Indecent Proposal: A Reverse Harem Romance

by J.C. Valentine

  When he looked away, chin lifted in defiance, she released the hopeful breath she’d been holding onto and stepped toward the waiting car. “Okay then, I guess that answers my question. I’ll have my attorneys contact yours.”

  “Wait.”

  Sabrina paused with one foot inside the cab and turned to look at him.

  Charles glanced at her and away then back again a few times, as if toying with what he wanted to say. Finally, he opened his mouth. “They had nothing to do with it. I keep close tabs on my boys, and when I realized they were involved with you, I had an idea, and I used your relationship to my advantage. I knew I could leverage it, so I did.”

  “You mean blackmail. You intended to use it against me, regardless of how it would affect your sons.”

  He nodded, mouth curving down, as if to say, “Yeah, well, what can I say?”

  “You know there are laws against blackmail, Mr. Hargreaves. In fact, there are a lot of laws you’ve broken throughout this whole venture of yours, and I could have you thrown in jail at worst, and leveled with crippling fines at the least. Then your business would be mine for real, and you would be left penniless and alone. I doubt your kids would want to have anything to do with you if they knew what you’d been planning.”

  “They don’t as it stands now.” His admission was, as it turned out, what she’d been waiting for. All the denials he could have spouted would have still left her with unresolved questions, but this…this one comment, spoke in a moment of great sadness and disappointment, was as honest as they came.

  Withholding the smile that threatened to break free, Sabrina merely watched the man who somehow looked smaller all of a sudden standing there licking his wounds in the middle of a busy sidewalk as if he were nothing more than an island unto himself. She’d been on that island a time or two, and she knew just what a lonely place it could be. She almost pitied the man, but what he’d done—or tried to do—to her stopped that in its tracks. He was reaping what he’d sown and he’d get nothing from her.

  “My suggestion, Mr. Hargreaves, if you wish to salvage any part of your business or its holdings with Colloway Corp is simple: go home. We don’t need you here, nor are you wanted. If you stay out of my way, my business and my life, I’m willing to extend a second chance. It’s a one-time offer and it’s not made often, so I would suggest you give it serious consideration because it won’t come around again. Also, it goes without saying that this may be your only chance at salvaging a shred of what you’ve lost today.”

  She climbed inside the cab and told the driver where to go, then she watched Charles standing there alone as they pulled away…and didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy. At that moment, the only thing Sabrina was capable of feeling was an ever-expanding sense of happiness.

  She had her answer, and it was the best one she could have hoped for. Now, she had one last thing left to do, and it was the scariest most exciting task of all.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  There were moments of self-doubt throughout the short journey to the Upper-Eastside where the buildings grew even larger than seemed possible, and the materials even more expensive. Any sign of decay was eliminated or shoved back into side streets or other areas of the city deemed less desirable, leaving nothing but posh, up-and-coming neighborhoods with ever-increasing property values. They were meticulously maintained, and everywhere Sabrina looked an expensive car was parked out front of a green lawn decorated with mature trees or colorful flowers or some variation of both.

  And she thought she was rich? This was a step up—or five—from what she was used to.

  Of course, it would belong to William. He was the modern guy, the one with the unexpectedly hipster twist that loved clean lines and expensive art. His home was a veritable gallery, so why not his neighborhood to match?

  Sabrina got out of the cab and half considered asking the driver to stay a while in case she was thrown back to the curb and needed a ride home. But then she decided a defeatist attitude was what would get her that result. She needed to go up there with the confidence of a goddess claiming her man, not one praying to the heavens that she hadn’t already lost him.

  Determined not to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, she paid her fare and got out. The building William occupied somehow looked even bigger than it had when she’d first visited. It towered higher than the treetops and gave her the sense of impending doom.

  Or maybe that was just her nerves.

  With a mental pat on the back, she got moving.

  Up the steps, to the buzzer, she stood staring at the little white button with his name beside it, engaged in a heated debate with herself over “Do I” or “Don’t I” until a resident who reminded her of the Wendy’s mascot barreled through the door with an armload of black garbage bags.

  Sabrina grabbed the door to keep it from swinging back and hitting the woman, before realizing that she’d just found the perfect way in. Feeling like a burglar, she glanced around to make sure no one saw what she was about to do, and then stepped inside.

  It was a quick process after that of making her way to the elevators and getting off on the same floor she had last time when she’d been with all three of the brothers. No guards ever stopped her or made an appearance, and the closer she came to the end of her journey, the more confident she felt.

  That is, until she found herself standing outside his door. Then all of the conflicting emotions and nervous energy and doubts came flooding back in like a broken dam, and she didn’t know what to do with herself.

  Leave or proceed? It was a tough choice. If she left, she’d never fix what had been broken. She wouldn’t even get the chance. If she proceeded, she might get rejected, and frankly, she didn’t know which was worse: the never knowing or the hurt of being tossed away.

  It was a question that was impossible to answer, so she raised her fist and knocked twice.

  It felt like forever passed before she heard the lock click on the other side of that door, and then her heart started pounding out a rapid beat that she could feel rocking her body. Just like the first time her father gave her the green light to head her own board meeting, she felt the rush of adrenalin kicking in and making her head swim. She could easily pass out then and there, and at the same time, she knew she had this. She just had to suck it up and face it head on with confidence and determination.

  “Sabrina?” William looked at her as if she were the last person he’d ever expect to see outside his door. And to be fair, with how she’d been avoiding them and all that’d happened, he wasn’t too far off the mark to think so.

  “Hey.” She smiled shyly. “This might sound funny coming from me, but…can I come in? I mean, can we talk?” It wasn’t lost on her that just yesterday, and today, she’d been telling his brothers to take a hike because she didn’t want to hear a word out of their mouth. Now she was standing where they’d been, and the humility it took was astounding.

  Will, with his arm high on the door to extend his already tall frame, stepped to the side, making the opening wider in a silent invitation.

  “Thanks.”

  The place looked the same as she remembered it. Nothing had changed. Everything was in its place. Yet it still felt foreign to her. Maybe because she didn’t belong there anymore.

  Clasping her hands together, she indicated one of the plush leather chairs and when he gave her permission to sit, she did.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted by way of getting things started. Sometimes, you just had to jump into the deep end and get wet. “I ran when I should have stayed and talked to you and your brothers, and that wasn’t very mature of me. I didn’t know how to handle what I was feeling, and so I removed myself entirely, and in hindsight, that wasn’t okay. Regardless of how I felt, I shouldn’t have let everyone worry about me.”

  Slowly and cautiously, he made his way over and seated himself on the arm of the couch. “Accepted.”

  She’d hoped for more, but much like his brother, Conner, Will wasn’t an open boo
k. She couldn’t read him, but his short-on-words approach was worrisome.

  “I talked to Ollie today. And your father.”

  Will’s eyebrows arched. “Oh? And what did you learn?”

  “That I was wrong not to listen. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions and I should have given the three of you a chance to explain.”

  He rubbed his palms on his jean-clad legs, as if he were as nervous as she was. Which was impossible, because Sabrina was practically sweating bullets waiting for some kind of favorable resolution to come out of this.

  “I don’t know what to say, ‘Brina. You didn’t trust us when you should have. You ran from us when you should have stayed. There’s hurt on both sides now.”

  Sabrina heard what he’d said and she took it to heart. But she’d heard what he’d said, and it also gave her a ray of hope. Standing, she approached him like she might a wild animal and didn’t stop until she had his hands in hers. “You called me ‘Brina,” she said softly, allowing her fingers to stroke lovingly over his. “And I have to believe that, if you can still call me that, you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I know what I did was wrong, and I’m standing before you, having climbed the hurdles, asking you to give me another chance.”

  Funny how the tables had turned. Sabrina had been adamant that they’d been the ones to sever the trust, when she’d actually been the one to inflict the most damage by withdrawing it in the first place.

  Will turned his hands over in hers and grasped them in turn, watching his larger fingers rub gentle lines back and forth over their tops. “What a mess this has been,” he commented low enough that she wondered if he was speaking to her or himself. Either way, she’d heard it and she agreed.

  “Lies tend to do that. But it wasn’t our lies.”

  “No,” he said on a dramatic sigh. “It was my father’s. I spoke to him a few minutes ago, just before you showed up, and I still can’t believe it. Conner was right. He did unspeakable things in the name of money and power.” He lifted his head to meet her eyes. “I don’t know how any of us can come back from that. He’s our father. He’s cast us all in the worst light possible, driven a wedge between us, caused you pain, and even made your father hate us. As if we needed another hurdle to overcome.” He scoffed.

  Sabrina didn’t need any further explanation to understand that he was talking about the nature of their relationship—assuming they still had one.

  “We can get through it.”

  “Can we?” He didn’t look so sure. “Once trust is broken—”

  “This is different. You weren’t the one breaking it. The question is, can you forgive me? I know I haven’t handled this right. If I’d—”

  Will pressed a single finger to her lips. “Shut up.”

  “Rude,” she mumbled past the digit.

  He smirked in that way that knotted her insides. “Just stop talking, angel. There’s nothing to forgive you for. Had the tables been turned, I can’t say that I wouldn’t have reacted the same way. The only thing that counts is that you’re here now, with me. Being together is all I ever wanted.”

  Her insides melting, Sabrina finally relaxed and swayed toward him, catching herself on his shoulders and pressing her forehead to his. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. I was so worried…”

  “You haven’t lost me. Never,” he assured her as his hands rested on her hips, and then he tilted his head back to meet her lips with his.

  It wasn’t a long or deep kiss, but it was no less passionate. It was an apology and an admission and a declaration all wrapped up in a gentle and lingering press of their mouths.

  With her eyes still closed, Sabrina gave voice to a lingering fear. “Do you think Conner or Ollie will feel the same?”

  “Only one way to find out.” Urging her back with gentle pressure on her waist, William stood and transferred his hand to hers, and she followed him out the door without hesitation or a backward glance.

  Epilogue

  One year later…

  Theirs had been a whirlwind romance written for the ages. Sabrina didn’t know how she’d come to be so lucky. Seeing her guys running and jumping and playing in the sand, their skin made bronze by the tropical sunlight, she thought back to how she’d come to be here.

  It all tracked back to that fateful day, when she’d taken a risk—with her heart and her pride.

  William had taken her hand, buoyed her when she might have folded to fear and indecision, and guided her through. When she’d appeared in Oliver’s doorway with her tail between her legs, she hadn’t expected to be so warmly received, but he had taken one look at her and his brother, put the pieces together, and swept her into his arms in a crushing hug that had stolen her breath.

  The trio had then visited Conner’s doorstep, and as she’d expected, it’d been a little harder to sway him. But he’d eventually come around, at his brothers’ urging, and given her another chance.

  They’d never looked back.

  As a group, they were unstoppable. Conner took the natural leadership role that he was born for, paving the way for the rest of them to follow. He had a head for business that even Sabrina couldn’t match, but he never tried to overrun her authority or step on her toes. In the office, he was the perfect complement, always at her side ready to hand out valuable advice. She leaned on him more than she ever thought could be possible, as someone who prided herself on her independence.

  William brought levity to the table. He knew when she was stressed, and he knew all the right solutions to relieve it. There was a never a dull moment when he was around.

  Oliver…well, he was her anchor. Just as much a leader as his brothers, he did so with a quiet authority that she respected above all others. He pushed and pulled at all the right times, reading a room in a heartbeat and helping to adjust the climate to maximize results.

  They were a powerhouse together, bringing the company to new heights, and they’d done it all without the interference of either of their fathers. Sabrina’s father had made good on his promise to hand the business over to her completely, and he’d returned to paradise and was now enjoying a full and true retirement. Charles Hargreaves had quietly returned to his hometown in the UK, and after a few shaky months, bowed out of the corporate world entirely, turning over all US holdings to his sons and selling off the rest to support his own retirement.

  They hadn’t heard much from him since.

  Sabrina couldn’t say she was sorry, but she did regret that it had come down to this, where Conner, William, and Oliver had to experience the loss of a parent in order to claim their future.

  But there was nothing she could do about that. They’d assured her every time she expressed concern that they were fine and wouldn’t have it any other way. That they didn’t feel it was much of a loss, after what their father had done. Charles’ actions had been just as much a betrayal to them as it had been to her, and they couldn’t and wouldn’t stand for it in their lives. The trust had been not just broken, but shattered, and they didn’t foresee reconciliation in the near future.

  She’d let it drop after that, deciding that she would follow their lead. Her only concern now was to live her best life, and that was beside her three gorgeous men.

  It was a year to the day today that they’d first met in a boardroom and entered into a deal that would seal their fates to one another, and they were celebrating. A week-long vacation in the French Riviera overlooking aqua waters and a never-ending horizon that epitomized the definition of paradise had been the perfect getaway.

  They were on their last day there now, and Sabrina was already mourning the idea of getting back to work and the routine of daily life. It made her wonder what it might take to secure holdings here, and she vowed to raise the question with the guys later. Surely, there had to be a way to live, work, and play in the most beautiful place she’d ever seen, but even if they couldn’t, she had this week and many more in the future to look back on and forward to, because she wasn’t going anywhe
re ever again. And neither were they.

  Sabrina gazed at the ring finger on her left hand. More specifically, at the glittering five-carat cushion-cut diamond ring set in a simple mount and surrounded by platinum.

  As one, they’d proposed to her last night in their bedroom getaway overlooking the vast Mediterranean Sea. The wall of windows that separated the indoors from out had been pushed back, allowing the warm breeze to come in off the water and the glow from the flickering tiki torches to set the mood.

  Sabrina had been expecting a late romantic dinner. Instead, she had been faced with three men taking a knee at her feet, with William on the left, Oliver on the right, and Conner dead center. Conner produced the ring, holding the perfect rock nestled into a black silk cushion up to her. Their naturally stormy matching eyes asked the same question, even though only one of them spoke.

  “Sabrina,” Conner said, his voice dark and husky and filled with hope, “a year ago, we entered a business deal that we knew was going to be a good move for our family and our name. We had no idea at the time just how lucrative it would be.

  “We’ve had our ups and downs along the way, but through it all, we were able to find us, and that’s hands-down the best deal we could have entered into. You were unexpected but wholly welcome in our lives. Thank you for making this our best year yet, but now we have to ask you…”

  In unison, they said, “Will you make every year to come even better? Will you marry us?”

  Of course, she’d cried, and then she’d shot her hand out and screamed, “Yes!”

  It was the only word she could say, and after they slipped that band on her finger, they’d made sure it was the only word she would continue to say the rest of the night.

  This morning she was lounging while watching them play volleyball on the beach because they’d used her body hard and well, rendering her incapable of participating, but that was fine by her. It was a joy just watching them have fun, while she busied herself with thoughts of their future.