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“You swear?” Her question is soft and laden with mistrust.

“Cross my heart.” I swipe my finger in an X over my chest, not that she can see it.

When the door opens the barest crack, Knox beams and sticks his face in front of it. “Hey, beauty.”

She laughs and doesn’t resist when he weasels his way inside.

“Damn, you look good.” He scans her from head to toe.

She’s practically glowing, even as she retreats a step.

“Why are you so afraid of us, beauty?” I cross to her and cup her cheek.

Her eyes close and she tilts her face into my touch despite her trepidation.

“You acted like you were going to take me prisoner.” She props her hands on her hips. “If that’s what you want, you can get right out.”

What? Is that really what she thought?

Before I can contradict her, Carter shunts me aside, his gaze fixed below her chin.

“You’re still wearing our necklace, beauty.” He trails his finger along the chain, over her collarbone, then across her neck.

She chokes down a whimper.

When he fists it, yanking it so tight across her throat that it digs into her flesh, she freezes. “Don’t break it. Please.”

“Why do you give a shit if you don’t want us around? Don’t care to accept our invitations? Ran from the monsters you mustthink we are to have you hiding from us and what we had together.” Carter doesn’t sound mad to me. He’s hurt.

Shit. I should have realized.

“Because…I’m terrified that I didn’t hate the idea of being yours as much as I should.” This time, when Poppy looks up, she’s filled with fire that clashes with Carter’s.

Self-loathing, sure, but something hotter underneath it too.

“Why would you?” Knox shrugs. “We’re not that awful, are we?”

“I heard you talking that morning. You said if I was yours, you wouldn’t let me work. You’d keep me cooped up. My only value would be my ability to give you children.” A red stain blooms upward from her chest to her cheeks. “I won’t be useless and held captive, relying on you three for everything in my world.”

Oh no. Is that what she thinks?

I can fix this. “What we meant is we wouldn’t let you run yourself into the ground anymore. With us to help support your efforts, you can still help people and do even more good.”

She stops, her mouth open as she reconsiders her argument.

Carter releases the necklace, both of them stepping away from the edge.

Still, he can’t help himself. “But you’re not going to be grinding away at long shifts for minimum pay day after day—giving to your patients, us three, and everyone else who needs you—until you have nothing left for yourself. That’s a deal-breaker.”

“So if we dated, I could finish school?” She swallows. “You’d be okay with that?”

“No.” Carter crosses his arms.

Her face falls.

“He means, we’re not here to ask you out,” I interpret for him.

“We’re playing for keeps, Poppy.” Even Knox is serious. “For forever.”