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His smile grows so wide, dimples appear on his cheeks, and my heart melts all over again. “You know I love you too, right?”

My heart stutters and flush spreads over my cheeks as warmth floods my veins. “I do now.”

Jake leans over, a bright smile still on his face as he presses his lips against mine. It’s soft and gentle, and over far too quickly, but it’s so full of passion it sends butterflies through my stomach and curls my toes.

Miles chuckles beside me, and I turn to see him rolling his eyes. “All I’ve heard for two days is how much he wants to tell you he loves you, and that’s the romantic gesture he goes for.”

I playfully slap his arm. “Hey, it was perfect.”

“Yeah, perfect,” Jake repeats, sticking his tongue out at Miles, who just smiles at him as he shakes his head playfully.

Miles then wraps his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him, my breath catching at the claiming way he holds me. “I’ve always loved you. Even when I thought I hated you, I still loved you,” he says, and I can tell by his deep, gravelly tone that he means every word.

“I’ve always loved you too,” I tell him.

Miles doesn’t hesitate to pull me towards him, sealing his lips with mine. His kiss isn’t soft and gentle like Jake’s. It’s hard and bruising, but just as full of passion. It ignites a fire in me that helps to fight off the lingering darkness of the past few days.

When we pull apart only a few seconds later, my lips are swollen and I gasp for air, feeling lightheaded from the intensity of the situation. I try to lean into Jake, to show him how much I love him, but he pulls away, shaking his head.

“We both agree that you need to sleep and heal. As much as we’d like nothing more than to fuck you until you scream, we have our whole lives to do that. For now, you just need to let us hold you and keep you safe. We need it just as much as you do.”

Miles nods in agreement, and even though I want to protest, I know they’re right. We’ve all been through a lot, and we can take a couple of days to just be with each other before we face whatever is to come.

“I love you both so much,” I tell them as we all snuggle back into the bed. Jake pulls my back against his chest as he spoons me, while Miles throws his arm over us both, interlocking his legs with mine.

“Sleep, Gorgeous Girl. We have you, and we love you,” Miles whispers as he presses a kiss against my forehead. I let their warmth envelop me as I’m cocooned by them, feeling safer and more loved than ever before.

It’s been three days since we brought Indie home, and she’s doing much better than any of us ever expected. Bree set her up to talk to a therapist called Teigan. She’s Bree’s sister-in-law, and has experience working with women who are victims of abuse.

They have spoken via FaceTime a few times, and although it was hard at first to see Indie so lost and broken after each call, it’s clear they’re helping her. She’s not bottling up her feelings, and as much as I’d like for her to confide in me or Miles, we’re just grateful she has someone she can trust.

Things have slowly been getting back to normal, though we’ve made sure that either myself or Miles are at home with her at all times. Indie has expressed no desire to leave the apartment, and we haven’t pushed her.

Chloe has been over regularly, and Indie always seems happier after her visits. I know we’re going to have to push her to go outside soon, but we’re giving her time to heal on her own terms.

Well, that was the plan until I received a message from my father, summoning me to a meeting with him. His messagemade it clear he knows I’m living with Indie, and he wants to meet her. He also insisted that Marcus and Miles attend the meeting, too.

I called him to try and get more information, but he said he wouldn’t discuss anything until the meeting. I tried to tell him that Indie wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be able to make it, but he stated the meeting wouldn’t take place without her, and if she didn’t attend, he’d simply delay it until she’s well enough.

Fucker, he knew the anticipation would kill me, and I wouldn’t want to delay.

Like the coward I am, I haven’t been able to tell Indie about the meeting. I told myself I didn’t want her to worry, that I was just trying to protect her, but really I’m just scared. I have no idea what he knows, or what he wants, and after I failed to keep her safe the other day, I can’t bear the thought of that happening again.

Thankfully, Miles agreed to keep it from Indie until the last minute, as he also thought the stress and worry during the buildup to the meeting might be too much for her, but I can’t help but think his reasons are more selfish.

So, once we’d both gotten ready for the meeting, dressed in the suits we wear when attending important events such as this, we both went into the bedroom to tell Indie.

She’d just gotten out of the shower and was blow-drying her hair whilst in nothing but a towel. The sight alone was almost enough to derail our plan.

I freeze at the doorway, taking in her smooth skin that’s barely covered by the fluffy white towel wrapped around her. My cock twitches as Miles presses his hand to my back, forcefully pushing me into the room.

I turn to glare at him, but he just fixes me with a stare that makes it clear I can’t back out of this, or delay it by trying it on with her—no matter how much I may want to.

Indie’s eyes darken with lust as she drags her gaze over our suits, smiling as she pulls her lower lip between her teeth. The flush on her cheeks gives away the dirty thoughts in her head.

“Don’t you two look smart? What’s the occasion?” she asks as she runs a brush through her now-dry long blonde hair.

Silence sits between us as I try to think back to what I planned to say, but words seem to fail me. Miles glares at me, making me wince. “We have a meeting with my father,” I tell her, conveniently not elaborating on who ‘we’ are.