“Fuck, Dax, shut your damn mouth!”
It was the first time Anna had ever heard Lucas raise his voice at one of his teammates. And it was completely the wrong moment. This wasn’t his fight! But his hand was now on her back and his jaw seemed to be cracking... Shit. He was going to make it worse!
“Lucas, it’s okay,” she hissed.
“Nothing about this moment is okay,” he replied stonily.
Dax looked at him so perplexed that Lucas might as well have grown a hockey stick for an arm. “Excuse me? What the hell is it to you, Moreau?”
Lucas’ jaw cracked. Anna heard it. She felt him lean back. Maybe he was considering sayingnothingand just leaving. That would be best.
But he didn’t.
“Anna’s right. It’s up to her if she wants to talk to your father and if she wants to tell you.”
“What the fuck?” Dax opened his mouth in disbelief...but just then, Jack drew Anna’s attention. His eyes were narrowed, glancing from Lucas to her and back. His gaze lingered on his hand on her back.
“Oh my God,” he said tonelessly, rubbing his face. “Fuck. He’s your secret boyfriend.”
“What?!” Dax’s voice could only have been louder through a megaphone.
“No! Fucking Moreau is the secret boyfriend?” Leon chimed in.
“Shit,” Anna whispered, pressing a hand to her eyes.
“Hallelujah,” Fox commented wearily before saying barely audibly, “You know, Moreau, for not liking drama...”
“How long has this been going on?” Jack asked coolly. “And what the hell, Moreau? Didn’t Dax and I make ourselves clear?”
Great. The second brother was furious.
Moreau laughed dryly and leaned forward. “West, I’m going to tell you to shut up too if you keep talking like Anna isn’t allowed to make her own decisions.”
“Lucas!” she said loudly, placing a hand on his chest to stop him from taking another step forward. Anger contorted Jack’s face and Dax continued glancing back and forth between them, completely at a loss. “Lucas, stop it. I already have two alpha males here acting like idiots. Don’t you go joining in.”
“They can’t fucking talk to you like that, Anna,” he said, his voice menacingly calm.
“I talk to them the same way! It’s our business.”
“They’re...”
“I know. But I’ll handle it,” she said sharply. “I...”
“Fuck, you’re sleeping together?”
“Good God, Dax, you’re slow today,” Matt Payne muttered.
Yes, but his face showed everything. It was going from red to white and back to red...
“What the fuck, Anna? You’re talking to Dad behind my back and screwing my teammate? And what the fuck, Moreau? We have a code. Shit!” he thundered.
Lucas merely raised a cool eyebrow. And before Dax could blow a fuse, Anna said loudly, “Stop it, Dax. We’re adults. We can do whatever we want. Just like it’s my damn decision if I want to contact Dad or not, just as it should have been my decision when you so firmly excluded Jack from our lives, it’s entirely my decision who I want to be with! I’m a fucking grownup, why don’t you get it? And if I want to get my heart broken, whether by Dad or Lucas, then that’s my decision too!
“He broke your damn heart?” Dax raged. If Anna hadn’t gotten in his way, he would have gone for Lucas. His hands were already outstretched.
“No!” she cried out, exhausted, pushing him away. She hoped that at least Jack would help her and pull Dax back by the shoulders, but her normally much calmer brother was too busy glaring at Lucas and clenching his hands.
“What exactly is going on between you two?” he growled, stepping forward. His face was so hard that Anna flinched. “What exactly are your intentions with her, Moreau? Did you just want to toy with her feelings a little or…”
