Page 52 of Brazen Obsession

“We need to work from home sometimes and I’m sure you do too,” Dante says. “Besides, she could work in our office.”

“Like anyone would get anything done with Sara studying in the same room.” Finn gives me a wink. I shake my head at him because he’s not wrong.

“When Tom and Natasha move out, we can convert the basement into workspace.” Drew looks off like he’s imagining it.

My chest squeezes with their every word. Things are moving so fast.

“I thought this house was temporary. What about your apartments?” I set my menu to the side and look at the guys. “I mean, Drew has an awesome apartment and you guys have lived in yours for years. They’re exactly how you want them. Close to work. You have all the space you need.”

It seems weird that they’re contorting themselves to fit into this house.

“But they don’t fit all of us, trouble.” Wyatt glances around like he wants to make sure we aren’t being overheard. “If it were just you and one of us, yes, it would be easier to stay where we are, but that’s not what we all signed up for. We’re in this for you. We can make this work for all of us. Maybe not this house, but we’ll find something that works.”

My chest tightens. Nothing about our relationship will ever be conventional. That’s exactly what my mom will say when she comes back. I can’t marry all of them. I can’t take all four of them to a formal event. I’ll always have to pick and choose

And while my mom would love any one of them to be my future husband, I don’t know how she’ll feel about all of them being my life partners.

“Hey,” Finn says softly, making me look up into his green eyes. “Nothing has to be decided today or even tomorrow. We’re just all getting our footing back after what happened. We’ll need to figure out how to navigate our lives with this as part of it, but it’s no different than if we each had a girlfriend.” Finn’s smile is easy. “It’s just that we all have the same girlfriend.”

My cheeks warm. At some point, Alexander won’t be an issue. The threat will be gone. My parents will come back and then we’ll deal with that. But society is a whole different ballgame. Being in society gives the guys access to other key players in a social setting.

But I’ve seen the way other women look at Madison. I wish I could ignore it, but at some point, they’ll look at me like that. Not that I haven’t been a social outcast before, but it’s not fun. It’s never easy and someone will always think they can take what I have.

The server stops at our table and everyone orders.

Before leaving, she stops and asks, “Separate checks?”

“Just one.” Drew smiles. “It was my idea for brunch.”

The server walks away. There are so many things to consider in a relationship with four guys. Yes, they’re all rich and can maintain a household, but what about kids? What about family functions? Whose house do we spend Christmas at? How do we divide it equally among five families? Will my guys ever be able to live with what Tom did? Will I?

I don’t want to think about this anymore. The future isn’t right now. We just need to deal with one problem at a time, and there’s one that’s more pressing than the others.

“What’s the plan since Alexander hasn’t reached out to us?” I sit back in my chair and look at the guys.

“We’re going to talk to Tom today and see what he might have to help encourage Alexander to step forward.” Wyatt rubs his jaw.

“By we, you mean...” This feels like something they aren’t going to include me in.

“Not you, pip.” Dante leans his elbows on the table. “We need to talk about some things besides Alexander with Tom, and we need to safely work out our aggression.”

I swallow, remembering the fights they’d have sometimes. With gloves. But the fights always ended with someone bleeding.

“So I’m going to be alone this afternoon?”

“You and Natasha need to stay in the house where my father’s men can watch over you.” Finn takes a drink of his water. “Don’t leave.”

I frown. “Can I have my friends over?”

“Always, princess.” Drew squeezes my hand.

I take my phone out and text the group chat that now includes Nan.

Me:

My guys are going to be gone this afternoon. Want to hang out at my place?

It feels weird calling it my place. In my mind, my place is the townhouse I grew up in. But maybe it won’t feel like home anymore after someone broke into it.