my face in her wet hair.
“I am more than okay,” I reply, kissing her cheek. “I don’t want you to worry about us,
about any of this. Everything is going to be fine.”
She nods, her lip poking out slightly as she continues to worry. I drag my thumb against the soft, full lip before resting my fingers against her chin. I push her face up so that she is looking me in the eyes, then I kiss her deeply, trying to kiss away any fears she may have. I kiss away any lingering fear she might be experiencing after what happened with Jason. I kiss away the stupid jealousy she felt about us with that woman. The woman’s face doesn’t even have a place in my memory because all I can ever see is Rosalie. I stop kissing her, spin her around, and concentrate on her, ignoring my hardening cock. I pour shampoo into my palm and rub it into her hair, massaging her scalp and listening to her quiet little moans as she turns to putty against me. Tilting her head towards the stream of water and I rinse the shampoo out, continuing to massage her scalp. None of this is about sex or relieving the ache of my hardened cock. This time is to show her how much she means to me and my refusal to ever let anything happen to her again.
“I don’t want you to work tonight,” I say to her when all the soap from her hair has been rinsed away. She stiffens beneath my fingers and turns around to face me.
“Do you think I was overserving?” she asks, anger and hurt lacing her tone.
I frown at her, frustrated that she would ever think that I would accuse her of that. “Of course not, my love. I want you near me.”
She nods but continues to look troubled. “Do you think something will happen tonight?”
I smile weakly. “I don’t know, maybe? I would just feel better with you close to me.” I pull the shower curtain open and step out, holding a towel open for her. She steps into it and allows me to wrap my arms around her. “Now, let’s go see if Dean spent enough money to open tonight.”
Rose
The shower with Sebastian was just what I needed. If heaven is a bath, then a shower with one of your men is the next best thing. There is something about a man washing your hair that is divine. I know that he was putting on a front, making me believe that everything is fine when it probably really isn’t, but I appreciate it all the same. Overall, I feel like he is in a better place because of it. If me staying by his side is what he needs tonight to soothe his worries, I will do that. Anything for them.
Finn is fine, he just allows everything to fall right off his shoulders. I wish that I could be so carefree. Sebastian will be fine. Now, as far as Dean is concerned? That I’m not sure about. When stress gets to him, he throws himself into his work, which is exactly what he has done. I am sure that if he wasn’t able to organize contractors to fix the window, he would be doing it himself. I also don’t expect to see a lot of him tonight, and I don’t like that one bit. Dean will spend all his time tonight making himself busy with nonsense while Sebastian will most likely be glued to my side, and Finn will be acting like everything is peachy. Talk about polar opposites. How am I supposed to act in all this? Scared? Pissed? I honestly just want to act like nothing is happening. I want normalcy. Is that too much to ask? Isn’t being a vampire wild enough for one person’s life? Now I have to deal with this shit?
“Rosalie! Pick up the pace, baby. Dean wants us all at this unnecessary meeting of his!” Finn yells while banging on the door. I finish drying my hair, deciding to let it be tonight instead of prettying up. I pull on some skinny jeans, black flats, and a cute green top that shows a bit of shoulder. A ‘cold shoulder’ is what I believe they call it. Well, that suits me just fine because I will be giving the world the cold shoulder tonight and telling it to kiss my ass. I swing the door open and walk back into the living room of the loft. Sebastian sits on the couch with a smile on his face, his hair still wet from our shower. Finn leans against the wall near the door, eyeing me with a wicked smile that promises to deliver sinful pleasures. The look gives me chills, and when I involuntarily shiver under his gaze, his smile grows wider.
“How is it that you can look so sexy without trying at all?” Finn asks, clearly appreciating the view. I roll my eyes, knowing that I will never again feel less than around these men.
“Because you are delusional,” I tease with a laugh, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Seb. I put my legs on him and lean my back against the arm of the couch, immediately regretting the skinny jeans as they pinch my stomach. I’m already ready to unbutton them, or better yet, take them off. I look around the room and notice one of my men is still missing. “Where is Dean?”
“Probably painting something,” Finn says with a shrug as he walks over to the couch where I sit and holds his hand out to me. “We should probably get down there. He will already be in a right mood, so it will only get worse if we are late. Normally, I do love pissing him off, but we should probably be at this meeting to make sure he doesn’t hire the militia at the very least.”
I give him a weak smile, wishing that he was kidding about the militia, but I know that it’s definitely something Dean would do. I reach out and grab his hand, allowing him to pull me up from the couch and into his arms. Sebastian stands up beside us and chuckles as Finn mutters something about peeling my jeans off me later.
When we walk into Vee, I immediately notice that only the supernatural employees are present and Dean is addressing them all. Reg stands near the edge and gives me his signature smile when he notices us. “Good to see ya, Rosie,” he whispers to me when we join the group, bumping into my side playfully.
“Hi, Reg,” I say with a groan, hating when he calls me Rosie. “What did we miss—”
“Ah, good, you guys made it,” Dean says loudly, sounding only slightly annoyed and interrupting my question to Reg. “Come up here, Rosalie.” I pinch my lips but nod and walk up towards where Dean stands, not letting go of Finn and Sebastian’s hands. All eyes are on me, and I more than hate it. When I get beside Dean, he puts his arm around me, squeezing me into his side. “You all know Rose, our mate and one of our best bartenders.” I give a small weak smile, looking up at him and wondering where he is going with this. “With everything that is happening, her safety is of the utmost importance. You all may remember what happened a few months ago when Rose was taken from us by a bastard that no longer walks the Earth. I will not allow something like that to happen again.” Dean ends his statement with a growl, and I see Sebastian and Finn nodding next to me. “This situation may not escalate to something like that; this may all be nothing, but I want us to be on high alert. We will be hiring more security—headed by Reggie—that will make sure that you all, as well as our customers, are safe at all times. If you see anything that seems odd, please let myself or Reggie know.”
The need to roll my eyes is strong, but I somehow refrain. I do give him my most irritated look after he finishes his speech and looks down at me with a smile on his face—a smug, accomplished smile, the ass.
“What the fuck was that, Dean?” I ask through my teeth, again refraining from yelling at him like I want to. I’m such a big girl today.
“That was me alerting our employees to the possible danger we may be in. This could all be nothing, but it is prudent to make sure everyone is aware,” Dean replies, sounding completely unashamed.
“It does seem a bit intense. I mean, a couple of citations and a brick through the window? It isn’t like someone bombed the place,” Finn argues.
“If it were up to you, we wouldn’t take anything seriously. We cannot act like this is nothing. Any threat against us is exactly that—a threat. I do not plan to let any threats go unnoticed. Not anymore. We have someone to protect now, brother,” Dean snarls.
“Yes, we do, and now you have put her on a pedestal. You’ve shown any potential enemies how important she is to us,” Finn growls back, jabbing his finger at his brother.
“Both of you, stop,” Sebastian butts in, putting his arms between the two, who have moved on to growling openly at each other. “We open soon, and you two are creating a scene in front of our employees.”
Dean shakes himself, nodding and brushing off his clothes, like he
somehow got dirty in the argument. “This is what is best for Rosalie. Period.”
“Does Rosalie get a say in any of this?” I question, irritation lacing my tone. They seem just fine having this discussion without me.
“Of course you do, babe,” Dean says smoothly. “Do you have any issues with my plans?”
“I have an issue with you putting me up on said pedestal and making it seem like I’m more important than anyone else in this room.”
“But you are more important. You mean everything to me, to all three of us,” Dean maintains.
Finn nods. “I don’t disagree.”
“Well, yes. Maybe to you guys, but I don’t like it. I don’t want to be watched or protected. I can protect my damn self! I mean, it was I that killed Jason, wasn’t it?” I stand there, glaring at the three of them, my hands on my sides. It’s unhelpful that I have to look up at all of them due to my height, but I refuse to let that affect my fierceness.
“Of course you can, my dear. Besides, it doesn’t matter. You aren’t bartending tonight,” Dean replies, trying to settle me.
“Right, you are staying with me tonight,” Sebastian adds.
I look at him, and my heart breaks a bit, thinking about our time in the shower, but I refuse to become a damsel in distress. “Fuck that. I am bartending tonight,” I state, my head held high.
I deflate a bit when I see Sebastian’s shoulders sag, but I continue to stand tall, meeting Dean’s frown with a frown of my own.
Finn laughs loudly. “Won’t this be fun?”
Rose
I push up my metaphorical sleeves and walk straight to the bar so I can get ready for the night. I hear footsteps behind me, and I hope they are Dean’s and not Sebastian’s. I can deal with a fight, but I can’t deal with a sad face from one of the men I love. Especially not Seb. I walk around the edge of the bar, still refusing to turn around and see who is following me, and grab one of my hair ties from below the cash register so I can throw my long hair into a high ponytail. I finally suck it up and turn around to see who I’ll be meeting head-on.
Rose- Feelin Thorny Page 3