Treachery

Swinging out an arm, he pointed to the left, as if I should know what he was telling me, and stalked off in the opposite direction.

While he disappeared into a room on my right, music blasting from that direction interlaced with several deep voices, I hung a left, feeling hella uncomfortable wandering the mansion by myself.

I tried to ignore the way my shoulders ached with tension and my damn heart rate was jumping so high I suspected I was dangerously close to having a stroke. The last thing I wanted to do was turn a corner and walk into a room where I was neither invited nor wanted, but this was the direction the nameless guy had pointed, so I assumed Ta

The house was a maze as I slowly crept down a long hallway with rooms opening up on either side of me.

Traveling deeper into the heart of the home, I eventually found myself standing in a large kitchen, designer steel appliances glimmering beneath the bright inset lighting.

Over the large center island, a grouping of pendant lights hung from the ceilings, their glass shades all different colors that offset the white cabinets, black countertops and deep red-brown of the wood flooring.

All by my lonesome in the room, I turned around and returned the way I came, my eyes peeking into several rooms as I passed them, confusion clouding my thoughts because there wasn’t a single person to be found on this side of the house.

Eventually, I made it back to the entry foyer and decided to head in the direction of the music, hopeful that one of the men I could hear talking from that direction would give me a better idea of where to find Ta

Turning a corner, I stopped in place when I found four men seated on a cluster of couches, their faces partially concealed by the heavy smoke that was lingering in the air, four sets of eyes turning in my direction as soon as I stepped closer to them.

Standing in the room was giving me a contact high.

“Uh,” I stammered, instantly recognizing two of the men as Ezra and Damon Cross. Remembering Clayton’s warning to stay the hell away from them, I turned to the guy who’d answered the door with the hope that he could give me better directions than the swing of his arm and a dismissive grunt.

“I’m looking for-“

“Who do you belong to?”

The surly voice belonged to the fourth man sitting in the room, his grey eyes giving me the once over before returning to my face. I didn’t recognize him at all and wondered if he was one of the group who lived here, or a friend who just happened to stop by.

“I’m looking for Ta

Doorguy spoke up in response, his eyes tiny slits, the whites bloodshot from the pot they were smoking.

“I told you where to find him.”

They all looked at each other and back to me, their brows pulling together between their eyes like I was some random idiot who had wandered into their home to disrupt their lives.

It was pissing me off.

“Actually, you didn’t. I went in the direction you pointed, but that side of the house was empty.”

Silence met me, their stares locked to my face as I fidgeted in place. I let out a heavy sigh. I needed to speak to someone who knew me.

“Is Gabriel around?”

Why was it that Gabriel could pop up at the most inconvenient times around campus, but wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the moment I actually needed him?

“You belong to Gabriel? I thought you were looking for Ta

“I’m looking for…wait…okay, first, I don’t belong to anyone…” What the hell did that even mean? “And second, I’m looking for either of them.”

They all looked at each other again, a smirk stretching the lips of the guy I didn’t recognize.

Seeing that this was getting me nowhere, I asked, “What about Jase? Is he around?”

“Damn, girl. Jase too?”

This time it was Ezra who spoke up, his dark brown hair slicked back from his face.

Turning to his twin brother, he asked, “Since when do the three of them share?”

Damon turned to me without answering his brother.

“At the same time?”

My eyes opened wider when I understood what he was asking.

“What? No. Not at the same time. None at a time. I’m just looking for someone that can tell me-“

I hadn’t noticed that Doorguy had pulled out a phone.

“Hey, Gabriel. There’s some chick here claiming she’s looking for you, Ta

Aggravation rolled down my spine, my teeth grinding together as my eyes snapped to the asshole on the phone.

“I’m not interested in a foursome, I’m here because-“

“It’s impressive she can take on all three at once,” Ezra bumped Damon’s shoulder, a look exchanged between them before they both turned to stare at me.

Having those two sets of eyes locked to my face caused instinct to flare to life inside me, the instantaneous reaction of knowing you were being faced down by two predators.

Turning to them, I ignored the way the hair lifted on the back of my neck, my skin bristling with apprehension. Despite the reaction, I wasn’t happy with the assumption they were making.

“I don’t do anything with all three of them at once. I’m here because –“

“Doesn’t it hurt after a while?”

“Maybe not,” Ezra answered for me. “Porn stars do that shit all the time.”

My left eye twitched, my gaze snapping back to the guy on the phone.

“Can I talk to Gabriel?”

“What the fuck is going on in here?”

At the sound of a deep tenor voice behind me, I spun on my heel, hating the fact that I actually felt relief to lock eyes with Ta

Despite my best efforts, I wasn’t able to ignore the way he leaned against the doorframe, a white towel draped over his neck, his chest bare as beads of sweat slid down along the ridges and dips of the most impressive body I’d ever seen.

His black athletic shorts hung perfectly from his hips, revealing a set of oblique muscles that had me licking my lips without realizing what I was doing.

Shaking myself of the reaction, I lifted my gaze back to his face to discover a disgusted sneer curling his lips, one brow above his eyes arching as if to say he’d caught me peeking.

I forced a friendly smile and blew out a breath.

“Hey, Ta

Before I could finish the statement, he pushed away from the wall, closed the distance between us with three long strides, and stood so close to me that I had to crane my neck just to look up at him.

“Who the fuck are you? And why do I keep finding you in my house?”

Okay, so maybe he didn’t remember me…

Shock tore through me at the a