Bought by the Billionaire Brothers 5 (4 page)

“I need a shower,” she said quickly rising.

“I like the smell of us on you,” Nolan said, reaching for her but she moved out of reach with a short smile and Nolan sighed. “All right. You go shower and we’ll see about food. It’s going to be a long night and you’re going to need your strength.”

Penny ducked a short nod and practically ran from the room clutching the blanket to her body. Tears blinded her as she locked herself in the bathroom, her heart beating erratically. What was wrong with her? She was going completely bananas. The twins were good men. They’d never do anything to hurt her. Dillon had used her as a pawn in his little game and she’d been grievously hurt in the process. So why…why on God’s green earth was she feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of spending another moment in the twins’ embrace? She scrambled to turn the shower on full blast with plenty of heat. She climbed into the marble enclosure and went straight under the scalding spray. She welcomed the agony as the hot water sprayed needles of pain across her skin. She gritted her teeth and remained under the spray, regardless that it was way too hot for comfort, considering it penance for putting a price on her values and integrity. Tears stung her eyes and she let them fall as she cried beneath the water, glad she was alone in her misery at least for the moment.

#

“We’re losing her,” Nolan said, worried when Penny’s shower took longer than necessary and when he went to check on her, found the bathroom door locked. “Whatever Dillon said to her, changed the way she feels about us.”

“No, she’s just shook up over the whole incident. She’ll be fine,” Vince said, waving away Nolan’s concerns as he was too busy preparing their plates from the restaurant he’d ordered from. Ordinarily,
Jacques
didn’t do take-out but they always made a special exception for the Buchanans. Vince stood back and grinned. “Nothing like gourmet cuisine delivered right to your door. Where’s Penny? How long does it take to rinse off?” he asked, mildly annoyed that she hadn’t returned.

“She locked the door,” Nolan said. “I’m telling you, she’s changed. It’s going to take more than a few good fucks to get her
back on our side.”

“You worry too much. After what just happened, that woman will do whatever we say. Brother, you have a lot to learn about bending a woman to your will. Sometimes, you’re too soft and sweet when they really want a firm hand on their ass.”

“I’ve never heard any complaints,” Nolan said with a scowl. Sometimes his brother had the sensitivity of an IRS agent bent on auditing an 86-year-old woman for a minor tax infraction. “I think Penny needs to feel that she’s more than just an expensive fuck toy. She needs to feel loved.”

At the mention of the word “love” Vince stilled and Nolan knew exactly where his thoughts had veered. “Penny is nothing like Isabel,” Vince said. “She’s stronger, more stable.”

“We said we wouldn’t make the same mistakes but I think maybe we are.”

“What do you mean?”

Nolan sighed and leaned his head back against the plush cushion of the sofa. “Hell, I don’t know, I just feel we’re screwing something up. Maybe this was a terrible idea; not for us but for Penny. She’s a good girl. Sweet and fragile. That’s the part that reminds me of Isabel.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“We need to be more gentle with her. We went way too fast this time.”

“I couldn’t help myself,” Vince said regretfully, agreeing with Nolan. “
There’s just something about her that drives me wild. I don’t want to lose her.”

“Me either. We need to get Dillon out of her head.”

“His dick must spurt magic rainbows or some kind of charmed shit because he’s like the pied piper of seducing women,” Vince grumbled. “I’m so sick and tired of being in Dillon’s shadow. What’s he got that we don’t?”

Nolan quieted as a different memory returned to him, one that he knew Vince tried hard to forget.

“Let us take care of you,” Vince’s voice echoed from the past as they held Isabel’s hand while she cried. “You don’t need Dillon. We’ll be there for you.”

“I don’t understand,” Isabel said, sniffling into the tissue Nolan had handed her. “He looked at me as if he hated me. I don’t understand what I said wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Vince was quick to assure her, resting his hand gently on her shoulder. “It’s all Dillon’s fault. He’s a jerk and it’s about time he realize that he can’t treat people like garbage. You are a treasure. If you were our girl…we’d never let you go.”

Isabel stared with red-rimmed eyes and asked with a soft hiccup, “What do you mean?” She looked to both brothers
in confusion as she awaited their answer.

If Nolan had known then how things would unfold, he would’ve forced Vince from the track he was traveling. He’d been so obsessed with having Isabel but
Vince hadn’t realized what wheels they were about to set in motion when they’d begun working on Isabel.

Vince clasped Isabel’s hand and drew her close, brushing his lips across her
hand as he looked at her in earnest, saying, “You deserve better than Dillon. You deserve the finest life has to offer. We could give you that. Our father has cut Dillon off. He can’t provide for you now, and honestly, I’m not even sure he wouldn’t grow tired of you within a year. We would give you the moon and treat you like a princess…”

“But Dillon—“

“Dillon is gone,” Vince had cut in. “But we’re not going anywhere.”

Looking back, Nolan couldn’t help but wonder if Isabel had known she was pregnant and was desperately hoping to convince one of them to care for her child and give it the Buchanan name but seeing as she took her own life before sharing the news, Nolan could only wonder. Either way, they should’ve known not to push Isabel when she
’d been so vulnerable but Vince had been unwilling to listen.

Nolan’s reverie was cut short by Vince as he pulled him back to the present but Nolan was grateful; the past was filled with dangerous pitfalls for them both.

“I don’t want to hurt Penny but I don’t want Dillon to have her either,” Vince admitted. “The bastard doesn’t deserve her.”

“Like he didn’t deserve Isabel?” Nolan said with a twist of his lips that made Vince scowl.

“Yeah, that’s about right.”

“
Did you ever think how things might’ve been different if we hadn’t gone after Isabel like we had?”

“Fuck, Nolan. Why do you have to bring up Isabel
every bleeding second?”

“I guess I’m finally growing a conscience,” Nolan retorted. “We were wrong. What we did was wrong. Maybe it’s time to atone for that.”

“You want to atone for something, go to church and say a few ‘Hail Marys’ and nut up for Christ’s sake. Penny and Isabel are nothing alike and we’re not doing anything wrong,” Vince said, his voice rising to a near shout, which meant Nolan had managed to get under his skin. Vince threw his hands up. “Fuck this. I’m going out. I need a breather.”

“What about Penny?” Nolan asked, irritated that his brother was bailing.

“You’re the bleeding heart, you figure something out.” Then, he added with a frustrated gesture, “Just tell her to go home. She doesn’t want to be with us anyway. She wants that asshole Dillon. Just like Isabel did.” With that he stormed from the room and in the distance, Nolan heard a door slam as Vince left the house.

Nolan stared at the perfectly prepared food and shook his head at the muck they were all wallowing in and wondered how the hell they hadn’t seen this coming. Penny was an amazing girl —
 and just like Isabel — much too tender-hearted for an arrangement like theirs.

Nolan pushed away from the counter, leaving the food behind.

No one had ever accused the Buchanans of being noble but Nolan hated the heartache he saw in Penny’s eyes. It was just too damn close to the pain he’d once seen reflected in the gorgeous cornflower blue of someone else’s eyes.

Someone else who’d fallen in love with Dillon.

#

Dillon saw her from a distance, not that he’d been in the park by accident, but he hadn’t been prepared for the jolt to his senses seeing her would create.
Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulder, exposing the gentle slope of her neck that he distinctly remembered kissing, and she appeared to be daydreaming as she people-watched. Dillon scanned the area, looking for his brothers and when he didn’t see either of the twins, he took that as a sign that it was time to talk.

“
You should have a jacket.”

His observation startled Penny as she swiveled around to see him. Immediately her eyes lit up with a light she couldn’t have possibly known radiated her entire face but she shut it down just as quickly. “If you’re looking for your brothers, they aren’t here,” she said pointedly as she dismissed him with a glance.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Yes. I do mind. Go away.”

He ignored her and sat beside her, ostensibly to people-watch as well but in truth, he had so many things he wanted to say but the words seemed caught in his throat. He’d hurt Penny terribly. The path to redemption might’ve been a simple apology but he knew she deserved far more than a few careless words thrown her way. Problem was, he didn’t even know where to start. Apologies weren’t exactly his forte. But before he could even try to formulate the appropriate attempt, Penny was on her feet. “If you won’t leave, I will,” she said, dusting her behind and grabbing her purse.

He was on his feet in a flash. “Penny, wait.”

She stopped, her stare wary but he’ll be damned if he didn’t see a hint of yearning in those chocolate eyes as well and he was going to bank on the latter as he tried to make sense of what he was feeling. “Please give me a chance to explain,” he started but she shook her head.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you have a way of twisting real emotion into a knot until it serves your purpose and I don’t need any more
Buchanans messing with my head.”

“Who else is messing with you?”
Dillon asked, immediately protective. “What did Vince and Nolan do?”

“Nothing. None of your business.”

“Have they hurt you?”

“No more than you.”

Okay, he deserved that. He tried again. “Penny, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said quietly, hoping she heard his earnest apology couched with the admission.

But either she didn’t hear it or she didn’t believe him for she sent him a hard stare as she said, “You did hurt me.
Worse than either of your brothers because unlike you, they never lied to me. They never used me to get back at someone else for something that happened years before I met them.”

“No, they just used you period. I suppose that makes them the good guys?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, but you’re willing to stay with them aren’t you?” God, he hated how he spit the words out but he couldn’t help it. He hated the idea of Penny fucking his brothers —
 the thought was enough to drive him to do something reckless and stupid.

“
Does it bother you that I am willing to honor my agreement or that you didn’t think of it first? You fucked me for far less honest reasons than either of your brothers. At least they were up front with me from the start. You, on the other hand…”

“I never promised you a happily ever after,” he said, stiffening.

“No, but you lead me to believe that you truly cared about me.”

“I do care about you.”

Her eyes glazed with sudden tears and her mouth trembled. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

“Penny…”

She backed away, as if needing more distance between them and he had to fight the urge to follow but he knew if he took one step toward her, he’d drag her into his arms and never let go. The startling realization made him take a step back, swallowing with difficulty. “Whatever. Go back to the men who bought your integrity for their own satisfaction. You seem to prefer their company over mine. Thanks for the memories, babe,” he said, adding with a cruel flippant smile. “At least I know my brothers’ are getting their money’s worth — you were a fabulous fuck.”

Penny lifted her chin, her eyes glittering with unshed tears and he felt like a royal shit but his pride wouldn’t allow him to beg. “I hope I never see you again.
Ever
,” she ended on a whisper and walked away without once looking back.

Dillon wanted to swear at the sky, throw things and chase after her all at the same time but he
did nothing. Instead, he stood as if he’d suddenly sprouted thick roots into the soft ground, and watched her go until he couldn’t see her any longer.

It was better this way, he told himself.

So why did it feel as if a MMA fighter had just landed a roundhouse kick to his sternum?

Just fucking fabulous…

He was not falling for Penny McDaniel. He just didn’t want anyone else to touch her. And when he thought of his brothers doing the things he wanted to do to her, he wanted to break something — preferably their aristocratic noses.

A piece of paper said she belonged to Vince and Nolan.

But was his heart trying to tell him that she belonged to him?