Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
NATE
“Maybe you should pull over and I'll drive."
"Shut it," I growl, gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white.
Ellis just laughs off my rudeness and turns to fully face me. "You're panicking."
"No fucking shit." Cringing at my attitude, I force my shoulders to shake off the tension to no avail. Glancing at Ellis, I'm relieved to see amusement on his face. "I'm sorry. Fuck, this just needs to go well."
His warm hand lands on my thigh, grounding me. "I know. It's okay. Honestly, I just don't want to die before we fucking get there. So could you please focus on driving so I can give Violet the satisfaction of killing me if that's what she desires."
Unable to hold my laughter in, I snort. "You're so dramatic. I'll get you to your place of death, don't you worry."
"Thank you." He beams at me as if I wasn't just being a huge douchebag. Grabbing his hand, I press a kiss to the back of it and do as he requested.
The drive has been tense, and the remaining ten minutes are the same. When Jamie called a bit ago asking us to come over to talk, I about fell over with joy and all-consuming fear.
Since then, my mind has been a mess of possibilities. Many of them aren't positive or hopeful, which is not how I want to feel going into this.
"What's the plan?" Ellis murmurs as I pull into the parking garage of Jamie's apartment complex.
My partner's uncertainty and show of vulnerability bring out my dominant side which is exactly what I need.
Releasing the wheel and killing the engine, I say, "We need to be as honest as we can.
No hiding our feelings or sugarcoating anything.
They're worried that we aren't the men they got to know these last few weeks, so we show them that it isn't true. "
"They're going to question everything," Ellis mutters with a dose of dread lingering in his tone.
I nod, knowing he's right. We're in for a grilling, an investigation of sorts. "So we will give them all of the answers."
"She hates us." He sounds so dejected already, and I realize I could have helped both of us if I hadn't been lost in my own spiral.
Nodding, I reply, "She might."
"So does he."
I nod again. "He could."
"They do, Nate," Ellis snaps, glaring at me. "And when we give them everything they demand, it will only be worse."
This time I shrug. "There's nothing else we can do, El. We've lied, betrayed, and made bad choices. This is the only choice. We give them our all for as long as we can, and if it's not enough, then it's not enough."
"I'll need you to drop me off at the new gym on the way home," he blurts, rubbing his sweaty hands on his thighs. "Need to run."
"Of course, darling. Let's go."
"Come in."
Be strong. Be fucking strong. Swallowing the bile in my throat at the detached look on Jamie's face, I guide Ellis into the apartment with a hand on his lower back.
"Hi, Jamie," Ellis greets, voice tight, holding in all the things he wants to say.
Jamie nods, and in a risky move, I brush my hand along his arm in a feather-light touch as I pass. Ignoring his grunt of protest, I follow Ellis toward the living room. Our heads swivel, trying to find Violet, but she's not here.
"Where is she?" My voice comes out a bit angrier than intended, but I'm on edge. Jamie said she wanted to talk. If he's fucking with us, I don't know what I'll do.
Jamie, nonchalant as hell, leans against the kitchen island. "Who?"
"Jamie," I force through clenched teeth.
"Calm down," he cuts me off with a small quirk of his lips. "She's...calming down."
Ellis crosses his arms beside me and questions Jamie's choice of words. "What do you mean calming down? Is she okay?"
The cruel smirk on Jamie's lips reminds me of when he edged Ellis in the past. "She will be once I take care of her later. She's so..." He licks his lips. "Delicious. Had to save the final licks for later."
"Oh fuck off, Jamie!" Violet shouts down the hall, and Jamie's expression softens as he glances in that direction. Jealousy flares in my chest, but before I can say something stupid, Ellis does.
"Really?" Ellis hisses. "You worked her up and left her hanging for this meeting? You know how she gets when she's edged."
"She is right here," Violet declares, stepping out into the living room, and I lose all sense of up and down.
Dressed in a pair of leggings and a loose crop top, she's so stunningly comfortable.
Her blonde and purple hair is damp and loose around her shoulders.
"And she is far less ridiculous than you are when she doesn't come. "
The jab at Ellis makes me laugh. El is a terror when he has to wait for his pleasure.
"My concern still stands," Ellis growls and glares at Jamie.
Jamie rolls his eyes. "She's just a little extra sassy. You can handle it."
Tracking Violet's jerky movement through the kitchen, I realize Jamie did this on purpose.
Nobody in their right mind would be all cheery and easygoing if they were left hanging.
Jamie didn't grace us with her blissed out self.
Nope. We get a cranky, unsatisfied version of her while we hash out all of Ellis' and my mistakes.
"Sit. I need a snack," Violet mumbles, digging through the fridge.
Ellis does as she demands, and I follow suit. We're here to talk and make amends, not start new battles by throwing accusations, even if Jamie's shit-eating grin is obvious.
Déjà vu hits me hard when Violet settles into the solo recliner and Jamie sits on the armrest. The last time we were in this position, she was in the hot seat.
Now that damn chair is her throne, and she's our queen demanding our heads.
Well, hopefully not. But the look in her eyes makes me proud of her steely spine.
The silence is thick and filled with so much to say but nowhere right to start. Violet nibbles on her slice of toast and nudges Jamie who hasn't stopped glaring since he sat down.
"Right." Jamie clears his throat. "Go ahead," he says, waving a hand at us.
The fuck?
Ellis doesn’t share my shock. Instead, I watch with my heart in my throat as Ellis flings himself off the couch and onto his knees.
"I'm so sorry. It was my idea. I was angry and hurt.
Those things aren't an excuse. They're just a reason for my actions.
I wanted to hurt you, to make you feel an ounce of the loss I was feeling since you left us. "
Stiffening, I battle the desire to make him stop. He's making himself sound horrible, but my own directions stop me. I told him to give her all the answers. To explain his heart out and give himself to her fully.
This is Ellis. Messy, rambling, frantic, emotionally wounded, and completely in love.
Ellis continues, voice wavering as if the floodgates have been destroyed. "I'll sit on my knees for as long as you need for you to believe me. I'm so fucking sorry."
Tears burn my eyes at the desperation pouring off him. Worried, I look up at Violet and see her eyes have widened in reaction to Ellis' breakdown.
"When—" She swallows and shifts in her chair. "I need to know when you stopped trying to hurt me. How long were you faking it?"
Ellis looks her right in the eye with blotchy cheeks and so much emotion I feel it in my throat.
"I never faked it. You experienced my anger with you multiple times.
Everything we built from the forgiveness and growing pains was real.
Jamie threatened me more than once because of how I treated you. I was so mad, then..."
"Then what?" Violet snaps, bolstering her energy and anger by sheer will.
Ellis doesn't break eye contact. "Then I saw you. Like really saw your pain, your growth, and everything you went through. I started looking beyond myself and my feelings and took yours into account."
"So you pitied me? You had Jamie and were worried about hurting my feelings, so you thought why not have her too?"
"What?" I snap and slam my hands down on my knees. "Who said that? For fuck’s sake, V, that's not true at all."
"Then what's the truth, Nate?! Because from where I'm sitting this was a ruse to break me and guess what? You did!"
"You are not broken," Jamie butts in, glaring at V.
Violet waves him off. "No. I'm not. But I was, and I worked damn hard to climb out of the shit I've been through. I'm just saying, they succeeded, why the hell are they here?"
"Because we love you both," Ellis and I say at the same time with so much feeling I swear my heart falls right out of my chest. Jamie grunts, and Violet takes a slow breath.
"How do I know that’s true?" Violet's voice wavers just enough to make me feel like we haven't lost her for good.
Leaning forward, I drop to my knees beside Ellis and crawl forward.
The move is shocking to everyone in the room because I pride myself on being a Dom.
But sometimes a Dom shouldn't be in the driver’s seat.
Violet can hook a fucking leash to me and demand I do anything, and I'll do it. Jamie too. Ellis would follow.
"Because," I rumble, settling in front of her.
I wrap my hands around the backs of her knees and tilt my head back so she can see all the emotion in my soul.
"We will do anything for you, Violet. Our love twisted us and warped into toxicity for just five fucking minutes, possibly ruining our futures with you both.
We love you so fucking much we lost our control to jealousy.
Now it's yours. Anything, baby. We are yours.
Please hear us. We'll never hurt you ever again. I swear it."
Violet's stare has tingles rippling down my spine and even making my fingertips tingle.
I think I blacked out. I'm not sure what the hell I just said or if it even made sense.
Violet's looking at me like she's thinking really fucking hard, and I mentally kick myself for sending her right back into that beautiful brain of hers.
I fear the more she thinks, the more likely it is that she will kick us to the curb.
Then she sucks the air out of the room and blood from my fucking brain. Spreading her legs wide enough to show me the damp spot her pussy left on her grey leggings, Violet short circuits my mind. My cock is ready and willing immediately.
"And what if," she whispers in a sultry voice. Leaning forward, she places her snack on Jamie's leg. "I want to use you like you were planning on doing to my boyfriend?"
My tongue gets stuck to the roof of my mouth at the same time the scent of her arousal hits my nose. She's fucking drenched.
I hate how dull her eyes are as she challenges me. I want her happiness and glow back, but all I get is heat and cruel desire.
"What if I want my own revenge, baby?" Her fingers snap out and tug on a lock of hair that has fallen from my bun. "You'll let me ride your cock and leave you with absolutely nothing in return? Will Ellis let me make him feel used and nothing but a pawn?"
"Yes," Ellis replies instantly, shocking me enough to look back at him. His face is drawn in some form of sadness, but his eyes are lit with determination. I see a plan forming in his head, and I nod.
Turning back to my girl, I smile gently so her tender heart, which I know must be hurting right now, knows I'm happy with this arrangement. What Violet wants, Violet gets.
"Anything, baby."