He slowly shakes his head and I know he wants to say something, but he’s forcing himself to hold his tongue because of our agreement.
“Just say it. I won’t take it out on Ward.”
He finally turns to me. “Please don’t sabotage him tonight, baby. Take it out on me, if you want to, but he’s going to be terrified. Please, cut him some slack. That he’s doing this at all is…huge.”
A lesser man would be pissed off by that, Liam’s solicitation on his lover’s behalf.
I, however, am not a lesser man.
Not about this, anyway.
I nod. “I know. But he’s going to have to get used to doing scary things if he’s going to survive his first term in the Senate, much less if he’s going to stand up to her and to his father. He needs to learn these skills, and you and I have to teach him.”
His body language relaxes as he nods. “Okay. Thank you.”
I decide to throw him a bone. “Look, I don’t want to set him up to fail. This isn’t fluffy bunnies and kittens time. This is toughen-our-tits time, because if he can’t do that, he’ll never be trulyours.”
I let that last word sink in for a moment.
“You want him to be with us, right?” I ask. “If not, tell me now, because I kind of have a whole thing planned with a trajectory aimed at that as our ultimate goal.”
Liam looks absolutely stunned and stares at me for a moment as if he can’t believe I just said that. “Yeah. I do want him to be with us.” He scrubs his face with his hands. “I’m just worried about you and him and everything.”
“I know. This won’t be an overnight operation. The faster we build his tolerance and thicken his hide, the sooner he’ll be able to find the balls to divorce Olivia. If he can stand up to her and divorce her, he’ll be able to start extricating himself from his father, if the asshole doesn’t stroke out over the divorce first.”
“A twofer,” Liam quietly jokes.
“Yeah.” I walk over and take his hands in mine and hold them against my chest, the way he’s done to me countless times over the years.
And the most physical intimacy I’ve given him since the revelation that rocked my world. “I’d rather not have to resort to ratfucks if we can cleanly separate Ward from all of them through toughening him up. I’d rather not risk him, or you, or me that way. I’d like to save those dirty tricks for a last resort, if we even need them at all.
“But if we break out the big guns early on and the fucker slips free, that might mean more trouble for us further down the road. Plus, something like that could mean more press coverage later when we least want it focused on the three of us. He needs to be single and able to stand up to his father before we have any hope of taking things forward.”
He nods. “I know you’re right, but you’ve seen him now. You see how he is.”
“Yeah, I do.” I squeeze his hands. “And it’s one of the reasons why I didn’t walk out and divorce your dumb ass.” I let my words sink in for a moment. “If I didn’t think he was worth it—or that you’re worth it—I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“He loves you, D.” He slowly strokes my wedding band with his thumb. “He told me he’s in love with you.”
That shouldn’t shock me, but it does. Mostly because I know my feelings are heading that way, too.
But, kudos to Liam, he hasn’t once asked me about sex, or tried to hint, or…anything. I know he’s horny because I’ve seen him sporting wood in his sweats or briefs around the house, but he’s behaving himself.
“I told both of you I’m not discussing my emotions right now. We’re not even two weeks into this. I mean,I’mnot. You two are miles ahead of me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Stop with the apologies. I don’t want apologies. I want to see you two living up to your word and doing what I say. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and all that bullshit. You two have to trust that I know what I’m doing, and that I’m playing three-dimensional chess while you two dudes are barely managing to keep your heads above water playing checkers.”
Finally, that wins me a playful smirk. “I am the luckiest man on the face of the planet.”
“Because I didn’t immediately castrate both of you? Uh,yeah, you are.”
He laughs and kisses me. “I love you so much, Daniel. Thank you for giving him a chance, and for not killing me.”
“You thank me now, but you both owe me, big time.”
“Yeah, we absolutely do.”
