Sophie Oak - Siren Beloved

“Mom, I’m not going anywhere,” Lexi said, holding on to her mother’s hand.

Abby didn’t give up easily. “We can protect you better at home. Julian said he has a couple of detectives looking into whoever shot at you. Jack can hire security.”

“And so can Aidan and I,” Lucas replied. He looked over at Aidan, his green eyes clearly expecting something more from him.

“We can,” Aidan said, stepping up. He squared his shoulders. Abby Barnes might be his future mother-in-law, but on this he wasn’t going to indulge her. He didn’t have the money, but he could borrow it. He had things he could sell if he had to. He would go bankrupt if it meant Lexi was safe. “Lucas can look into it this afternoon. Look, we chose to come out here because it’s isolated, and everyone notices a stranger. I have a security system, but more importantly, I will die before I allow anything to happen to Lexi, and I know Lucas feels the same.”

“Damn straight.” Lucas relaxed back a bit, seemingly happy to let Aidan take the lead. “Besides, we don’t have to worry about Olivia and Josh out here. At least we didn’t until you brought them with you. Out here we only have to worry about Bo and some ranch hands.”

“And Karen,” Lexi sniped. “She seems to love it out here.”

The brat was back. Aidan replied with a sharp edge. This was a conversation for private. “Alexis, I did not invite her.”

Lexi shrugged. “Just so you know, if someone takes another shot at me, I’m ducking behind her.”

Aidan felt himself smile. “You do that, baby.”

Lucas’s phone rang. He answered it as Jack opened the door. A small red-haired girl ran in. Olivia was wearing overalls and bright pink cowboy boots. Ike followed behind her, his tongue lolling out.

“Daddy, Momma! I made a friend. His name is Ike, and he ain’t got not tail because they chopped it off, but Aidan didn’t chop it off. Tourists chopped it off. But then Aidan went and fought the tourists. I hope we don’t get no tourists here. We would have to hide all the dogs.”

Abby laughed for a moment, but then got on one knee so she was talking on her daughter’s level. “First off, young lady, the dog doesn’t have a tail, and you hope we don’t get any tourists here.”

Jack put a hand on his daughter’s head. “She spends a lot of time with ranch hands.”

Abby glowed as she looked at her daughter, the dissension of before vanishing. “And I believe it’s ‘terrorists,’ though I doubt they chopped off that poor dog’s tail. I believe it’s the culture in some parts of the world. Even here in the States, for some breeds, it’s considered very common.”

“It would terrify me if someone tried to chop off my tail,” Sam replied.

Bo was standing in the doorway. His face was red, and he was out of breath. “I’m never having kids. My heart can’t take it. She never stops. Never.”

Aidan took a long look at his brother. Was Lucas right? Was Bo just putting on an act? Why would he tell a little girl that terrorists cut off a dog’s tail, but his brother had fought them? Since the day Aidan came back and announced that he was going after Lucas and Lexi, Bo had acted like he had a disease. Maybe he just needed time—or a little kindness.

Lucas hung up his phone. “I hate to break up this intriguing political discussion, but the Dawson brothers are waiting for us in town. They want to talk to all three of us about the case. They’re at some place called Patty Cake’s.”

Aidan knew it well. “It’s a diner. Is there a reason they won’t come out here?”

Lucas shook his head. “Apparently they don’t believe in places without Wi-Fi.”

Patty Cake’s was the only place in town for wireless internet. It looked like they were headed into Deer Run. Aidan just wasn’t sure Deer Run was ready for them.

Lexi perked up as Aidan pulled into the parking lot of Patty Cake’s Diner and Pie House. The afternoon was not going the way she’d expected. What had she been thinking? If her mother hadn’t interrupted them, she would have let Aidan climb up on that table and fuck her senseless.

But it was only sex , that mocking inner voice said. You only want the sex.

She didn’t want anything else. She didn’t love the way it felt to be squeezed into the cab of Aidan’s truck. She didn’t adore how small she felt surrounded by Aidan and Lucas. She wasn’t even vaguely enamored of the idea of being their girl. Aidan had lost his chance when she’d lost their…

“Lexi?” Aidan looked down at her, concern in his brown eyes. “Are you all right? You don’t have to be here. I can handle this, and Lucas can take you home.”

Oh, she really didn’t like the way he said “home.” The thought of a home with Aidan and Lucas did nothing for her. The idea of taking Aidan’s ramshackle house and turning it into something they could be happy in—it did nothing for her. Who are you fooling? “No, I don’t want to go back to the ranch. I want to talk to them.”

Lucas opened his door and hopped out, turning to help her out. That was Lucas’s way. She had never, ever been allowed to let herself out of a car when Lucas was around. He treated her like she was precious. Lucas held his hand out, but his eyes fell. Lexi turned to see what had him upset. Aidan stood there, his hand out to help her down. Aidan’s hand came down as he obviously believed she would prefer Lucas. Lexi looked back at Lucas, her heart a little torn. Sure Aidan had been an asshole, but she still felt his pain.

Lucas winked at her and walked away. The bastard left her with no choice but to take Aidan’s hand or get out on her own and look like a bitch. She could hurt Aidan. She could choose to scoot out and stand on her own two feet, proving she wanted nothing from him. Lexi turned and let her hand find his. In the end, she couldn’t hurt him that way. He helped her from the truck and set her on her feet.

“Just say the word and I’ll take you home, Lexi.”

“I’ll be fine.” She tried not to think about how nice it was to stand close to him. Lucas, that manipulative weasel, had moved in behind her, reminding her of how amazing it was to be surrounded by them. Lucas’s hands were on her hips while Aidan’s cupped her shoulders.

“Of course you will be. We’ll make sure of it, baby,” Lucas murmured in her ear.

“I want waffles, Momma!” Olivia ran by, her booted feet tearing up the sidewalk.

Her mom chased after, and Lexi couldn’t help but laugh. Her sister was an adorable ball of chaos. Jack walked by, cradling her baby brother, and she had to look away. Lucas’s hands tightened around her.

Aidan forced her face up. She feared he’d seen too much. “Are you all right?”

She could hide behind the whole “someone tried to shoot me” thing. “I’m just nervous. Let’s go and get this over with.”

Aidan took her hand in his while Lucas took her other hand, winding their fingers together. She couldn’t take it for anything but a promise. Those hands promised to stay with her, to protect and stand beside her. The only trouble was Aidan had promised that before.

She was so rattled by what had happened in that barn. She’d thought she could hold herself apart and just enjoy the sex, but now she knew she’d never been that girl. She’d slept with one man in her whole life before today and that was Aidan. Making love with Lucas in front of him had felt so right. Having him there when Lucas finally took her had made it more emotional than she could have imagined. What the hell was she doing?

Aidan opened the door, and she was assaulted with the amazing smell of fried food. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t had lunch. She’d been far too busy being right and properly fucked by her men. Damn it. She couldn’t think of them that way.