Chapter 2

Emery’s pov

I stared into his stormy blue eyes, searching for any flicker of the stepbrother who used to just ignore me, but there was only his hate for me staring back.

Miller tossed my phone casually into his palm, his predatory grin widening as he watched Jax hold me in place like a captured trophy.

Brody leaned against the banister, crossed his heavy arms, and let out a whistle that felt like a slap to my face. The terror of losing everything I had worked for choked off my air supply, making every shallow breath burn in my chest.

"Let go of me, Jax," I whispered, my voice trembling despite my desperate attempts to sound brave.

"You don't have to do this, and you know how much trouble this will cause if my stepfather finds out." Jax’s grip tightened just enough to make me wince, his thumb tracing the bone of my chin.

His eyes flicked down to my lips before snapping back up to meet mine, practically vibrating with a hidden rage I couldn't quite understand. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping so low that only I could hear the sharp edge in every word.

"You brought this on yourself the second you started selling yourself online under my roof, Emery," he growled.

Miller stepped between us, holding up my phone with my dashboard still illuminated on the screen. "Look, captain, we don't need to give the phone back yet, not when we hold all the cards," Miller said, eyeing my bare legs with a hungry gaze.

"She wants her secret kept, and we want a house girl who knows how to keep three star hockey players comfortable." I tried to pull away, but Jax held me fast, his chest pressing against my shoulder as he glared at his teammate.

"Here are the rules, little virgin," Brody chimed in, taking a step toward us and tapping the edge of my phone against my chest. "You clean our gear, you serve us food when we ask, and you do every single thing we tell you to do without complaining."

I stared at him in horror, my eyes darting between the three of them as the trap slammed shut around me.

"No,” I managed to squeeze out.

Miller chuckled, tapping his thumb on the screen right over the option to export my private photo gallery to my stepfather's contact number.

"I thought you might say that so I want to give you a little incentive. If you say no, this link goes directly to your old man and the university board by sunrise," Miller warned, his tone flat and devoid of any humor now.

"Imagine what your precious reputation will look like when every guy on campus gets a free preview of what you sell online."

The reality of his threat left me dizzy as the image of my stepfather's wrath flashed in my mind. He would kill me, or worse, destroy every chance I had of ever leaving this town.

I looked back at Jax, hoping for a shred of mercy, but his expression remained as hard and unforgiving as stone.

"Fine," I choked out, the word tasting like ash on my tongue as I swallowed down my rising panic. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't send those photos to anyone, please." Jax finally let go of my jaw, though his hand lingered against my throat for a fraction of a second before dropping to his side.

"Good girl," Brody purred, a dark smirk playing on his lips as he stepped closer to whisper in my ear.

"Tomorrow morning at six, you bring us coffee and breakfast in the living room, wearing something nice for us to look at."

I didn't say another word; I just turned and raced up the stairs as fast as my shaking legs could carry me.

I slammed my bedroom door shut, threw the heavy bolt, and collapsed onto my mattress with my face buried in my pillow.

My whole body shook uncontrollably as the humiliation and fear washed over me in heavy waves. All the progress I had made, all the money I had saved, was suddenly held hostage by the three guys downstairs.

I stared at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to survive the rest of the semester without breaking under their cruel game.

Sleep felt impossible, but exhaustion eventually pulled me under as the dark night slowly dragged on toward dawn.

When my alarm went off at five-thirty, the harsh sound jerked me awake with a start that made my heart race. I sat up in the dim light, remembering every single nightmare detail from the night before with a sickening pit in my stomach.

Slipping out of bed, I opened my closet and stared at my clothes, trying to figure out what they expected me to wear.

I finally pulled on a pair of soft grey sweatpants and a tight black tank top, deliberately choosing something simple to cover as much skin as possible. Stepping out into the hallway, the silence of the house felt heavy, like the calm before a devastating storm.

I crept down to the kitchen and started making breakfast, my hands trembling as I poured coffee beans into the grinder and set three heavy mugs on the counter. The loud hum of the grinder filled the quiet space, making me jump at every tiny sound from the floorboards above.

I cooked eggs and bacon, setting a platter on the kitchen island just as six o'clock hit the stove clock. Footsteps echoed from the hallway, and my stomach flipped when Jax, Miller, and Brody walked in, all three wearing low-slung sweatpants and no shirts.

Their broad, tattooed shoulders and muscular frames dominated the room instantly, making the spacious kitchen feel tiny and claustrophobic.

"Look at that, she actually listened," Miller laughed, grabbing a mug of black coffee and taking a long sip while leaning against the counter. Brody walked up behind me, his chest almost brushing my back as he reached over my shoulder to grab a piece of bacon.

"Not bad, stepsister," Brody murmured against my hair, making the tiny hairs on my neck stand up in alarm. "Though you forgot one very important part of the deal we made last night." I backed up until my hip hit the edge of the stove, wrapping my arms defensively across my chest.

"I made your breakfast and your coffee, just like you asked," I said defensively. Jax stood back near the door, his dark eyes tracking every movement of my body with that same unreadable, dangerous flicker.

He took a slow step forward, "Brody told you to wear something nice for us, Emery," Jax growled. "A baggy tank top and sweatpants don't meet the standard of what we paid for."

Miller reached into his pocket and pulled out my phone, spinning it around his fingers like a toy before tossing it onto the island between us. "If you want this phone back for even an hour today to check your account, you're going to change right now," Miller ordered, a wicked glint in his eye.

"Go upstairs and put on one of Jax's oversized hockey jerseys, and take off those pants."

My breath hitched in my throat as I stared at the phone, knowing my entire escape fund was sitting inside that device. I glanced at Jax, expecting him to object to his teammate ordering me into his personal clothes, but he just leaned back and nodded slowly.

"You heard him," Jax said cold-heartedly, his eyes locking onto mine and that left no room for argument.