Edited.

Brynn's eyes widened, she'd been caught. Turning around, she saw another tall man who she presumed to be Brayden- the third eldest brother- in work looking clothes.

He had his hands on his hips. "I hope you weren't eavesdropping there, sorellina."

Brynn wasn't sure if he was teasing or not. He had his right eyebrow raised and his tone didn't seem mad. "I uhm, I wasn't," she answered.

Then she realised that was stupid because he'd literally just seen her do it. She felt the need to over-explain herself. "Callan told me to come down, so I," she gulped, "I did. But I think that he's talking to someone right now..." she trailed off, noting that he was coming closer. Her eyes followed him as he did, but her body remained explaining.

He got close as she spoke, "so I was just waiting-" and then she got cut off when he hugged her. Arms wrapped around her shoulders and right hand holding the back of her head close. Much like Callan did, oddly enough.

The girl froze, unsure of what she should do. Her arms remained at her sides as he held tighter. This was odd.

Eventually, Brayden let go. Not entirely though, his left hand still had hold on her right shoulder and two of his right fingers were placed under her chin when she tried to look someplace else. He did what most of the people she'd met within the span of two hours did. Observed her face. She didn't know why people were doing that, but she didn't understand nor like it.

After what Brynn counted to be eleven seconds, he released her chin and frowned at her flushed face. "You haven't got a fever, have you, hun?" he asked, using the back of his hand and bringing it up to her forehead then left cheek. "You feel a bit warm."

Brynn felt like she was getting warmer. "You weren't out in the rain for too long, were you?" she wasn't fond of how fast his hand movements were, jolting her head back when he continued. His frown became more prominent, "Brynn?"

"'m fine," she insisted, rubbing her right foot against her left ankle then looking down at them. Brayden's fingers found themselves back under her chin, bringing her head up once again.

He was silent for a few minutes before he grinned really wide. "Come on." He stood back up and his left hand was placed on the back of her right shoulder, making her tense but he paid no mind to it, gently moving her with him towards the double doors leading to the kitchen.

It seemed like Callan and Silas were still talking. "You can't keep blackmailing me with Zayne-"

"And what might you two be talking about?" Brayden cut in with severity in his tone, squeezing Brynn's shoulder lightly.

The two stopped their bickering and faced the two, Callan's fierce face was wiped and he smiled whilst Silas said nothing, keeping his sinister look. Brynn played with her thumbs hangnails on either hand, trying not to make eye contact with him. He didn't look so happy.

"Hey hun, the clothes okay?" Callan spoke softly. The girl nodded, giving a small smile towards his direction.

"Sweetheart, we would really like verbal answers from you," he told her with obvious order behind it and who was Brynn to disobey? These guys just had different rules to Milo.

"Yes they're fine, thank you," she muttered out. The second she'd stopped speaking, Silas scoffed, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room, minus Brynn who kept her eyes looking anywhere else.

Silas walked away from Callan from where they were behind the marble kitchen island. He rounded it and went straight for the door, being halted when Brayden grasped his left arm and pulled him back to face him.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" the man questioned. Not necessary.

He didn't even glance at the girl before he snarled, "no" then left.

Callan's obviously disappointed voice broke the tense silence after Silas left the room. "I apologise on behalf of Silas, he's slightly agitated today." Brynn subtly shivered, that was slightly agitated? What's he like when he's truly mad?

"Are you hungry, Brynn?" Callan changed the topic. Brynn shook her head, earning a pointed look. "No, thank you."

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten since before your flight, that's not good at all," Callan stated, furrowing his eyebrows. How did he know when she last ate?

And even if that was when she last ate, she wasn't hungry at all. She had the ham sandwich her social worker bought for her in her office, which was nice.

"I'm really not hungry, it's fine. Thank you though," she responded.

Callan's eyes narrowed, she felt like he was breaking her down and she felt like Brayden was doing the same thing next to her. She could see words on the tip of Callan's tongue but a voice stopped him from speaking.

"Brynn," a dominating voice took over the room. Brynn looked to her left where the voice came from, from another entrance to the kitchen, a more open entrance.

The man that stood there practically screamed power and dominance. His tall frame towered over everyone in the room. The perfectly fitted suit he wore Brynn had only ever seen in the rich fashion magazines some people at her old school read. His face had no emotion at all, unnerving Brynn a ten fold. She felt him deducing her.

"Brayden, if you could give her her dinner now then send her up to my office when she's finished," he instructed tonelessly, his eyes never leaving Brynn's. Brynn heard, and saw out of the corner of her eye, Brayden going over where Callan was and opening what she assumed was the oven.

Brynn didn't want to keep eye contact with the man- whom she had to presume was Zayne- her eldest brother- but it felt like he was mentally forcing her vision to stay where it was.

"I'll be upstairs."

Brynn felt like she could breathe once he'd left.

She didn't have time to savour the breathing though, because Callan was coming closer as Brayden was placing a bowl of something into the microwave. Callan led her by her shoulder to her right, where a large entryway revealed and giant dining room, almost the same size as the giant kitchen.

Callan pulled out the chair at the top of the long table and gestured for Brynn to sit. She did so, thanking him.

Then Brayden was placing a bowl of spaghetti bolognese and a bottle of water in front of her and she thanked him too. And then she ate some of the food whilst the two men sat on the adjacent seats at her sides. And after one quarter of it was ate, she stared down at it, biting her bottom lip because she didn't want to be rude by not eating all of it, but she also couldn't eat anymore.

Callan and Brayden were both watching her intently and Brayden spoke up, "you don't have to finish it, bambina. Just a few more bites, okay?" She couldn't have a few more bites. Instead, she took the bottle of water and twisted the cap off, gulping the liquid down. She hadn't had a drink in ages.

When she finished drinking, they were still hovering over her, probably waiting for her to eat more. "I'm really not hungry," she said quietly.

Both the men's eyes narrowed, making the girl even more nervous. Then Callan sighed, "alright, just for now."

He reached over and took the plate, going towards the kitchen. Brynn looked around her chair at what he was doing because wasn't she supposed to do the dishes?

Callan didn't do the dishes, he placed the bowl into the fancy-looking microwave. Brynn didn't see if he did anything else as something suddenly touched her shoulder. She quickly flinched back into the seat, back slamming against the hard cushion and eyes wide.

Brayden retracted his hand with an alarmed look plastered over his face. They didn't say anything eight seconds before Brayden stopped seemingly analysing her. "Let's go upstairs, yeah?" he asked, softly like he was trying to reassure her.

Brynn gulped and nodded, "okay." Brayden gave a smile and gestured with his head for her to follow him. He stepped away and went for the kitchen entrance doorway they came through. meanwhile Brynn looked at the water bottle that was on her placemat.

She wanted to take it, she didn't know when she was going to get a drink again. But would she be allowed to take it?

The girl made up her indecisive mind, sitting up in the chair and grabbing it before standing up from the seat. Slightly jogging to catch up with Brayden, she found he was waiting just outside the double doors. He led her upstairs and once again took many turns down many hallways just like Callan did.

They came in front of another set of double doors and Brayden knocked twice. The two waited approximately two seconds before they heard a faint "come in."

Brayden opened the door for her and gestured for her to enter, closing the door behind her when she did. She stayed looking at the door once it was closed, gathering the courage to look at her surroundings. It was an extravagant office. In the middle there was a white marble desk and a huge bookshelf behind it. From afar the books looked ancient.

Behind the desk sat her eldest brother. Zayne. He was sat in a huge black chair with his hands connected in top of the desk.

"Take a seat," he ordered. She did so, scurrying one of the two big seats on the other side of Zayne's desk, opposite him. She went with the one that was most in front of him because that made sense.

"Now Brynn, I'd like to say welcome home, we are very happy you are here," he started. His words sounded so rehearsed- and they contradicted with his tone of voice. It was like this man never showed feelings.

"Thank you for letting me stay," she replied because, truly, she was thankful.

"This is where you belong, Brynn and we wouldn't have it any other way." Then why wasn't she aware she had brothers? Did they not want her, but had no choice? Questions for another time.

"We do expect you to always give me and your brothers verbal answers, Brynn." After years of being told she should remain silent, this was a new one. Looking down at her lap, playing with the water bottle, the girl uttered out a small, "okay."

"Look me in the eye when I'm speaking to you," he resumed. This was a new one for her, too. Looking up, she made eye contact with him and his hazel eyes matching her own, except his looked darker and void of feelings. It was enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. "It helps us to communicate with you better."

Brynn slowly nodded, like she understood and in a way. She kind of did. Her brothers seemed perceptive, well, the ones she had met did. The only one she hadn't met yet was Ezra and she was willing to bet he was.

Zayne continued on, "I expect good grades from you, no slacking off, doing your homework. However judging from your work from your previous school I trust it won't be a problem," he carried on. "No boys, no dating anyone either, regardless of their gender, am I clear?"

"Yes," Brynn said.

His body visibly stiffened. "Our jobs are just boring business jobs, Brynn. Business trips and late hours are a regular occurance, I'd like you to be aware of that now. However, at no point should you feel you are not able to contact us during work." Brynn would never interrupt them during work. She couldn't imagine ever needing to, or ever wanting to. "Nothing to worry your head about, is that clear?"

Brynn understood, nodding, "clear."

"Bed-time on school days is eight thirty and lights off at nine. Weekends are no later than ten thirty. It may seem early, but I want you getting as much sleep as possible. Speaking of school, you'll be starting a private one next Monday."

He just kept going on and Brynn couldn't do anything, but listen, take in everything like her life depended on it, because her safety might.

Obviously not since he didn't say anything about it. "These are to keep you safe and there will be no negotiation on any of them." Safe from what?

"It's now just past eight. You may roam about the house if you wish or simply turn in for the night."

Brynn tried to pretend she was thinking about it, but she already knew what she wanted to do and it was not to look around her brothers' home with the potential of having to talk to someone. "I think I'll just go to my room now, please."

Zayne's face remained neutral, like it had been this whole time, as he gave one firm nod, "goodnight then, Brynn, sleep well."

Getting off the big chair with no ease at all and leaving the office, she saw Callan waiting outside it, leaning against the opposite wall. Was he here the whole time? Where did Brayden go? Did he listen to any of that?

"Let's get you to bed, hey?" he brought his hand out to place it on her shoulder, guiding her to her room- which she was thankful for. She would have struggled finding it on her own.

Once arriving, it seemed Callan expected her to get straight into bed, but she held back. He gave her a confused look as she stood a few steps away from the bathroom, sending it a few looks. She needed to brush her teeth.

Stroking the water bottle in her hands with her thumbs, she started to come to the conclusion that she might not be able to with Callan still stood where he was, still confused.

Until he looked to where she was looking, at the bathroom, and then back to her. It looked like it had clicked. "Oh!"

He marched to the bathroom, the lights automatically switching on when he entered- Brynn didn't think she'd ever get over those.

Brynn walked after him, watching from the doorway as he opened the cupboards underneath the sink and pulled out packets of-

"Toothbrushes, of course. Now we've bought you quite a few," he held up all the packages. "Now there's a pink one," he held up said pink one's package, "but then we thought that maybe you might not like that, which is totally fine by the way, so we got a purple one, a green one, a blue one, and we saw an electric one and we weren't sure if you'd want a manual one or not so we went through some electric ones-"

"The green one," Brynn cut him off, looking at the package in his left hand at the top, then she looked at him, "please."

Callan smiled and pushed all the other packages back in the cupboard. Brynn remained in utter shock, they bought all those just for her to have options?

Callan pulled a toothpaste out and placed it on the counter beside the sink. He opened the toothbrush packaging, taking out the object and holding it out by its end for the girl to take. The latter stepped forward, eyes kept on Callan's soft smiling face. She gave a small smile too, grasping the toothbrush just under its bristles.

He let go of the toothbrush and picked up the toothpaste, handing over that too. After giving her the items, to Brynn, he didn't seem so sure what to do now.

His eyes scanned over her face as she began to brush her thumb along her new toothbrushes' bristles, keeping her eyes on his eyebrows rather than looking directly into his eyes.

"I'll just," he looked ahead into her bedroom, mouth opening like he was trying to find something to excuse himself. "I'll just get your bed ready, hun," he got out.

He walked away to do that, leaving Brynn a little muddled. You can get a bed ready to sleep in?

Blinking a few times to think it through, she thought maybe. But she wasn't sure why Callan wanted to do it.

Leaving it, she proceeded to put the water bottle down to brush her teeth. Placing the toothbrush under the tap, she, once again, was mesmerised when the water came out immediately. Removing it and then bringing it back was rather fun.

Once the teeth brushing actually began, Brynn couldn't believe how soft the bristles were. Her old toothbrush felt like daggers compared to this one.

She didn't want to stop ever using it, but eventually, she had to. Placing the toothbrush inside the holder that was stuck to the mirror-wall, she exited the bathroom still amazed when the lights automatically switched off.

The sight before her was unexpected. The main bedroom light was switched off and the bedside lamp on the left was turned on. The bed sheets were lifted on the side she was like an invitation.

Callan was at the of the bed, looking like he was straightening the duvet. Brynn took slow steps towards the bed, placing both her hands on it before getting in. It was so soft. Like a fluffy cloud. She didn't know that it could feel this good to get into your bed.

Callan finished with the sheets, moving to the left side of the bed and giving a look towards the folded covers. He reached hesitant hands towards the duvet, Brynn watching his every move, grasping them and bringing them up.

What is he doing? Brynn's confused face gazed up to Callan's whose eyes were already on her. The duvet was brought right up to her chest and Callan's hands pushed her down to the pillows, causing Brynn's heart rate to quicken.

He didn't appear to have ill intentions.

He shuffled the duvet a little, adjusting it. Brynn still didn't know what he was doing. Once he deemed the duvet placing decent, he looked at her.

"Goodnight, Brynn," he whispered, slowly bringing himself up, moving his feet towards the door and leaving the room, briefly stopping before closing the door properly.

Brynn sighed a breath of something she wasn't sure of, she was alone.

Sleep was definitely going to be on the table for her right now, this bed was the most cosiest thing she'd ever laid on. She had savour this.

What if their niceness only lasted today?

The question played on her mind constantly, subconsciously thinking about it or not.

She laid on her right side, pulling the duvet up over half her face and ignoring the tears which began soaking it. She really really wanted the niceness to last.

And she also wanted the comfortableness to last, sleep was not going to happen- no. She was going to enjoy every... every moment... in this...

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<3