three of us so far. And we've definitely never all been together even like this.
“Fine, but you're not pulling this shit after tomorrow,” Griffin says. He is fuming, and I worry how it will look if he goes back to the restaurant so pissed off.
I put my hand on his arm, and his face softens when he looks down at me. Dayne just watches this whole exchange, taking it in, no doubt making notes in his head—for what purpose I'm not sure.
Dayne is the most nonchalant about the whole thing. It's not that he doesn't want me, the passion of his kisses tells me he does. In fact, a part of me is wildly curious about Dayne. That night in the penthouse I got the tiniest hint of how much restraint he holds behind his usually calm exterior.
Dayne is the kind of man who calmly thinks things through. Griffin is the impulsive one who goes with whatever he feels. Soren... ruthlessly calculates.
Soren approaches me, and I flinch. He's never physically harmed me, but sometimes I act like a battered woman around him. I can't help it. There's darkness in him, and I'm not sure if I can ever be safe from it. I'm not sure if the beast that lives inside him will be turned on me—and in some ways it already has been. I can't forgive him for the threat, for taking away my choices. We haven't talked about it since that night. It's like the words were never spoken, but we both know they were.
I tried to tell myself that threat was decided on by the three of them together, that it was a shared sin, but it isn't. I can't lie to myself anymore to spread out the blame and soften it. I know Soren made the decision. Soren chose to take my choices away, to turn me into his slave, his captive, instead of his willing wife.
It doesn't matter how much my body begs to be filled with his. It doesn't matter how attracted I am to him. He's still the man who decided he would own me and I would comply, and that combined with the way he looks at me right now, yes, I flinch, yes I shrink away, because this man scares me even while he lights me up inside.
But he only smooths my hair down and runs his thumb under my lower lip where my pale pink lip gloss has smudged against my skin. He straightens my dress and my bra straps which have managed to slide down my shoulders in this exchange.
“We'll go in to the restaurant together. You two will follow after five minutes,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine.
He moves another step back and extends his hand to me. I take it without looking at either Griffin or Dayne.
When we get back to the restaurant the food is being served. It's Salisbury steak covered in brown gravy with mashed potatoes, green beans, and some of the best dinner rolls I've ever had. It's just about the most non-pretentious meal I could think of, and the steakhouse was happy to provide it for us. Plus it reminds me of my first date on the riverboat with Griffin. There's a chicken finger option for some of the kids who didn't like Salisbury steak. And everyone gets a slice of a fluffy chocolate silk pie.
I sit with Macy on one side of me and Soren on the other. Well actually, Macy is seated two seats from me on my left. There's an empty seat between us for Griffin.
I think this looks weird. Macy should be sitting next to me with Griffin on the other side of her, but Patrice did the seating chart. Does she know all four of us are together? I hate the idea of that woman knowing what's really going on here.
A mutual friend of mine and Macy's is seated on her other side, so maybe it doesn't look too weird. Maybe Patrice doesn't know and it just seemed like a logical seating choice to her. Maybe I'm being paranoid.
Macy takes one look at me and her freckled cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. She quickly glances away from Soren when he greets her and lets out a mumbled, “Hi”.
Once Soren is seated and talking to someone else, she turns to me and whispers. “Oh my God, did you two just have sex?”
Great. Is it that obvious something just happened? Before I can come up with some