Chapter Five #2
“No,” she answered honestly. “But I liked them and wanted to see them, and I didn’t think you’d let me.”
“And that’s supposed to make us feel better?”
“No. I’m just trying to explain.”
“Explain?” Dad scoffed. “We still don’t know the half of it. You said you met them at JULIEN. Is that the truth?”
Oh God. She’d forgotten about that. Damn Justin for putting her on the spot at their family dinner.
Then again, this was her mess, and she was the one who’d lied.
But how did you tell your fathers that you meet the guys you were seeing at a sex club?
There was no way she was doing that, even now.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t tell a portion of the truth.
“Kind of. I first met them through Shayla, then at JULIEN.”
“Shayla?” Dad rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised? Penny has always been a wild child. Like mother, like daughter.”
Papa side-eyed him. “You should know.”
Dad’s mouth fell open, his indignation flashing in his eyes. “You think she gets this behavior from me ?”
“There are certain similarities, you must admit.”
“Bite your tongue, Joel.”
“ Arrêtez ca .” Her père’s order had everyone falling silent as he pushed off the window and walked over. “Chloé’s behavior is hers and hers alone. As are the bad choices she’s made.”
Chloé’s cheeks heated under the admonishment.
“I can’t begin tell you how disappointed I am—that we are—in you. Your actions in the last month are that of a stranger. We thought we taught you better than that, bichette ? To think that we didn’t? That hurts.”
Chloé’s chin trembled as she bit back her tears. She’d never felt more ashamed of herself than she did right then, and she knew she had a long way to go in making this up to them.
“I’m sorry. Truly, I am.”
She looked between their disappointed faces and felt a tear escape and roll down her cheek.
“I didn’t mean to let this get so out of hand.
I wanted to tell you all about them. But every time I thought about it, I lost my nerve.
” She thought about what she wanted to say next, then blurted out, “I know you’re mad at me, that I’ve done everything the wrong way, and I hate that.
I hate that I hurt you and wish that I could change it… but I can’t.”
She wiped the back of her hand across her nose. “I love you all so much. You’re the best fathers in the world, and I’m so lucky to have you. The last thing I want to do is disappoint you.”
Dad crossed his arms and arched a brow. “Go on.”
“I know it might not seem like it at the moment. But you all taught me to show good judgment—and Ethan and Zayne, they’re great guys. They treat me really well.”
“Ethan and Zayne…” Her père drew their names out, his eyes asking the question before he even voiced it. “So we’re right in assuming they’re a couple?”
“Yes. Just like you and Papa were when you met Dad.”
Papa scoffed, and Père looked at him, his eyes softening a fraction.
“What?” she said, turning to her papa. “I’m right, aren’t I? It’s the same thing.”
“On the surface, maybe.” Papa shook his head. “But there are very distinct differences, such as our ages. You are nineteen years old.”
“Are you trying to tell me that if Dad had been nineteen—”
“He was not.”
“But if he had been, that it would’ve stopped you and Père from pursuing him?”
The room fell silent. Père let out a sigh and rubbed his hands over his face. “She has a point, mon c?ur .”
Holy. Shit. Did she just hear him right? Surely he wasn’t sticking up for her. But when she saw her dad biting back a grin, she knew she hadn’t misheard.
“Sorry, Joel.” Dad shrugged. “Jules is right.”
Papa took a deep breath and then let it out, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t matter. She’s missing the point.”
“I’m not, I promise,” Chloé said. “But I really like them, Papa, and you, Dad, and Papounet always taught me to go after what I want.”
“We didn’t mean two men , Chloé. That’s complicated and messy, and feelings can get hurt.”
“That can happen with one man—or woman.”
Père rubbed her papa’s arm, and she wasn’t sure if he was trying to calm or console him. “I think what your papa is trying to say is that feelings are more complex when there’s three people involved. Especially when you’re coming into an established relationship.”
“I know, but it’s not like that. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve grown up watching the three of you, but I don’t feel any weirdness or any kind of jealousy about them.”
“Yet.” Dad got up and walked over to her, stroking a hand over her hair. “Look, we were in shock yesterday—”
“I’m still in shock today.”
Dad looked at Papa, who was shaking his head.
“But should we be? Chloé’s right—she’s grown up watching the three of us, which for her is the norm. So it kind of makes sense that this is where she’s at now.”
Dad turned back to face her. “But you have to understand it wasn’t always like this with us.
It wasn’t always easy. I used to get jealous.
I remember feeling left out once with your papa and père , and I couldn’t bear the idea that they wouldn’t want me as much as they wanted each other, and that’s why we’re worried.
We understand the dynamics here. How hard they are. You don’t.”
Chloé lowered her eyes to the bracelets on her wrists, knowing there was a lot more to her dynamics with Ethan and Zayne than she was letting on.
“But shouldn’t I get a chance to work that out for myself?”
Her dad sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Probably. Is that easy for us to wrap our heads around? No, it isn’t. But maybe if we talk it through, we can work something out.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” Dad played with one of her curls. “What if we were to meet them?”
Her stomach lurched. “ Meet them?”
Sure, she’d offered up that exact suggestion last night, but only because she was backed into a corner.
She’d figured a quick hi and bye might distract them from what they were seeing.
But to actually meet them meet them? That was…
Oh God. She couldn’t even imagine bringing that up with Ethan and Zayne.
She turned wide eyes on her papa, hoping he’d nix the idea as a horrible one and just let her work things out on her own. But when his eyes narrowed and the wheels started to turn, she knew she was screwed.
“I think that sounds fair. If these two men want to continue dating you, then the least they can do is come to dinner and meet us.” Her papa reached for the glass tumbler he’d left on the table and downed the remaining contents. “Yes. That’s the perfect idea, Robert. They can court her.”
Chloé’s jaw fell to the floor. “ Court me? What is this, the 1950s?”
“No. This is what you get when lie and run around behind our backs.”
“But—”
“This discussion is over , Chloé. If you want to continue seeing them, then we are going to meet them. Take it or leave it.”
This was the last thing she’d expected, but what other choice did she have? She wanted to keep seeing Ethan and Zayne, and the only question was: did they want her enough to go through with this?
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Papa crossed his arms, his stare unwavering.
“Yes, okay. I’ll talk to them and set up dinner or something.”
“You do that. And soon, Chloé. Not in a month, not in six, this weekend.” He turned to the antique bar cart in the living room to pour himself another drink. “That’ll be all.”
In other words: You’re dismissed.
Dad offered up a tight smile, and when her père said nothing, she knew that was her cue to run while she had the chance. She turned and quickly made her way to the stairs, and when she reached the top and pushed open the door to her bedroom, she heard—
“Chloé? Mon ange? ”
Her feet came to a halt, and she turned to see her père making his way down the hall.
Damn it, she’d really been hoping to crawl into bed and disappear for the rest of the night. On the plus side, he didn’t look like he wanted to filet her with one of his kitchen knives anymore.
He gestured to her room, and Chloé headed inside with him hot on her heels. He shut the door behind them, and for a second just stood there. His quiet contemplation had her shifting on her feet.
“I’d like to talk to you for a minute before you go to bed.”
“Okay.”
He rubbed his hand over his hair and down to the back of his neck. “I want to start with apologizing for being so…out of sorts with you. Like your dad said, I was in a bit of shock after last night and was still trying to process everything I’d heard.”
“That’s okay, I deserved it. I shouldn’t have lied to you.”
“ Non , you shouldn’t have, but I can understand why you did. I probably would’ve done the same, and I know your dad would’ve.” His lips crooked to one side and his dimple appeared, giving him that boyish look he was famous for. “What bothered me the most was what one of your…dates called you.”
Oh God. He didn’t have to say which one. The second the words petite fille had fallen from Ethan’s mouth, her père had gone postal.
“It’s just a term of endearment, Papounet . A nickname. Like dad is princesse .”
“I understand that. I’m just explaining to you that it was difficult to hear it coming out of a man’s mouth toward my daughter.
” He let out a sigh. “You are an adult, and as much as it pains me to admit it, you can do whatever you like in your private life. However, you might want to advise him not to use it around us.” Chloé’s cheeks heated, and her père added, “Unless you want your papa to kill him.”
An entirely inappropriate burst of laughter left her, because all she could think about was Zayne and his shotgun theories. Hell, maybe he wasn’t too far off after all.
“Viens ici.” Père pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry about today. I’ll try to be more understanding moving forward.”
She snuggled into his embrace and closed her eyes, finally letting out the breath she’d been holding since she arrived at JULIEN that afternoon.
“I hate when we fight in the kitchen.”
“Me too, mon ange. Me too.” He let her go, and as he disappeared out into the hall, Chloé flopped down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
Well, that hadn’t gone how she expected. She’d figured there’d be screaming, crying, and banishing of some kind but…no.
The hard part was over. At least for now. She needed some sleep before she even thought about what she had to do next. Because how did one even go about asking her two doms if they’d come to dinner with her three dads?
She had no idea, but that was a problem for a different day.