Room One Hundred and Eleven (Bred By Billionaires)

15. Poppy

CHAPTER 15

Poppy

S played on my stomach, I groan into an ultra-dense feather pillow before prying my eyes open to find myself back in my billionaires’ bed as morning sunshine peeks through the blinds. About to call out for them and beg for the heat of their arms locked around me as they were all night, I hear low voices from the other room.

Arguing?

“The contract ends this morning. She’s free to go.” Carter is stern, leaving no room for argument. “In fact, she agreed to leave without lingering. Without further contact.”

“Fuck that thing.” Knox. “Where is it? I’m going to rip it to shreds.”

Is he rummaging through my purse? No, I left it in the guest suite. The one on the other side of that sneaky bookcase.

I sit up, clutching the covers to my chest.

“You can’t possibly want to let her leave.” Aiden sounds panicked, his voice changing direction as if he’s pacing.

“You’re acting like we have a choice.” Carter is icy. Final. “The limo is already downstairs. Waiting to take her back to Gunner’s jet.”

“So what?” Knox raises his voice. “Ask her to stay.”

“Imagine what it could be like, Carter,” Aiden tries again. “Coming home to her every day. She’ll be waiting for us. Caring for our family. Available all the time. In our bed every night. No more working herself to the bone. Fuck all that. She won’t have to do any of it. She’ll be ours.”

Hang on.

That’s not what I want—to be trapped in some fancy castle, even if it’s with three princes instead of the beasts I thought they were at first. Reliant on them for every single thing I or our children need. Locked in the tower they call a penthouse.

Oh no. What have I done?

To my shock, Carter doesn’t laugh. Or instantly deny it.

There’s no way I’ll be able to resist them if they beg me to stay.

Yet I refuse to give up everything I’ve struggled for, not even for a trio of the sexiest men on the planet.

I will not become my mother.

What kind of mom would that make me? I rub low on my belly even though I understand the odds are impossible and that being pregnant would be essentially the worst thing that could happen.

At least if I abide by our agreement and leave, I’ll only have a broken heart. My life ruined, but not an innocent baby’s.

I’m no longer so na?ve.

These men don’t own me. No one does.

All the money in the world can’t buy my freedom. A comfortable cage is still a prison.

It would be far too easy to let them trap me. Coddle me until I forget how to fend for myself.

Allow them to spoil the children they wouldn’t stop fucking me for.

I would do almost anything to be part of the family Aiden so desperately desires.

Except that.

Never that.

I grab Carter’s shirt—neatly folded on the back of the chair, of course—and slip it over my head. Without bothering to take anything else, I head for the wedge of light coming from behind the bookcase.

When I press on it, the whole thing swings open on silent hinges, like an extra-thick door. Nothing is as it seems. They’ve had the upper hand from the start.

If I don’t go now, I won’t go at all.

With one final look back, I slip through the portal and out the normal old door of what should have been my suite if anything had gone like it was supposed to this weekend.

What anyone thinks of me is the last thing on my mind as I summon the elevator, rush inside, and plunge to the lobby—my sinking stomach matching my plummeting heart.

The cement of the valet area stings my bare feet as I clutch Carter’s shirt around me.

It smells enough like him to make me afraid he’s right there, chasing me again.

But this time, I’ve managed to escape.

Or maybe my billionaires declined to chase.

Either way, the head of staff spots me and instantly waves the limo over, tucking me inside before I can cause any scandals.

The skyline blurs in my vision as tears well in my eyes and spill over.

How could the best weekend of my life also turn out to be the worst?

At least I didn’t have to suffer through a long, awkward goodbye.

I press my fingers to the window in the direction of the Centennial as we turn the corner. It fades from my view along with what could have been.

What a time to learn to think things through.