Today is a big day for two reasons, it’s the day we finally roll out FLAG, and it’s my first real date with all four Michaelson brothers. I haven’t seen much of them since our conversation last week because the shop has kept me so busy. Who knew people would buy so many edibles? I’m debating hiring someone to do nothing but bake everything for me. I can’t keep up with it all anymore.

The ladies all have their supplies and have gone off to begin selling FLAG. Even if the Board of Directors don’t know it, today is a big day for Du-Kane, Inc. Zoe and I see everyone off, almost like we are moms dropping our kids off for the first day of school. It’s slightly comical.

“Come on, Al. Lets hit up that diner down the street for some breakfast. I’m in the mood for pancakes, bacon, sausage, potatoes, eggs, and maybe a waffle or two.”

“Really, Zoe? That’s all you want?”

“I forgot the fresh orange juice and hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. Thanks for reminding me.”

I laugh when she jabs her finger into my side. “I could actually go for a waffle about now.”

We eat an amazing breakfast where Zoe does, in fact, order half of the menu. I may or may not have helped her finish off everything. Once we’re able to get up, we roll ourselves outside and come to a stop. The parking lot is fairly small and I know I remembered where I parked my car, but the car in the spot where I left mine couldn't be my old Honda Accord. My Accord isn’t spray painted with the words “honkey, whore, slut, or dead” on it. It also had four newer tires, not these that are all flat.

“Holy hell, Alice. Who would do this to your car?”

I shake my head, unable to form any words right now. Certainly Zoe is mistaken. This, this thing, couldn’t be my car.

“We need to call the police. Maybe someone saw who did this.”

I start walking closer and notice two things: one, my name with an X through it has been painted on the driver’s door, and two, there is a very long knife sticking out of the driver’s side front tire.

Overwhelmed, a sob breaks free and I fall to my knees on the unforgiving asphalt. Who could be so cruel to do this to me? In the distance I hear Zoe talking to someone, but the words don’t penetrate the fog I seem to be in. Moments later I hear sirens in the distance, but before I can pick myself up off of the ground, a strong pair of hands are there, lifting me up.

“It’s alright, sweetheart. I’m here.”

I turn my head to see North. “What are you doing here?”

He nods his head and I look over to see Zoe speaking with a pair of police officers. “Zoe called me after she called them. My brothers are all in a meeting back at the office. I got here as fast as I could.”

“Take me home, North.”

“Alice, the police…”

I place my fingers over his mouth. “Please, North. I just want to go home. Zoe can deal with all of this.”

North kisses me on the cheek, then leaves me to head for Zoe. I watch them speak together for a moment before he taps her on the back then heads back to me.

“Let’s go, Alice. The police will bring Zoe home after they finish looking at your car. Do you need me to stop on the way for anything?”

“No, thank you. I just want to go home.”

North drives me back to my house. After I unlock the door, I head straight upstairs to my room with North following silently behind me. Once in there, I kick off my shoes and fall into my bed.

I see North standing by the door watching me. I scoot over to one side and tap the other. “Come lay down with me for a second?”

North removes his shoes, socks, and jacket, then climbs in beside me. We both lay on our backs, staring up at nothing.

“Do you have any idea who did this, or why they would want to vandalize your car like that?”

“I honestly have no idea. The only person I can think of that doesn’t like me is Uncle Richie, and this is too low, even for him.” I turn my head to look at North. “You did say Vivian went back to California, didn’t you?”

North turns his head toward me and laughs. “Yes, Vivian is back in California. Besides, can you see her going anywhere near a can of spray paint?”

“No, I don’t think I could.” I turn my head and look back up at the ceiling. Slapping myself in the face for being so stupid and blind. “Shit. I know who did this.”

“Who?”

“Sally’s ex-pimp. It has to be him. None of the other pimps know who I am or what happened to the girls. Why didn’t I think of this before?”

North rolls onto his side. “Alice, what are you talking about? What pimps?”

I take a deep breath, knowing this is not going to go well. “North, the warehouse full of ladies–” I wait until he acknowledges me “– are all ex-prostitutes.”

“How did you become involved with twenty ex-prostitutes, Alice?” North asks me with a calm and calculated look on his face.

“One night, Zoe and I were leaving dinner and we ran into Sally. We went to the same school together before I left for boarding school. Anyway, we were catching up when a man came up to us.” I close my eyes, remembering the horrible man that Sally had once given her life to. “He said we could pay him for the night, so I did. I paid him a thousand dollars, brought her home, and fed her. She told us everything. I couldn’t let her go back, North. I just couldn’t live with myself knowing she was living that awful life and I did nothing to help her.” I feel the tears swelling in my eyes but I blink them back. “Anyway, after listening to her, I got the warehouse idea. We already owned it and half was renovated, so it just made sense to finish it and use it to help others like Sally. These are the ladies she knew with families that needed to get out. I rented a van, hired a driver, they grabbed what they could, and then we snuck them out.”

North rubs his hand down his face. “Jesus, Alice. You didn’t think to tell us this? We would have helped you.”

This is what sucks so bad about keeping FLAG from them. I can’t tell them about it, not yet. “I’m sorry, North. Zoe and I thought we had it all under control.”

“Obviously you didn’t if that guy found you and destroyed your car. Alice, promise me you won’t do anything crazy that could come back to harm you in anyway. Remember, we’re all in this together now. Let us be there for you.”

I take a moment to study North and the words he’s saying. He’s right. I can’t tell them about FLAG, but if I want this relationship to work, I need to let them in more and trust them. “Okay. I hear you and I understand.”

North must sense my honesty, because he smiles at me before leaning over and taking full possession of my lips. The kiss surprises me and it takes a few seconds before I give in and open my mouth for him. I’m surprised by his wild abandonment because North is always so poised and restrained. I don’t give it one more thought as I roll him over so that he is laying on his back with me straddling his hips. I’m not wasting my time anymore. I’m now taking control of this situation. The message on my car has me shaken and I’m ready to forget my troubles. At least for the afternoon. North and I kiss each other with a fierceness as we attempt to remove each others clothes. I pull away from the kiss and stand up from the bed, stripping as fast as I can.

I point at the sexy man on my bed. “You have too many clothes on.”

North smirks at me. “Your wish is my command, sweetheart.” He stands up and begins to remove the offending clothing.

Once North is completely naked and laying back down, I get back on the bed, crawling up his legs. However, when I see his very impressive cock, I’m worried it won’t fit. I am definitely not a virgin, but this is no average penis. North looks at me with a smirk that says he knows what I’m thinking. I notice the precum glistening on the tip and that’s all the incentive I need. I wrap my hand around his shaft as best as I can. Damn, this man is thick. Well, I symbolically put on my big girl panties, and swallow him as far as I can, keeping my hand at the base of his shaft so I don’t choke. I’m enjoying myself as I lick and suck his massive cock. I use my other hand to rub and roll his balls while scraping my teeth along his hardness. North trembles while grabbing my hair and pulling me off of him.

“Sweetheart, if you keep that up I won’t last.”

North flips me over and begins kissing my jaw line while making his way slowly down my neck. His little bites and nibbles are driving me wild, but there is only one place I want his mouth right now. I palm the top of his head, trying to push him where I want him the most, but he refuses to budge. He slowly and excruciatingly makes his way down to my breasts. I feel like throttling him until he begins sucking on my nipple while massaging the other with his large hand. The sensation is amazing, but it’s been a while for me and I’m about ready to explode. Once again, I palm the top of his head trying to send it farther south.

North chuckles. “So impatient.” He blows hot air across my nipples. “I’ll give you what you want, but next time, I will go slow and ravish every inch of your body.”

“I can handle that,” I say while pushing his head down farther.

North wastes no time latching on to my clit with his expert mouth. He sucks and bites, causing goosebumps to appear across my skin. I’m already in a state of frenzy before his finger enters me. I love my Rocket Rabbit, but it’s got nothing on this man. His finger thrusts in and out of my needy folds while his thumb is now rubbing my nub. I feel heat flow throughout my body and straight to my core. When his second finger enters me, he continues massaging my clit, and then his mouth clamps down on one of my nipples biting hard. The sudden mixture of pleasure and pain undoes me. The orgasm comes fast and hard, riding my body in waves of pleasure. North keeps pumping his fingers and licking my overly sensitive nipples until the tremors die down.

“Sweetheart, watching you cum is a thing of beauty. I plan to watch it over and over again.”

His words barely register in my foggy brain. That is, until he positions himself between my thighs and enters me with one hard thrust. This is not us making love, but him fucking me, and owning my body. We are all limbs and nails dragging down each others bodies with wild abandonment.

“Oh God, North! Fuck me harder!” I yell, while feeling the second orgasm flowing throughout my body.

I’m shaking and trembling while he pounds into me. I wrap my legs around his waist pulling him closer to me. His movements start to become erratic and I’m holding on to his back while he thrusts into me harder and harder. I lose all my senses when the next orgasm hits me and North grunts out my name. We’re laying there spent and sweaty, not knowing what to do next. North moves first, rolling over and placing sweet kisses along my neck.

I freak out.

Seriously, I begin to have a panic attack. Not because it wasn’t good. Oh no, it was amazing, but because I just had s-e-x with North without talking to the rest of his brothers first. I may have just ruined this relationship before it could even begin.

North grabs a hold of my chin and turns my head toward his. “Don’t overthink this, Alice. What we did, there is nothing wrong with it. I promise you, the only thing that my brothers will be upset about, is that they weren’t the first one to be with you.”

I close my eyes and try to let his words sink in.

Nope. I’m still about to have a panic attack.

“Alice, sweetheart, listen to me.” North chuckles, then stops abruptly when he sees the crazed look on my face. “Okay, I’ll tell you what. Let me call and tell them where I am. I know they all wanted to see you after this morning. They’ll come over and we can talk this out. Remember what we said, for this relationship between all five of us to work, we need to be open and honest with each other.”

I nod my head in agreement. “Call them, please.”

North kisses me quickly once again, before jumping up and grabbing his phone from his discarded pants. A minute later, he lays the phone back down. “They’ll be here in thirty minutes. Do you want to take a shower before they arrive?”

I climb out of my bed. “Yeah, I think I do.” I walk toward my bathroom and pause before going in. “Are you going to join me or just stand there staring at my ass?”

It takes North three strides to reach me. He picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder, and carries me into the shower. I have to remind him that we don’t have much time before the rest of the brothers arrive.

This man definitely knows how to utilize his time.