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If he hadn’t lied to me, I wouldn’t have left his house. I wouldn’t have become an unwilling pawn, and the three men wouldn’t have had to abandon their position in the game to come get me. And Marcus wouldn’t have gotten shot. Like a series of dominoes falling, one lie set off a chain reaction that culminated in three gunshots I can still hear echoing in my ears.
“Ryland and Marcus are like brothers to me. More than fucking brothers. Better than brothers, because we chose each other. We aren’t in each other’s lives because of some accident of DNA or whatever. We’re in each other’s lives because we want to be. I’d do anything for either one of them. Lay down my fucking life.”
I remember what Theo told me about being closer than brothers with Marcus and Ryland. They chose each other. And I choose them.
You’re in it. Yesterday, you got thrown into the fucking deep end. We can’t force you out. We can’t undo what’s happened. All we can do is keep you safe.” His hands clench into fists. “I’ve already seen what happens when we try to keep you in the dark to protect you. When we try to push you away to keep you safe. I’m not going down that fucking road again. So you can come with us.” My chest squeezes.
Ryland drags in a shuddering breath, his nostrils flickering. “Because you can’t ask me to choose between two things I love.”
“Fuck, Ayla,” he mutters against my mouth. “I tried. Goddammit, I tried so hard not to want you. Not to fucking love you.”
And did I just betray Marcus somehow? Ryland shakes his head. I’m sure I didn’t say any of that out loud, but he seems to have read my thoughts somehow. “Marcus knows.” His full lips, swollen and red from our bruising kisses, ghost over mine once more. “He knows how I feel about you. How Theo feels about you. He’s always known. And he meant what he said in the alley that night. I’m sure of it. We’ve never shared a woman before, but we all knew you were different from the very first moment you came into our lives.”
If there’s anybody who’s got a shot at winning through political maneuvering alone, it’s gotta be her.” “No. It’s gotta be us,” I correct fiercely, and he shoots me a lopsided grin. “You know, with you on our team, I’m actually starting to believe that.”
Marcus is back. But he’s no longer mine.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough, angel,” he murmurs, his lips ghosting over my skin with each word. “When I said you were mine, I fucking meant it. And I’m yours.”
“How could I?” He traces the line of my jaw with his fingertips, his eyes warming. “I still owe you a hundred million heartbeats.”
These men love each other. Unreservedly and unabashedly. Fiercely. They love each other in a way that makes me want to be a part of that bond.
“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.”
“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.”
“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.
I am his. I belong to this man as much as I belong to Marcus. As much as I belong to Ryland. As much as I belong to myself.
“See what you did to them, Rose?” Theo chuckles again, a rough, warm sound. “It’s the same thing you do to me. We’re fucking gone for you, sweetheart. We’re wrecked.”
“Don’t worry, angel. I’ll be all right.” His smile widens a little, and now I see it reflected in his eyes too. “I’m home.” This isn’t even his house, but that’s entirely beside the point. He is home.
you’re more than good luck, Ayla. You’re my fucking guardian angel, and you always will be.”
“You really do love him, don’t you?” she murmurs, although the question sounds almost rhetorical. I don’t bother answering it, because I don’t know how to. “Love” feels almost as inadequate as “marriage.” I’m not sure there even is a word for the obsessive, soul-deep craving I have for Marcus.
“I want you to have me too, angel. Every bit of me you want.”
“Okay. I’ll go rest,” he murmurs into my hair. He presses a kiss to my temple, his voice a rough whisper as he adds, “Thank you, angel. For caring.” I let myself cling to him for a moment, careful to avoid the wounds on his back. I do care. It scares me a little how much I care. It’s utterly terrifying to realize that my heart now exists outside my own body. But I meant what I told him in the car. It belongs to him now. It belongs to Ryland and Theo. And I don’t want it back.
“If you do this, if you protect my family’s interests… yeah, I’ll support you.” “Good.” Marcus dips his chin. “It’s the only way this ends without more unneeded death.”
“I’ll never want anyone but you, Rose,” he whispers. “I’ll worship you. I’ll protect you. And I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt you.”
“Marcus.” I repeat his name, but it’s not a question this time. It’s a call. An invocation. His gaze flicks up from our joined hands to my face, and he takes a step closer to me. “Yeah, angel?” “I love you.”
“Luca is the Viper. He’s been playing you all this whole time.”
