10 MEN: A MEGA MENAGE REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE (HUGE SERIES Book 7) Read online

  TEN MEN

  A REVERSE HAREM NOVEL - HUGE SERIES

  BY STEPHANIE BROTHER

  © Stephanie Brother 2019

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be produced or used in manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors imagination.

  Please not that this work is intended for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented are 18 or over.

  KINDLE EDITION.

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  Description

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

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  Also by Stephanie Brother

  About the Author

  DESCRIPTION

  Finding the one is hard enough…finding ten should be impossible.

  When I was little, my momma told me that I was probably gonna need to kiss a whole lotta frogs before I found my prince.

  Her definition of frogs was my dad.

  Her definition of a prince is Roderick McGregor, owner of the biggest property development company in the state and father to ten of the most gorgeous sons in the northern hemisphere.

  Ten! Yeah, I said ten.

  Finding out mom’s getting married again and I’m going to have a stepbrother would be bad enough, but ten is a whole other ball game. Then I overhear my new stepbrothers talking about ‘the plan’ and I’m flabbergasted.

  Seems Mr. McGregor doesn’t want his company to be split ten ways. Instead, he wants his sons to agree on creating one huge family.

  One woman to breed the heir to the McGregor fortune.

  One woman to take on ten McGregor men.

  I’ll admit the thought made me a whole lot hot until I find out they really want me as the woman and I realize I’m in ten men deep!

  PROLOGUE

  When I was younger, I used to imagine meeting one gorgeous man who’d be absolutely perfect for me. He’d sweep me off my feet and treat me like a princess. I believed that I’d have the happy ever after ending that we all want. Then my dad proved to be a total frog, and mom lost the rose-tint from her glasses. Suddenly, my idea of a fairy tale love life seemed totally unrealistic.

  Finding the one used to be something I looked forward to, but after witnessing all the drama and betrayal in my own parent’s marriage, I didn’t want to dream about something that seemed so unlikely to become a reality.

  That was until mom met Roderick McGregor and he swept her off her feet.

  Roderick McGregor is a silver fox, and he’s richer than Croesus. I guess you could say mom landed on her feet. I’m sure there are plenty of people who are saying mean things about her being a gold digger, but I’m not going to be one of them.

  Mr. McGregor might be rich but he’s arrogant with it. If I wasn’t certain that my mom can give as good as she gets, I’d be advising her to walk away. It seems, though, that Roderick might be more than just a little smitten, and that mom has him completely wrapped around her little finger.

  So, what might all this have to do with my little story?

  That is a damn good question.

  I used to think that finding the one was going to be impossible.

  Then I researched Roderick’s ten gorgeous sons on Google and I became a little more hopeful.

  I know they’re going to be my stepbrothers, but a girl can fantasize. If you saw them, you’d realize that resisting naughty thoughts about them in all their unbelievable gorgeousness is pretty much impossible.

  Aaron and Antony, Barret and Blake, Cameron and Casey, Donnie, Elliot, Ford, and Grant. Together they make up the management team for Roderick’s huge property business empire.

  I’ll tell you more about them later, and about the twists and turns that my life has taken, but what you need to know right now is that Roderick has one hell of a crazy plan for his sons and his company, and if he has his way, I am going to be a part of it all in a very unexpected way.

  1

  We’re moving today. It’s been on the cards for a while but Roderick won’t stand for us living in this tiny two bedroomed place anymore and mom has finally given in now she has a four karat rock on her finger.

  Roderick isn’t messing around. He wants a wife and he set his sights on mom. I get the feeling that Roderick is used to getting what he wants. If he can’t will it, he’ll buy it. I’m pretty proud of mom for waiting this long, though. She held her ground and made sure he’s not just messing her around.

  I know that relationships shouldn’t be about game playing, but it seems the more you resist, the more you get pursued. Funny how men want most what is hard to get.

  Roderick has sent a truck to collect our stuff. There are four large men packing our things for removal. Mom and I have had to move many times before. We’re used to stuffing our possessions into black bags and hoisting them into our rusty old SUV. Now we’re standing here watching the men work while we drink coffee in the mugs that mom doesn’t want to take with us.

  There’s a fully equipped kitchen at the mansion we are moving into. These dollar store specials won’t fit there at all.

  Mom grins at me. “I have to say that this way of moving beats our usual struggle.”

  I nod and grin as one of the removal men trudges past with my box of shoes. “It sure does.”

  “I’m surprised that Roderick didn’t come just so he could order everyone around.” I glance at her and she seems to smile as though the thought of him doing that is appealing. I don’t understand that at all.

  “I’m kinda glad he didn’t bother,” I say. “They seem to know what they’re doing and who needs the stress.”

  Mum shakes her head. “One day you’ll understand, Laura. Men like to be in charge and to be honest, if they are capable of leading, it makes life a whole lot easier to follow.”

  I frown but she grins. “You remember that film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding?” I nod. “Well, the mom says something like, ‘your dad may be the head, but I am the neck and I can turn the head any way I want to.’ As long as you let them think they’re the boss in the relationship, they’re happy. What you need to know is how to get them to do what you want them to do and make them think that it’s all their idea.”

  “And you know how to get Roderick to do that?” I ask.

  “Sure,” she says. “He thinks he’s such a tough cookie, but he’s really a pussy cat.”

  I shake my head. Since my first boyfriend, Ollie, left town, my interest in the opposite sex has all but disappeared. I’m not saying that I don’t get horny these
days. I do. A lot. It’s the looking at guys as relationship material that has waned. My heart was shredded when Ollie’s father had to change jobs and move state. I would have tried to keep things going but Ollie said he couldn’t deal with a long distance relationship. I guess he didn’t love me as much as I thought he did because he let me go so easily.

  “Well, I hope he’s in a pussy cat mood when he sees that chair you’re planning on moving into his palace.”

  Mom grimaces. “It was my dad’s favorite chair. I can’t just leave it behind.”

  “It’s not me you need to convince,” I laugh. Two removal men are eyeing the chair. It’s mustard velvet and very bulky. “Where are you planning to put it, anyway?”

  “Not sure,” she says. “I’d like it in my dressing room, but I reckon Roderick will try and get me to store it.”

  “Well, I guess he’ll have to put up with it because of its sentimental value.”

  She takes a sip of her coffee and licks the foam from her top lip. “Roderick isn’t the most sentimental of men.”

  “Neither was grandpa,” I remind her. Now I’m thinking about it, it’s probably why mom loves these domineering men. It’s what she grew up with. “If he was still alive he’d give Mr. McGregor a real run for his money.”

  Mom seems to shudder. “Yeah, they probably wouldn’t like each other at all.”

  “Either that or there’d be a begrudging kind of respect.”

  “Maybe.” She doesn’t sound sure and I’m kinda glad we don’t really need to find out. I hate conflict, especially the family argument variety. It’s one of the reasons I’ve opted not to see my dad for a while. Always too much drama and I just can’t deal with it.

  “Are you taking this?” the sexiest removal guy asks. It’s our dog’s old bed. Neither of us has had the heart to throw it away and Bongo passed away over a year ago.

  I look at mom and she sighs. “I guess not.”

  “Okay,” he says, gripping it by the soft fabric. “I’ll put it in the dumpster.”

  It feels awful to watch him take it away but this is it. We have to leave some of the past behind in order to fit into our new future. I lean back against the counter and look around at our place. It’s certainly nothing to get sentimental about and I won’t be sad to leave it behind. The only thing that I loved is that it was just me and mom here. We’ve had fun together and it’s been a real home because of that. Now we’re moving and I know things at Roderick’s are going to be very different. For one, mom will be sharing a suite with him, so there’ll be no jumping into bed with her on a Saturday morning to watch cheesy re-runs and eat cereal. They have staff quarters so pretty much all the chores will be handled by someone else. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

  And then there are Roderick’s sons.

  I haven’t met them but as soon as mom mentioned them I was on Google right away. Well, the McGregor’s are very well known for their business dealings, but it seems Roderick’s sons are known for other things, too. My research has taken me to some interesting places. Newspaper reports about bar fights, magazine articles about paintings, and even some charity stuff for animal rescue. I suppose with ten sons you’re bound to get a mixed bag. They sure sound interesting.

  There are images of them, too. Images that have kept me awake at night.

  I don’t know how to sum up the McGregor boys except maybe by saying that I’d be afraid to be in the same room as all of them at the same time for fear my eyes would pop out of my head.

  DAMN.

  Three sets of identical twins and four unique brothers. Blue eyes, brown eyes, grey eyes, and even some green. Short hair, shaggy hair, beards, blonde, and brown hair. It’s as though all the models from an edition of GQ magazine have decided to take up residence in one house.

  One house that I’m about to move into.

  OMG.

  I’m just hoping that they all have girlfriends and that I can hold my resolve to focusing on my studies and ignoring men, however tempting they might be.

  “You know, they’re nearly finished,” mom says, going to wash her mug in the sink.

  “I know.” I take her mine too and reach for the cloth to dry them. We may not be taking them with us but the people moving in might appreciate them. “Are you nervous?”

  Mom shakes her head. “You know, Laura. There are no certainties in life but sometimes you just have to go with your gut. It’s been telling me that Roderick is solid from our very first date but my heart was damaged and my mind was wary. I told him from the start that I was going to take a long time to trust him and he’s worked hard to earn it.”

  “Okay,” I say, putting my hand on her shoulder. “You’re a good judge of character, mom. Trouble is that sometimes people are very good at hiding the reality of who they really are. I don’t get the feeling that Roderick is that kind of person at all, though. He strikes me as the kind of person who is just himself, 24/7, maybe to the point of it being not that healthy.”

  Mom laughs and reaches to pull me into a hug. She smells of a new fragrance that Roderick bought her for no reason other than to see her smile and that makes me both happy and sad. She doesn’t smell like my mom anymore. “I think you’re right, baby-girl,” she says, smoothing her hand over my shoulder in a way that takes me back at least a decade. “At least, I hope so with all my heart.”

  We pull away from each other and smile, and I feel a deep sense of relief to see her happy. Beneath that though, is a sharp layer of fear that Mr. McGregor is going to turn out to be the biggest douchebag poor mom has ever come across and we’ll be back to square one again.

  “Everything going okay in here?” a deep voice booms through the front door.

  We both turn to find a gorgeous man leaning against the doorframe as though he owns the place. I recognize him as one of Roderick’s sons, but I cannot for the life of me remember which one.

  “Elliot,” Mom says, moving quickly to place a kiss on his cheek and a pat on his bulging bicep. So that’s who it is. Blond spikey hair and a black t-shirt make his green eyes pop. He’s in joggers and trainers and looks like he’s just coming back from the gym.

  “Dad sent me to check on you,” he says. It doesn’t sound like he’s upset about that fact. I guess, when you work for your father, you have to get used to taking orders.

  “We’re doing good.” Mom waves her arm over the almost empty apartment. “He sent enough men to move us out of a mansion. We don’t have much stuff.”

  “Yeah, that truck outside looks half empty.” I don’t think he’s trying to be insulting but his observation of our lack of possessions still smarts a little.

  Mom chuckles. “I told Roddy to send the smaller one, but he insisted.”

  Elliot rolls his eyes. “Yeah, Dad doesn’t do anything by half measures.” He glances at me and I see a spark of interest in the way his head jerks back a little. I guess he didn’t notice me before.

  Mom must notice, too. “This is my daughter, Laura.”

  His smile is broad as he steps forward to shake my hand. It’s a formal gesture but the way he grips it between both of his feels intimate or presumptuous. “Nice to finally meet you, Laura. Do you know what you are letting yourself in for?”

  Mom chuckles and I put my head to one side, considering him as he lets my hand go. “Well, Roderick told me that his cook makes the best buttermilk pancakes in the world, so I think I’ve got the important things covered.”

  Elliot chuckles and nods. “Dora’s cooking is out of this world.” He pats his stomach that is flat as a washboard with nothing to indicate any kind of eating excess. “If it wasn’t for her I’d only have to spend half the time in the gym that I do.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Is there anything I can do for you while I’m here?” he asks.

  “I think everything is covered, honey,” Mom croons. She always wanted a son so I guess I’m going to be witnessing a lot of this.

  “Well, that’s good. I guess
I’ll see ya’ll up at the house then.”

  He smiles broadly, his perfect, white megawatt teeth almost sending me dizzy.

  Mom beams, too. “You know what. I’m fine here while the removers finish up. Why don’t you take Laura back with you?”

  I twist to look at her, wondering what her game is. Mom is definitely hoping that we’re all going to get on as one big happy family, but we’re pretty much all adults who will be moving on and making our own lives soon. Although all of the McGregor men still live under one roof. Maybe they’re going the traditional route and only moving out when they get married. Maybe I’ll be the first one to spread my wings and fly. I guess it’ll depend on how easy I find it to live with eleven men.

  To be honest, the thought fills me with dread.

  All those booming voices. All the sexist talk and boring conversations about sport and politics.

  I’m even more nostalgic for our little apartment now.

  “I want to stay and help,” I tell Mom, but she just waves me off.

  “There’s nothing to do here, sweetie. We’re just standing around and watching.”

  “It’s no trouble,” Elliot says with yet another grin that has the power to floor me. “It’ll be good for us to have a chance to get to know each other.”

  I guess he could be right. It’ll be a little uncomfortable getting in the car with a man who is effectively a stranger, but I guess that we’ll all be waking up under the same roof tomorrow so might as well dive in at the deep end.

  “Okay then, I’ll grab my things.”

  Everything I was going to take myself is piled in a heap by the front door. As I’m picking it all up, Elliot is there to take over. “Let me,” he says.

  I know he’s only trying to be chivalrous but I can carry my own damn purse. Still, I let him take over because I don’t want to look like an ungrateful brat.

  “See you later,” Mom singsongs from behind us and then I’m walking away from our home for the last time.

  Elliot’s car is a sleek SUV and he sweetly opens the passenger door for me before putting my things on the back seat.