Theirs to Claim by LaTeisha Newton Read Free Book Online Page B

our door and not you. Forgive us. I am Quin.” Quin bowed gracefully to her, and her friend had the nerve to giggle. She actually giggled.
    “So you must be Rion, Z’s boyfriend,” Jezzie said to Rion, removing her eyes from Quin for only a second.
    Zelina felt herself get hot before she realized it. She walked over to her mates and stood between them, grasping a hand in each of hers.
    “Part right, J. But, they are both my boyfriends. Welcome to our home.”
    “Well, I think this is our cue to leave. Everything looks all right here, J. See you all later. Um, you guys have a safe night, and don’t hesitate to call if you need something.” Ending with that, Jake and Ethan hightailed it out of there like cartoon characters.

Chapter Nineteen
     
    “You gotta be shitting me!”
    “Jezzie, look—”
    “No, Zelina.”
    Jezzie stopped her, raising one perfectly manicured hand into the air. Her thick hair fell around her shoulders in perfect layers, the coal-black color mesmerizing against her lighter skin. Snapping brown eyes, though, told Zelina it wasn’t the time to admire her friend’s usual chic style.
    “Zelina, less than a week ago, you had no boyfriend. I was setting you up on dates. Brian disappears. Like really disappears. So do you. Then I find you three days later with one boyfriend, get you tracked down—and you don’t want to know what I had to do with Geez the Sleaze to do that—just to find you butt-ass naked. Now I find out you have two boyfriends. Right . . . This makes sense to someone, so that someone better explain what the hell is going on to me.”
    Of the two of her mates, Zelina was surprised to see Rion be the one to step forward. She was at a complete loss for words. There was much she wasn’t sure she could tell her friend, and she didn’t know how to answer her questions without leading to more. She was grateful one of her mates took that off her shoulders. Something else to chalk up to the beauty of mates—she really didn’t have to face the world alone anymore.
    “Jezzie, yes, I am Rion. We met under some . . . delightful circumstances,” he finished, winking over at Zelina with a satisfied smile on his face. She returned that smile with a raspberry.
    “I’ll be sure to put that to good use later,” he returned, laughing in her head. She chose not to respond to that.
    “As you are someone that means more to Zelina than I think you even know, we will tell you the absolute truth. Please.” He directed her away from the bedroom and down the hall. Jezzie hesitated for a second, looking to Z for confirmation, before she turned and strolled where he directed.
    Her heels clicked in the silence in rhythm, her black business suit and white silk blouse looking smart on her thicker form. Of the two, Jezzie was the earthier. She didn’t see it that way, of course. To her, she was fat, further away from the generally accepted stick-thin figure. Zelina wasn’t near that either in a size twelve, but Jezzie took her size sixteen to heart. Most days Zelina ignored her whining about it and moved on. One day she’d find someone who would worship those curves she had, Zelina just knew it. That brought an idea to her head, one she’d have to talk to her mates about later.
    The door they stopped in front of interrupted her thoughts. The sitting room was all mahogany and white, from white carpet, to accent walls, to even the cushions on the couch. The wood pieces, though, added warmth and life to the place. If she didn’t believe before her clan made money, she did now.
    “Sit,” Rion invited her.
    Jezzie sat, watching him carefully and looking over at Zelina from time to time. Rion let her sit in between him and Quin, curling up her legs under her. Quin grabbed a blanket off the seat next to him and draped it over her legs. The move was done with ease, never interrupting the surrounding events, and Jezzie lifted a brow at that. It was too smooth to have been done to impress her, and she