Free The Highest Bidder by Jenika Snow

he wanted to give Veronica time to adjust before he introduced her to his family. The doors burst open and the low, deep voices of his brothers arguing filled his office. They were just the same as he. Their dark suits had been personally tailored to fit their large, muscular frames. The three of them were very similar in appearance with their blond hair and blue eyes. They may be fraternal twins, but their appearances were eerily similar. Right now they were arguing about stocks and investments.
    “Why is it you two are always bickering about money?” He raised a brow when both of them looked at him, their mouths snapping shut at the same time.
    “Hey, old man.” Griffin smirked. Nikolas scowled at Kristoff and sat in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk.
    “Old man?” Kristoff scoffed. “I’m only five years older than you two jokers.” He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers. “I can only assume what you’re doing here.”
    “So, when did you plan on telling us you bought a new wife?” Nikolas said as he took on a relaxed position.
    “I wanted her to get settled in before I introduced you two to her and scared her off.”
    “We wouldn’t scare her off.” Griffin was over at the bar, pouring himself a glass of bourbon as he spoke. “She must be pretty special for you to give up your abstinence.” There was no teasing in Griffin’s voice.
    Since Macie’s death Kristoff had sworn off women, but it wouldn’t have mattered if he hadn’t anyway. The fact he couldn’t get hard, not even in the privacy of his own room was another issue. He just didn’t have any desire to be with them, not until he had seen Veronica’s photo. “Yeah, she’s special. Very special.” There was a moment of silence that fell over the room and he looked between his brothers. They both had stunned expressions on their faces but quickly masked it by smiling.
    “We’re glad you’ve found someone to make you happy. It was time you started living your life again.” Griffin handed Nikolas a glass of bourbon and took his seat.
    “Macie was a wonderful woman, Kristoff, but it’s been two years and we were starting to get worried.” Nikolas leaned forward, his blue eyes holding so much concern. “We just don’t want you going back to the darkness, brother.”
    This was one of the reasons he didn’t visit with his brothers very often. It was inevitable that they brought Macie up. They loved him and were worried, he understood that, but how in the hell was he supposed to move on when they mentioned her every time they were in the same room? Obviously it was better now that two years had passed, but it had been so damn hard before, so painful that he had isolated himself from everything, including them, for a very long time.
    “So, when can we meet the little lady?” Griffin grinned as he brought his glass to his lips and took a long drink.
    “Andre Patrowski is having a social event at the end of the month. Apparently he bought himself a wife too.”
    Kristoff had just received word about the gathering that was three weeks away, but he wasn’t sure he wanted Veronica in that atmosphere. “I heard about the party, but I’m not sure if I want to take her to something like that yet.”
    “Why? She has to get used to our world sooner or later. Why postpone the inevitable?” Griffin set his glass on the desk and leaned back, throwing one of his thick arms over the back of the chair.
    “You know how those virgin brides are brought up, Griffin. No doubt she’s been sheltered her whole life. It’ll be a culture shock.” Leave it to Nikolas to slap some sense into Griffin.
    “Nik is right. I don’t want to shock her. You know how those parties are.” Although Griffin and Nikolas didn’t have brides, they went to the same functions he did. Andre was known as being wild, and the fact he had “settled” down had come as a shock to many. More likely he planned on