Chapter Twenty-seven
***Griff***
Ilookedovera patient’s file in my office while trying to force myself to focus. It’d been a few days since the club, and I was trying to think of surgery while sporting a permanent erection those days. Autumn had been sore and busy with the kids, so I hadn’t gotten a chance to spend much time with her. None of us had. We’d all been busy. I was aching to see more of her, though.
Sitting back at my desk, I scrubbed my hands down my face and groaned. I’d never felt so obsessed with a woman. Autumn was constantly on my mind. Even when I sat next to her at breakfast, it wasn’t enough. I wanted her in my lap, straddling me. Even that wasn’t close enough. I needed to be in her, in some way.
Things had never been that way with Stacy. She’d been a stunning model when we met, but it wasn’t wild and desperate like it was with Autumn. Stacy had been nice and easy to have dinner with. After Jones was born and I saw how detached she was from him, I’d started questioning her. Then, Caroline came along, and the control started. Stacy wanted Caroline to follow in her footsteps, so she could have some kind of mother-daughter modeling experience.
Modeling was dangerous for young girls, though. Stacy was a prime example of that. She was obsessed with her looks and if anything went wrong with an outfit, she melted down. She felt immense pressure to be perfect. That had led to pills from a doctor, and then pills from stolen prescription pads from my office, and then finally pills from whatever asshole was selling them on the street. She’d managed to get caught publicly buying drugs and had spent a month in rehab before checking herself out and demanding that I let her have the kids full time.
I groaned and rubbed my forehead as a headache started. There was no way the kids could stay with her. Not if they were ever going to have a chance at being even remotely healthy. It was bad enough that I didn’t know what to do with them. I was as detached as Stacy. I wanted more. I wanted everything. I just didn’t know how to get it. My father had never been very hands on with us.
I looked through my calendar and tapped on the date set a few months away. Another court date. Stacy wanted more time, more custody of the kids. Until she was clean, though, there was no way I was allowing it. I would do whatever it took to make sure they were safe.
There was a gentle knock on my office door and then Autumn poked her head in. I found myself smiling, happy for the pleasant distraction. “Come in.”
She shut the door behind her and leaned against it. “Hi.”
I pushed away from my desk and motioned her forward. “Come here, Autumn.”
Her smile stretched across her face as she practically bounced forward, her body covered in a full-length skirt and a tank top. “Hey! I had a few minutes free. Con took Grace to see her mother and your babies are sleeping. It’s a miracle.”
I caught her arm and pulled her into my lap. That was better. “I’ve missed you.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and sank into me. “I’ve actually missed you, too. I don’t know what to do with myself without anyone to argue with constantly. It’s been boring.”
“Are you trying to say that I’m more exciting than my brothers?”
“I’m trying to say that I’ve barely seen any of you. Since that night…” She looked down and a frown tugged at her lips. “Was it too much? Too weird, I mean? I thought maybe you two didn’t want to say anything in front of each other, but it’s just the two of us now. If it was weird to you, I understand.”
“Hey, Autumn?” I waited until she looked back up at me. “Shut up.”
She laughed and leaned into my chest. “You shut up.”
I lightly slapped her hip and stole a kiss. “Are you feeling any regrets about it?”
She shook her head. “I feel like I should be. You know? It was…bold. I’ve never done anything like that. The craziest sex I’ve ever had has all been here. Part of me feels like the slutty help, but the rest of me feels like I should take advantage of this while I can.”
“You’re not the slutty help. You’re an amazing nanny who also happens to have the sweetest pussy I’ve ever tasted. I’m not sleeping with you because you’re the nanny, though. Stacy really was full of shit about that. I promise you.”
She nodded. “I know. I believe you.”
“Yeah?” I cupped her face and pulled her mouth down to mine in a deep kiss. She sighed into me and shoved her hands in my hair, pulling just enough to awaken every urge I had. “How long do you think they’ll be asleep?”
“Not long enough. I’m surprised they even nodded off, at all.” She stretched her legs across my lap and smiled sweetly at me. “I want to talk to you about my pay.”
I went still. Had I judged her wrong? I knew she needed the money, but she hadn’t seemed like the type of woman to scheme to get it.
“I need the money, of course, but it doesn’t feel right to be paid for twenty-four-hour days when I’m having sex with you or your brothers. I don’t like even the idea of you paying me for that.” She stroked my face and scratched her fingers through my beard. “So, if I’m having personal time at night, maybe you should cut the pay by a third? It’s still a ridiculous amount of money, and I still fully intend on extorting you for making me take the kids to Stacy’s, but I don’t want to blur the lines while sex is involved.”
My chest squeezed, and I blew out a massive gust of air I hadn’t known I’d been holding. I pulled her mouth to mine again and kissed her with everything I had. I was a fucking goner, I knew. Even if she had asked for money, I would’ve been too far gone to fight her. Instead, she’d tried to take less money. She had me wrapped around her finger but had no idea.
Autumn pulled back from my kiss and laughed. “What was that for?”
“How long until the kids wake up, you think?”
She bit her lip and looked up, thinking about it. “Twenty minutes, maybe.”
I slipped out of the chair and planted her on my desk. “That’s plenty of time for a snack.”
Her laugh was beautiful as she held on to me to keep from falling off the desk. “Griff!”
I knelt in front of her and started lifting her skirt. “Yeah?”
“We both know that if you start this, we’re not going to be finished until you’re buried in me, filling me with your come.”
“Fuck, I love your mouth.” Standing back up, I wrapped my arms around her and nipped her full bottom lip before slipping my fingers under her skirt. “Just a little bit. I just want to—”
The door to my office flew open and Stacy stormed in like she wasn’t forbidden from being anywhere near the home. She spotted Autumn instantly, and I saw her eyes narrow into dark slits. I pulled Autumn up and moved her behind me, doing my best to protect her from whatever vitriol was about to fly out of my ex’s mouth.
“You fucking slut. I knew it! Look at you, all over him. Where are my kids?” Stacy raged towards us, her face contorted with rage. I recognized the signs. She was coming down from a high, and it wasn’t going well.
“Out!” I shouted, stopping her instantly. “Get out of my house right now, Stacy, and I won’t call the cops.”
“Where did you stash my kids while you’re in here, screwing the help? Really, Griffin, I’d think you were better than that. Her? She’s a fucking loser. A no one. Worse than a no one. She’s a whore, getting paid to be here.”
Autumn moved out from behind me, her body tense and shaking. “You’re going to wake them up if you keep screaming. You’ll scare them.”
“I’ll scare my kids? Are you serious?” Stacy came closer. She was so angry that spit was forming at the corners of her mouth. “You really think you’re someone here, don’t you? You think that because Griffin puts his dick in you, he gives a shit about you? Newsflash, honey, you’re just the trash that will be taken out when the summer ends.”
I’d already pushed the button for security under my desk, but I was close to throwing Stacy out myself. Autumn was right. If the kids saw their mom like she was right then, they’d be traumatized. “Get the fuck out, Stacy. You’re not welcome here. I don’t know how you got in, but you’re seconds away from being arrested for trespassing.”
Two of my security team came into the room and stood on either side of Stacy. The lead, a man I’d trust with my life, looked at Autumn and me and winced. “Ma’am, you need to come with us.”
Stacy made a last-ditch effort to rush Autumn. She didn’t make it very far before Tom grabbed her and pulled her back, but that didn’t stop her from verbally lashing out. “I’ll find out exactly who you are, bitch. I’ll find out everything about you, and I’ll fucking ruin you. You’ll regret the day you ever thought you were more than the trashy piece of shit you are.”
“Enough!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Get her the fuck out of here. And find out who the fuck let her in.”
I turned to Autumn and gently covered her ears as Stacy kept screaming out threats. My hands shook with rage as I did my best to calm down. Staring down at Autumn’s pale face, I watched as her big eyes found mine and stilled. Her cheeks flushed and tears filled her eyes, but she gritted her teeth, the tension in her jaw so clear under my hands. Her shoulders straightened, and she stepped away from me, her unshed tears blinked away.
“I need to go make sure the kids didn’t hear that.”
“Autumn—”
She raised her hand to cut me off. “I’m barely holding my shit together. I want to fly out of here and rip her to shreds, but she’s their mother and I’m going to respect that. I just need some time to cool off, Griff.”
She moved with a grace I couldn’t comprehend, her skirt swaying behind her in the breeze that she created. She was furious, her entire body shaking. I knew her mouth, knew the way she didn’t take shit, yet she’d remained silent and respectful in the face of Stacy’s bullshit. For the kids. For my kids.
I sank into my chair and rubbed my fist over my chest, feeling more of the same ache there. If Autumn hadn’t been completely under my skin before, she’d just set up basecamp on top of my heart.
I dropped my head back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the fuck I was going to do if the end of the summer came and she picked Zeke or Con. I loved my brothers, but I wasn’t sure I could walk away and let them keep her.