Dark Obsession

Chapter 10: The Morning After

I woke up in king bed, not on second table, not on balcony, in bed, warm, heater humming, blanket heavy, blue sweater replaced with oversized black t-shirt that smelled like Damien's cologne, wood, pine, snow.

Black t-shirt was huge, reaching knees, sleeves covering hands, obviously his, because mine were all blue sweaters, not black t-shirt.

On art table, note, new handwriting, not Damien's sharp CEO, messy, Jaxon's: "You fell asleep on kiss table, boss carried you to bed, midnight rule broken, balcony rule broken, kiss table rule broken, we are all breaking rules now, so we brought breakfast, downstairs, come down when you can wear pants, little mouse - J, K, L, E"

J, K, L, E — Jaxon, Kai, Luca, Ethan — all four downstairs, breakfast, after kiss.

My phone had 89 messages, group chat "Little Mouse Protection Squad" now renamed by Jaxon at 12:34am to "Little Mouse Kiss Table Squad" with 89 messages.

Jaxon at 12:18am: "HE KISSED HER ON KISS TABLE I TOLD YOU CROOKED LEG TABLE WOULD CAUSE KISS"

Kai at 12:19am: "He waited six years, let him kiss, but tell him to bring her inside, snow"

Luca at 12:20am: "Did she kiss back? Camera blurry, snow, I can't see, did little mouse kiss back?"

Damien at 12:22am: "She kissed back, she touched my face first, balcony rule says if little mouse touches CEO's face, CEO can break rule, she broke rule first, not me"

Ethan at 12:30am: "You kissed my sister on table you built with crooked leg on balcony in snow? You are... you are actually romantic, I hate that, but you are romantic, I'm not breaking your face today, only tomorrow"

Jaxon at 12:34am: Renamed group to "Little Mouse Kiss Table Squad"

Kai at 7:00am: "She's still asleep, camera shows bed, black t-shirt, not blue sweater, whose t-shirt?"

Luca at 7:01am: "Damien's t-shirt, obviously, he carries her to bed, he puts his t-shirt on her, classic move, I would have put my t-shirt"

Ethan at 7:15am: "You put your t-shirt on my sister while she was asleep? Damien?"

Damien at 7:16am: "She was in snow-damp blue sweater, she would get sick, I put t-shirt over sweater, then removed sweater while she was half asleep, she approved, she said 'thank you for table' in sleep, so it's okay, balcony rule, t-shirt rule"

I laughed, in king bed, black t-shirt, hair messy, charcoal still on cheek from last night, kiss table memory, snow kiss.

I wore jeans under t-shirt, white sneakers, brushed teeth, tried to wash charcoal cheek but left faint smudge, because charcoal was from kiss table, I wanted to keep.

Downstairs lobby, doorman smiled like he knew, "Good morning, Ms. Rossi, your... your family is in private dining room, breakfast."

Private dining room, Park Avenue building, big table, not first table, not second table, third table, breakfast table, with vanilla lattes, 5 of them, heart foam, Italian bread, eggs, fruit, and four brothers plus Ethan, all in sweaters, not tuxedos, casual, morning, hair messy, like family breakfast, not billionaire meeting.

Jaxon saw me first, in Damien's black t-shirt, jeans, white sneakers, charcoal cheek, and whistled, then stopped himself, "Sorry, midnight rule, breakfast rule, no whistling at little mouse in boss's t-shirt, but you look... you look like you slept on kiss table and got kissed."

"Good morning, little mouse," Kai said, quiet, handing me vanilla latte, heart foam, "You slept 7 hours, first time you slept 7 hours since walk-up, camera shows you didn't wake at 4am to draw floor, you drew park in dream, maybe."

Luca smiled, beautiful, dangerous nice, "You have charcoal on cheek, from kiss table, do you want to keep or wash? Because if you keep, it means you like kiss table, if you wash, it means you want second kiss table."

Ethan stood, brother, hoodie, not tuxedo, looking at me in Damien's t-shirt, then at Damien in black sweater, calm, but eyes asking.

"El," Ethan said, "You okay? You fell asleep on balcony, in snow, he carried you, he put his t-shirt, you... you kissed? Group chat says you kissed on second table."

I nodded, holding latte, heart foam, blue? No, black t-shirt today, but heart still.

"Yes, Ethan, we kissed, on second table, kiss table now, balcony rule broken, but... but I wanted to, he asked, I touched his face first, so I broke rule first."

Ethan looked at Damien, Damien stood, CEO calm, but vulnerable, like last night kneeling, not controlling.

"Ethan," Damien said, "I broke balcony rule, I kissed your sister on table I built, with crooked leg, in snow, at midnight. I waited six years since hole in sweater, I kept pact, I kept all rules, but last night she fell asleep on table I built, snow falling, blue sweater, charcoal cheek, and she touched my face, and I... I couldn't keep rule. If you want to break my face, break, but I will not say sorry for kiss, because she kissed back."

Silence, breakfast table, vanilla lattes, eggs getting cold, doorman outside, Park Avenue snow still falling, but inside warm.

Ethan walked to Damien, slow, fists not clenched, open, then hugged him, quick, brother hug, hard.

"You waited six years," Ethan whispered, so only we heard, but we all heard, "You built table with crooked leg, you bought building in 2021, you had shifts, you watched lobby camera, you remembered hole in sweater, you... you actually love my sister, not just obsessed. So I can't break your face. I have to... I have to say thank you for table, both tables, and for kissing her like man, not like boy, asking first, not taking. So thank you, but if you hurt her, I break your face, face, not hand, face, because face leaves evidence but I don't care."

We all breathed, relief, family breakfast, not fight.

Jaxon broke silence, "So now what? Now Damien kissed, does that mean... does that mean we all can kiss? Because pact broke, brotherhood changed, group chat renamed to Kiss Table Squad, does that mean..."

"No!" Ethan and Damien said together, then looked at each other, surprised, then laughed, first time both laughed together since Hamptons.

Kai, quiet, said, "Pact said if one touches, brotherhood breaks. One touched, Damien kissed, brotherhood didn't break, it changed, like Ethan said. So now... now we need new pact. New pact, not about not touching, but about... about how we touch, when, who, because little mouse can't kiss four brothers at same time, that's... that's not NYU art student life, that's... that's complicated."

Luca nodded, "We need meeting, without little mouse, to discuss new pact, kiss table rules, breakfast table rules, because we are all obsessed, not just Damien, we all waited six years, we all built tables in our heads, but Damien built real table, so he got first kiss, fair, but we want... we want chance to build tables too."

I looked at them, four brothers in sweaters, plus my brother, breakfast table, vanilla lattes, third table, not first table for eating, not second table for dreaming and kissing, but breakfast table for family meeting.

"Can I build third table?" I asked, small, holding latte, black t-shirt, charcoal cheek.

All looked at me, surprised.

"You want to build table?" Damien asked.

"Yes," I said, "First table you promised, second table you built with crooked leg, kiss table, third table... third table I want to build myself, for all of you, breakfast table, so you can eat with me, not just watch me eat on floor, or watch me draw park, but eat together, family, because family eats together, not shifts, not lobby camera, but table."

Silence, then Jaxon said, "Little mouse wants to build table for us?"

Kai smiled, quiet, "She wants to build breakfast table."

Luca said, "We will help, we will hold wood, you hammer."

Ethan said, "I will supervise, because you all build crooked tables."

Damien looked at me, in his black t-shirt, charcoal cheek, latte, and said, "Okay, new pact, we build third table together, breakfast table, for family, no more shifts, no more lobby camera, just table where little mouse who ate on floor now eats with brothers who waited six years."

We spent morning building third table, in lobby, doorman helping, wood planks, hammer, drill, all five of us, plus me, blue? No, black t-shirt, but hammering, laughing, crooked legs, all crooked, but stable, breakfast table, family table.

At noon, we ate on third table, in lobby, Park Avenue, snow outside, vanilla lattes, eggs cold but okay, third table wobbly but ours.

I texted D: "Third table built, breakfast table, family table, no more floor, only tables"

Reply in one minute, even though he sat next to me at third table, he texted: "First table for eating, second table for dreaming and kissing, third table for family, we will need fourth table soon, for... for future - D"

Future table. Fourth table for future.

I smiled, in black t-shirt, charcoal cheek, breakfast table, family, and knew Chapter 11 would be about fourth table, future table, what future means with four billionaire brothers obsessed since hole in sweater.

To be continued...