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My stomach knotted. There were so many things I was afraid of. But maybe if I did say them out loud, the fear and anxiety would go away. “Yes,” I breathed. “Raine Wickford is fucking hot. But I feel wrong thinking that. I’m with Poe, Grim, and Saint.”
Maureen whimpered as she fanned herself. “I don’t know, Bales. They are already sharing you with each other. What’s one more? If that’s what you want, of course.”
Butterflies swam in my stomach at the thought. “Yeah but I don’t know if they want that. Besides, Raine is unhinged. The look in his eyes was… feral. He’s been taunting me for almost a year in the shadows. Making me think I was going crazy. What if he’s an evil spirit that wants to hurt me?”
Maureen raked her hands through her curls, twisting them around her finger as she contemplated my predicament. “Or, what if he wants in on this relationship you’ve got going on? He hasn’t hurt you so far. Maybe he’s just been watching and waiting for the right moment.”
I sighed. “Poe knew he was there the whole time and didn’t tell the rest of us. So there’s that too. That house is full of secrets and shadows and creepy corners. I worry that we’re all keeping things from each other now. And I hate it.”
“Sounds like you need to sit down with all of them and hash it out. You need to talk to Raine too. Find out what his intentions are. You’ve sacrificed a lot to be with them, they really haven’t. So maybe it’s time they do.”
I already felt a hundred times better talking to her about this. I was internally kicking myself for not trusting her with this in the first place. I shot across the couch and threw my arms around her. “Thank you for believing me.”
She hugged me back. “Always.”
I tucked myself under the blanket next to her and rested my head on her shoulder. “Ugh, I can already feel the hangover coming for me.”
She giggled. “Yup. But nothing that bacon and eggs can’t cure in the morning.”
As I tried to drift off to sleep, I wondered what my guys were up to tonight. Were they missing me as much as I missed them? Were Grim and Saint still pissed at me for letting Raine touch me? Was Poe okay? Were they fighting? My brain raced with these thoughts until I thought I might explode.
“Go to sleep, Bales. Everything is going to be okay,” Maureen whispered.
Poe
There were secrets between us. And I’d been keeping the biggest one.
This house was too empty without Bailey in it. She needed space though. I hoped a night away would be enough. The guys and I had gotten so used to it just being the three of us for so long. Now that Bailey was in our lives, I couldn’t imagine it without her.
I should have fucking told them about Raine. I feel like such an ass. Bailey knew in her soul that there was something else lurking about, and I didn’t say a fucking word. A part of me hoped he would go away. That he’d leave her alone. But our precious little fox was too irresistible. I should have known he’d stalk her like a fucking psycho.
Daisy Wickford warned me about him all those years ago. She told only me. Grim and Saint were too hot-headed to listen. So she told me the whole story about how she killed her husband. I should have warned them about that too. Because we ended up just like Raine Wickford. Dead and trapped in a house that continued to consume us.
But I was a selfish prick. I wanted to keep fucking Daisy. And so I kept her secret.
The war had done a number on all of us. I was a short-order cook on a ship, so I didn’t see too much fighting. But the ones who did, the ones who died, had been my friends. That scared the shit out of me. I saw firsthand how short life could be. Couple that with months upon months at sea… well, it made me a horny bastard who couldn’t wait to fuck the first woman I saw.
So when the war ended and I landed a job cooking at Wickford Mansion, I didn’t protest one bit when Daisy started showing up naked in my room every night. Grim and Saint had already been living there for a few months before me. She was going to their rooms too. When all three of us realized it, we made a pact to share her. It stirred carnal cravings inside us we didn’t know we had. We took turns fucking her. We watched each other fuck her. And everyone was fucking happy. Until we found out she was batshit crazy.
I knew deep down that Grim wasn’t pissed at Bailey. He’s just scared. Terrified that she’s losing her mind in here just like Mrs. Wickford did. The guilt I’ve been carrying for keeping these secrets was eating me up inside now.
Daisy was crazy before we ever got here. She killed her husband, and I didn’t say a fucking word. This whole mess was my fault. Grim, Saint, and I could have left before she did it to us. If they had known and I hadn’t been thinking only with my cock, we could have gotten out of this house.
But as fucked up as it sounded, we would have never met Bailey if we hadn’t been murdered in this house. For that reason alone, I didn’t have too many regrets. Only that I kept these secrets from them for so long.
I could hear pacing outside my room. “Come in already or go away.”
The door creaked open and Grim popped his head in. “She’s not back yet.”
I stood from the bed and reached for my clothes. “Relax. She’s probably sleeping in. You know how drunk she gets when she’s with Maureen.”
He leaned in the doorway, watching me as I zipped up my jeans and threw a black T-shirt over my head.
“How long have you been lying to all of us?”
I froze, my shirt still around my neck. “A long time,” I rasped.
Grim’s eyes flashed with contempt and hurt. “Saint’s waiting for us downstairs in the parlor. We expect you to come clean about everything.”
