are you?” he repeated.
This time Jude didn’t answer at all.
Pasha and Andrey stared at Jude for several moments, the air in the room almost suffocating. Tension and male aggression seemed to be sucking the oxygen out of the enclosed space.
At least for the sole female.
“You know, I think we’ve all just gotten off to the wrong start here,” Ellina finally said, when it appeared that the men were going to be satisfied to just stare at each other indefinitely in some silent challenge.
It was almost on the tip of her tongue to add, Can’t we all just get along?
She suppressed one of her inappropriate laughs at the thought of throwing out a “where’s the love” sort of platitude. Now that would really piss all of them off, wouldn’t it?
“I think you need to leave,” Jude finally said, further positioning himself so she was shielded.
“I think you need to rein in your boy toy, Sis,” Andrey called to her over Jude’s broad shoulder. His eyes narrowed into disturbing black slits.
The laugh she’d already been repressing broke free in a startled burst. Boy toy? Really?
She knew the situation wasn’t funny, but boy toy? Could this whole encounter get any more absurd?
From her angle, Ellina couldn’t see Jude’s expression. But she noticed his muscles seemed to bulge under his skin as if he was itching to attack. Maybe being called a boy toy was a fighting word for him.
For whatever reason, that idea struck her as amusing too. This whole thing was crazy. Bratty brothers, fake boyfriends, the bandying about of terms like boy toy. It was all nuts.
And what was the point of these three men hell-bent on this stupid standoff like feral dogs, hackles raised, teeth bared? It was all ridiculous, really.
Ellina giggled, despite herself, and found all three men’s attention suddenly riveted on her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, which also struck her as amusing. What was she apologizing for? She didn’t even understand what was going on. But she did manage to keep her laughter in check. Just barely
Clearly the long writing hours and the new member of her household were pushing her to the edge. She clamped her lips tighter together.
“I’m glad you find this all so amusing,” Pasha said.
Andrey raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
Jude just frowned at her as if she’d lost her mind.
As she gazed from face to face, more laughter bubbled up in her.
All this machismo. And for what? Her giggle spilled over, sounding more like a strangled squeak than a laugh.
Of course, she must look quite mad. But it was ludicrously funny.
Well, briefly.
Then it wasn’t.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the vague swish of Andrey lifting his arms in an abrupt upward motion.
And with that simple gesture the room flew into utter chaos. Her many meticulously organized notes swirled into the air, eddying around her office like trash in a windstorm. Books soared off the shelves, hitting the floor and the opposite wall like cracks of thunder.
Ellina screamed, ducking, as a hardback, possibly her first bestseller, nearly hit her in the head. Jude grabbed her arm and half dragged/half threw her behind her desk, pushing her down to her knees.
But even with the barricade of the large desk, Ellina still had to cover her head to protect herself from the papers, pens, paper clips, and all the other odds and ends that had once been on her desk that now whipped around them like office supply projectiles.
A stapler glanced off Jude’s shoulder, but rather than falling to the ground it launched back into the air like a self-propelled torpedo. She cried out as several paper clips hit her arms, stinging like bees as they connected with her bare skin.
Jude positioned himself around her like a human cage, blocking further attack, but she could hear the items whacking the desk. The walls. Jude.
“Stop it,” she cried.
As if on her command, although she wasn’t naïve enough to believe it really was her doing, everything collapsed to the ground with a whooshing thud. The maelstrom vanished completely as if it never happened. The quiet was almost as jarring as the sudden eruption.
Jude didn’t move immediately; he stayed crouched over her, his large body protective, his heat warming her fear-chilled skin. And when he did move away, she oddly missed both feelings.
He gestured for her to remain down behind the desk.
After a moment, he said, “They’re gone.”
Slowly Ellina stood, taking in the mess around her. Her brothers appeared to have left, but they had the last word. As always. Of course, this wasn’t the first time she’d seen her office in such overwhelming disarray; it was becoming a pattern.
She stared at her destroyed office, her completely jumbled research notes littering the floor. All her hard work, strewn around, like nothing more than garbage.
She didn’t feel like laughing now.
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