His Ballerina

I don’t know what to say as he stares at me, expectant like he’s waiting for me to list all the reasons why I’m not the girl this sort of thing happens to. Good thing the sound of the front door opening interrupts us.

Archer jumps to his feet, and I follow him out to the hall as two men walk in, and for a second, I think this is it. We’re done for. They are here to either arrest or kill Archer and maybe me simply because I’m here.

My fear scatters away when Archer only snickers at the sight of the men. “What are you doing here?” he asks while folding his arms over his chest.

They’re twins, obviously, practically mirror images. And then I notice how they both look like Archer: tall, dark hair, finely chiseled faces to go with their chiseled bodies. Dark eyes, too, and now the twins have started looking me up and down. I’m wearing Archer’s clothes, completely covered in enough fabric to make a dress if I wanted to, but I feel exposed.

“Whoa.” One of them points at me like he’s never seen a girl before. “You’re serious?”

“What’s she doing here?” the other one asks with a smirk.

Did he tell them about me? The girl who witnessed the hit? Why else would they be so surprised?

The first one answers that question before I have to ask it. “Since when do you let girls in the sanctuary? This has to be a first, right?”

Archer’s scowling when he looks my way. “Madison, my brothers. Kane and Cash.” He doesn’t specify who’s who, though they nod in turn when he says their names. They’re both looking at me like I’m a rare museum exhibit, anyway, so I can’t bring myself to care which of them is which right now.

“Madison, huh?” Kane snickers. “What’d you do to earn access to Archer’s place?”

Archer steps in while I stammer, putting himself between the twins and me. “She didn’t have to do anything, and you’d better watch your mouth.”

Kane holds his hands up, palms out. “Hey, hey, no offense. Just busting your balls, little brother.”

“Yeah, don’t get all defensive.” Cash cranes his neck to see me, looking around Archer. There’s a gleam in his eye and a smile teasing the corners of his mouth. Like he’s trying to hold back laughter.

Honestly? I don’t hate knowing this is unusual for Archer. That he doesn’t have random girls up here all the time. That’s the last thing I want to be—another notch in his headboard or whatever.

I still wish I could understand why he’s doing this and what it all means.

“She’s better than that.” Archer looks at me over his shoulder. “She’s different. And she’s here to stay, so you’d better start learning how to talk to her. Not like she’s some random piece of ass. Got it?”

He wasn’t talking to me, but I end up gulping and blushing, anyway.

Here to stay. He’s so sure of himself.

Am I so sure, though?

8

Archer

“I’ll be right back. Hang out in here for a little while, okay?” I want to discuss things with the twins that Madison doesn’t need to hear—besides, I know they won’t leave without grilling me over her.

I love my brothers, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a real pain in the ass sometimes.

Once the bedroom door’s closed, they descend on me like vultures. “Who is she? What’s she really here for? Does she know who you are? Who we are?”

I’m not playing that game. They might be the older brothers, but I’m not a kid who gets pushed around. “One thing at a time, okay? Why are you walking in here uninvited?”

“Ever consider we might be checking on you because we’re worried? You went radio silent after you took out that—”

“Yeah, I know.” I don’t need the guilt trip, either. “I told Ace shit came up.”

Cash’s lips twitch. “No, kidding. Now we know what.” When I shoot him a warning look, he manages to straighten out his expression. But just a little. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Listen. We’re not here to fuck around.” Kane’s brows draw together. “There’s been talk out there. Dissatisfaction in the ranks, like Dad used to say. Bruno’s crew isn’t gonna stop with convincing a few low-level numbers guys to skim off the top.”

“They want to shake things from the ground up,” Cash explains. “Make our foundation unstable and watch the whole thing crumble.”

“Once word spread about Trent going missing,” we all exchange a look, since we know he’s a lot worse than missing, “the chatter got louder. They know we’re onto them trying to sabotage our numbers business and eventually take it over. I’m sure they know Trent’s in a landfill or the river by now.”

“Good for them.” My lip curls in a sneer. “If they were smart, they’d back the fuck off. Next time, it might end up being one of their guys in the river instead of one of ours.”