mass of subservience.

Interesting, and a direction I found interesting, but I wasn’t the kind to let anyone control me. “Hmmm, not your thing.”

“No, but it is nice to watch, Miss Maples.” I didn’t mind watching at all. The woman was an expert at what she offered; I could see that from the way she’d wrung the man out already.

“Allana is good; I’ll give you that.” She breathed in deep and then tugged at my arm. “Come along.”

We moved then to a room of white, lit by more gas lamps. The bed was white, the walls, the floor, even the hangings on the four poster bed were white.

The only spot of color came from the two women on the bed. They touched tenderly, sweetly, and I wanted to watch, but this wasn’t what I wanted either.

“I think this is more your style, Mr. James.” Her throaty voice all but purred.

A woman in a room of black, naked except for a mask across her eyes and

the black silk around her wrists. A man with a crop stood over her, and I stopped.

Yes, this was more my style. Definitely.

5

EMILY

Days passed, and I hadn’t heard from Roxie, but that might have been

my own fault. I’d been busy. I finally found a place of my own, a real

house, that was all mine. It was an exclusive place with a keypad on the large steel gate that kept the huge fence around the place locked up tight. I’d been busy buying furniture and a car.

I’ve never owned a car before, or furniture, but there was a first time for everything, right? I spent a week getting the place set up, and then, I finally talked to my family in a conference call on Skype. At first, there’d been confusion.

“But, Emily, we love you. What is this about?” Trent asked from his camera, and I glared.

“You love me?” I shot back, my face red with anger and hurt. “Or am I just

convenient? Do any of you know I’m a real human being?”

“Emily! What a thing to ask! Of course, we know you’re real,” Mason started, but I interrupted him.

“When is my birthday?” I asked pointedly, looking straight into the camera

on my phone.

The three of them muttered across the screen on my phone, and I just smiled grimly. “It was last week. Trent, you didn’t even remember when you asked me to watch the kids. You just thanked me for watching them and said goodbye because you were too exhausted to even sit with me for a little while.”

“I’m, Emily, I’m very sorry.” I heard contrition in his voice, but it didn’t

help.

“Emily, I can’t believe I forgot, honey. I’m just, wow … sorry, babe.” That from Kevin, the brother closest to my age.

Mason muttered his own apology, and I could see from his face he meant it.

That didn’t change the fact that things like this happened often, but every single one of them knew how to contact me when they wanted something. “From now

on, you’ll have to find a nanny or babysitter to take care of the children. I’d like to have some of my own one day, and if I’m constantly looking after yours, I won’t find a man to do that with.”

They all murmured in agreement and looked ashamed. So they should, I thought to myself. I’d given them a lot of my life, all of it up until now, and for once, it was time to think of myself. “I’m not walking out of your lives completely. I’m just asking for some space of my own. Surely you all understand that?”

“Well, yes, it was part of the reason I spent so much time in England before Ember came along,” Kevin said quickly, in support.

“Kevin’s right. I had my own place in the mountains, far away from our real lives until Dad pulled his shenanigans.” That came from Trent.

“I used to party to escape. I partied all over the world. You’ve never done anything like that, Emily. I see your point now. You’ve had to take care of three brothers all this time. I support your decision too.”

“Thank you.” The conversation had ended soon after, but I did get calls from the wives. All of them were contrite too and supported my plans.

I needed to make roots somewhere, and I needed to be out of the Thompson

loop. I didn’t want to break all ties with my family; I just wanted time to live, to breathe, where I didn’t have to worry that I’d have to fix some catastrophe or another that my brothers had created.

Now, I was in my own home with a car in the garage, and I counted myself

lucky. The income I had from the family business, an income my father had set up on the day I was born, paid the huge amount of money I’d just spent on my new life. I sent Roxie a message and waited for her reply.

We agreed to meet, and I gave her directions to my new home.

“Wow, this place is nice, Emily!” She walked around the living room and kitchen with me, and I showed her the pool in the back. It was heated, so I could use it even in the cooler months. Then I took her to the upper floor.

“I’ve only decorated one of the bedrooms, right now. I have … plans for the other rooms,” I stumbled and didn’t know what to say that would reveal too much.

“I get it,” she said and patted my arm as I showed her the empty rooms and

the upstairs bathroom. There was one in my bedroom and another downstairs, so there were plenty of those.

The tour took the pressure off of me to explain that I wanted to turn one into an office, one room into a nursery one day, and one into a playground for me.

And the baby’s daddy.

The baby part could wait; I wasn’t in a huge rush about that. I was hoping Roxie would help me with the getting-the-man part.

“It’s a beautiful house, Emily, it really is.” She smiled and hugged me.

“You’re getting there.”

“I am. I told them all finally that I’m done playing super-nanny. I’ll watch the kids from time to time, but right now, I need this.”