Chapter 27 Iwas still reeling from the fact that Roberto put his reputation at risk by coming to see me that I hyperfocused the entire drive to the penthouse. It made no sense that he would do that for me. He didn't owe me anything, and I'd done my best to break things off so that they could move on with their jobs and reputations intact. The elevator delivered us to the penthouse in a rush of air and a whooshing sensation that dropped my stomach to my toes. It shot right back up when the doors opened and I spotted Stephen and Matthew standing in the kitchen. They looked to be in the middle of an argument, with both men standing with crossed arms and fierce scowls twisting their expressions. I took a steadying breath, and Roberto's hand skated up my spine, touching my shoulder in a motion he'd used to comfort me over the last few months. That touch told me I had nothing to fear. Which was a lie. We all had something to fear. The truth being revealed was a huge thing to fear. If anything was going to confirm our involvement with each other, it was Roberto coming to talk to me outside of class. What was he thinking? I'd tried to ask him that a dozen times during the drive over, but the words refused to leave my mouth. Stephen straightened with a jerk when he turned and our eyes locked. "Harmony." The way he said my name, the way his entire body relaxed and his eyes warmed; it all overwhelmed me. Matthew took a step forward, concern evident in the way his mouth pinched and he held out both arms for me, ready to hold me tight. "Thank God." I very nearly fell into his embrace. I'd been fighting the urge with Roberto since I opened the door. I resisted now through force of will and a tight hold on my arms where I'd locked them over my stomach. Damn it. Staying away from them hadn't helped. Their absence was not a cure for the ache in my chest. Staying away had made me fall apart at the seams. I'd been coming undone since the day Leighona accused me of sleeping with Matthew. Every stitch that came open became a gaping wound that nothing but their arms would heal. That was why I'd caved and agreed to come here with Roberto. Tears threatened as I realized what I'd have to do. I had to end things once and for all. It was the only way for all of us to move on and figure out how to heal. I took a breath and held it, preparing the words. "I can't do this." "What?" Matthew reached for me, his hands warm where they ran down my arms. I shuddered beneath the touch. "We need to end this. It's the only way to salvage things." "Fuck that." Roberto spat the words in thick Italian, and I almost grinned at his vehemence. The moment was too raw for laughter, and I concentrated on Stephen, the one I worried about the most. "You know I'm right." "I know you were confronted in the middle of class by someone who's jealous of your talent." He didn't touch me, but the way his eyes softened was as intimate as being in bed with him. Matthew rubbed my arms again, then guided me toward the couch. "She had no right to say anything to you, and especially not in front of the whole class. It's not like she knew we had been together. No one knows." For a brief moment, I considered telling them about the threats. Someone knew, and it made perfect sense that someone was Leighona. I didn't know how, but she'd made a connection. And she wouldn't hesitate to ruin all of us. Even Matthew? Would she destroy his reputation knowing that it would put the entire production at risk and potentially eliminate her last musical before graduation? The fact that I didn't know kept me silent. They'd worry, and we all had enough of that going around without adding more. "She tried to play it off like she was joking." I reminded Matthew with a shake of my head. "But it still hurt." "Of course it did. Betrayal of any kind is painful." Stephen sat on the far side of the couch. It was like the emotional distance I'd tried to create had manifested in his inability to sit close to me. I valued his control, because mine was slipping. "It's not just that. Even if she doesn't know the truth, it hurts because it's true." "Wait." Matthew sat on the arm of the couch and drew his knee up so that it rested against my shoulder. "Are you saying you believe her? You think that your grades improved because you've been sleeping with us?" It sounded crass coming from Matthew, the one professor whose class I was passing without any trouble. I resisted the urge to shrug and picked at a thread on the hem of my shirt. The open neck slid further down my arm, and I remembered that I'd raced from my room without putting on a bra. "Harmony?" Stephen's tone demanded an answer though he spoke with a sensitivity I found endearing. I looked up enough to meet his eyes. "I've been studying my ass off, but you and Roberto both worked so hard to make the tests easier for me. You never would have done that without ... without ..." I flapped my hands at the room in an all this gesture. "No." Matthew placed his hands on my shoulders. "No. Harmony. That is not true." "He's right." Stephen scooted closer and patted my knee. It might have been an offhand gesture, but I'd had those hands on my body too much not to feel the increased intimacy. Roberto moved to the coffee table and sat, leaning forward the same way Matthew had that first day. "Do not believe such lies, sweetheart. You are a jewel, a star among dust. You have done nothing wrong." Matthew swept my hair off to one side and bent to kiss the back of my neck. "None of what you accomplished has anything to do with how we feel about you." I wanted to believe them. Maybe I needed to believe them because anything else meant I'd fallen into a trap of needing them to succeed. I was supposed to be strong and independent. I'd sworn never to lose myself to a man who might put that at risk. They didn't put me at risk of losing myself. The thought came at me the moment Stephen pinched my chin between his thumb and forefinger and raised my head so I met his eyes. "You have earned every grade, Harmony. Not because of what we do here." His cheeks creased when he smiled. "Your hard work in class has paid off, as it was meant to." Roberto smoothed his knuckles over my cheek. "Never think less of yourself. Not ever. For any reason." The weight of their words and reassurances took away the uncertainty I'd carried all week. I released my grip on my arms and let them fall to my sides. Roberto leaned closer and kissed my cheek. "We value you, Harmony. There is nothing we wouldn't do for you." Except let me give them up. They had reeled me back in, and all it took was the promise that I had meaning in their lives. Well, I was screwed. Roberto's warm lips returned to my cheek. Stephen captured my lips in a slow kiss, and Matthew whispered in the other ear, "Do you still want us?" I broke off the kiss with Stephen. "You should ask that before trying to get in my pants, not in the middle of a kiss." It was a light scolding that had no heat. They had promised to always stop if I said stop. That was no different now. "You're right." Matthew stood, and the absence of his body heat behind me sent a chill along my neck. "Do you want this?" Roberto was the next to scoot away. He retreated as far as the table allowed, even moving his knees so they were out of reach. "It's your decision. Always. If you truly want to end things, I'll drive you home." Stephen made a strangled sound that caused his eyes to close, but he pushed away from me and tucked his body in the far corner of the couch. This was my moment to tell them it was over. That was what I'd come here to do. The words I needed to say floated in my mind. "I want you. All of you." That single truth brought all three men around me in a rush of touch. Hands and lips converged. Stephen cupped my breast through the thin shirt, then lowered his head to take a nipple into his mouth. My body turned liquid beneath their attention. "I've been dreaming of you." Matthew slid onto the cushion behind me, nestling me between his thighs. My back rested against his chest, and he turned my head toward him for a kiss that stole my breath. Roberto undid the buttons on my pants with a kind of frantic grasping that I understood. Now that I'd agreed, I wanted them with such a desperate intensity that I batted his hands aside and removed my pants myself. All without breaking contact with Matthew. Stephen groaned and yanked the shirt down, using the wide neck to bare my breasts. The collar caught beneath them, pushing them up into his face. He grasped both without hesitation and swapped between them, using his lips and teeth to tease the taut nipples. I braced my hands on his broad shoulders, enjoying the flex and pull of muscles. Roberto slid a hand between my legs and cupped my sex as I rocked over his palm, a low keening sound slipping between my parted lips that Matthew refused to relinquish. A single finger slid inside me, and Roberto used his thumb to play with my clit. That was all it took to push me to the edge. I wasn't ready to fall over it just yet, but he made every thrust deep and satisfying. I murmured against Matthew's lips. "I want one of you inside me." Roberto added a second finger. "Soon, sweetheart. Let us enjoy this a little bit longer. It's been too long." He kissed my ribs, then my inner thigh. I didn't know how they were everywhere all at once without getting in each other's way, and I didn't care. Matthew slid his hands down my hips, grasped my inner thighs, and brought one leg up over the back of the couch while the other draped over his knee. "Give her more, Roberto. I want to see everything." He loved watching. I'd learned that the first night when Roberto fucked me right in front of him. They all enjoyed seeing me come, which meant they made it happen over and over. Roberto grunted. "I have an idea." He removed his hands and motioned for Matthew to stand. "Bedroom." Matthew stood with me in his arms and carried me down the hallway to Roberto's bedroom. I hadn't been surprised the first time they brought me here. The room was exactly what I expected from Roberto. A mural of an Italian landscape took up an entire wall, and a massive bed rested directly across from it. Matthew lowered me onto the soft mattress and took a step back. Roberto stripped, motioning for them to do the same. I could watch them undress a million times and never grow tired of the view. I'd offered to help a few times, but watching them was an erotic experience all by itself. By the time they were all naked and Roberto had whispered something to them too low for me to hear, I thought I might come apart the instant one of them touched me. Stephen slid onto the bed first, sitting all the way at the head of the bed with his back propped against a mountain of pillows. He winked at me. "We have something special for you, Harmony. I want you to suck my cock." I arched a brow and flipped onto my hands and knees, crawling toward him. "I've done that before." "Are you saying it's not special?" Roberto asked as he joined us on the bed. I laughed. "No. Just waiting for what else you plan on doing to me." I lowered my head to Stephen's cock and licked him before wrapping my lips around the head and pulling him into my mouth. I kept my hands on either side of his thighs and stroked deep. His groan was full of satisfaction. "Show her, Roberto." Roberto grabbed my hips and pulled me down. I couldn't figure out what was happening until his tongue slid along my opening and thrust inside. Shit. I gasped at the sensation of his face between my legs while trying to hold my weight off him. "Ride his face, Harmony." Stephen brushed hair from my temples and anchored his hands on either side of my jaw. "It's what he wants. And Matthew wants to watch." I let my body weight go and settled more firmly on Roberto's tongue. He wrapped his arms around my thighs and held me there, his grip hard as iron. Stephen thrust into my mouth, causing me to rock onto Roberto. "That's it." Matthew's voice came from close by, then his hands were on my breasts. He teased my nipples, pinching one, then the other as the first shudder ran throughout my body. A single mother returns to the city she left seven years ago after breaking up with her ex to seek treatment for her son’s leukemia. Upon learning of her return, the ex immediately searches for the lo...