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“Get all the pledges. I have to believe the universe and the Fates won’t let us down.” Bell frowned while she opened the second letter. Fear gripped her. “Oh no.”

Dear Miss Dryer,

Per section 34-15-401 (1) your property has been found to be in violation of the state of Colorado’s Housing Code Enforcement. Attached you will find a list of each infraction and the approximate date of reevaluation. If the house has not been brought up to code by the date listed below, your house and all its belongings will become property of El Paso County and will hereby be torn down.

Fines can be assessed from $5,000-$40,000 for each unfixed item on the list.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Barbara Halifax

El Paso County Clerk

Her hand trembled as she flipped the page. Red checks dotted the page. Everything from electrical to plumbing to insulation and termites. How did they have termites, and when the heck did they inspect the house? None of it made sense. However, when she glanced down at the bottom of the sheet, she groaned. Three weeks. They only had three weeks to fix everything?

She handed the letter and checklist to Hayden. “What am I going to do?”

Hayden whistled as she looked over the letter. “When did they get into the house is the biggest question. Besides, weren’t we supposed to be notified by the school? It’s not like we’re not on school property.” She placed the paper on the kitchen counter. “I don’t like this Bell. I think we need to call home for help. Maybe your dad.”

“Daddy?” The thought had occurred to her to call home, but she also knew she couldn’t rely on her father every time something happened. Nevertheless, Hayden had a point. There was something off about the letter, she couldn’t put her finger on it. “I’ll give him a call later. He’s probably busy right now.”

Hayden grunted. “While you wait, I’ll have Nico look at the letter too. Maybe, I’ll even send a photo of it to Keeley; have her dig around too.”

“Every time we think we’re two steps ahead,” she muttered.

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Hayden squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll get this straightened out before you can even say, “we’ve got the pledges.” Or something equally ridiculous.”

Bell nodded. She only hoped her cousin was right.

4

The poundingon the front door had Bell looking up from her English book. She’d been sitting in the kitchen, reviewing her notes for the test the following day. At least that’s what she told herself. Instead, her mind returned to the letter she received along with the questions that Hayden brought up. Once Bell had time to think about the whole situation, her cousin had been right. They would have been notified of an inspection, unless someone, she refused to give voice to their names, made sure Bell and Hayden didn’t know a thing about what was going on.

The pounding came again, as Raquel hollered while stomping down the steps. “Got it.”

She should have been giving her full attention to her studying. Unfortunately, she couldn’t focus. Bell grabbed her phone when it chimed and smiled when she saw the group texts between her, Jackson, and Christoph. The guys said they would be heading over to pick her up in twenty minutes for an impromptu date. They’d been patiently waiting for her to give the go-ahead for the mating, but she kept hedging, and they weren’t around very much. Having one dominant mate could be rough, but two. She’d be screwed. She had front-row seats for what her mom went through with their dad. It hadn’t been easy.

Often, her parents got very vocal in their opinions. Her mom would put up a good fight, and sometimes, although not often, Daddy would give in to her, but often he held his ground, and his word became law. When they grew and got older, her mom would often inform them, sometimes Daddy just didn’t need to know. It’d been something she and Zoe continued to do through their teenage years.

On the flip side, everyone knew her dad worshipped the ground her mother walked on. It was his goal to make sure she never wanted for anything, and she knew every single day how much he loved her and their children.

She couldn’t deny she wanted what her parents had, but there was a giant elephant in their metaphorical room—the chemistry between Christoph and Jackson was palpable. So much so, she didn’t have the words to explain the rush of adrenaline or the way her pussy ached for them when she watched them kiss. Though they hadn’t gone any farther, she wondered if they would and if they did, would they have room for her as well.

“Uh, Bell.” Raquel’s voice broke through her musings.

“Yes?” She placed the phone on the table when Raquel’s normal balls-to-the-wall demeanor dimmed. “What’s up?”

“There is a guy... I mean, a man here. Big, scary-ass guy. Demanding to see you.”

“Me?” She pushed out her chair and stood. “Who would be demanding to see me?”

“Yeah.” Raquel blinked a few times. “Want me to get Hayden and Zoe? Just in case?”

“Hayden’s with Nico, and Zoe’s with Rocky.” She took a deep breath in the hopes of steadying herself after ruminating over the letter she’d received. “I got it.”

“I’ve got you covered.” Raquel stuck close to Bell. When she walked past Raquel, her sorority sister reached out to capture Bell’s hand and dragged her behind Raquel.

The big, scary-ass dude had his back to them, but the shape of the body, the hair. It all looked familiar, plus his scent. “Daddy? Is it really you?” Bell had called him, but he’d seemed distracted and of course, at work. She gave him the quick, manic rundown of what was happening, however, she never expected him to show up.