“No. Forget it. It was a stupid thing to say.” I smile, but even to me, it feels forced. I go to walk away again, needing to leave this room before I fucked up even more.
“Gage,” she says. The tone in her voice makes me wince internally; she sounds pissed. Reluctantly, I turn to face her. “For one, nothing you say is ever stupid. Two, I just mean that I can’t legally marry all of you; I never said I didn’t want to.” She walks to me, grabbing my hands. “Three, you just surprised me. We’ve never talked about this before.”
“Don’t you know by now, Pretty girl? I want everything with you. All of us do.” I take a deep breath. “You’re everything to me. Everything I’ve ever wanted. Everything I’ve ever needed. There hasn’t been anyone I’ve ever loved before you, and there is no after. You’re it for me.” I reach up and thumb away the tear rolling down her cheek.
She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down to her height. I’ve never been one for words; they never come to me when I need them. They end up being a jumbled mess in my head. But with Les, it’s as easy as breathing to tell her how I feel.
“You’re it for me too,” she whispers into my neck. “I never thought I would get a love like my parents had, but now I have six.” She pulls back so I can see her eyes. “It’s all because of you. You made this possible. If I could run to a chapel right now to make you guys officially mine, I would go in a heartbeat.”
“God, I love you,” I declare, crushing her to me. I feel like an idiot for freaking myself out. Sometimes, old things my dad used to say will pop into my head, telling me that I’m not worthy of love.
“I love you too.”
I hug her a little longer before stepping back. “I have something for you.” I jog from the room, making her laugh. Jerking the wrapped present off my desk, I jog back to her room. After I hand it to her, she lays it gently on the bed, pulling the paper off slowly. I’m practically bouncing on the balls of my feet as she pulls it from the box.
She turns around with a smile, more tears in her eyes. “You got me another one?”
I take the leather jacket from her hands, helping her slide her arms in. Sweeping her hair out from the collar, I kiss her neck. “I know you love your other one, but I ordered this a couple of days ago.” Her favorite was lost to Jay’s shithole somewhere when he took her. This one is soft, buttery black leather, fitted to show her curves and to hide her holster.
She turns, attacking me in a hug again. “I love it.”
I’m glad she loves it; I looked forever to find the perfect one. The next thing I buy her will be shiny and shaped like a diamond.
I just need to talk to the other guys.
When we finally make itdownstairs, everyone is waiting for us in the dining room. Ryder is the first to notice Les dressed like herself; then, all eyes shift to her one by one. Ryder strides to her immediately. “There’s my girl,” he says gruffly. I don’t think anyone but us will realize this is a big moment. She hid from us for weeks; now she has her confidence back. I’m hoping we helped her with that. But in reality, Les doesn’t need us to show her who she is; she has confidence in spades.
She smiles, then kisses him deeply, causing Micah to groan like he’s in pain. Les flips him off behind Ryder’s back but doesn’t pull away.
They finally break apart; both are breathing heavily. He lays his forehead against hers for a second before standing up straight. Leading her to the head of the table, he pulls the chair out for her before taking his spot to her right. One by one, we sit in our normal formation around the table, with Les and Micah at the head of the table on each side. Alexey and Dmitri lean against the wall to her left. Zane is seated by Ryder, and it just feels right.
“You know why I called you here,” Les starts, gathering her courage. “We figured out Viktor is Jay’s resource.” She looks at Alexeyand Dmitri apologetically. Viktor may be a piece of shit, but that’s still their dad. “The cops were here last night.”
“What the fuck for?” Micah asks, sitting up and bracing his arms on the table. He cuts his eyes to Zane before looking back at Les.
She narrows her eyes. “Before we continue, let’s get one thing fucking straight.” She looks around to make sure everyone is paying attention. “Zane is one of us now. He’s not a cop or a detective anymore. He’s just Zane. Got it?” Micah grits his teeth but jerks a nod. No one else seems to have an issue anymore. “They arrested Zane for the murder of Jay.”
“How the hell can they arrest him for murder if Jay isn’t dead?” Alexey asks.
“The department is getting anonymous tips,” Holden says quietly. It’s still surreal he makes himself so visible now; I’m fucking proud of him. “We think there is someone on the inside working for Jay. I’m trying to figure out who.” Holden ran the names that Zane gave him. Nothing suspicious, like large money transactions, was found, and he told us he was dumping phone records this morning.
“Alexey, Dmitri, I want you to pay a visit to Jay’s dad, Gregory Hoover, at Hoover enterprises. He might know where he is or where he could be. Make some fucking noise, do what you have to,” Les says, giving out orders.
“Am I late?” Mateo asks, rounding the corner. Leo jumps up and jerks him into a bear hug.
“Right on time, bro,” Leo says, slapping him on the back. I didn’t expect to see Evander rounding the corner behind him, and Leo hugs him just as hard.
“What about me?” Evander asks with a laugh when Les hits him full force in a hug. I watch as Micah’s entire body stiffens from the sound of his voice.
I need to find out what the fuck happened. I’m nosy by nature, and not knowing is killing me.
“You’re back!” Les crows, stepping back from the hug.
“I heard we were fucking with Russians. I couldn’t pass that up,” Evander says with a smile. He looks at Alexey and Dmitri. “No offense.”
Dmitri waves his hand. “None taken.”
Mateo jerks Les into a hug. “You’re looking good, girl.”
