Free Fierce by Kathryn Thomas

dunno, work out there before the gym opens or after it closes, I’d figure out some way to pay you guys. I just really need this. It means more to me than I can tell you.”
     
    “No shit. I’ve never heard anything like it.” Luca’s tone was veering dangerously close to the way it had sounded two days ago, when he’d blasted Sy Vargas. “Why didn’t you just come to us and explain it? We might have helped.”
     
    “I guess the no-girls thing scared me off from that.”
     
    “You? Scared of something? I find that hard to believe.”
     
    Rose’s tired muscles began to tense. “Believe it. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Don’t try to tell me it wasn’t.”
     
    “Take it easy,” replied Luca. “We’re just talking.” And to his brother: “You see what I mean about the fuse? Knows when to snap and when to let it burn. Just like you.”
     
    “Yep. She’s something, alright.”
     
    If there was one thing Rose hated even more than being cornered, it was being talked about like she wasn’t there. She perched on the edge of her armchair. “You got something to say to me, say it.”
     
    Avery took a sip of his coffee, then grinned at his brother. “Exactly what we need to shake things up.”
     
    “Maybe. But the lying will have to stop. And we’ll have to ease the guys into the idea.”
     
    She silenced them with a piercing whistle. “ Excuse me ? See the girl in the dorky tracksuit opposite you? She wants you to know she’s in the room, and that you’re both being ignorant jerkwads.”
     
    They both laughed out loud, which only infuriated her more. Luca’s obnoxiousness was surprising: he’d always treated her well. But Avery’s dickishness really hurt her. They’d bonded back there in the ditch, and he’d turned the mortifying encounter in the gym last night into an opportunity she’d never have expected. And damn it, she liked them both. They were her kind of guys.
     
    “You know what? Fuck you.” She downed the whole cup of hot chocolate in one go. It burned a little but she didn’t care. “I’m out of here.”
     
    “Wow, not so fast.” Avery gripped her arm as she stormed past, and when she resisted, he got up and carried her kicking and biting back to her seat. “Rose? Rose! You’ve got us all wrong. Stop fighting for two seconds and listen to what we have to say. It’s better than the alternative, I promise.”
     
    She stopped, punched him one last time in the gut because she felt like it, then flopped back in her chair. “Next time talk to me, not about me.”
     
    “Deal,” said Luca. “Now, Avery tells me you have a stepsister. Is that right?”
     
    “Uh-huh. Her name’s Cate. Why?”
     
    “Any brothers?”
     
    “No.”
     
    “So it’s just you, Cate, and your stepdad?”
     
    Rose started biting her nails but stopped when she saw them both scrutinizing her. “He kicked me out a while back, okay? Where are you going with this?”
     
    “We have an idea,” said Avery. He’d also borrowed some of his brother’s clothes, but he’d got the stylish ones—a purple Italian shirt and smart trousers—while she’d got the Halloween costume. “We want you to carry on working for us.”
     
    Another curve ball she hadn’t expected. “So do I.” But nothing in her life had ever been straightforward, and she didn’t expect that to change now. “I really do. But what’s the catch?”
     
    “The catch is you’ll have to be yourself,” replied Avery.
     
    “I’m confused.”
     
    “You’re not the only one,” said Luca. “But we think it might work. You’ll have to be Rose Jackson—”
     
    “Jacqueline,” Avery reminded him.
     
    “Sorry, Rose Jacqueline. Ross Jackson’s twin sister. It’s a lot better than admitting the truth to our members, and it will give the place a different dynamic, having a woman around. Plus, your employment can be above board from now on. Salary, tax ID—make it official.”
     
    She liked