Marcus takes a seat in a large easy chair, and I linger close by for a second, wanting to make sure he’s okay without making it look like I’m hovering. When I turn to go sit on the couch, though, he catches my hand, tugging me back toward him and settling me on his lap.
My immediate thought is fear that I’ll hurt him, and I try to get up quickly. But he wraps his arms around my waist with a low growl, trapping me against him.
Ryland chuckles, settling onto another chair nearby while Theo takes a seat on the couch. “Give it up, Ayla. He could be bleeding out all over again, and he still wouldn’t let you go. In case you haven’t noticed, he can be a little fucking stubborn.”
Marcus chuckles, a deep, warm sound, and I feel the vibrations of it in my own body.
Ryland’s right. And the truth is, I don’t want to get up. I want to stay right here for as long as possible, absorbing every bit of Marcus that I can.
I tug against his hold just a little though, craning my neck to look at his face. “How’s your back? Am I hurting you?”
Marcus smiles, releasing his hold on me with one arm to reach up and run his fingers through my hair. “Never, angel. You couldn’t fucking hurt me if you tried. Not as long as you let me hold you like this.”
He sounds so sincere, so content, that I can’t help myself. I lean forward to press my lips to his, stealing a soft kiss.
He’s back.
How many more times will I have to repeat that to myself before I actually believe it? Before the knot of tension that’s lived in my stomach since the day he was shot finally disappears?
And now that he’s back… what does it mean?
In the two weeks since Marcus went missing, as Theo, Ryland, and I tried to hold on to hope that he was still alive and searched for clues to his whereabouts, things changed between the three of us. Emotions that had existed under the surface already spilled out into the light, and my feelings for both men deepened and grew into something… real.
When the three of us were focused on avenging Marcus, it was easy enough not to question what was going on between us, not to try to make our unconventional relationship fit into any kind of box.
But now that Marcus is back and our little group is whole again, it’s impossible not to look at the complete picture and wonder what the fuck it all means.
As if he can pick up on the thoughts spinning inside my head, Marcus tucks me a little closer to him, brushing his fingertips over my damaged arm. I’m sitting sideways on his lap, and I can feel his steady heartbeat in his chest.
“Carson double-crossed Dominic, Victoria double-crossed Carson, and Dom would’ve killed either one of them if he’d gotten the chance,” he tells me in a low voice. “This game makes it impossible to trust anyone. Families that used to get along, that used to be true allies, look at each other with suspicion now. That’s what Luca’s done to us.”
He wraps a few strands of my hair around his fingers, tugging lightly on the strands as he turns his head to gaze at me.
“It’s not like that with the three of us, angel.” He tilts his head toward Ryland and Theo, indicating the two other men. “We were brothers long before this fucking game started, and we’ll be brothers long after it ends. We won’t use each other or turn on each other or betray each other. We’ll always have each other’s backs. Do you understand?”
I nod.
Because I do understand. I’ve seen the truth of what he’s saying too many times to doubt it for even a second.
“That’s why I’m glad as fuck that you had Theo and Ry here with you when I couldn’t be.” His eyes burn with intensity. “There is no one else in the world I would trust you with besides the two of them. No one else I trust to take care of you.”
My breath catches in my throat. I can’t look away from him—from the serious, knowing expression on his face. I can feel Theo and Ryland watching us too, and something seems to hover in the air between all of us, making my heart beat a little harder.
“Angel.” Marcus’s fingers release my hair, trailing down the side of my cheek as he watches my face carefully. “Do you care about them?”
I can’t lie.
No one would believe it anyway. Not even me.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Do you want them?”
My pussy clenches at his words, and I nod, swallowing hard.
“Have you fucked them?”
My heart is slamming against my ribs now, heat and cold seeming to flood through me at the same time. Despite everything that’s happened between the four of us, I have a moment of pure terror that I’ve gotten this all wrong.