Chapter 3 Meeting The Rivers Family
Serena
“We have orders to escort you to your new quarters, miss. Please do not struggle.” A cool, detached voice said in my ear.
It was obvious that trying to run in this place was useless, so I obeyed and let the guard lead me into the house.
We followed the stairs straight from the lobby, and I wrapped my arms around my upper body to hide my trembling as we ascended.
I was breathless when we reached the top floor. The guard led me to the door at the farthest end, then turned and left without a word.
I lifted my hand and rapped my knuckles on the door. No one answered.
I knocked again, but I was greeted with silence. I pushed the door, and it gave, surprisingly.
I found myself in the grandest, most enchanting room I'd ever seen in my entire life. I didn't know for how long I stood there, but soon I felt a hard body behind me and I tried to turn, but Grey was suddenly standing in front of me.
“We warned you not to try to run,” a voice said from behind me. It was Brown eyes.
“You deserve to be punished for disobeying,” Grey said, calm as death. His fingers traced a slow, deliberate path up my bare arm, gooseflesh rising in their wake.
From behind, Brown’s hot breath fanned my neck. Then his tongue dragged from the sensitive spot behind my ear all the way down to the curve where my neck met my shoulder.
I shivered so violently my teeth clicked.
Grey's hand slid to my jaw. He tilted my face up and forced me to meet those arctic eyes.
“There is a family dinner tonight,” he said, his voice seducing me without him even trying. “Your only job is to sit beside me. Act like my devoted fiancée. Smile, let everyone see how perfectly you belong to me.”
His twin's teeth grazed my pulse point, light enough to tease, hard enough to promise pain. “If you see me with any woman,” he murmured against my skin, “it’s just business. An arrangement I’m ending.”
Grey's thumb brushed my lower lip, parting it slightly. “We want you,” he said. “Only you.”
Brown's hand fisted in my hair, tugging my head back until my throat arched for both of them.
“And we take what we want,” he finished, his voice like dark velvet wrapped around steel.
“What are your names?” The question slipped out before I could cage it.
Gray leaned down, his lips only a whisper from mine. “I’m Saint,” he murmured, his voice low and velvet-dark. “And my brother is Sin. Short for Sinclair.”
Sin. Sin-clair. It fit him too perfectly, the brown-eyed twin whose presence felt like wildfire licking at dry grass.
No wonder the world only whispered about Saint Rivers. The polished heir. The face of Riverdale Corporations. The iceberg in every headline.
Sin was the indoor heir. A secret weapon kept in the shadows.
My mind raced. Why hide one twin? What kind of game required two identical faces, one for the spotlight, one for the dark?
“I will not marry you,” I said, my voice shaking but steady enough to surprise me. “I don’t care what twisted games you’re playing. I won’t be used like a—”
Saint’s mouth crashed over mine.
His lips were firm, demanding, tasting of mint and barely restrained violence. One hand cupped the back of my neck, tilting my head exactly how he wanted it.
The other gripped my waist, pinning me flush against him so there was no space left to breathe, no room to think.
I shoved at his chest but he didn’t budge. Instead he deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding past my parted lips in one slow, possessive stroke that sent heat exploding through me.
My body betrayed me arching into him, my fingers curling into his shirt like I needed the anchor.
Behind me, Sin moved. His chest pressed to my spine, one arm banding around my waist from behind, pulling me tighter between them until I was trapped in the vise of their identical bodies.
Sin’s lips found the side of my throat.
“You taste like defiance,” Sin whispered, his voice rougher than before. “I like it.”
Saint broke the kiss just enough to speak against my swollen lips. “You already belong to us, Serena. The contract is signed. Your aunt sold you to the Rivers name.”
His thumb traced my bottom lip, smeared with the evidence of his kiss.
“Dinner’s in two hours. Be ready. Wear what’s in the wardrobe.” He nodded toward the massive closet doors across the room. “And Serena?”
“Don’t make us come find you again.”
Most of the dresses in the closet were small and barely covered my ass. The only one that went down my thighs had a deep plunging neckline.
I let my hair down, and because I had zero experience with makeup, I left my face bare.
At least I was ready when the door opened and an elderly woman stepped into the room.
“The Rivers family are all waiting for you, miss.” She announced, bowing at the waist.
My stomach dropped. Family? Beyond the father I’d never met, Saint, and the secret twin Sin I’d only learned existed hours ago… who else was there?
She didn’t elaborate, she took my arm with gentle but firm fingers and guided me out.
The hallway stretched forever. I took in the sight of the marble, gold accents, portraits of stern-faced men who looked too much like the twins.
My heels clicked awkwardly, my ankles wobbling.
I gripped the banister like a lifeline as we descended the grand staircase.
Halfway down, my knee buckled and I pitched forward.