Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
ACE
The call into Adam’s office wasn’t unexpected, but I still had no desire to go. I’d just gotten out of a meeting with an investor on a joint endeavor Ferrari Industries planned on signing onto. It was repetitive, boring, and so damn mind-numbing that all I could think of was a nap.
I dragged my feet to the top floor of the building, past the smoky, noise-filled floors and guest rooms, to the office suites. I ignored Adam’s receptionist, opting to go straight to his office. I’d never checked in for a meeting, and I’d not do it now. He may have started this company, but we built it together, and our shares were nearly as solid as his.
I pushed open the door and stalked inside, letting the door automatically close behind me. Adam and Merc were already waiting, their feet up on a coffee table, their bodies lounged casually, with glasses of whiskey in their hands. This was a type of meeting I could get behind. My fingers automatically went to my tie, loosening it. “Why didn’t you give me a heads up that this was what you’d planned? I would have come faster.”
Merc snorted. “I’d never encourage premature coming, you know that.”
“Jackass.”
“The one and only.” He took another sip of his drink.
“Get yourself served and sit,” Adam ordered, and he didn’t have to tell me twice. I had been craving something to numb my mind since the second I woke up this morning. Running into Bellamy in the hall on the way to breakfast only compounded the need for alcohol. I didn’t know what it was about this girl that had my skin buzzing just under the surface. Annoyance maybe? Repulsion? Desir?—
No.
I didn’t desire her.
I couldn’t allow myself the luxury.
I took a glass out of the cabinet and opened his ice bucket, taking out a large cube of ice and placing it in my glass. Then I poured myself some whiskey and took a seat across from them, using the same coffee table to rest my feet on.
“We’re ready to go forth with the build. I think as much of a pain in the ass that this resort will become, it will be an amazing income. People love taking their sniveling little shitheads on vacation with them.”
“I believe the correct term is children. And the vacation is taken as a family. That is the reason for the getaway.”
I scrunched my nose up. “You sure about that? Seems like an automatic disappointment.”
Adam let his head fall back, resting it against the back of the couch he sat on. “Usually is. But this resort will offer childcare services. Imagine the cash flow that will bring to our hands.”
“Groundbreaking is two days from now. Will you be there?” I asked, tasting my drink, closing my eyes against the familiar burn as it touched my throat.
“I should be there,” he stated. “So should you. Merc, I need you at the house.”
“Why?” Unless I was missing something, that seemed highly excessive. We’ve got guards.
“The spy we caught lurking around our fence line provided her father with information on our security,” Merc offered.
“No big deal. We beef it up.” I shrugged before letting my body relax into the cushions.
“He knows we aren’t home and left her alone. We- Adam fears that he will use this information to strike. If he gets past the guards, only Max and Drew on the inside. It would be simple enough to get to her.”
“Put more guards on the inside. It’s as simple as that.” I closed my eyes. Fuck, I could sleep on this couch.
“I want one of us at the house at all times,” Adam stated.
I shot up. “You’re putting us on babysitting duty?”
“It won’t be forever. Give it a few weeks and maybe we can take her out of the house with us. Let her hang out in my office here a few days a week.”
“Do you want that?” I didn’t think he did. From my viewpoint, he didn’t know what he wanted, but I was positive it wasn’t even her. The idea of her, yes. The idea of having a wife to care for, more specifically, because once he was an amazing husband. But that girl? What could they possibly have in common to make him this protective?
“I-“ He ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about it. “I don’t know what I want. But – there is something we need to talk about.”
There were tons of things I could think of that we needed to talk about, and none of them involved the girl that’s invaded our lives. “If you take any longer to spit it out, I’ll hit retirement.”
With a sigh and then a deep breath, he admitted something I knew he felt to his very core. “I wasn’t enough to take care of Elizabeth.”
I leaned forward, letting my forearm rest on my calf. “We all know that isn’t true. You were more than enough, but we didn’t see the attack coming.”
“I let my guard down.”
“We all did.”
Hell, we all failed her. Sometimes I think of all the ways I had let her down. She wanted me to join them in the car. I insisted I’d catch up. I wanted to feel the wind in my hair. I wanted to ride my motorcycle for the first time that week, but it needed a little maintenance first. I hadn’t expected that when I caught up, it would be her bloody body and lifeless eyes on the pavement that would greet me. I had made so many promises to her I never got to keep, and it might haunt me for the rest of my life.
“I can’t let Belle down.”
“Are we on a nickname basis now? That’s sweet.” My words dripped with sarcasm, earning me a glare. “You don’t even know her.”
“Have you gotten the information on her father and Accardo?” he pushed.
“Not yet. My man is working on it,” I replied guiltily.
“Then yeah, I don’t know her well.”
“There are other ways to know people that aren’t on paper. Have you tried that?” Merc pointed out, but we knew his lack of attempts to communicate with her had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the wife he cared for and lost.
“Despite not knowing her, she’s my wife.”
“Have you thought about why that is?” I pushed because I was curious about why he did it.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s done,” he sighed, “and I want her protected.”
“And babysitting her is going to do that?” I laughed.
“It’s not just about babysitting.” His face took on a look I’d never seen before, and fuck, it was terrifying. I was almost afraid to ask. I did anyway.
“Then what is it about?”
“I want you guys to get to know her.” He finished his sentence then swiftly took a swig of alcohol.
Getting to know the girl wasn’t so bad. Did I want to do it? No. But we all live in the same house, and at some point, I was bound to learn something about her, right? More than just how a single strand of dark brown hair falls into her face, no matter how much she pushes it away. More than the way she makes happy sounds when she eats something she likes. More than the fact that her fingers always wring together when she is about to say something challenging.
“Are you going to get to know her, too?” Merc said exactly what I wasn’t about to voice.
Adam ignored him. “It’s important that we all know her.” I raised a brow in question, staring at him, not blinking. He caved before I did. “Merc raised a good point, and it got me thinking.”
“What was the point?” Mercer and I asked in unison.
He didn’t answer the question, only continued on a ramble that made me question just how many drinks he’d had this afternoon. “I tried to protect Elizabeth, and I wasn’t enough. One man is not enough in this life we lead to protect what’s ours.”
“You know, we promised to be in everything together. We promised to take care of her.” Although I thought ‘take care of her’ meant like stopping killers, not babysitting her.
“I need more than that. She needs more than that.” He shook his head. “If I die tomorrow, what is she left with? Nothing.”
Merc met my eyes. A silent conversation passed before he reached forward, snagging Adam’s glass. “A little too much for you, buddy.”
“I’m not fucking drunk,” Adam growled, snatching his drink back. “I just… I’m trying to have a conversation.”
“A very confusing conversation,” I added.
He closed his eyes, gathering himself. “What’s yours is mine.” He blinked up at us. “That’s what Mercer said. He told the spy that she was our girl.”
“I’m not following.”
“Me either.” Mercer’s brows were pinched together as he tried to figure out what the hell Adam was talking about.
Adam rubbed his forehead, acting like we were giving him a migraine. “I’m not enough to protect her, but if we combined efforts, if she had three of us, no one would ever touch her.”
“I doubt anyone would touch her now.” I really wasn’t following this.
“I’m asking… I mean… I guess I’m telling you… if you wished, or wanted, or I don’t fucking know, desired, to be with Bellamy, you have my permission because I am not enough to protect her, and I won’t be here forever. She needs us all to keep her safe.”
Holy fuck was he?—
“Are you asking us to share your wife?” Merc voiced the question I was thinking. Shock and confusion laced his words.
“I mean, if you want to, of course.” Adam cleared his throat. “And she wants to. I don’t mind. I- I can’t keep her safe alone. I’ve realized that. It was my mistake with Elizabeth, and I won’t make that mistake again.”
“How hard was it for you to suggest this?” I questioned when the room grew awkwardly quiet.
“I feel nauseous,” he confirmed.
“And that feeling tells you nothing?”
“The nausea is from fear of your reactions, not the offer. I’ve felt nothing more right than the thought of having my wife, new or old, cared and loved for, protected from danger, cherished.”
“You did all those things with Elizabeth, solo,” I pointed out. “You don’t need us.”
“All but protect. She’s dead, if you had forgotten.”
I winced. “I’d never forget.”
“I can’t let it happen again.” His voice held a level of desperation and fear I’d not seen in him in a while. He feared nothing, but maybe that was because until Bellamy, he had nothing else to lose.
“I can’t,” I finally got out.
He nodded slowly. “I understand.” His eyes fell on Mercer. “Merc?”
He licked his lips as he struggled to process what to say. “I- I don’t know Adam. It’s just?—“
“I’m sorry I asked.” Adam shook his head. “Forget it.”
Only now that he said it, now that the option was voiced, it was all that my mind wanted to think about. I didn’t think I wanted the girl, but there was something deep down inside of me that wondered what it would be like if we shared. What rules would we break? What bonds would we forge? Would it ruin us all in the end?