SARAH A shocked Jaxon rushes forward, brushing past Ronan who looks like he’s just seen the gate way to everlasting life. “A wheelchair?” His jaw all but drops to the ground as worry spreads across the lines of his annoyingly, breathtaking, handsome face. “Did something happen?” I roll my eyes. “You mean something more than the injury on my leg?” He lowers his gaze and I make an annoyed sound. When he looks up at me, there’s an innocent hurt in his eyes. Before, it’ll have had me pulling him in and cuddling him. Now, I know a man with a kill count of over a hundred doesn’t need a woman fondling his hair. What do they even want from me? “Why are you three here? I thought I asked you to stay away from me.” “We promised to give you space,” Malachi replies. My left brow raises. “Isn’t that what you should be doing?” “Baby…” “I’m not your baby.” “You are,” Ronan snaps. His tone is hard as steel, but his face is warm, welcoming. Those ethereal blue eyes of his threaten to pull me into his deep, blue sea. Snap out of it, Sarah. Stand your ground. “You always have, and you’ll always be. Now, can we come in so we can talk?” He stretches the bouquet to me with a smile on his face. “We’ve missed you, and we know you’ve missed us too. You can punish us forever, baby. But we need you. Please.” Okay, that’s cute. I mean, they did come all this way. It’ll only be fair to hear them out. There’s also the fact that I have something really important to tell them. I’m not letting them off too easily, am I? “Come in.” “Let me help you with that…” “It’s fine.” I hold my hand up to stop Jaxon from pushing my chair. “It’s automatic.” I press a button, and the chair turns right by 180 degrees, my back faces them. “You’ll be surprised at the things you could do with technology. Close the door when you’re in.” It’s not until I hear the door shut, that I turn to look at them. “Flowers in the kitchen. You know where I like them.” They’ve only brought flowers to this address themselves once, and they’ve visited once as well, with Kevin around. I’m not sure where my brother went, but this is the first time I’m alone with them since…that night. It feels familiar in the best and worst of ways. I watch them place the flowers in vases on the kitchen island. They put water into the jars and take them to the window. The evening sun casts a beautiful glow on the pink roses, and I smile at the sight. “We’re glad you like them.” Malachi’s voice snatches the smile off my face. “And we’re really sorry about the wheelchair.” I scoff. “It’s nothing. Turns out my house is a lot bigger than the hospital room. When Kevin’s not home, it’s hard to walk around on my own, so I use this. Helps me move from my study to the kitchen, and everywhere else besides the rooms upstairs.” “We’ll fix that.” Ronan responds, eyes fixed on the foot of my staircase. One look, and I already know what he’s planning to do. It takes me a lot not to scream at him. “You don’t need to swoop in and save the day. It’s temporary.” “Still, I don’t like the idea of being trapped down here whenever you’re home alone. If something happens…” I hiss, my tongue grazing the bottom of my teeth. “What? So you care about me now?” His gaze softens, they all do. Ronan steps forward, closing the distance between us. Every step he takes towards me makes my heart beat a little faster. He goes down on one knee, and I can barely breathe. “Of course we care about you, baby. We cannot stop it. Even if we try.” Fuck. My hands clench into fists on the armrest. It shouldn’t be this easy. I shouldn’t start to want them so soon after everything they’ve done, all the lies that they told. But if Kevin deserves a second chance, don’t they too? It’s like he said. I don’t know what I'd have done if I was in his shoes, if I had been the one who had to pick the pieces of our family and put it together. Would I have done things any differently? I sit, low and awkward, trying not to cry. “I don’t know how I can trust you again.” Like he’s under a spell, Malachi steps forward and drops to his right knee beside Ronan. “We would do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. We would be transparent as glass from now on. Whatever you ask, we swear we’ll tell you everything, the whole truth. We won’t leave anything else.” Am I dreaming? Are two of the HawkThorne brothers on their knees before me? Jaxon joins in next. He takes Ronan’s left, also on one knee. “You own us, Sarah. We’re yours. If you do this…if you decide to let us go…what will become of us?” My heart is racing faster than my brain can process. Cheeks burn bright red, and my legs…somewhere between them is swollen, soaking wet. Who would have thought seeing three men on their knees for me would be my undoing? I look away to hide my tomato red cheeks. “You’ll be fine. You were doing just fine before you met me.” “But that was before,” Ronan says. The emphasis his baritone places on the last word makes me look at him. “Seeing you in that bar that night was our end, the end of everything we thought we were, everything we thought we wanted. Sarah, baby…” he inches closer to me. “One look at you, and we laid ourselves bare at your feet. We asked to fuck you. That’s the least self control we’ve ever had. We have nothing…no control when it comes to you.” I blink, tearing my gaze away from him. “You hurt me.” “And we’ll punish ourselves forever for it.” “If you ever lie to me again…” “I’ll rip my tongue out before I ever do that.” Ronan cuts in. His palms cup the skin of my knee. He’s so tall, his head is slightly above mine even on his knees. Piercing blue eyes lock with mine, snatching every bit of air from my lungs as his lips curve into a pleasant smile. “I’m the meantime…” his fingers leave a trail of goosebumps as they caress my thighs, up to the bottom of my stomach. I bite my lip to hide my moan. No matter how small, I can’t let them see how they affect me. They’ll have to work for it. “…let this tongue worship you.” Fuck it. I should have known he wouldn’t go down without a fight.