Page 95 of Obey

“She’s apologizing.” Jace’s voice is clipped, the word sounding like an insult.

Elias sets the tray on the dresser without a sound. He crosses the room slowly, steadily, until he’s crouched in front of me, those dark eyes unblinking. “Why, Little Doe?”

“Because I don’t belong here.”

Nate comes closer, standing just behind Elias, his shadow spilling over both of us. “Sola,” he says, and there’s a warning in it. “What’s happening?”

“This… this isn’t realistic.” My voice wobbles, tears blurring the edges of them. “You three have everything, a world that works. And I don’t need to ruin that.”

Elias tilts his head, studying me like he can see through skin to bone. “And what makes you think you would ruin anything?”

The question cracks something in me, and the truth spills out before I can stop it, raw and ugly. “Because there's something wrong with me. I want too much. Need too much. And eventually, you’re going to get tired of me too.”

I brace for the silence. For disgust. For pity. But what I get instead are three very different looks.

Elias’s dark eyes flicker, like he’s already tracing the shape of whatever hurt put those words in my mouth. Nate’s jaw eases, like he’s already turned the confession over in his mind and filed it somewhere important.

And Jace?

Relief flashes across his face so quickly I almost miss it before that ridiculous grin appears.

The bastard actually grins.

He tugs on my wrist, pulling me back down onto the bed before I can resist, his mouth finding mine in a kiss so hard and hungry it steals the apology right off my tongue. I gasp, and he takes advantage, devouring me, pouring something fierce and wild into the kiss until I forget what words even are.

When he finally pulls back, lips swollen and pupils blown, he smirks against my mouth. “Well, Sugar… sounds like it’s a good thing you’ve got three men who happen to run the world’s most innovative sex toy company.”

I blink at him, stunned. “You’re not—you’re not upset?”

“Why the hell would we be upset that you want us?” Nate asks, his gaze holds mine. “Or that you want more?”

“That’s not what Preston said.” The name tastes like ash as I say it. “He told me I was sick. That I needed to see a specialist.”

The silence that follows is uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

Elias wipes the tear from my cheek. “Wanting more doesn’t make you broken, Little Doe. It means he wasn’t equipped to give you what you needed.”

Another tear slips free, but it feels different this time—lighter, freer. Jace presses another kiss to my temple, his voice low and teasing. “And lucky for you, Sugar, we love a challenge.”

I choke on a shaky laugh, torn between relief and disbelief.

Because I want more from them. And instead of feeling ashamed of it, I'm wondering what it might be like to finally have it.

twenty-four

Risk Profile

“You actually live here,” I say slowly, glancing around the penthouse.

After loaning me some clothes, we had moved to the kitchen for breakfast. Jace was using any excuse to keep us in bed and given everything that's happened in the last twenty-four hours, Nate and Elias has decided that was a bad idea.

Jace grins. “Observant.”

“No, I mean, you live here here.” I gesture vaguely around the room before scooping some of my eggs onto my fork. “It has to cost a fortune for a place like this. Not to mention the taxes on the building you have for SOLAÉ"

The three of them exchange looks and I don't like it. "What? What was that?"

“Technically, its all one building.” Elias says casually, sipping his coffee. “We turned the fifteenth floor into a Private residential level. Separate security clearance from the executive levels below.”