Mastered by Malone (Haven, Texas 6)

Then came the twins, Maddox and Beau. They

a handful. They were identical, and at the beginning the only way she’d had of telling them apart was that Beau was missing part of a finger, but it was becoming easier as she got to know them. Maddox tended to be less of a flirt, just a tad more reserved than his twin brother. Then came Butch. She’d figured that was a nickname—it wasn’t. And he suited his name. He was the biggest of all the brothers, with wide shoulders and a booming laugh that she was certain could be heard in the next state over.

Then there was Raid. Boy, could Raid eat. She’d never met someone who loved food as much as he did. Almost as much as he enjoyed creating chaos wherever he went. The youngest was Tanner. He was just a couple of years older than she was, and quite possibly the wildest of the lot, which was saying something.

But eating with them was an exercise in self-control. She didn’t have any right to tell them that they had horrible manners and they needed to clean their shit up. That was kind of her job now. Even if she didn’t intend to take any money from Alec.

Living there was payment enough. Sure, she hadn’t been at all certain in the beginning, but the longer she stayed, the safer she felt. There was no reason for the mob hit man on her tail to look for her here. She hadn’t felt a panic attack looming since day three. She was still having nightmares, but thankfully, all of the brothers except Alec slept out in the bunkhouse. And Alec’s bedroom was down the other end of the house.

Keeping busy helped. And cooking and cleaning for these guys certainly kept her occupied. This was a huge house. She wasn’t sure why the brothers all slept out in the bunkhouse, although that was probably a good thing, since spending time with them was an exercise in self-control.

She knew they were just teasing her, of course. They didn’t really want to sleep with her. But sometimes it was hard to remember that. They were all freaking gorgeous. With varying shades of dark hair, muscular bodies, tanned skin, and that glint they got in their eyes when they were about to say something cocky was just about more than she could take.

All of them except West, Jaret, and Alec that was. Jaret was the only one with a girlfriend. West never even spoke to her. And Alec, well, he was never around. He never ate meals with them. West usually took a plate to him in his office. He was often gone before she even got up. In the beginning, she’d worried it was because of her. That he just didn’t want to be around her. But Jaret had reassured her that he never ate with them.

She didn’t even know if he liked her cooking. But at least the other boys seemed to. They’d certainly given her enough praise and they ate every meal like it was their last. Unfortunately, they all insisted that she eat with them.

That first night she’d cooked for them, she’d decided to eat at the kitchen table. Not that she had much appetite. She’d just settled down with a plate of food in front of her when Tanner and Butch had stormed into the kitchen.

Fear had held her paralyzed. Even as she’d tried to tell herself they wouldn’t hurt her she still couldn’t help her reaction. But they didn’t seem to notice or, if they did, they ignored it. Tanner came straight to her and pulled her up into his arms.

Tanner had carried her into the living room, set her on the couch, and Butch had put her plate of food on her lap. Apparently, they’d just expected her to sit there with them, eating in front of the television, which had been blasting with re-runs of the Dukes of Hazard.

But no more. She might not have the right to tell them to take their messy boots off at the door or to stop yelling at each other every time they spoke. But she wasn’t sitting through it anymore. Tonight, she was sitting at the dining room table. And if one of them dared try to pick her up and carry her to where they thought she should be then she was fully prepared to stab him with her knife.

Okay, she wouldn’t do that. But she was going to make a fuss. And the offender wouldn’t be getting any more of her desserts, that was for sure. Tonight, she’d carried all the food out to the dining room table. She’d put out all the cutlery, plates, and napkins. She’d wished there were some flowers she could pick, But, then, she figured they wouldn’t really appreciate flowers anyway.

She could hear them coming. Tramping their way through the house.

She heard them yelling something when they got to the kitchen.

“Mia? Mia! Where are you?”

She popped her head out of the dining room. “Here!”

Raid moved towards her, as usual, leading the pack when it came to food. “Where’s dinner? I’m starved.”

“You’re always starving,” Maddox said. “Better watch out you’re going to end up with flabby gut and a double chin. “

“Not with the way I work out.” Raid winked at her as he strode past her. She figured she didn’t want to ask about what sort of workout he was talking about.

“Oh, yeah?” Tanner asked, coming in next. “When was the last time you got any sort of workout?”

“Last weekend, moron,” Raid replied as he started to fill his plate. When he had a mound of food piled high, he walked towards the door. As the passed her, he looked down and smiled. “Good you found a use for the dining table, sweetheart. But we’re happy to come to the kitchen to get our food. No need to go to any extra effort.”

And then he disappeared into the television room. Along with the rest of them.

Okay, so Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?

“I’m busy, what do you want?” Alec demanded as he picked up the phone in his office.

“Hello, nice to talk to you too, cousin,” Jardin replied. “I’m doing well, thanks for asking.”

“What part of ‘I’m busy’ didn’t you understand?” Alex growled. He knew he shouldn’t have picked up the damn phone.

“We’re all busy,” Jardin said patiently. “I’m calling to check up on our house guest.”

His gut tightened. “What about her?”