RUIN ME

Goosebumps formed on my skin as Ares led me down the grand staircase, his hand resting at the small of my back.

We entered a formal dining hall, and my nails dug into my palms.

There were men at the table. Probably their business associates, rivals, and two neighborhood elders. My brother always warned me to be careful of them.

Their eyes snapped to me. Men in tailored suits all fell silent as I appeared. Their predatory gazes burned into the thin silk I had on.

Apollo and Atlas sat at the head of the table. They were wearing identical black suits. They were the image of power.

Apollo's expression was that of proud dominion, while Atlas had a wicked smirk on his mouth.

Ares guided me to the table, and my heart rate increased. There was one last open chair.

"Sit," Apollo said, his voice cutting through the quiet. He didn't ask a servant to bring a chair. He simply patted his firm thigh.

Anger boiled deep inside me. "I'll stand," I said, keeping my voice steady despite the storm that was brewing inside of me.

"I don't think you will," Apollo said before snaking his arm around my waist. In a swift movement, he pulled me off my feet and down onto his lap.

I gasped in shock as I sat sideways on his lap. The hard muscle of his thigh pressed into the soft silk beneath me. His cologne, sandalwood and something dark filled my senses.

The entire table watched. My cheeks flushed a deep red that I knew was visible in the low light.

This was what ten million dollars looked like.

Staff, dressed in black and white, quietly entered the dining room, serving the food.

The first course was oysters on ice. Apollo's left hand remained on my hip, keeping me trapped on his lap. He picked up his fork with his right hand.

I deliberately dug my nails into Apollo's arm.

He ate while discussing shipping lanes with a man across the table, keeping his voice calm and measured. He was ignoring me.

I decided not to eat and to just quietly wait this out. This dinner would be over before I knew it. I stopped digging my nails into Apollo's flesh and kept my gaze locked on the fancy food on my plate.

Then I felt it. Not from Apollo.

Under the tablecloth, a touch ghosted up my calf. Atlas. His fingers teasingly traced a slow path from my ankle up to the hem of my dress.

My body jerked in shock. Though the movement felt small against his hand.

Apollo's grip on my hip tightened in warning. "Something wrong?" He murmured into my ear. He continued his conversation with the guest, but I could tell that his focus was now solely on me.

Atlas's hand reached my knee, then slid inward, along the sensitive skin on my inner thigh. My muscles clenched. I couldn't move or speak as I was pinned between Apollo's grip on my hip and Atlas’s hands moving teasingly slow.

Shame and lust pooled low in my belly. I knew I shouldn't be reacting like this to the men who bought me, but my body was the ultimate traitor.

Apollo shifted me onto his lap until I straddled his lap. The cool air inside the dining room kissed the throbbing flesh between my thighs. He was giving his brother access to take me, right here in front of their guests.

In a whisper only Apollo could hear, I whispered, "Don't."

Apollo tilted his head before taking a sip of wine. "My brother is asking you a question under the table, Princess. You need to answer."

I realized then that Atlas's touch had paused. He was waiting for my consent. His palm burned through the thin silk. And a shameless part of me wanted to see what happened next.

Before I could answer, one of the older guests cleared his throat. "I wonder, is your little pet for sharing with the guests, too?"

The room instantly went silent.

Ares, who had been a silent statue by the wall, moved. He didn't run; he simply appeared behind the man's chair. He pressed a steak knife against the man's jugular, and my breath caught.

"The only reason why you're still breathing is because she's watching," Ares stated before shifting his gaze to me.

The man went pale under Ares's grip. No one spoke, no one moved. I didn't even dare to breathe.

Apollo finally spoke; his voice sounded strangely calm. Light. "I think the evening has concluded for our guests. Don't you agree, Brother?" He asked Atlas before turning his gaze to Ares.

"Absolutely," Atlas answered, finally pulling his hand from under my dress. The sudden absence of his touch left me aching and confused.

Ares slowly lowered the knife from the guest's neck. The men slowly rose from their chairs, and so did Apollo, leaving me to stand behind him on wobbly legs.

The men kindly greeted me before shaking each brother's hand. I quietly waited until the dining room was empty, leaving me alone with the three brothers again.

The silence became heavy and charged with something more dangerous.

Apollo shifted me, turning me to face him fully. His dark eyes were now burning with a possessive fire.

"The banquet was your welcome," he said, keeping his voice dangerously low. "The night is just beginning."

The three of them surrounded me. Their darkened gazes burned into my exposed skin.

"You're going to spend the night with one of us, Livia. You can pick who goes first..." he paused.

A cruel smile touched his lips as Ares and Atlas closed in on me from either side. "Or we can decide for you. And trust me, you won't like our decision."

"Which one goes first?" I scoffed in disbelief. "You seem to have lost your minds." I spat at them, the disbelief rising in my voice.

I tried to escape them I knew there was nowhere to go. I was trapped, and I needed to decide before they made the decision for me.

I scoffed in disbelief once again. "I get to pick which monster gets to ruin me first."

My hand moved before I could think. The sound of my palm meeting Apollo's cheek echoed through the dining hall.

A suffocating silence stretched between us. I waited for the blow that was to come, but it never did.

When Apollo slowly turned his gaze back to me, his eyes weren't filled with anger. They were ten shades darker and filled with an undeniable hunger.

"Was that your choice, Livia?" He asked before exchanging a look with his brothers. A silent language that I couldn't understand. It was over in a second.

And the decision was made.