Theirs to Keep by Maya Banks Page A

several phone calls and was proud of the fact that she actually sounded like she knew what the hell she was talking about.
    By the time Cade and Merrick walked into the office, Cade’s desk was neat and tidy, and she could see the top in several places.
    Cade and Merrick both stared at her with narrowed eyes, and then Merrick frowned.
    “What the hell have you been doing? We don’t expect you to come in and work your ass off all day.”
    She smiled. “I have singlehandedly made your lives easier. I’ve organized everything. Every single piece of paper, your contracts, invoices, checks, follow-ups. It’s all filed in folders marked accordingly, and I set up an electronic calendar with reminders that will pop up on your cell phones as well as your email and your desktop computers.”
    “She’s scary,” Charlie piped up. “I hid in the corner.”
    Cade laughed. “Sounds like you cleaned up after our slobby asses.”
    Elle nodded. “I even answered the phones. I took messages and left them for each of you on your desks.”
    “Well, hell,” Merrick muttered. “Looks like we owe you dinner at least.”
    Her mood brightened. “Like go out to eat?” Then her face fell. “But don’t you have to go back to the gym tonight?” she asked Merrick.
    Cade and Merrick exchanged surprised glances. She couldn’t blame them. She hadn’t ventured out of their home or their office in the three weeks she’d been with them. But today she felt freer and she felt safe. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life hiding, and as long as she was with Cade and Merrick, she knew they wouldn’t allow anything to hurt her.
    So yeah, she wanted to go out to an actual restaurant and do something normal, like eat a good meal and discuss the day.
    “You pick it, and we’ll make it happen,” Cade said, a smile broadening his features.
    “I don’t have to be anywhere but where I want tonight,” Merrick said.
    “Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. The last thing she wanted was to interfere in Merrick’s routine.
    “Absolutely,” Merrick said. “Now tell us what you’d like to eat.”
    She pursed her lips a moment and then pondered what sounded good to her.
    “Do you have any good Thai places local? I don’t know why, but right now I’d sell my soul for some really good Thai food.”
    “As a matter of fact, there’s one three blocks from here,” Merrick said. “Charlie, you in?”
    Cade’s dad shook his head. “You kids go on and have fun. This old man is going home to have a beer and some leftover pizza.”
    He bent over to kiss Elle’s cheek, and then he waved at Cade and Merrick as he headed out of the office.
    “You sure you feel up to going out?” Merrick asked.
    She nodded. “Yeah, I want to. I need to. I can’t go on hiding in your house and your office. Not to mention, I’ll end up going stir-crazy. I know you won’t let anything happen to me. I trust you, so I’m not afraid.”
    Cade reached over to touch her cheek. “That’s good, Elle. Because it’s absolutely true. Merrick and I aren’t going to let anything happen to you again.”
    Merrick reached for her hand to pull her to her feet. “Let’s go, sweetheart. I’m starving.”
    She walked out of the office and to the car solidly between the two men. And the hell of it was, it felt completely natural. Right there between them. Them flanking her protectively.
    Just like she belonged to both of them.
    And maybe she did. Maybe she already knew that.
    But did they? And how would they react to such an absurd idea?

C H A P T E R     T E N
     
    ELLE’S STOMACH WAS FULL OF butterflies as she sat in the locker room where Merrick was preparing for his bout. Cade and Dallas were in the next room where Merrick was in the final leg of his routine when he mentally got set for the task ahead. Charlie sat next to her, along with a number of people Elle didn’t know.
    They were all involved with Merrick. His camp, as Charlie called them. Oh they’d been