When I unlocked my door, a malicious thought crossed my mind. I swung the door wide and motioned for the guys to enter ahead of me. Brandon and Arkin both grinned while walking right in. Lucas smirked at me. I scowled in return, remembering that he had just been there this morning. He knew all about Dexter.

However, when I walked in I was pleased to find that my wonderful dog had Brandon and Arkin backed into a corner with his teeth bared. Lucas burst into a fit of laughter and the other two glared at him. "A little help here, Jules?" Brandon asked, eyeing Dexter.

The dog let out a sharp bark when Arkin went to move forward. This time I laughed before walking up to him and resting my hand between his ears. "Easy, Dex," I soothed. "They're friends." That was all it took. Dexter immediately sat back on his haunches and wagged his nub of a tail.

"Amazing," Brandon commented, kneeling down in front of Dexter. The Rottweiler eyed Brandon, but allowed himself to be petted. It didn't take him long to roll onto his back, begging for his belly to be rubbed.

"As you can see, he's actually just a giant teddy bear," I said, shaking my head. With a sigh I headed into my bedroom to dump off my purse. After depositing it on the bed, I pulled out my phone and shoved it in my pocket. When I turned to walk back out into the living room, I ran smack into someone's chest. "Okay, ow," I muttered, glaring up at Lucas.

He just grinned at me before shedding his jacket. "Here you go," he announced, pulling his t-shirt over his head. When he tossed it at me I didn't even bother to catch it. We had a short staring contest before I relented and snatched the shirt off the ground along with a basket from the closet.

"You're an ass," I grumbled as I shoved past him on my way to the bathroom to grab the rest of my white clothes. I didn't want waste a full load of laundry for one shirt.

Lucas trailed me. "That's not nice."

"I'm not nice."

"That's a lie."

"And what makes you say that?" I questioned as I tossed a few bras, some underwear, and my own white t-shirts into the basket. My aim was to make him uncomfortable, but it wasn't working. He was focused on my every move, so I only ended up embarrassing myself. My cheeks warmed up as I forced my way past him again.

"Just a feeling. This the laundry?" he asked, gesturing to the folding doors in the hall.

"Yeah," I replied with a nod, deciding to ignore his subject change.

He pulled the doors open for me and took the basket from me. Rolling my eyes, I started the washer and added the soap. When there was enough water in the washer, I took the basket from him and dumped it in. After moving everything around so that it was evenly deposited, I set the basket on top of the washer and shut the doors.

"Food?" he asked, a grin overtaking his face.

"Food."

"What took you two so long?" Brandon whined when we reemerged. His eyes zeroed in on Lucas's bare chest and a sly smile crossed his face. "Oh, I see."

"Don't be a pervert," I scolded, smacking the side of his head as I moved past him. "Pepperoni okay with everyone?" I questioned, not acknowledging the hurt expression Brandon was giving me.

"That's fine," Arkin told me, smiling as he shook his head. "If you get three larges we'll throw in."

"Sounds good," I said, pulling out my phone. The guys began to explore the apartment as I placed our order. Once I was finished, I just watched them as they examined the few pictures on my walls. They were like children in a museum. Smiling to myself, I plopped down onto the couch. Dexter wasted no time in jumping up beside me and laying his head in my lap.

"Who's this, sugar?" Lucas asked, pointing to the picture of me and my mom taken a few weeks before she passed.

"My mom," I told him.

"She's pretty."

"I'm sure she would appreciate that." I couldn't help but laugh. Of course Lucas would be the one to compliment a woman who was obviously on her death bed. Mom had hated the fact that I had kept that picture. She had said it made her look sick. She had been impossible.

"How long on that pizza?" Brandon whined, throwing himself onto the floor. "I'm starving."

"Maybe you shouldn't have started a food fight."

"That was you."

"Don't even start," I quipped.

He huffed and the other two laughed at his expense. A wry grin formed on my face. Leave it to me to be hanging out with the same men who had kidnapped me only a few days prior. No matter what they had done, the guys were fun. They were easy to get along with and they made me feel at ease. Even if Brandon and Lucas relished in getting under my skin, they meant well. If it wasn't for the whole gang thing, I could see us being friends.

Who was I kidding? The gang thing didn't bother me. It was the leader that bothered me.

As if cued by my thoughts, Lucas's phone started ringing. My head whipped up, and I didn't have to be a genius to figure out who was calling due to the grimace that crossed his face. "Hey, Vince," he said, a casual tone to his voice that sounded fake even to my ears. "No, Brandon and Arkin are with me. At a friend's place." His eyes travelled to me and a coy smile formed on his face. "Yeah, you know her."

"Don't you dare," I seethed, narrowing my eyes at him.

"From where? Oh, she's a bartender. Warmer. Oh, you almost had it."

"Juliette says hi!" Brandon hollered.

My eyes snapped to his. He gave me a broad grin. In return I glared at him as hard as I could. If looks could kill he would be nine feet underground. However, looks couldn't kill, so he just continued to give me that same obnoxious grin.

"Vince wants to talk to you," Lucas said, appearing in front of me with the phone.

"No." I vehemently shook my head, the movement causing Dexter to jump down.

"Hear that? She doesn't want to talk to you." Lucas's expression went blank before he took the phone away from his ear and pressed the end button. "I think he's on his way here."

Groaning, I sunk even farther into the couch. "I hate you. I hate all of you."

"He's not that bad," Arkin said, falling onto the couch beside me.

"My apartment can't take all this testosterone," I grumbled.

"And you don't hate us," Brandon piped up, his voice matter-of-fact as he sat next to me as well, sandwiching me between him and Arkin.

"Yes, I do."

Dexter whined at my feet, placing his head in my lap. My guess was he was jealous he wasn't on the couch. Sighing, I scratched behind his ears. At least I knew he would never betray me. Without much else to do, I reached forward and grabbed the remote. Flipping on the TV, I flipped through the channels before giving up. I had no idea what they liked to watch. So, I tossed the remote to Lucas and had to stifle a laugh when it hit him in the head. He gave me a half-hearted glare before running through the channels himself. Finally, he came to rest on The Godfather, and I had to bite my cheeks to keep from smiling.

"What's so funny?" Arkin asked.

"Nothing."

Thankfully, I was saved by the bell. Or the knock. Either way, I heaved myself off the couch and from in between Brandon and Arkin. Crossing my fingers behind my back, I opened the door. A relieved sigh escaped me when I saw that it was just the pizza delivery boy. "Gracen?" he asked, checking the ticket on top of the box.

"That's me," I said, reaching for the boxes. "How much?"

"That'll be $38.59."

"Just one second," I told him, taking the pizzas into the kitchen and setting them on the table. When I made to go get my purse, I noticed Brandon was already at the door. He slipped the kid a fifty and told him to keep the change. I scrunched my face up. "I said I would get at least some of it," I scolded when Brandon came up to me.

"I owed you lunch," he said, shrugging. Then he rubbed his hands together like a cartoon villain. "Now let me get a hold of this pizza."

"Wait!" I yelled, snapping the box shut when he went to open it. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Paper plates. On top of the fridge."

"Yes, Mom," he muttered, brushing past me to grab the plates. Once he returned with them, I allowed him to stack his plate with three pieces. Arkin and Lucas weren't far behind, and they each took three pieces as well.

"Sheesh, pigs," I commented under my breath as I took the last piece out of the box. Well there went one pizza.

"Heard that," Lucas told me, even though his words were garbled thanks to his full mouth.

"You're disgusting."

They all just laughed at me as they settled in to watch their movie. I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time as I went to sit in the floor with my back against Brandon's legs – since they had all decided to sit on the couch. Something made me feel like they were hiding out here. Why else would all three of them be fine with sitting here, eating pizza, and watching a movie? I felt like I was babysitting. When I glanced at the clock, I realized it was coming up on five o'clock. My eyes about bugged out of my head. The day was flying by so fast.

We were almost to the end of the movie when someone started pounding on my door. "It's unlocked!" I hollered, not bothering to get up. Brandon's legs were surprisingly comfortable, and the last thing I felt like doing was moving. The door swung open and Vincent stood there, looking confused as he surveyed the room. The boys lifted their hands in greeting, but I barely spared him a glance. I was sure we were quite the sight.

"Don't you all have work to be doing?" Vincent asked, his voice low.

"I'm doing my job," Lucas stated, patting me on the head.

"Ugh, you're still watching me?" I complained, twisting to glare at him.

"Doesn't this make it less stalker-ish?" he asked, hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Whatever." My eyes travelled to Vincent and he arched an eyebrow at me. Sighing, I motioned for him to come in. "C'mon then. Don't just stand there. Go get a piece of pizza and claim some floor space."

He shook his head, but shut the door behind him all the same. He ambled his way into the kitchen before opening the third pizza box – when the boys and I got seconds we knocked out the second pizza – and helping himself to a slice. When he came back he reached down to scratch Dexter behind his ears. The dog's tongue lolled out of his mouth and he leaned into Vincent's touch.

Traitor.

Vincent looked like he wanted to tell one of the others to get up, but he sighed and sat down next to me on the floor. "You need to get some more seating," he told me.

"I never in a million years planned to have this many people in my apartment at one time."

"Something tells me you might have to get used to it," Arkin said, surprising me.

"So how did you all end up here, anyway?" Vincent questioned, his eyes roving over his men. "Since you all have other things to do." As he spoke his eyes strayed to Lucas, who was still missing his shirt. His eyebrows arched, but he just shook his head and didn't comment.

"Well, you see . . ." Brandon started, scratching the back of his neck. A heavy sigh fell from his mouth before he launched into the story about running into me, going to lunch, and getting kicked out. Vincent's lips twitched into the ghost of a smile when he found out we had started a food fight, but other than that he had no expression.

When Brandon was finished, Vincent turned his forest green eyes on me. "You're quite the distraction, aren't you, princess?"

"Shut up," I told him, barely resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

"What were you doing on that side of town anyway?" he asked, ignoring me.

"None of your business."

"She was near the gym," Brandon piped up.

My head whipped up to face him so fast my neck cricked. Wincing, I rubbed the sore spot as I gave him a flat look. "Again, none of your business."

"We'll see about that," Vincent murmured, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Please," I spat, shoving myself off the ground and heading towards the kitchen. Stupid men. With more force than necessary, I snatched the two empty pizza boxes off the table and made for the front door. Whistling through my teeth, I called for Dexter. He trotted over to me, wagging his nub of a tail as he gazed up at me. I bit my lip. I hadn't thought this through. There was no way for me to clip his leash. Well I could balance both boxes on one arm, but I also didn't have his leash with me. Sighing, I cast a pleaded look to the boys, hoping Lucas or Arkin would help. However, fate wasn't on my side. Vincent heaved himself off the floor and picked up Dexter's lead on his way over. When he reached us, he clipped Dexter's leash onto him and opened the door, motioning for me to go out first. I narrowed my eyes before shouldering my way past him. A low chuckle sounded behind me before I heard the jingling of Dexter's tags as they followed me outside.

"I wanted to take these out to get away from you, you know," I said once we reached the dumpster. I tossed the pizza boxes in and held my hand out for the leash.

"I thought you just didn't want a dirty apartment," he responded, placing the lead in my hand. Tingles ran up my arm from where our skin brushed, but I ignored it.

"I cannot handle having you all here at once."

"I'll be more than happy to kick them out."

"That means you have to leave too," I reminded him, allowing Dexter to drag me into the grass a little bit so that he could do his business.

"Sure thing, princess."

"Stop calling me that, Vinnie."

"No." That ghost of a smile passed across his face as he shook his head at me. "But really, what were you doing on that side of town? No wonder Lucas couldn't find you."

"Lucas doesn't need to follow me," I snapped. "If I haven't gone to the police yet, I'm not going to. For Christ's sake, Vincent. Your men are in there having dinner with me while watching a movie. Obviously, I'm not all that bothered by what happened the other night."

"That's what worries me."

He said it so low I almost didn't catch it. My eyes narrowed of their own accord. I didn't need a gang member tailing me around. I could take care of myself. Shaking my head, I called to Dexter so that we could go back inside. He snuffled at the ground, but came to my side all the same. Without sparing him a glance, I breezed past Vincent on my way back inside.

When I reentered my apartment, I went rigid. My eyes trailed over the upturned coffee table, to the brawl that was going on in the kitchen. From the snippets of conversation I could hear, it seemed like Brandon and Lucas were fighting over the last slice of pizza. Literally fighting. Lucas's fist slammed into Brandon's jaw and I winced. That had to hurt.

A heavy sigh from behind me caused me to jump. "It's like working with children," Vincent muttered, slipping by me on his way to the kitchen.

Arkin caught my gaze and made his way over to me, shooting amused glances over his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Jules."

"You're fixing it."

"What?" he asked, giving me a blank stare.

"You heard me. You were in here. You could have prevented this. It's on you."

"But –"

"No buts," I cut him off. "Clean it."

He shook his head, not really seeming mad. He began to pick up the living room while Vincent separated the brawling cousins. Lucas and Brandon both went slack in his arms, crossing their arms over their chests before scowling at one another. It all happened so fluidly I wouldn't have been surprised to find out it was rehearsed. Heaving out a sigh of my own, I trudged into the apartment after kicking the door shut behind me. When I glanced at the clock I realized it was the time I would have normally been leaving for work. A wry smile tilted my lips as I gazed around the room. I may not have been going into Tuxedo, but I was sure as hell going to be working.