21. Elliot
Elliot
I keep my breathing slow and even, eyes closed, as Lee shimmies out from under the covers.
The mattress dips and shifts with her movement, cool air sliding across the warm patch of sheet where her body had been tucked against mine.
She moves carefully, like she’s trying not to wake us, but I catch every rustle of fabric, every quiet breath.
She’s overwhelmed, and she likes to have time to process.
She’s sweeter, if only a tiny bit. It makes me think she’s giving up.
I know her better than she knows herself. If it comes down to her or me, she’ll make damn sure it’s her that takes the fall.
I’ve known exactly what I’ve been doing since I decided hers is the side I will die on. But now I’m at an impasse. Whether to get her to turn herself in, run, or kill everyone at the bureau so no one is left to testify.
I’m leaning toward option three.
The floorboards creak faintly as she heads for the bathroom. The door clicks shut. A second later, the shower kicks on, water drumming against tile. Only then do I let my eyes open.
Julian’s voice comes low and rough from the other side of the bed. “You up?”
I turn my head on the pillow. He’s on his back, one arm flung above his head, staring at the ceiling.
Morning light leaks through the blinds in thin stripes, catching on his beard that needs a shave. The sheet’s pooled at his waist. It’s still surreal waking up next to a man who loves my girl.
“Yep.” I can’t hide the sleepiness in my voice. “This is fucking weird waking up next to you.”
He rubs his hand across his beard. “It’s not something I ever imagined. Sleeping next to the guy my girl cheated on me with.”
The words land low even though we both know the truth of it. I push up onto one elbow and face him. “I didn’t. You already know that,” I whisper shout. I don’t know why I’m trying to defend myself to him. Maybe I want him to like me at least.
Bending an arm behind his head, he keeps his eyes on the ceiling. “It kind of feels like you have been swooping in since you started as her partner.”
Fuck. He might be right.
“I didn’t mean to fall for her. Or hurt the two of you. She needs you. I told you she was broken without you.”
Julian hums in response like he’s thinking this over. I can almost hear the thoughts turning in his head. The shower keeps running in the background.
Damn. I’m going to have to tell him.
“After I fake broke up with Lee—and I say fake because no part of me ever meant any of the lies I told her—I followed her for days. I followed her to your house. I already had a camera there. No, it wasn’t legal. I only switched it on once. When she came to you.”
His eyes narrow at me. “You’re an asshole. Does anyone else have access?”
I scoff. I’m not an amateur. “Of course not. After that night, I destroyed all recordings. It was a dick move, but I thought she was doing something terrible. Well, she was doing some terrible things.” I exhale.
The way she looked at him when she walked through the door on the grainy feed flashes sharp behind my eyes.
“I saw her with you. She cried on you, you fucked her, and I saw how devastated you were when she left.”
All of it started with Vine. Every piece of her pain, every choice that led us here. I’m going to fix it. I’ll do whatever it takes.
“I knew she needed you then,” I say. “That’s why I reached out for your help. You love her. It’s different than how I love her, but just as strong.”
He sits for a minute, thinking. I half expect him to lunge across the bed and punch me in the nuts. I shift a few inches away on the mattress, just in case. The sheets still smell like her. It’s warm and sweet. It somehow mixes with us.
“I think she needs you too. I realized that a while ago.”
“Just like that? You forgive me for lusting after our girl? If she would have let me, I would have slept with her while you were together. I’m gone enough for her to admit that I still would. I would sneak behind your back or do anything if only to have her.”
He nods in understanding. “It’s the same for me. There isn’t anything I won’t do to have her. That includes keeping her away from the threats she’s facing. And saving her from herself.”
And drugging her, apparently. Which is a dick move, but so was watching him fuck her on a camera I set up in his apartment. Fuck me.
Julian clears his throat. “I’ve had more time to process this than you have, so I understand if you need time. All three of us need to find out how we work. In my research on polyamorous relationships, it will work better if we get along.”
“Makes sense. What else did you learn?”
“We can’t get jealous of each other. Lee won’t choose one of us. We have to offer ourselves to her. We can make a small team.”
The tension in the room eases. I feel the corner of my mouth twitch. “Is it weird that this conversation isn’t that weird?”
He laughs again then shakes his head.
“But it will be weird when we have to explain our dynamic to outsiders,” he says, the humor fading now. “Will you be able to handle that? I fully intend to marry Lee and fill her with my baby as soon as possible. I want a family.”
“Baby,” I echo. Shit, all the breeding talk from last night was hot.
It also gives me the warmest sensation in my chest. I went from being alone and sad to having a poly relationship and, hopefully, a baby.
Oh, and having a brother. Or something like that.
He’s right though. We can make our own little family.
“I want that with her too. You know we’re going to have to talk her into it. ”
“Of course.” He doesn’t even hesitate. “I don’t care who actually gets her pregnant, but the first baby is mine.”
"You can’t call dibs on our baby.” I huff a short laugh that’s half disbelief and half challenge.
I consider fighting the possessive bastard.
But I get the pull. I have this need to claim her and bind her to us in every way we can before she does something noble and tries to sacrifice herself for us.
We both know she’s seconds from bolting.
Not because she doesn’t love us. But because she loves us too much.
“A terrifying little domestic crime unit,” I say.
“No…well, actually I can see Ettie going for that title.” He shrugs.
I grin despite everything.
We sit in silence, and a million pictures of Lee with a baby and a cute little bump under her T-shirt makes hope wrap around my heart. That is until I hear the shower turn off.
“Julian,” I say, quieter now. “I know what happened to Emily. I’m going to tell her today.”
His whole body goes still. The last trace of a smile vanishes. His gaze cuts to mine, sharp with sudden worry.
I hold his gaze and let out a breath. This isn’t just about the bureau or Vine anymore. What I show her today is going to crack her wide open. And I don’t know if any of us are ready for what comes after.
“She has both of us to help her through it.”
“I think the only way to get Lee out of what they have on her is to have her cut a deal.”
Julian shakes his head.
“No, even if she makes a deal, she might see jail time. I won’t let her. I have a few calls to make. A way out of this.”
I sit up in bed, and the sheet falls to my waist. I arrange it though it’s probably pointless. He saw my dick fucking Lee last night, I suppose.
“Care to share that ominous plan?”
His mouth tips up at one corner, but there’s no real humor in it. “You won’t like it.”
I feign shock, pressing a hand to my chest. “Does the good doctor have a shady side?”
“Fuck off.” His words are dry. “This good doctor has spent years sewing up powerful men and collecting favors.” Julian’s voice drops. “One of them owes me.”
We both stare at the bathroom door now.
“But not like… sexual favors, right?” I laugh, breaking our silence.
“You’re such a dick.”
“Hey, we just became best friends,” I shoot back, offended.
“I’ve given you my quota of pleasantries for today.”
I chuckle again, and he shakes his head, but the corner of his mouth is still twitching.
Lee walks out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her. She looks too pale and tired. Her collarbones are sharper. I want to cocoon her in my arms and keep her from everything and everyone.
But her thighs and ass though... Goddamn. The towel barely covers her. I like her curves. It’s making me hard just watching her.
She stops a few feet from the bed, biting her lower lip as she looks between us. Her eyes are wide, uncertain, but there’s heat there too.
“I love seeing the two of you in bed together. Being in between you last night was… Is this strange? I feel so selfish that I want you both.”
Julian stands without a word, completely naked, and crosses to her.
I stay where I am, watching the way her gaze drags down his body and back up.
The flush that creeps up her neck tells me exactly what she’s thinking.
Surprisingly, I’m not jealous. Not even a little.
If anything, the sight of them together like this only makes the ache in my cock worse.
Julian wraps a hand around her waist. “Ettie, you are the least selfish person I’ve ever met.”
She frowns and looks between us, like she can’t quite believe this could happen to her.
“I won’t let go of you again,” Julian says.
“Me either,” I add from the bed.
He pulls her into his arms, her towel-covered body pressed against his bare chest. She keeps her eyes on me over his shoulder, and something tightens in my throat at the look she gives me.
“As much as I want to wrap that towel around your neck and fuck you until you pass out,” I say on a sigh, “we have to talk about Emily.”
She nods against Julian’s shoulder, the fight going out of her posture.
After Julian and I shower, separately, because none of us are ready to test those particular waters yet.
The three of us gather in the small room I’ve set up with monitors.
The space is sparse, just a desk, two chairs, and screens that cast a cold glow across the walls.
The computer, though… This place doesn’t do it justice.
If tech could be hot, this would be fire.
Lee sits in the chair I pull out for her. I log into my private database and step back so she has full access.
“Show me what you found.”
“I haven’t gone through everything. But I found enough.”
She clicks on the video log labeled Day One.