“The inheritance clause seemed ridiculous at first,” Silas continues. “How could three men be happy with one woman? It felt impossible. But we are happy. And we’re grateful for it now, because it gave us this. Gave us her.”
“We lied to you,” Evan adds quietly. “And we’re sorry. We should have told you sooner.”
“We understand if you need time to forgive us. We just hope you can.” I’m barely holding it together.
Ben stares at the floor.
I dig my nails into my palms.
“I talked to Mom.” He still won’t look at me.
I blink. “You did?”
“Yeah. Last night. After I left.” He finally looks up. “She told me you’d already told her. At Thanksgiving.”
Oh.
“She said you looked happy. That you looked like you belonged with them.” He pauses. “And she was right. I saw it that night, too. Probably even before. I didn’t want to believe it.”
Callum shifts beside me.
“You three have been like family since we were kids.” Ben’s voice cracks slightly. “You’ve always taken care of each other. And you’ve been there for me when I needed you. And now you’re taking care of her.”
“We are,” Silas confirms.
“I wanted her to have stability. Security.” Ben’s eyes find mine. “I didn’t think it would look like this.”
“I know,” I tell him.
“You lied to me. That’s going to take time.” He looks at each of them. “But I can see she’s happy.”
I want to cry. I don’t.
“The contract expires next year,” Ben says. “What happens then?”
“I’m staying with them,” I tell him. “The contract doesn’t matter anymore.”
Ben nods slowly and absorbs that. Then he stands. We all tense.
He crosses to me, pulls me to my feet, and hugs me. Hard. Tight. The way he used to when I was a scared kid.
“I love you.” His voice is muffled against my hair. “And if they make you happy, then I’ll find a way to be okay with it.”
I press my face into his shoulder. I don’t trust myself to speak.
He pulls back and looks at the triplets. “If you hurt her, I won’t care how long we’ve been friends. I will end you.”
“Understood.” Silas stands. “She’s our wife. We would never hurt her.”
Callum nods. Evan does too.
Ben sits back down. “You mean that? You really consider her your wife?”
All of my guys nod, but only Silas answers out loud. “Yes.”
My brother scrubs both hands over his face. Then drops them. “There’s one more thing.”
I wipe my eyes with the heel of my hand. “What?”
