The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,49

but we all like each other, too. There are no other people I would rather be around than the three of you, and I think that's what's going to make this work."

"Hear, hear!"

They clinked their glasses together and then drank a sip of the excellent vintage.

"Most of all, we just wanted to say that we love you, Laurie, and we're very glad that we were able to arrange this interesting solution to our situation," Jace said smoothly.

It seemed she was always blushing around these men, no matter how well she got to know them. They were always complimenting her, too, so that didn't help.

"Thank you. I love you—all of you—so much. If I didn't, I couldn't do this."

Adam cleared his throat. "We did have a question, though."

"Oh?" she asked, stealing a bit of his death by chocolate lava cake. They'd ordered dessert—she hadn't—but asked that four utensils be brought so that she could share in what they were eating.

"Yeah, when do we get to see the schedule? We don't even know whose turn it is tomorrow!" he whined.

She'd been wondering when they were going to ask her about that, and they had been very patient about it, really, so she brought out her phone and made the calendar she'd created public.

"There you go, boys."

Three forks hit three dessert plates immediately with loud clatters as they all pulled out their phones.

"Hey! Why is he going first?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, why him?" Jace echoed.

Laurie sat forward in her chair, saying in her own no nonsense tone of voice, "Listen up, gentlemen. I realize that I'm the submissive here, but there are things I will not tolerate from you, either. And jealousy is probably the biggest thing that's going to make me question whether this is going to work among us. I didn't want to start with Jace—everything's probably started with Jace all your lives. So, I let the Internet decide."

They all looked at her, agog. "You told the Internet about us?" Adam asked.

Laurie sighed. "No. I let random.org give me the order with utter neutrality, but I think it's the right one, too. And for the record, I haven't told anyone about this—even Melita—although I would bet the brat's guessed even before Nick became my lawyer. Other than that, no one outside our little cadre here knows—from me, anyway."

"Me, either," they all said.

"Well," Jace was going last, and he was surprised about how hard he was finding that to deal with. "I won't say that I'm thrilled about going last, but you're right about you having all of the control. That's why we had you draw up the schedule. And I can wait—I would wait forever for you, if that's what you needed."

The others gave him—only somewhat sarcastic—"aws" at that, but Laurie teared up.

"That is such a lovely thing to say, Jace. Thank you. I'm sorry I made all of you wait this long," she sniffed, reaching for a Kleenex from her purse, "but it has been a bit of a weird learning curve, to say the least.

"It has been," Ryan nodded, "but I really think it's going to work out great!"

"So do I!" the other brothers agreed, and then they all turned to her.

Laurie looked quite tentative, until Adam spoke.

"Look at us, Laur. You have three men who love you, who will be hanging on your every word, who will dance attendance on you, and who will all do their damndest to keep you warm and loved and satisfied. Tell us what you're worried about."

She bit her lip, eyes skittering from theirs.

"What do you think I'm worried about?"

Jace leaned back a bit. "You're concerned about the three of us punishing you together."

"Yes!"

"We could remove that aspect of things if you would prefer," he offered.

His brothers looked as if they were going to explode. "What are you, crazy?"

"No, but she's right. This is all up to her. If she doesn't consent, it doesn't happen." He leaned his forearms on the edge of the table, lacing his long, thick fingers together. "And we will punish you. You know we will. We'll discipline you individually when we feel that you've earned it, and we'll punish you together, too—on top of that, if necessary—if what you've done warrants that. And it's all going to hurt more than you'll think you can stand. You're going to cry and kick and have to be held down for it at times.

"But we have all agreed that we love you enough to do that for you. Your submission is a