*******
Her apartment felt smaller and shabbier than ever after spending the night in luxury. Eve packed a larger bag this time...more clothes, toiletries, her laptop. If she was going to be staying at the estate multiple nights a week, she needed to be prepared.
She also grabbed the framed photo of her mother from her nightstand. Something to remind her why she was doing this.
At 6:45, Marcus knocked on her door. Eve took one last look around her tiny studio...her real life, separate from the surreal world of the Blackwood estate...and followed him out.
Dinner was in a formal dining room that looked like it belonged in a palace. The table could seat thirty, but tonight only four places were set at one end.
The brothers were already there when Mrs. Blackwood escorted Eve in. All three stood as she entered...a gesture of courtesy that seemed at odds with what they'd done to her the night before.
"Eve," Damian said, his gray eyes sweeping over her. "You look rested."
"The clothes fit well," Damon added with that dangerous smile. "Though I prefer what you were wearing last night."
Eve's face heated. Silas said nothing, just watched her with those dark, unreadable eyes.
"Sit," Damian gestured to the chair beside him.
The meal was elaborate....multiple courses served by silent staff. The brothers talked business while they ate, discussing pack politics and territory disputes like Eve wasn't there.
She should have felt ignored. Instead, she felt studied. Like they were watching her reactions even while discussing things she didn't understand.
"How's your mother?" Silas asked suddenly, his first words of the evening.
Eve blinked. "She's good. The treatment starts tomorrow."
"Dr. Williams is excellent," Damian said. "We made sure she had the best team."
"You... you were involved in choosing her doctors?"
"Of course. We don't invest two million dollars without ensuring it's well spent."
Invest. Like her mother's life was a business transaction.
Which, Eve supposed, it was.
"The contract allows for four to seven nights per week," Damian continued, cutting his steak with precise movements. "We'll start with five. Monday through Friday. You'll have weekends free to visit your mother or handle personal affairs."
"Five nights," Eve repeated, trying to process. "Every week. For six months."
"Approximately one hundred and twenty nights total," Damon said. "Give or take."
One hundred and twenty nights of what they'd done to her last night. Eve's stomach flipped.
"You look pale," Silas observed. "Are you having second thoughts?"
Yes. "No."
"Liar," Damian said mildly. "But we'll let it pass. It's natural to feel overwhelmed. You'll adjust."
"And if I don't?"
The brothers exchanged glances. Some silent communication passed between them.
"You will," Damian said with absolute certainty. "Because you're stronger than you think. Last night proved that."
Damon leaned back in his chair, studying her. "Most women tap out after the first night. They realize what they've signed up for and run. But you're still here."
"I signed a contract."
"So did they," Silas said quietly. "But fear is stronger than legal obligation for most people."
Eve set down her fork. "Are you trying to scare me? Because if you want me to leave, just say so."
"We don't want you to leave," Damian's voice was firm. "We want you to understand what this is. You're not just an employee, Eve. For the next six months, you belong to us. Your body, your time, your pleasure. All of it is ours to command."
"I understand that."
"Do you?" Damon challenged. "Because understanding intellectually and accepting emotionally are very different things."
He was right, but Eve wasn't about to admit it.
"I'll adjust," she said, echoing Damian's earlier words. "I don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice," Silas said. "You could walk away right now. We'd let you go."
Eve studied his face, looking for the trap. "And my mother's treatment?"
"Would continue," Damian said. "We're not monsters, Eve. If you genuinely can't handle this arrangement, we'll release you from the contract. You keep whatever money has already been paid, and we part ways."
It was tempting. So tempting her hand trembled as she reached for her water glass.
But one hundred thousand wasn't enough. It would cover the first few treatments, but not all of them. Not the follow-up care. Not the medications.
And more than that...her pride wouldn't let her quit after one night.
"I'm not leaving," Eve said firmly. "I agreed to six months, and I'll give you six months."
Something flickered in Damian's eyes. Approval, maybe. "Good. Then let's discuss expectations."
For the next hour, they outlined rules. Schedules. Boundaries that were really just guidelines for their convenience.
She was to arrive by seven on nights they wanted her. She would stay until morning unless they dismissed her earlier. She was to be available by phone at all times. She was not to discuss their arrangement with anyone outside of Maya, who they'd already thoroughly investigated and deemed acceptable.
"Your body is ours," Damian reiterated. "Which means you don't touch yourself without permission. You don't come without permission. And you certainly don't let anyone else touch you."
Eve bristled at that. "The contract didn't say I couldn't date."
"It said you belonged exclusively to us," Damon countered. "That means no other men. No romance. No sex. Nothing that isn't us."
"For six months, you're ours," Silas added. "Completely."
It was possessive and controlling and should have made her furious. But sitting there surrounded by three powerful men who'd taken her apart so thoroughly the night before, Eve felt something else entirely.
Something that felt disturbingly like excitement.
"Fine," she said. "No other men. But that goes both ways, right? You can't...."
Damian's laugh cut her off. "We don't share with outsiders, Eve. When we're with you, we're with you. No other women. Not for the next six months."
That surprised her. "Really?"
"Really." Damon's smile was wicked. "You're going to take up all our energy anyway. Trust me, by the time we're done with you each night, we won't have anything left for anyone else."
The promise in his voice made her shiver.
After dinner, they took her upstairs. Not to the guest suite from last night, but to their private quarters.
The master bedroom was enormous...dominated by a bed even larger than the one she'd slept in. Dark furniture, expensive art, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the grounds.
"This is where you'll stay when you're here," Damian said. "Your things will be kept in the adjoining dressing room. You'll have your own space, but you sleep here. With us."
With them. All three of them. Every night.
"Now," Damon said, already pulling his shirt over his head. "Let's see if last night was a fluke, or if you really can handle us."
Eve's pulse jumped. "Again? Already?"
"We told you," Silas's dark eyes gleamed. "Five nights a week. And we intend to make the most of them."
They descended on her like predators, and Eve realized with startling clarity that last night had been gentle compared to what they were capable of.
This was just the beginning.
And she had one hundred and nineteen more nights to survive.