Three Dirty Harts

by Cara Dee

  “I still don’t see your problem, Andrew.” Alex took a swig of his whiskey, and we found an empty table and two low leather chairs in the back. The seating area was located on a platform that made it easier to see the people dancing.

  I spotted Jace first, then a mane of pink hair, thanks to the spotlights traveling across the crowd.

  “Possibly because you’re already a deviant.” I smirked at my friend and set my drink on the table. “You know as well as I do that we’re going to face some sort of backlash due to the nature of our relationship.”

  He looked out pensively at the people dancing. “You’ll come out as a triad. There are plenty of those.”

  “They’re usually not related, Alex,” I pointed out. “It doesn’t matter how appropriate the relationship is between Jace and me. People will see us as brothers—because we are.”

  He nodded slowly and set down his drink. “Fair enough. There will probably be some…issues. But I don’t think they’ll affect you long term.”

  I hoped he was right. Thankfully, my circle of friends was small, and there was no family to speak of. Belle would face the biggest backlash from peers who found it gross, though she seemed incredibly unperturbed. “So I’ll make new friends,” she’d said. “Life’s too short, Dad.”

  My God, how I loved her. My chest swelled up and tightened as I saw her goofing around with Jace on the floor. I adored being her father—almost as much as I loved being one of her men.

  I wanted it to stay that way. We’d discussed it, albeit briefly, and agreed that we had to keep certain aspects private. It was simply easier and more comfortable that way. But between the three of us, there were several natural roles to shoulder, and they all mattered in one way or another.

  “You’re in love with her,” Alex noted.

  I looked away from Belle and Jace and grabbed my drink. “If I’m not, I’m certainly almost there. She’s my world. Jace too.”

  “So focus on that.” He leaned forward and held up his glass. “Fuck what the rest of the world thinks.”

  I nodded and clinked my glass to his. “Indeed. Cheers, buddy.” I took a swallow and enjoyed the smooth, smoky burn of the drink. “Enough about me. How’s life in your own kinky world?”

  Alex was involved in BDSM, and last I’d heard, he’d hired a submissive slash escort to tend to both his house and his needs. At least, that was how he’d described it, along with a slight grimace and admission that it was a simplification of things.

  “I suppose I got more than I bargained for.” He peered into his glass, swirling the liquid. “Let’s just say you and I might have more in common than you think.”

  “Or you can say more than that,” I told him. I’d confided in him; he could ease his burden by confiding in me. He was only a few years older than me. Not an excuse to suddenly look as if he were ready for retirement age.

  Alex sighed, the sound drowned out by the music, and finished his drink in one go. “She’s lying to me. Lola.” The girl he’d hired. “I told her she and I were to be exclusive—for health purposes.” That made sense. “Now I’ve found out she has a boyfriend, and he knows about me.”

  I winced, sympathetic. Not many years ago, Alex’s fiancée cheated on him. More than that, it was revealed that the child she was carrying wasn’t his. He’d been devastated for a long time.

  “Have you confronted her?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Not yet.” And it was clear why. The friend I’d known for years, who had sworn off women and acted quite cold toward them—for obvious reasons—had developed feelings for this one. “It gets worse.” He smirked wryly. “I assume she and her boyfriend are polyamorous, because he’s hooking up with my little brother.”

  “Jesus. Which one?” I’d met all three of them. Adam, in particular, who ran our favorite steakhouse.

  “Jamie,” Alex replied. “He doesn’t know any of this.”

  Ah, the youngest brother, and they happened to live together…wait. I cocked my head. “Didn’t you tell me he was struggling with the feelings he had for his ex-girlfriend’s daughter?”

  “Yeah…” He chuckled and looked away. “Makes you feel a little better about your own situation, doesn’t it?”

  “A bit.” Or a lot, because sweet Jesus, I’d already lost track of who was fucking whom in Alex’s story. On a more serious note, he should’ve come to me sooner. “Alex, I may have perfected the part of a hermit this summer, but you know you can call me whenever, yes?”

  “I do.” He nodded. “I appreciate it. It kind of snowballed this week. Before then, I thought everything was okay.”

  No wonder he felt the need to forget things for one evening.

  “Well, next drink is on me—” I was cut off by the sound of Belle’s laughter, and it alerted me to the fact that she and Jace were coming over.

  “Hi, silver foxes,” she giggled and plopped down in my lap. Jace had clearly bought her a couple drinks already.

  “Hello, little one.” Alex smiled indulgently at her. “You enjoying yourself?”

  She nodded vigorously, and Jace sat down on the armrest of my chair. “Daddy says you know about our dynamic and that you’re okay with it.”

  I smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

  “Of course I am,” Alex chuckled. “It’s what makes you happy, isn’t it?” Another nod from Belle. “Then, as a friend, that’s enough for me.”

  Jace scratched my neck with a finger, and I peered up at him in question. But he wasn’t looking at me. He was merely smiling to himself as Alex and Belle chatted, and the little gesture meant a lot to me. This wasn’t Belle and me and Belle and Jace. It was the three of us together as a unit, and in one way or another, we were more freely showing affection just for the sake of it.

  It gave me enough hope that we’d pull through this last year before Belle returned to us for good. It was going to be difficult, but we had a lot to fight for.

  Epilogue One

  Belle’s Surprise

  A couple months later

  “In fact, here he is right now. Bennett, a minute, please.”

  I followed his gaze and looked out over the bullpen. A man had recently stepped out of the elevator, and he rounded the area where some ten or eleven people were working.

  “Yes, sir?” The man, Bennett, was handsome and had a charismatic smile. He looked to be around Jace’s age.

  Jace. I miss him.

  My new boss, on the other hand, was a little older and had the same warmth to him as Daddy.

  Ugh. I missed him too. So, so much.

  “I want you to meet Belle Hart, your new intern,” my boss introduced. “Belle, this is Bennett Brooks. He’s an account exec here.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Hart.” Bennett’s English accent was more rounded than what I was used to. Americanized for sure.

  I shook his hand and hoped I didn’t mess this up because of my nerves. “Yes, sir. I mean likewise.” Motherfucker. “I’m sorry. I read about your work with Westwater Hotels, and I’m a little excited.”

  He chuckled. “Welcome on board, then.” He shifted his gaze back to my boss. Although, technically, I guessed they were both my bosses now. “I’ll put her with Meghan if you don’t mind.”

  “Sounds good.” Mr. Hayes inclined his head. “I have a lunch meeting, so I’ll be off. Belle, happy to have you here. You’re in good hands with Bennett and Meghan.”

  “Thank you again for this opportunity, sir.” I shook his hand, more grateful than I could say. I’d taken a chance when contacting him to explain my situation, and most wouldn’t even have replied. It wasn’t his job to hire interns, nor was I a particularly good investment at the moment, yet he’d been so nice to me.

  Things were falling into place. I couldn’t believe my luck.

  An hour later, Meghan—a funny, lovely woman—had shown me around the agency, and I’d been given a preliminary schedule for when I started next week. Returning to my room, I checked in with the deliv
ery guys who were probably sick of me calling to make sure everything would arrive on time.

  They assured me it would.

  That left only one thing, and I looked at my watch. Daddy and Jace should both be home. Jace was probably tired. He’d just spent two weeks in the mountains taking some breathtaking photos for a travel magazine. Now he had a week of editing before going off again, so there was no time to waste.

  I checked out of the inn with my one roll-aboard and thanked the woman for ordering me a taxi.

  It was only a five-minute drive, but cobblestones sucked when you had luggage on wheels, and I was jet-lagged. It was my excuse, and I was sticking to it.

  Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I stepped out of the taxi right outside Jace’s studio. The front room was dark, and I knew it was closed. Though, it was possible Daddy was in his office in the back.

  I could barely contain my grin as I pulled out my phone. Then I called Daddy on Skype and dragged my luggage closer to the house wall. I didn’t want my background to give away my location just yet.

  He answered on the second ring.

  “Hi!” I beamed at his gorgeous face.

  His features softened, and he smiled into the camera. “Hello, my beautiful girl. I take it you have good news?”

  I nodded. “I got the internship!” Only, he thought it was in England. “I’ll start next week. I’m so excited.”

  His grin said it all. He put my happiness first and was relieved for my sake. For his own sake, this was a blow. It was one of the reasons I loved him so much. And therefore, it was my mission to put him first. Him and Jace.

  On the other hand, I wasn’t sacrificing a damn thing here. The only reason I’d wanted to study in England in the first place was to get as far away as possible from the temptation of Daddy and Jace, and it was time to tell them that.

  First, I finished my prattling about the internship. For six months, I’d shadow some pretty fucking cool men and women in marketing, and sure, I’d probably fetch a lot of coffee too. Daddy chuckled at that bit. My Andrew. God, I couldn’t stop staring at him. I missed them to the point where my body was screaming.

  Last night when I’d texted a little with Jace, I’d almost told him I was a few blocks away at a bed-and-breakfast. But I’d wanted everything ready before I told them. And now it was. I had my internship, my stuff from London was arriving in a couple hours, and…I was home.

  “So, where’s Jace?” I asked.

  “He’s…” He looked over his phone. I wasn’t sure, but I thought he was in the living room. On the couch. It wouldn’t surprise me if the coffee table were littered with finance sections from the three papers he subscribed to. As if they reported different numbers. “Here he is. Belle’s on the phone.”

  Yup, he was on the couch, and I heard paper rustling. Then Jace plopped down beside Daddy, all wet and sinful-looking. He’d just come out of the shower.

  “Hi, baby.” Jace smirked.

  “Hi, hot stuff.” I bit my lip, ’cause this was it. “So, I wanted to tell you guys something.” I waited while a couple ladies passed me on the sidewalk. “You already know I wanted this to happen between us for, like, forever. But I haven’t told you it’s the reason I wanted to study out of the country.” My smile turned nervous as they wore matching frowns of concern. I shrugged a little. “I thought, if I put distance between us, I’d get over my feelings. But, of course, I didn’t, and now we’re together.”

  Jace looked to Daddy. “Is she saying what I think she’s saying?”

  “Don’t jinx us,” was Daddy’s quick reply. “Go on, darling.”

  I giggled, fucking giddy. “I should probably mention that the internship I got is at the Three Dots Agency here in town.”

  “Holy fuck,” Jace blurted.

  “So…do you wanna come down and help me with my luggage?” I asked sweetly.

  Jace reacted the fastest, disappearing from the screen in a blur.

  “Are you truly—” Daddy shook his head, dazed. “Don’t move. We’ll be right there. Don’t move.”

  The call was disconnected, and my face hurt from smiling.

  Less than a minute later, Jace stumbled out of the door, barefoot and bare-chested, still zipping up his jeans. And Daddy was right behind him, and then I was engulfed by them.

  I was home.

  In between kisses and the best hugs, I was bombarded with questions. How long had I been here, why didn’t I call, was I really home to stay, what about school—the list went on. I managed to answer most of them, mainly that I’d transferred my studies to Seattle, which was less than two hours away.

  “But that will wait,” I said, snuggling into Daddy’s chest.

  “Six months of interning first,” Jace concluded with a nod.

  I popped a kiss to his chin and smiled. “Plus another year off, I think. I can’t very well pick up my studies right around my due date—”

  “Belle.” Daddy stared me down, shocked.

  Jace’s own wide-eyed gaze dropped to my stomach.

  “Yeah…” I stifled a squeal, having wanted to see their reactions for a week now. “One of you totally knocked me up this summer.”

  Epilogue Two

  Daddy Jace

  A few years later

  “There’s cell service now.”

  “Cool, thanks.” I sidestepped a fern and patted down the multiple pockets in my camos. After two weeks in the forests of the Alaskan peninsula, I was itching for a piece of civilization. More than that, I fucking ached for my family.

  My company during this gig had been stellar, though, and both Kyle and Logan were my new go-tos for work I did in Alaska. They were a married couple and knew an annoyingly high amount about the wilderness. From hunting and fishing to tracking and safety. They were resourceful as fuck and made me look like an amateur, and I’d been running around in the woods since I could walk.

  I was coming home with some amazing images, not to mention memories. Kyle had managed to take me into the heart of a growing wolf pack. If my editor was interested, I wanted to come back in a year to track the pups’ progress.

  “Is it bad that I hope the twins are potty-trained by now?” I asked, scrolling through my Facebook feed.

  Kyle snorted.

  “We’ve been gone two weeks, not two months,” Logan chuckled.

  “You haven’t met Belle.” I grinned at the pictures Belle had uploaded of the kids and turned one of them into my lock screen. Max was fiercely protective of his baby brothers, which I suspected would get ten times worse when our first—and last—daughter was born. We’d thought the twins would be the last, but…well, our track record of using rubbers wasn’t the best.

  Four was a fucking great number, though.

  So was fifteen, I thought, as I checked the number of people who’d RSVP’d to my birthday dinner next week. I was turning thirty-five, and according to Andrew, we should go all out. With this being our last year in the loft before we moved to a bigger house, we hosted quite a few dinner parties on the roof. Andrew was planning this one and had promised catering from our favorite steakhouse.

  “Trail’s ahead,” Kyle announced.

  I looked up and exhaled. First sign of civilization, a dirt road. Then I’d suffer a ride in Kyle’s bush plane to Anchorage, and from there, fly to Seattle. Where I fucking hoped Andrew would pick me up.

  “Thirty-six hours till I get laid.” I adjusted my backpack. “Thirty-six hours till the last sounds of fucking aren’t coming from you two.”

  Logan grinned and looked away, slightly more modest than his hubby.

  Kyle lifted a brow and smirked. “Kept the bears away, didn’t it?”

  I rolled my eyes, chuckling.

  When we reached the trail, I gained my bearings a bit more and remembered certain things. The hunting lodge would be at the center of a clearing that was coming up next. There would be a fallen tree covered in fungi and a carved-out tree stump that’d been used as a grill. Another twenty minutes to
ward the edge of the forest, there was a small parking lot. Only four-wheelers were allowed on this dirt road, and the land was private. At least, I thought we’d reached the private property of Kyle and Logan’s company.

  “I think you can call Justin,” Kyle said to Logan, referring to their son. He taught tourist kids how to safely drive ATVs around here. “If the coffee’s not on when we get to the cabin, he’s grounded.”

  I smiled and wiped my forehead. It was beginning to drizzle, though the sun made appearances here and there.

  I looked forward to a hot meal and to sit my ass down on the porch for a couple hours. Hopefully, the reception would be good enough for me to Skype with my kids too.

  “Listen.” Logan cocked his head, having picked up on a sound. It was something I’d discovered quickly. They heard goddamn everything. I heard birds chirping. “Maybe he booked a class. I hear children.”

  It wasn’t until we passed the fungi tree right before the clearing that I heard said children, and now it was my turn to pay extra attention. “Uh…” The boy laughing sounded weirdly fucking familiar. It was followed by the soft, unmistakable laughter of my girl.

  They’re here.

  The excitement that tore through me was unlike anything else, and I jogged into the clearing and felt my face splitting into a grin. Holy shit, they’d come all the way up here to see me. Andrew was sitting on the porch steps with one of the twins, teaching him how to work a bow and arrow. Belle was running around in the clearing with our other two, plus three dogs that I knew belonged to Kyle and Logan.

  Max was the first to spot me. “Daddy!” His shout bounced between the trees and alerted everyone else to our arrival. “We’re surprising you!”

  I laughed and unbuckled the strap to my backpack. “Color me fucking shocked. Get the hell over here.” He started running, and I dropped the backpack on the ground right before I caught him. “Did you miss me as much as I missed you?”