Page 80 of Penny & Royce

Thud.

Thud, thud.

Said warm body jackknifed to a seated position at his side with a gasp.

Royce peeked at her through heavy lids. “What are you doing? Go back to sleep.”

“Someone is here,” she hissed, leaping from the bed and scrambling toward the door.

“What time is it?” He sat up and dragged a hand down his face.

“Seven.”

He groaned again. “It was probably someone next door. Honestly, one of these days I’m going to get you to come house shopping with me. We need to find a place with acreage.”

Penny scoffed, her eyes on their bedroom door. “I thought you said you weren’t interested in running a farm.”

“Oh, I’m not. But I’m also not interested in raising a family in the city.”

This time, she snorted and folded her arms. “Well, lucky for you, that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

Royce frowned. “Why not? Don’t you think we’d be good parents?”

Her expression softened. “Of course, but that doesn’t mean we’re ready?—”

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Penny startled. “I told you someone was here.”

Royce shot a wary look toward the open bedroom door. “Who would it be at this hour? One of your brothers?”

She shook her head. “They wouldn’t stop by without calling or messaging me first. And only if it was an emergency.”

Penny took a step toward the door, but he tossed aside the covers.

“No, let me get it. Stay here for a second.”

Already, he could tell his body was being sent into fight-or-flight mode. Whoever was at the door was being far too persistent. Who in their right mind would continue knocking this early in the morning when no one seemed available?

As he got closer to the door, a new wave of alarm twisted his insides. On the other side of the only barrier that kept whoever it was out of their place, he could hear distinct male voices. Theywere loud enough that he could make out just how agitated they were.

He didn’t want to look through the peephole, but he knew better than to just open the door.

Royce was within ten feet of it when the door suddenly swung open.

He jumped back, cursing as three people pushed inside. Mathew, Rose, and George. Then within seconds, three more crowded into the room. The two separate groups glowered at each other, stopping just inside the apartment and making the space feel ten times smaller.

Royce’s focus connected with each one of them before landing on the one person he wanted to see the least.

“What are you doing here, Lincoln?”

His brother’s face was a mottled red hue. His hands were balled into fists, and he took a step toward Royce with clear intent. “What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” His voice rose to a decibel level that might very well get Penny booted from the complex. “You’re lucky we share our locations on our phones. I didn’t know whether you were dead in a ditch somewhere. Imagine my surprise when I found out you were just betraying our whole family.”

A gasp at his back was all the confirmation he needed to know Penny had disregarded his request to stay in the bedroom.