Her Three Liberators [The Hot Millionaires #6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (4 page)

“Here we go,” she said to herself, heading purposefully for the stairs.

As soon as she opened the door to the family room, she knew she was in trouble. The atmosphere radiated testosterone and was dominated by three hulking jocks, all of whom topped six foot. They were standing around Daniel’s chair, chatting to him, but all conversation stopped with her arrival and three pairs of piercing blue eyes gave her the once-over.

Then the strangest thing happened. All three men were drinking wine. As one, they turned back to look at Daniel, raised their glasses high in the air in some sort of ritual, and clinked them together.

“Ah, Steffi, there you are, my dear.” Daniel’s eyes lit up. “You look lovely.”

“Sorry if I’m late.”

“You’re not late at all. Now, let me introduce you to my sons.”

Steffi shook each of their hands in turn, but her throat constricted and she couldn’t seem to find her voice. Her mental preparations to face Daniel’s intelligent, sophisticated, and wildly attractive sons were obviously woefully inadequate. She felt gauche, her extreme reaction to the touch of their respective hands not helping matters. It was as though she’d been struck by a cattle prod as they focused their full attention on her and flashed slow, sexy smiles, like they were impressed with what they saw. That was hardly likely, she reminded herself. There was nothing out of the ordinary about her, but it didn’t really matter what they made of her because she had no personal interest in any of them.

It was all very well trying to remain levelheaded but not so easily achieved, she soon discovered, especially when heat invaded her cheeks, giving away her annoyingly spontaneous admiration for all she saw. Still, they couldn’t possibly know that dampness had seeped between her legs, or that her nipples had woken up and taken interest in proceedings, could they?

Judging by the way that Jonny regarded her, a cynical and knowing light in his eye, she wondered if they actually could. Damn it, she absolutely didn’t need him thinking she’d got the hots for any of them. The sooner they cleared off again and left her and Daniel in peace, the better.

Each one of them had Daniel’s jet-black hair, thick and curling at the ends where it hit their collars. They all wore it too long, obviously too self-assured to care if they’d breached the unwritten rule of the boardroom. Each also had a different version of their father’s deep blue eyes. Jonny was the obvious alpha male, although Steffi wouldn’t have kicked any of them out of her bed.
Whoa, where did that thought come from?
Steffi was off men, period. Even so, she could appreciate a decent male physique along with the best of them, and they didn’t come in much better shape than these three hunks. They might spend their days closeted in offices, but it was obvious they were no strangers to the gym.

She accepted a glass of wine from Brad.

“You’ll enjoy this,” he told her. “Please pretend you do, even if you don’t,” he added in a theatrical whisper loud enough for them all to hear. “It’s one of our own, a prize-winning Cabernet Sauvignon
Gran Reserva
, so it has to be good. Besides, Daniel would sack me on the spot if you don’t approve.”

Steffi, put at her ease by Brad’s laid-back approach, took a sip and closed her eyes in appreciation, savouring the taste of the rich ruby liquid on her tongue before allowing it to trickle slowly down her throat. “It’s superb,” she said, meaning it.

“There you go, Daniel,” he said smugly. “The lady thinks I’m superb.”

“Er, that’s not exactly what I said.”

The brothers laughed, joshing Brad for being such a jerk, but Steffi’s mind had wandered. Daniel? They all addressed their father by his Christian name. Somehow that didn’t surprise her. Daniel wasn’t the orthodox type, which was one of the many things she loved about him. She smiled at something Daniel said in response to Brad, concentrating her gaze on the broad planes of Jonny’s back as she did so. He was an inch or two taller than his brothers and there was something about him, a not entirely civilized aura combined with lithe musculature and graceful coordination that set him apart as a natural leader. Just as well since presumably he was Daniel’s heir apparent, and Steffi would hate to see all Daniel’s hard work being frittered away. He was wearing jeans—all three of them were—and they clung to long legs that would look good wrapped round the sides of a horse.

Or me.

He turned and caught her staring. Unlike Harry and Brad, who seemed quite happy to treat her like a long-lost friend, Jonny merely raised a brow with an air of mild derision that angered her. He watched her with unnerving stillness for a moment or two before turning away as though she was too insignificant to waste his attention on.

Steffi’s fiery temper bubbled.
How dare he!

“The boys are anxious to meet Marius.”

Daniel’s voice recalled her to the present. “I’ll check his agenda.”

Harry and Brad laughed. Jonny didn’t.

“You still enjoying the wine, Steffi?”

Brad’s voice interrupted a silence that was in danger of becoming embarrassing as Jonny treated her to another insolent once-over. She refused to flounder beneath the weight of his obvious disdain and gave as good as she got by maintaining eye contact with him. His eyes were a darker blue than his brothers’, she noticed, rimmed with navy blue that seemed to spread to the irises when he saw something that displeased him.

Like her.

Outwardly, she appeared the epitome of calm, at least she hoped she did, but her insides churned with a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. Despite her best efforts to ignore it, for the first time since forever, the sensual side of her character had woken up. She disliked Jonny Malone for being an arrogant, egotistical, and condescending jerk.

She also wanted him so much that it was hard for her to think straight. Geez, what was wrong with her? Nothing could come of it, even if she did somehow manage to attract him, so what was the point?

“Oh, the wine’s lovely, Brad.” She drained her glass in one swallow. “In fact, I’ll have another, please.”

She only said it to be polite since the wine obviously mattered so much to Brad, but she could see from Jonny’s caustic gaze that he now had her pegged as a lush. Get over it, she told herself. She didn’t give a toss what Jonny Malone thought of her. She turned to Harry and asked him about his communication technology.

“Don’t ask unless you really want to know,” Daniel said, smiling. “Harry’s as enthusiastic about that sort of thing as I am.”

“She probably wouldn’t understand it anyway,” Jonny said in a tone that wasn’t even on nodding terms with politeness.

“And you would, big brother,” Harry teased.

Jonny grunted. “Point taken.”

He glanced at his father and some of the rigidity left his shoulders. The boys had obviously been told to be nice to her and Jonny didn’t want to upset Daniel. It was about the only aspect of his character that she found appealing.

Liar!

Coombes announced dinner. The boys headed for the door in a gaggle, obviously hungry. Steffi hung back, knowing Daniel needed help to stand up. Jonny glanced back, saw what she was doing, and was at her side in seconds.

“Here, let me.”

He extended a strong hand and helped Daniel to his feet far more easily than Steffi could have managed. Daniel thanked them both and then slipped Steffi’s arm through his.

“Privilege of old age,” he told his sons as he swept past them as fast as he could manage with Steffi at his side.

* * * *

Jonny fell into step behind them and shared a loaded glance with his brothers that said
what the hell have we got here?
Steffi Darwin wasn’t at all what Jonny had expected. What
had
he expected? Hell if he knew. All he did know was that his first sight of her had hit him squarely in the solar plexus—well, his cock to be more precise, and he wasn’t the slightest bit happy about that.

He and his brothers had discussed their father’s illness after Daniel dismissed them, trying to come to terms with the shock and railing against the unfairness of life. Harry was all for getting more opinions. He thought he’d read somewhere about some breakthrough treatment available and was determined to look into it. Jonny figured it was probably too late but, aware that his brother needed to feel he was doing something helpful, kept that opinion to himself.

Their discussion then turned to Daniel’s bizarre request regarding Steffi. When it came right down to it, he’d asked them in not so many words to fuck her. Jonny almost smiled at the memory. It was just about the only thing that had made him want to smile since he’d gotten home and learned Daniel’s devastating news. How many fathers actually encouraged their sons to behave that way? Harry and Brad didn’t see any harm in humouring him, but Jonny was suspicious by nature and wondered what precisely had fuelled the parental order. This female who’d inveigled her way into Daniel’s life at a time when he was at his most vulnerable wanted something from him. Women always did. Look no further than his three ex-wives and countless ex-mistresses if proof of that was necessary.

Half an hour after meeting her, Jonny was starting to doubt his usually sound judgement. She wasn’t trying to charm or impress, which in itself was impressive. All women tried to impress the Malone men. It’s just the way it had always been. Fuck it. That damned dress she was wearing made it hard for him to string more than a few coherent thoughts together. It moulded itself to her curves far too graphically for his comfort, and thoughts of her endless legs were going to cost him a sleepless night, he just knew it. He imagined all that horseback riding was responsible for toning them up, and images of her astride some lively mount only fuelled his jealousy.

Jealous? That was ridiculous. Jonny didn’t do jealously, especially not of a horse.

She looked tough yet vulnerable, intelligent but a little lost. She definitely held Daniel in great affection—there was no concealing the concern she felt over his condition—and yet she helped him without making it seem like a big deal. Jonny gave her credit for realizing that Daniel would hate to feel like the invalid he obviously was.

Steffi wasn’t beautiful in the accepted sense, but Jonny had had enough beautiful women to last him a lifetime. He had long since disregarded physical perfection in favour of women with something more than sawdust between their ears. It seemed as though Steffi qualified in that respect, he decided, watching her with interest as she chatted to his brothers. Her face was full of character. Yes, that was a great way to describe her. He almost smiled when he imagined how she’d react if he told her that. It might not sound like an accepted compliment, but it would be meant as one. There was resourcefulness in those big hazel eyes, tempered by a sense of fun and determination to succeed. But at whose expense?

Jonny didn’t entirely trust Steffi Darwin, but he was no longer quite so averse to his father’s plan for them to seduce her. In his extensive experience, pillow talk was the best way to find out what really made a person tick.

“Is the Standish’s mare still due to arrive tomorrow?” Daniel asked as they tucked into their appetisers. Well, the three brothers tucked in, but Jonny noticed his father merely pushing round his plate. He could see that Steffi, seated beside Daniel, noticed, too, but didn’t try to force him into eating. Presumably, she knew more about his dietary requirements than he did, so Jonny said nothing about it.

“No,” Steffi said, looking close to tears. “I forgot to tell you. They e-mailed to cancel.”

“Another one?” Daniel laid his silverware aside. “I’m sorry, Steffi, that must have come as quite a blow. The Standishes are influential in the American Hanoverian world. Not that you need me to tell you that.”

“It’s me who’s sorry, Daniel. You paid all that money for Marius and he’s not earning his keep. Not that it’s his fault,” she added, her loyalty to the horse causing Jonny’s lips to twitch. “I just wish I knew what’s going wrong.”

“Daniel mentioned earlier that you were looking into it,” Jonny said. “What did you find out?”

“Not a lot,” Steffi said, grimacing. “All the people I spoke to when they phoned to say they weren’t sending their mares to Marius made vague excuses. One mare was sick, another had been sold, that sort of thing.” She, too, laid her fork aside, her face flushed with anger. “There’s something they’re not telling me, but I’ve no idea how to get to the bottom of it.” She furled her brow. “Why should anyone object to Marius? His bloodlines are beyond question.”

“Anyone bear you a personal grudge?”

“No,” she said a little too quickly.

Ah, so now the lies started. Jonny wondered what it was in her past that she didn’t want to share with them, but now wasn’t the time to delve into it.

“Did you ring the Standishes and ask them about their change of heart?” he asked his father.

Daniel shook his head. “I should have done, would have done under normal circumstances, but—” He spread his hands, further explanations unnecessary, given his condition.

“I should have thought of that,” Steffi said, blushing. “Sorry, it’s just not something that comes naturally to us Brits, putting ourselves forward like that. If someone changes their mind about something, we accept the reasons they give without probing. We’re usually too well-mannered to do anything else.” She clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.” A brief giggle slipped past her guard but was quickly extinguished. “I didn’t mean to imply that you Yanks lack manners.”