Chapter 21

twenty-one

. . .

Walker

" L ucky bastard doesn't realize how good he's got it right now."

Cross let out an affirming grunt, his eyes locked on River and Bear as they stood outside the stables. Two horses were saddled, Bear giving his a dubious look. He wasn't gonna tell her no, but I could see it plain as day—that man didn't want to ride.

They were too far away for us to make out their conversation, but I could easily see the giant's lips move as his scowl deepened. River's answering giggle floated to me, and a slight frown worked its way between my brows. I'd woken up this morning expecting to find her in my bed, but she'd been long gone. If not for the faint scent of her perfume on my sheets, I would have doubted she'd been there at all.

What was it about this guy that relaxed her so easily? With us, she was like a cat in the bath. With him, she was curled up in a beam of sunshine, purring happily.

Cross looked just as twisted up about their relationship as I was. He'd joined me on the porch this morning, an ease in his posture I hadn't noticed in a long time. Then the second River and Bear came into view, he'd tensed up again.

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what was going on with him when I got my answer in the form of his expression.

Hunger.

It was right there, blazing in his eyes as he watched her.

"You asshole."

He turned his face toward mine. "What did I do now?"

"You had sex last night. That's why she wasn't in bed with me this morning."

Bringing his mug of coffee to his lips, he offered a slight shrug before taking a sip.

"Taking advantage of her in a weak moment is not something I ever expected from you. She doesn't deserve that."

The look he gave me would have pinned me to the spot if I wasn't already sitting. "I didn't. She asked me to be with her. It wasn't just..."

"Fucking?" I finished after he trailed off.

"Right. It was more. She is more than that."

I scoffed, years of our old fights flooding my mind. "Of fucking course you'd decide you want her now."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I think it's pretty obvious. You couldn't get far enough away from her until you found her with me. Then out of the fucking blue you finally decide you're interested. Finding out you were married just gave you a convenient excuse, but we both know the truth. You only want her because I do."

"Fuck you. That couldn't be further from the truth. If anything, it's the opposite. You've always wanted everything I had."

If I could've stood, I would've. I wanted nothing more than to get right in his face. "Can't you just let me have this one thing? I've loved her longer than you, and honestly, I spent too long being the good brother who respected her boundaries. I sat by and watched her fall for you, all the while craving her for myself. And you are such a fucking dick. You just hurt her over and over."

"You have no goddamn idea what you're talking about."

"Oh? Explain it to me, then. Tell me how you suddenly love her more than I do when, up until a week ago, you couldn't stand to be in the same room as her."

My brother's expression twisted, pain making his eyes so dark they were almost black. "You think you've loved her longer? Maybe you have, but only because I was too old for her so I never let myself think about her that way. Until I did. Until I fell so damn hard so fast my entire world flipped upside down in a single night. She was going to be it for me. She is it for me. I had our entire future mapped out, down to the fucking dog we'd have."

My stomach churned at the tortured cast of his voice. I'd never seen Cross so passionate about anything. Not even our father's death. I barely recognized him.

"So what happened?"

"Senior. Senior fucking happened. Decisions he made..." Cross trailed off, blowing out a heavy breath and shaking his head. "Let's just say he made it clear this was no life for her. She's too good for the likes of us."

"If that's true, why did he trick you two into marriage? That makes no goddamn sense."

His jaw clenched, eyes trained on the two figures slowly riding away from us. He swallowed hard. "Things can change as quickly as the strike of a match, little brother. You know that as well as I do. Once I saw the truth, I had to break her. She had to leave, get as far away from us as she could. I'd rather give up any chance of ever being happy than be the reason the light left her eyes. So I hurt her. I gave her no reason to stay. And I'd do it again if I thought it would keep her safe. I'd do anything if it meant I didn't have to watch her fall out of love with me piece by piece as the picture of what this family really is came into focus."

"What changed? If all that's true, why are you finally letting yourself keep her this time?" I hated the question as it left my lips, but a big part of me understood him all too well.

"I'm a selfish prick. I love her, but not enough to lose her again."

I wanted to call bullshit, but I recognized that look. I'd worn it often enough myself. The asshole did love her. Fuck. This changed everything. If he really loved her, that meant I was the asshole standing in the way of her happiness.

But I'd stood aside once, and it nearly killed me. In this, I was just like my brother. I couldn't be selfless and lose her again. I loved River too much to let her go.

"I'm not giving her up," I said.

"Me either."

"I know," I said on a sigh, resolved but not defeated. I could feel Cross's curious stare boring into the side of my face.

"So you're just gonna date my wife? The press'll have a field day with that."

"Frankly, I don't give a single fuck what the press thinks. The only person's opinion that matters is hers."

"So we leave the choice up to her?"

"You think you'll be able to handle it if she chooses me?" I asked, raising a brow as I glanced back over at him.

Cross's expression was unreadable as Bishop moved into our line of sight, heading toward the stable.

"What if she doesn't choose either of us?" he asked softly.

I couldn't bear to consider the possibility. "Or... what if she chooses all of us?"

The huff of laughter that escaped my brother was a mixture of incredulous and confused. "You think she would?"

"I'd rather that be the case than have to accept a life without her. I'm not too proud to share."

"You've never willingly shared anything a day in your life."

My brows lifted. "Maybe not with you."

Something in him changed as a flicker of interest raced across his face. "Is that something you've done before? More than one partner at the same time?"

"I've had a threesome once or twice. Nothing like what we're talking about, though."

"You really think we could do that? How would it even work? Long-term, I mean. She can't marry us all."

I shrugged. "I guess we'll have to figure it out. Because I'm willing to bet that guy is of the same mind as us, and if none of us are willing to give her up, the only other option is to make it work."

My brother chewed that over for a while. I could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. Eventually the silence became too much for me, and I blurted, "Well, what do you think? We gonna share our girl?"

"I'm not as opposed to it as I thought I'd be. We had a moment, me, Bishop, and River. It worked. In fact, it was fucking hot."

Holy shit. No fucking way.

"Without me? You guys suck."

He laughed, honest to God, a full laugh with no malice behind it. "It just happened. I came across them outside. She was sucking him off, and I... just joined them."

I shifted in my seat, my dick trying to tent my pants at the image of her on her knees between them. "I hate you all."

"If we worked together as a trio. I don't see why we couldn't add a fourth."

"Who are you?"

Cross's lips twitched. "Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did, Walk."

"Okay, well, we don't have to... do stuff to each other, right?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "That would be incest. I'm not getting anywhere near you. This is about our girl and giving her everything she could ever want. Not about getting anyone else off."

Yeah. I could work with that. In fact, I was looking forward to it. I loved the idea of her squirming with pleasure while she took everything we could give. River deserved the world. Who's to say it wouldn't take all three of us to ensure she got it.

"I mean, she does already have my last name," I said eventually.

Cross cuffed the back of my head. " My name, asshole."

"Maybe we should have a contest. First to put a baby in her wins?"

His self-satisfied chuckle told me everything I needed to know. "I've already got a head start on that, then."

"She's on the pill. You don't have a head start on a damn thing."

"Not for much longer."

"And you think you fucked her so good she'll just go along with that?" Part of me wanted to tell him how she'd called my dick magic, but I decided to keep that for myself.

He snorted. "What makes you think she hasn't already agreed?"

I shook my head. "Anything she agreed to post orgasm doesn't count. It's practically a law."

Cross grinned and shrugged, looking way too fucking smug. Something told me I would have to keep an eye on him. Fucker probably would toss out her birth control without her knowing. Replace them with sugar pills instead.

"We'll see. But before we can live happily ever after, we need to get Volkov handled."

I shuddered at the mention of the Russian mob boss who'd been instrumental in putting me in this chair. I wanted to be the one to put a bullet between his eyes.

"Agreed," I said, voice hard. "I don't want that piece of shit to get his hands anywhere near our girl."

"Our girl," Cross repeated, sounding almost reverent.

"So we're on the same page?" I asked. "We take out the trash, and then we see where this goes with her?"

"It's going all the fucking way, Walker. She's the one."

"I don't disagree. I just hope she feels the same."

He sat back in his chair, coffee to his lips again as he trained his gaze on River and Bear, who were slowly working together to get him up to speed on riding basics. Bishop was leaning against the outside of the stables, his attention on her as well. If the three of us worked together, we could get rid of the threat to our budding unit. But that meant we'd have to bring Bishop closer into the fold. He'd have to become family. One of us.

I was willing to bet that for her, he'd become anything she needed.