Page 58 of Triple Protection

Breathless, I see her fight to focus her eyes. "I'm not perfect, Brick. I'm yours."

I groan as I soak in her words. If we weren't in my family home, with a thin wall between us and my Dad I'd have pressed inside her like this, fully clothed and pressed against the wall.

Channeling Alex's bedroom dom voice, I press my body against hers and whisper into the shell of her ear. "I can't wait to reward my good girl when we get back to the hotel."

She whimpers and squeezes her thighs together before biting her lip and shivering in anticipation.

I pull back and adjust my erection.

"First things first. We have to convince them to move."

Chapter forty

Angela

After rearranging myself and Brick's reassurance that I don't look as frazzled as I feel, and a few deep breathing exercises for him, we both walk back into the living room and resume our positions on the couch.

"You told her?" Brick dad asks him. Brick nods in confirmation.

I scramble for the best way to bring up the subject. If Dan is as proud as Brick is he won't take a handout easily, even if he desperately needs one.

"I'm sorry to hear about your condition, Dan. Truly. Cancer is a bitch." Dan and Brick both chuckle as my uncharacteristic choice of words.

Dan nods. "Yes, yes, it is."

"I'm sorry, too, that one the heels of your news I want to ask a favor of you."

Bemused, he shoots me a smile. "Go ahead, dear. Anything we can do for a girl of Brick's."

"Well, as you may or may not know, my business has grown quite a lot. Currently, it's just me and my manager. But I really need help elsewhere." I shift slightly to turn towards Amy. "I'd like to offer you a job. Call it personal assistant, or sounding board, or stylist? I'm not really sure what the title would be, but I need help and I know you know my brand and messaging well enough. I'd never trust another person with my brand as much as I would trust you." Amy's eyes light up with excitement and confusion.

I then shift my attention to Dan. I have a feeling he'll be the harder sell. "And I also need to hire a house manager. I have a maid and a gardener, but there are so many other things and the house is so big. I need help with the pool, and the groceries, and handyman, and a million other things that managing a big house requires."

Shifting back between the two of them, I continue. "We have a three-bedroom pool house that's sitting empty that would be perfect for all three of you. I can pay you handsomely, the house will be free, of course, and Dan, you'd be able to work at your leisure, around your doctors' appointments, and I'll offer full health benefits. Plus, you'll both have more free time to be with Andy. Amy, same with you - you could always pick up salon jobs between anything you would do for me. There'd be no set schedule."

Amy and Dan share a look. Hopeful skepticism. I shake my head. "I don't need an answer now. I could just really use the help and this seems like a win-win. I know Brick has been missing you and I'd love the chance to get to know you all better."

An hour of small talk later and we exchange phone numbers and hugs goodbye. Brick's been especially quiet and I'm sure the weight of this evening is baring down on him. His sister's struggles, his dad's diagnosis, allowing me to help them. Myheart aches for him and I wrack my brain, trying to think about what I can do, what I can say to reassure him.

The ghost of my stalker looms over us, too. I'd be lying if I said the threat wasn't an always-present pressure at the back of my brain. I hate the fact that our relationship has grown under these circumstances. A part of me wishes we could have explored these feelings between us without my stalker being an unwitting part of our group. I push those worries aside, though, and focus on Brick. I run my hand along the back of his neck the way I know he likes. I don't push him to talk. What else is there to say?

The walk to our hotel room is silent, hand-in-hand. He scans the key, and ushers me through, before closing and dead-bolting the lock. Silently, he wraps a big hand around the back of my head and pulls me against his chest. I stumble a little at the unexpected movement and chuckle into his chest. I right myself before wrapping my arms around his waist. Fuck, I'm so in love with this man.

"I saw what you did there." His voice is low, deep and intimate.

"What I did where?" I ask him, my brain already churning to figure out what he was talking about.

"You made it sound like they'd be doing you a favor. And you offered them jobs, not just charity. You knew they would never just take the pool house and money."

I smile up at him bashfully. "I just thought about you - you'd never take charity. But if you thought you were doing a favor for someone else?" I pause, suddenly very sad. "I really want them to come to California and live with us. They're family. I really, really hope they take us up on our offer."

He tilts my head back before capturing my mouth with his is the sweetest, most loving kiss I think I've ever had. Normally our kisses are hot and heavy, needy and horny. This one is full of love, of gratitude and admiration. He pulls back, finally, before chuckling lowly to himself.

"I don't deserve you." He's smiling and shaking his head in disbelief, but my entire body freezes. Anger sweeps through me, fierce and protective. I pull out of his embrace.

"Brick," I say, my voice hard and flat. He senses the shift in my attitude and worry creases his brow. "I don't want to hear you say that ever again."

His brow relaxes as he realizes what I'm mad about. Still mock angry, I say, "Now get on that bed. I'm going to ride you while we FaceTime my other boyfriends so they can watch."