Page 25 of Bought (BOUGHT TRILOGY #1)

“Alright!” He pops up, joining Falcon. They head out the back door to where the grill must be.

I glance at Lucian. He’s been unusually silent. He’s now filling water glasses from a crystal pitcher.

“Sharon?” he offers.

“Oh, yes, please.” She holds out her glass and says, “Thank you, honey!”

“Well, if I’m not allowed to ask about your hot stepbrother real-life romance, how’d you find a place with so much land? All the yards in this city are a lick of grass at most. You’ve got a garden!”

“It’s actually an interesting story,” Cleo says.

“I’ve been researching the history of the house, and apparently, during the Depression and over the decades, many families chose to, or needed to, sell off parts of their land to someone who then built a new house on it.

This house spans three lots. A rarity within Forest Hills, even, not just the city. ”

“We’re lucky.” Cleo looks down, thinking about the Village, I’m sure, and how grateful she is to be back in the city.

“We are lucky,” Blaze says, reaching over and taking her hand. “In every kind of way.”

“Except for what happened to your Village,” Cass interjects. “That was terrible. Is it just you guys in the city now? I thought there were tons of Bachman?”

“Cass…” I don’t even know how to control her anymore.

“It’s okay, Erin,” Blaze answers. “It was safer to move as many out as we could for now. We have lawyers living at The West,”—a tower of apartments on the West side—“helping us figure out the business side of recovery, and then a group of single brothers dispersed through the city…” he finishes by saying, “working on the ground level stuff.”

“Single brothers!” Cass turns to Cleo. “And are they as hot as these two?

Cleo blushes. “Bachman men are known for being handsome.” She peeks at Blaze, saying, “But I’m partial to one.”

Blaze gives his wife the sexiest wink. Those two are so cute together. I ache with jealousy.

“Tell me where you’re hiding them,” Cass says.

“We’d have to kill you,” Blaze jokes.

“Believe me, someone already tried.” Cass rolls her eyes. “And I have the wheelchair to prove it. No, thank you.”

A heavy silence comes over the room. Cass takes a sip of her water.

“Can I ask, what happened?” Cleo asks her.

“Not on our first date, Cleo. You’ll have to work harder than that.” Cass laughs. “Now, did I see a bottle of wine somewhere?”

Ah, my sister.

“I’ll grab another one.” Cleopatra smiles sweetly, utterly unfazed by my sister. She puts a hand on Cass’s shoulder. “White or red?”

“White, please.”

Falcon and Ryan return with a massive platter of juicy steaks. “We’ve got the meat!” Ryan announces proudly.

“Ryan’s back. No more real talk,” I whisper to Cass. She nods.

“I think we have everything. Wait. I forgot something in the foyer!” Sharon quickly heads to the front of the house. Everyone settles in her absence, and the meat passes around the table.

Falcon places a smaller steak on her plate while she's away. “This one’s for my girl.”

Sharon then returns with the flowers I brought, now beautifully arranged in a large, clear glass vase. “I love this bouquet! Thank you for bringing them. I never think to buy fresh flowers.”

She proudly places them in the center of the table.

Falcon’s eyes immediately go red, his face starting to swell. “Are there Peruvian lilies in that bouquet?” he asks me.

“Oh no! Oh my gosh. I have no idea. I didn’t even think to ask if your family had allergies!” I push back my chair and go to grab the vase to take it away.

“Who would? It’s flowers, not food.” Falcon laughs, dabbing at his eyes with his napkin. He clears his throat.

I lunge for the vase.

Sharon beats me to it. “I’ve got it, honey.

I’ll just put these on the screened-in porch.

I can enjoy them with my coffee in the morning.

” She pats Falcon’s shoulder lovingly as she goes.

“Been married to you twice, and I’m still learning new things about you, babe.

” She flips the switch on the wall as she leaves, sending the wooden fan above us spinning to bring in fresh air.

“I guess it’s good I never buy flowers!”

“Married twice?” Cass whispers to me.

“Shh.”

“I give her roses,” Falcon gasps. “For both of our anniversaries.”

“That’s sweet.”

Cleopatra shakes her head. “I’m so sorry, Erin. I should have thought of it when you first brought the flowers. That sure was sweet of you, though.”

Deciding to join the conversation, Ryan chimes in with, “At least it’s not a nut allergy. That’ll make you die.”

“Ryan,” I chide.

Poor Falcon. His eyes keep running. He coughs. I feel terrible. They’ve gone out of their way to host us, and I’ve brought poison into their home.

“I’ll live,” he chokes out.

I peek at Lucian for comfort, but he’s deep in a low conversation with Blaze. This is not going well.

Things do settle down, thankfully. Falcon lives to tell us about the amazing cut of steak he’s serving us. Sharon begins dishing second helpings of her famous cracker-topped mac n’ cheese.

After only hanging out with us three women at home and eating the cheap boxed pasta, Ryan is in heaven.

He insisted on sitting between me and Lucian. Cute, right? It makes my uterus ache, having an adorable baby sandwiched between my boyfriend and me.

That or I’m getting an ulcer from the stress of this whole situation.

Lucian notices Ryan is struggling with his chicken, and without being asked, he reaches over to cut his steak.

The tender display does nothing to ease my uterus.

I’m also almost lactose intolerant, but my manners would never let me turn down a hostess’s dish. I ignore the deep womb throb, chalking it up to gas from the mac n’ cheese.

Or maybe the bites of chocolate cherry ice cream Ryan force-fed me before dinner.

Their family of four insists we stay put while they clear the table.

I’m so desperate, I’m holding my hands like earmuffs over my three-year-old nephew’s ears, whispering over his head, “What does your family think of me so far?”

He leans over Ryan and whispers back. “You mean other than when you tried to kill one of them?”

Ryan giggles. My earmuffs are clearly useless, so I drop my hands to my lap. “They say to make an impression.”

Holding a glass pitcher of water in his hand, Lucian stops mid-pour. He cooly cocks a brow. “I think you mean a good impression.”

He’s teasing, I know he is, but I’m still on edge.

“You know,” Ryan draws attention to him, and I’m grateful as I close my eyes tight for a moment. “That ice cream was delicious.” He pushes a stalk of broccoli around his plate, the only plate left on the table, giving us that wide-eyed innocent look. “I’m not complaining or nothing.”

“Anything,” Cass corrects.

His fork clatters to his plate. He folds his hands on top of the table in front of him. His serious face turns to address Lucian. “When I went with Bambi, I got two scoops.”

Ice creeps up my spine. I reach across Ryan’s plate and grab his fork, eager to change the subject. “Best not ignore this roasted broccoli, Ryan. You may have managed to get your dessert first,” I joke, smiling at the table, “but you still have to eat your veg.”

“Bambi?” Lucian furrows his brow.

And the adorable little monster completely ignores me, carrying on with his story.

“Well, Mr. Loo-shan,” Ryan giggles, preferring to pronounce Lucian’s name, stressing the first part as a British bathroom joke.

“We sleep in Bambi’s grandma’s old room.

Her grandma died, but it’s okay. Her ghost isn’t there. ”

My skin starts to crawl off my body. How do I stop this?

The rest of the Bachmans return, joining us in their earlier seats. Blaze leans back in his chair, arm casually around his wife, asking, “What’d we miss?”

Lucian leans closer to Ryan. He asks again, “Who is Bambi, little man?”

Ryan stares up at him. “We live with her.”

Please. End this.

Ryan looks around the table, ensuring he has every single person’s attention. Then, he says as clear as a bell. “She has a funny last name.”

I go cold.

“What’s her last name?” Cleopatra smiles innocently.

Ryan laughs, that big bubbly burst of light that usually makes me smile.

Not tonight. Not right now.

“It rhymes with spaghetti! Spaghetti Moretti!”