Chapter 128

Sylvia’s POV

I stand in the break room, watching with annoyance as the Luna ceremony plays on the small television in the far corner. Even two packs over, Ollie’s story seems to have made a big impression, and she’s become something of a beloved figure that transcends packs.

The whole thing makes me sick and I think for one wild moment of even throwing my soda can at the television. There are others watching it, my co-workers, and they all already dislike me.

“Sylvia,” the manager says, appearing in the doorway. “Let’s go. You are already five minutes over your break.”

“I just sat down.”

She hears me. “Your lunch started fifty minutes ago. Let’s go. Back to work.”

My co-workers snicker, casting me glances.

I don’t know how many of them recognize me. My existence seems to have been scrubbed from modern memory, despite how important I was not all that long ago. But I hear the whispers and the laughter following me around every corner, coming from every shadow.

The brothers haven’t chased me. They seem content on letting me go.

But without them, I’ve had some difficulty moving on. Landing this job was something of a miracle, but I hate it. I don’t feel grateful at all for having to slave away in the hotel laundry room while some inferior bitch was living the perfect life, getting to marry her mates and live a happy life.

How did things turn out this way? How have I fallen so far?

Ollie was supposed to be my servant. I was supposed to live in a palace, surrounded by my brothers, with suitors lining up around the hall.

Now, the only thing waiting for me is the next load of laundry.

“I used to be someone,” I tell them, but no one listens. No one cares who you used to be, only who you are.

This is the caretaker’s fault, but since he’s dead, I have no one left alive to blame.

Except myself. But I refuse to do that.

Grabbing a bundle of laundry, I hobble under the weight of it, moving toward the machines.

How far I’ve fallen. But this is now my fate.

Ollie is living my dream, while I only know laundry.

A cruel fate, and all I really did was try to see her dead. It’s not like I pulled the trigger!

“Get to work, princess,” the manager mocks, and everyone laughs.

And I can only follow orders and grumble.

Ollie’s POV

I’m wearing a satin dress on my date with Declan, and he must like the feel of it because he cannot keep his hands off of it. Even as we walk through the restaurant, his hand sits on my lower back, right at the swell of my ass. While we eat, he keeps his chair close to mine, his hand on my knee. Leaving, that hand is on my lower back again.

In the backseat of the car, with the partition up to hide us away from the world, he grabs me by my hips and sets me directly on his lap.

He stares down intensely at my dress, particularly where it covers my breasts.

“You like this dress,” I say. I know it’s true. I can feel the proof of his arousal straining his pants underneath me.

He growls a little. “I hate the fucking thing,” he says, growling.

I lift my brows, surprised. “You keep touching it.”

“I keep touching you,” he clarifies. “But this damn thing keeps getting in the way.” His eyes narrow. “You have five seconds to take it off before I rip it off of you.”

“Declan!”

“Five,” he says, starting the countdown.

I move as quickly as I can, but the zipper is in an awkward place and sitting atop Declan’s lap like this, I don’t have much chance to take it off.

“Four.”

“Declan, help, please.”

He hums but doesn’t move, his hands still firm on my hips, his thumbs start tracing circles on my hipbones.

“Three.” His gaze is hungry on my breasts. And… yeah, okay, maybe I’m starting to hate this dress too, if it keeps him from touching me right now. From tasting me.

“Two.”

“To hell with it,” I grumble. “Just rip it.”

He growls and does just that.

Turning, he presses me naked into the leather backseat.

As his mouth finds my neck, and his dick slams inside of me, I cry out, “I love you!”

He lifts his head, looks me in the eye, and vows, “And I, you.”

Then I lose my thoughts for a while.

Another night, I sit naked on a wooden stool in Wes’s studio as he puts the finishing touches on a nude painting of me. I swear I’ve been blushing the entire time he’s been painting it, which only makes him smile. I’ve seen him adding extra pink to his brush.

Now that it’s done, I’m starting to worry about what’s going to become of this picture. Gods know, maybe he wants to hang it in the Alpha Headquarters building or something. The thought of other people seeing it has me nervous.

“There,” he says. Setting aside his brush, he holds out his hand for me. I take it, moving off the stool to see the finished product.

It’s beautiful. But yes, that is definitely me naked.

Swallowing thickly, I ask him, “Uh, what are you going to do with this?”

“I’m going to hang it in my bedroom,” he says, to my relief. The only people who might go in there are me and the quadruplets. And the maids.

I send a quick apology to them.

Looking at me, he says, “What did you think I was going to do with it?”

“I don’t know,” I say.

“You are beautiful enough to belong in a museum,” he says. Leaning in he kisses my cheek. “You are a work of art that everyone should admire. But… I’m not a man who wants to share this treasure with the public. You, naked, is only something for my brothers and me to enjoy.”

I turn into him, and he smiles as he kisses me. “You are ours, Ollie.”

“And you’re mine,” I tell him before falling into the kiss.

Later, Hugh and I sit on the sofa, watching a movie. His arm is around me, my head resting on his shoulder. We’re almost halfway through the movie already, which, when I realize, makes me laugh suddenly.

He turns to look at me. “What?”

“You haven’t tried to make out with me once yet,” I say. Typically, when we are alone like this, it devolves quickly into making out and then passionate sex. I can’t remember the last time Hugh and I actually finished a move. Usually, we didn’t even make it halfway.

He blushes slightly at my words, which is a sight all on its own. It’s not easy to embarrass Hugh.

“What if I’m trying to take things slower this time,” he says.

“That’s fine,” I say, sobering a little. “Is something wrong?”

“I just… I don’t want you to think that I only want one thing.” He glances at me. “You are the only one for me now, Ollie. And I want more than just sex. You know that, don’t you?”

I place my hands over his heart. “You think I don’t? Hugh, we do things all the time. I know you love me. And I love you. It doesn’t matter if we have sex or not. Though… admittedly… I like when we do.”

He grins then. “Yeah, I know you do. Especially from the noises you make…”

I blush now. “I’m just saying. Whatever we do or don’t do doesn’t change that. I love you, Hugh.”

“Okay,” he says. “Good.” He kisses me. “Cause I want to get you naked right now.”

I laugh as he pushes me down onto the cushions.

Conrad just got the winning shot on the championship hockey game. He should be celebrating with his teammates, and does for a moment, throwing his arms around them, but then he looks for me in the stands. When he finds me, he throws everything to the side and rushes toward me. He jumps over the wall, grabs me and pulls me against him.

We kiss and laugh.

“Congratulations,” I tell him between butterfly kisses.

“The third best day of my life.”

“Third?” I ask.

He grins. “The first was when I found out you are my mate.” Then he leans forward, nuzzling the mark on my neck. “The second was when I gave you this.”

I blush hard, my cheeks burning hot.

“How about we renew this tonight?” he asks.

I gently shove his shoulder. “After you celebrate.”

“Deal,” he says and kisses me.

My heart swells with love, just as it does every time one of my mates kisses me.

With them, I’ve never been happier. Every day is better than the last.