Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Shiloh

Things happen quickly after that. Monroe is swept away. The dead Mystic is taken from us. Broderick and I are politely but resolutely guided out of the building and back to the truck. Neither of us speaks as we drive back over the river, not even when a convoy of other Raider vehicles surrounds us and escort us back to the compound.

Broderick parks and looks at me. “I’m sorry.” He makes no move to get out of the car despite Abel and the others who provided our escort through Raider territory waiting.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” My throat feels like it’s on fire, and I can’t tell if that’s an aftereffect of the poison or the fact that we just drove away from the woman I love. I can already feel the dynamic shifting between Broderick and I, both of us too tentative without Monroe here to urge us forward.

Well, I’ll have to be the one to be assertive this time.

I clear my throat and wince. “We made the wrong call.”

“What?” He catches Abel’s gaze through the windshield and waves his brother off. After the barest hesitation, Abel leads his group toward the main building, though he lingers outside after the rest of them have dispersed.

“We shouldn’t have left her there.”

“Shiloh, we didn’t have much choice.”

I twist to face him. “Yes, we did. We could have fought for her. She’s fighting for me right now, and we just turned around and let them shove us out.”

“You heard her. She’s going to be queen.”

“I heard.” I press a shaking hand to my chest. “Broderick, I love her. And I love you. I know it’s not the same for you, but—”

He curses. “I’m falling for her, too. Have already fallen, if I’m going to be honest. It’s not convenient, and I want to shove her out a window half the time, but I’m self-aware enough to recognize the feeling.” He drags his hand over his face. “What do you want from me, Shiloh? I don’t know how to make this work. It’s all happening too fast. I thought we’d have more time.”

My brain still feels fuzzy, but I try to focus. There’s a way through this. There has to be. “Do you want us? To be a throuple in a permanent way?”

He hesitates, his hands flexing on the steering wheel. “Yeah. I do.”

“Me, too.” I shift on the seat. This next part is more difficult. “She’s still your Bride. They can’t deny access to you.”

“She won’t come back here as queen. There’s no fucking way. It would never work.”

“You’re right. She won’t.”

It doesn’t take him long to connect the dots. He curses. “You’re really willing to live among the Amazons again after everything? I can’t ask that of you. Monroe sure as fuck won’t.”

The idea isn’t exactly comfortable, but the alternative is a thousand times worse. I take a slow breath. “It wasn’t the entire Amazon faction responsible for what happened to me. The people who hurt me have been punished. Gods, Broderick, she went after her own mother on my behalf. If the other Amazons are like Monroe, I think we’ll do just fine.”

“If the other Amazons are like Monroe, I don’t know if I’ll survive it,” he mutters. But his grip has loosened on the steering wheel. “Are you sure? I don’t know if this is a decision we can change our minds about after the fact. If we go to her with the intent of staying, we’ll be under suspicion every time we interact with the Raiders.”

I think about Iris, about Maddox and Cohen and the others I’ve become friends with over the years. They’ve been a family of sorts, and if that means there’s a new distance between us, I don’t think it will break those relationships entirely. How novel. “What about you? You’re Abel’s second-in-command. That’s not exactly an easy position to fill.”

“You’d be surprised.” He stares out the windshield for a long moment. “Be sure, Shiloh. If we do this, there’s no going back.”

“I’m sure if you are.”

Another, longer stream of curses. “Well, shit, guess I better go talk to my brother.”

Abel must have seen that our conversation was finished, because he ambles over. Broderick rolls down the window. “You’re not going to like this.”

“Strangest thing.” Abel looks at him and then at me. “I just got word that Monroe Rhodius is stepping up as queen of the Amazons. This have anything to do with what went down this morning?” He focuses on me. “Glad you’re okay, Shiloh.”

“Me, too.”

Broderick nods slowly. “Yeah, it has to do with that. I’ll fill you in later, but the bottom line is that she’s my Bride, and I’m not willing to give that up, queen or no. Donovan can take over my duties. It will even be good for him—he’s spent too fucking long floating through life. It’s time he took on some responsibility.”

Abel studies him. “So you’re really going.”

“Yeah, I’m really going.”

Another glance at me. “You, too?”

“Yes.”

He sighs and drags his hand through his hair. “Well, fuck. This isn’t ideal, but the fact is that it positions you better than I could have dreamed to—”

“No.”

“What?”

Broderick shakes his head. “No. I won’t give Monroe and her people information about our family and the Raiders, but if we’re going there for her, I also won’t ferry back information about the Amazons.”

Abel narrows his eyes. “That’s one fucked up tightrope you’re going to be walking.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“I could stop you, you know.”

Broderick snorts. “Maybe for a little bit, but then you appear weak when you finally fail to hold us. Better to look like we’re following my Bride. Hell, it actually makes you and the Raiders look even better.”

“Hmmm.” Abel leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “That Amazon of yours feel the same way?”

“Only one way to find out.”

She does. I know she does. But I keep my mouth shut because ultimately, I am just another solider in Abel Paine’s small army, while Broderick is his second-in-command, at least until Donovan officially steps in for him. They have to hash this out properly now in order to minimize potential issues in the future.

Finally, Abel nods. “I’m not going to pretend I understand, but I’ve chased my own love in unexpected places. Good luck. To both of you.”

“Thanks.”

Broderick is already rolling up the window and putting the truck in gear. “I’ll touch base later to get our shit.”

“Sure.” Abel stands there and watches us drive away, an unreadable expression on his face.

Broderick reaches over and takes my hand, and I let him tug me across the seat to tuck under his arm. He presses a kiss to my temple. “Let’s go get our woman.”

It’s easier than I could have dreamed. We even park in the same spot. A few of the Amazons look like they want to stop us, but no one gets in our way as we take the elevator up to Monroe’s floor. Gladys is even in her normal spot.

Broderick manages to sound almost polite. “I’m here to see my Bride.”

Gladys makes a face like she doesn’t want to tell him—to tell us—where Monroe is but also can’t think of a reason to keep her from us. “She’s in the room at the end of the hallway.”

Broderick takes my hand as we move quickly in that direction. A little touch to anchor me in the midst of so much change. Everything is changing.

He opens the door without hesitation. We find Monroe standing in front of a full-length mirror. Alone. She looks beautiful in a silver dress with her hair pinned up and her customary red lipstick. The shock on her face has me wondering if we made a mistake. Broderick doesn’t hesitate, though. He all but drags me after him as we step into the room.

Monroe looks from him to me. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re my Bride.”

She goes still. “I can’t leave the Amazon faction now, Broderick. Bride or no, my people need me. I’ll hold to the agreement and I’ll work with you and Abel to ensure peace as well as I can, but I have to be here.”

I step around him but keep my hold on his hand. “We’re going to be here, too. If you’ll have us.”

“What are you saying?”

“I love you.” Now it’s my turn to tug on Broderick’s hand, pulling him closer. “We both care so much about you. Ten months was never going to be enough for us. The three of us work. Together. As a throuple. We don’t work as well in pairs.”

“But…”

“She’s right,” Broderick cuts in. “About all of it. I won’t inform on the Raiders to you, but the Amazon’s secrets are safe with me, too. I give you my word. I don’t want any of that shit, Bride. I just want you.” He smiles at me. “Both of you.”

“Are you sure?” she whispers. “You have to be sure. If you do this while I’m queen, there’s no going back. We can’t be on-again, off-again. It has to be all or nothing.”

“Then we choose all.”

“We choose you,” I say.

He holds out his empty hand. “Will you choose us, too?”

She doesn’t hesitate. She practically throws herself into our arms. “Of course I choose you. How could I not? I love you.” She hugs us so tightly, she steals my breath. Fitting, that.

Monroe has been stealing my breath since the moment we met.

She grins at us, her expression relaxing into something truly happy. “If you’re absolutely sure, then now would be an excellent time to name both of you Consort.”

“Just like that?” Broderick looks almost shocked. “Won’t we have access to quite a bit of information under those titles?”

“Yes.” She presses her lips together. “But you’ve given your word that you won’t use it against me. I…love you. I trust you. Both of you.”

I cup her jaw and kiss her, careful of the lipstick. “In that case, Consort sounds like it would look good on both of us.”

Thankyou so much for reading Abel! I hope you enjoyed Abel, Harlow, and Eli’s wild ride! If you did, please consider leaving a review.

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The Paine brothers’ story continues with COHEN. For years, Cohen has done whatever it takes to keep his brothers alive, no matter the cost to himself. Now he’s got a fragile, innocent Bride in Winry and no idea what to do with her. Good thing Maddox is there to lend a hand…