Page 19 of Gilded Locks

She struggled to see a safer option. There was so much risk attached to their request. She didn’t fully understand who they were and what—exactly—they wanted from her.

Hunter didn’t seem as eager as the others. But they didn’t seem to need his approval. His silent suspicion made her question her safety. None of these men pretended to be harmless, but Hunter seemed downright dangerous.

The blonde’s cold pragmatism hinted at depth. Perhaps he would be her safest ally. Though she would be a fool to trust any of them.

And the teasing one, Stone, he just looked like he wanted to devour her. “You’ll let me stay?”

“On our terms.”

“You have to agree,” Ash pushed. “Full consent.”

“For how long?”

“Until you change your mind. One whisper of the word stop, and it’s over. You leave, and we go back to our long winter of hibernating.”

“What about the police?”

“No loose ends,” Hunter, the lethal silent one, stated matter-of-factly.

It was as much a promise as it was a threat. They would allow her to stay, on their terms. The moment she disagreed, she was out the door.

“Have you ever surrendered to a man, printsessa? Truly surrendered?” Ash’s voice turned thick like honey. “Unburdened from choice to simply exist for his pleasure and yours.”

She’d surrendered more than she ever wanted to admit, but there had been no pleasure. “Choice isn’t a burden. It’s a privilege.”

“In some cases. But not in all. You have a choice, but if you choose to stay here under our protection, that will be the last one for a while.”

One and done. “I have to decide now?”

“Yes,” all three said at once.

The impossible decision they laid out positioned her like a chess piece already in check.

“She’s tired,” Stone murmured, his honeyed voice a mocking promise of safety. “Overwhelmed.”

Ash dragged a long finger up her leg. “Why don’t we start simple, printsessa?”

“Simple, how?”

His smile was soft around the edges, nothing like Stone’s sharp grin or the chilling expression of the grizzly giant, who she now knew was Hunter. “You’re sore. Exhausted. When’s the last time you had a real meal? A hot bath? A chance to simply... breathe?”

The kindness in his voice almost shattered her carefully constructed defenses. He lulled her closer to acceptance with the promise of creature comforts.

When was the last time someone had offered to see to her well-being without expecting payment in blood or silence? Not since before her mother died. Not since the world revealed its true face.

It was transactional safety, but safety all the same—If they spoke the truth and kept their word. “Will you hurt me?”

The silence stretched.

The fact that not a single one jumped up with assurance spoke volumes. She lowered her gaze. “I see.”

Ash patted her thigh as the way a coach might tap a player’s shoulder. “Food first. Then we’ll discuss the small print.” He stood and extended his hand with the grace of a prince. “Trust me, printsessa. We only bite when it’s deserved.”

She’d suffered the undeserved consequences of countless crimes she’d never committed. What if they found out about the things she’d done to survive? Would they bite then?

What if they turned on her when she least expected it?

Instinct warned, this was their nice side, despite her trespassing. As long as she was willing to work with them, give them what they wanted, she would be safe. Safer than she had been in some time. She didn’t want to find herself on the receiving end of their anger.