Room One Hundred and Eleven (Bred By Billionaires)

16. Poppy

CHAPTER 16

Poppy

SIX WEEKS LATER

G unner tosses a decadent burgundy envelope onto my desk in the back room of his club.

It’s the same color as the carpet in the hall outside Carter, Aiden, and Knox’s penthouse. Their favorite, I suppose. “Beauty” is written in stunning calligraphy on the front. I use the eraser of my mechanical pencil to shove it in my boss’s direction as if even touching the same paper my billionaires once held could cause me to abandon my better sense. “Return to senders, please.”

“They’re trying their damnedest to see you again. Most women would be running to them, not from them.” Gunner frowns as he takes a seat on the tufted leather couch nearby and Riley lays her head on his shoulder, glancing between her fiancé and me with a pinched look of concern. “They didn’t hurt you did they?”

Kane cracks his knuckles. I have no doubt he’d go after them if they did. He’s the sort of man who knows how to hide a body. Or three.

“No. Nothing like that.” I’m not trying to start some kind of alpha billionaire war.

“Then what’s the problem?” Melody approaches. She puts her arm around me, gently spinning my desk chair to face the group made up of my two best friends and Riley’s three lovers.

“Gunner was right. I’m far too impulsive.” And this time it bit me right in the butt.

“You didn’t enjoy your time with them?” Gunner wonders.

“Oh, she definitely did.” Riley grins and Melody snorts. They’ve heard all the juicy details.

“You regret giving up your virginity?” Fitch winces.

“No. That’s not it.” I bury my face in my hands. “I miss those jerks so much.”

“Okay, now I’m really confused.” Fitch tips his head.

Kane doesn’t get it either. “You want them, they want you… Accept their offer for a do-over.”

My bosses mean well. They just don’t understand.

“It was nearly impossible to walk away last time. If I see them again…” I gulp. “There’s no chance I could do it again. What they want and what I need aren’t the same.”

Gunner grins and taps his pen against his lips. “So negotiate a bigger and better deal.”

“What’s wrong with you all? A child’s life isn’t a thing you make a deal on!” I stand up fast enough to knock my chair over, my hands clutching my abdomen protectively.

Riley tumbles into Gunner’s lap and Melody puts her hand over her mouth.

“Are you saying you’re pregnant?” Gunner sets Riley aside and leans forward, planting his elbows on his knees.

It’s not like I could keep it from them forever. If I stick around. The only way I can do that is if these people, the ones I love and trust most, know my secret and protect me from my billionaires.

Contract be damned.

“Congratulations.” Melody hugs me tight. “You’re happy despite the circumstances. I can see it in your eyes.”

“I am.” Even though it rewrites every part of my life story and how I thought it would go.

A tear slips from the corner of my eye. I can’t say if it’s a joyous one or a devastated one or a mix. I’ve cried plenty of both lately. Maybe it’s because I know I have a piece of my three billionaires, just like I seem to have given a huge chunk of my heart and soul to them.

There’s an empty hole in their place.

“Forgive me.” Fitch winces. “Didn’t your contract say they had rights…”

“I know that’s what we agreed, but I can’t do it.” I burst into sobs. “I didn’t think there was even a chance it was possible. But now that it is, I want this baby. I’m not my mother. I’m not about to abandon my child, and I’m not going to be stuck in some kind of business transaction—instead of a real relationship—with those three bastards for the rest of my life. It doesn’t matter how much I love them, they’re not going to own me or turn me into some isolated socialite who can’t fend for herself just so they can have a kid.”

“You love them?” Melody’s smile is so sad.

“Unfortunately.” I wring the hem of my shirt between my fingers. “What should I do?”

I’ve thought about it over and over and can’t figure it out.

No one else seems to have the answer.

It’s dead quiet in the room.

“I already lost them. I can’t give up their child too.” I wrap my arms around myself. “Please. Please don’t make me.”

Gunner, Kane, and Fitch exchange glances that have me eying the exit.

It reminds me too much of how my guys communicate—with the unconscious understanding of lifelong partners.

“I get it if you need me to leave.” My voice cracks. The thought of doing this without any emotional support from my friends is terrifying, but I’ll manage if I have to. Somehow.

“Absolutely not.” Melody grabs my hand and squeezes as Riley rushes to flank me. “Where would you go? How could you start over?”

“I can’t take the chance that they find out and come after me—our baby, I mean.” I sniff.

Stupid hormones.

“Swear you’re not going to tell them.” Riley stands. She props her hands on her hips as she stares at Gunner. Fitch and Knox will follow his lead.

“I’m not a party to their contract.” He scrubs his hand down his grim face. “Still, I don’t like this. Carter, Knox, and Aiden are my friends. But Poppy is like family and…”

“Happy wife-to-be, happy life-for-thee.” Riley reminds him.

Kane snorts. “He’s not going to chance you shutting him out, princess.”

“Fine.” Gunner sighs. “They’re not going to hear it from me. But this isn’t going to end well. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He plucks the invite from my desk and tosses it in the trash.

The urge to fish it out and clutch it to my heart, or sniff the paper, or something equally mortifying is nearly overwhelming.

I squash those impulses along with all my other unwise urges.

Like running back to my men and begging them to officially make me theirs.

It’s not only me—and what I’m willing to sacrifice—that I have to think about now.