Tied Bond (Bonded Duet 2)

“What needs to stop?” Lola asked, tilting her head at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about. I’d known Lola since she was a nineteen-year-old woman trying to fight her way through each day. She may have been forty now, but she hadn’t changed one bit. She was fiery, but so was her daughter.

“This.” Cade threw his hands up in the air and smacked them off the side of his thighs. “Belle has been through enough, and you’re not helping with the way you’re acting about Ford.” His gaze met mine. “Yes, he lied and kept a secret about what their relationship was.” He turned back to face both Lola and Brody. “But so did you two.” Lola opened her mouth to respond, but Cade didn’t give her the chance. “You forget I was there. I watched the fallout between my mom and dad, and I felt the betrayal deep in my bones.” He pulled in a breath and scrubbed his hand over his face. “But I forgave you both. I didn’t hold it against you, not the way you are with Ford.”

“That was different circumstances,” Lola responded, her voice losing its edge.

“Who cares about the circumstances? I know none of us in this room can tell them it’s wrong.” Cade looked over at Aria and smiled. “Belle is pregnant, and we all know Ford will be there no matter what.”

“I will,” I interjected, pushing up off the wall. I’d kept quiet, not wanting to rock the boat any more than I already had, but it was time I told them how I felt too. “I get it, I’m twice her age, and she’s your daughter.” I sta

red at Brody and then Lola. “But there is no way in hell that I won’t be there. I’ve never walked away from any of my responsibilities. You both know that. I protect what’s mine.”

“I never doubted you would,” Lola said, her shoulders drooping. She was losing her fight, but I wasn’t going to celebrate just yet. “I just…it’s…” She screwed up her face. “It’s just weird.”

Brody snorted and stretched his arm over the back of the sofa. “That’s your answer? It’s weird?”

Lola rolled her eyes. “What?” She held her arms up and then pointed at me. “He’s basically my best friend. He’s been there through everything, and now…now he’ll be like my son-in-law.” Her eyes widened, and mine widened in response. “That’s just—”

“Belle did tell me she’d marry Ford,” Aria said from the kitchen. We all whipped our heads around to her. “What? She did.”

My stomach bottomed out, and I tried to think of a time when I could have given her that impression. Aria knew we’d been sleeping together since the lake house, so none of this would have been that much of a surprise to her.

“Say what now?” Cade stepped forward. “When did she tell you this?”

“At Mom’s wedding.” I spluttered, and she grinned at all of us. “When she was eight, she told me—and I’m paraphrasing here—‘you can help me plan my wedding when I get married, Aria.’” She shrugged. “I asked her who she was marrying, and she told me, ‘Ford, obviously.’”

“Jesus Christ, Aria,” Lola growled. “What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?”

Aria chuckled, but her face suddenly turned serious. “I know it’s not the most ideal situation, but I was there when Belle walked into your house during the fake memorial. I saw the utter devastation on her face.” She met my stare. “And I saw the way they looked at each other at the lake house over spring break.”

“That doesn’t make this any easier,” Lola groaned out.

“It should.” Aria stood from the barstool she was sitting on. “The way I see it, it’s their life, and we should let them live it the way they want to. We just need to be there for them.” Aria moved closer to Cade, and he pulled her to his side. “All we should concentrate on is Belle healing and then doting on the baby when it gets here.”

She wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t my place to do anything. I had to wait for them to come around, I knew that.

Lola stared at me and narrowed her eyes. “You hurt her, and I’ll kill you, Ford.”

“Don’t doubt that for a second, Lola,” I replied, pushing my shoulders back. “But it’ll never happen.”

“Good. Make sure it doesn’t.”

“Does that mean he’s back in the fold?” Cade asked. “Because I’m sure Asher is getting pretty tired of having to sleep on Belle’s bedroom floor when she’s at home.”

“What?” we all asked in unison.

“Huh?” Cade frowned. “What?”

“What did you just say?” Brody asked, standing from the sofa. He’d been relatively relaxed through the entire conversation, but now he was on edge.

“Asher has been sleeping on Belle’s bedroom floor when she’s at home,” Cade repeated, saying each word slowly. “Didn’t you know?”

“No,” Brody ground out. “Why is he sleeping on her bedroom floor?”

“Because…” Cade stared at me with wide eyes, begging me to step in.

“She’s been having nightmares,” I told them. “At least she has when she’s been staying at my place.”

“So, you’ve been sleeping in the same bed as her?” Lola asked, her eyes now thin slits.