by Tara Rose
When they reached the shore, loud cheers greeted the three as hands reached out to pull them from the water. Santos finally turned around to face them, blinking several times as confusion covered his face. That confusion was slowly replaced by awe, and then guilt.
He stared at each of them in turn while others wrapped blankets around him, and tried to hand him something hot to drink. Estevan watched the conflict in his eyes, and wished he could think of something to say right now, but this ball was in Santos’s court.
Out of the corner of his eye, Estevan spotted Jade running toward them, shouting, and then Santos heard her voice and turned to face his little sister.
“Oh my God! Oh my God, you’re all okay. They saved your life. Oh my God. You two went into the ocean and you saved him. And you’re okay. You survived the water. Santos is alive. Thank you. Oh, thank you so much.”
She threw her arms around Estevan first, and then Liam, hugging each in turn. When she finally let them both go and reached out to hug her brother, for a brief second Estevan thought he was going to be the ultimate prick and not embrace her, but finally he did.
She was still crying and whispering her thanks as Santos gave each of them a long, thoughtful glance over her head. “I don’t know what to say right now. I’m so ashamed of the way I’ve behaved.”
“Don’t be,” said Estevan. “Just listen to her. She’s a grown woman and…” He cut his gaze briefly toward Liam. “And we love her. We both love her so much. Let her live her life. She won’t do that until you give her space to let go of the past and make her own choices.”
“You love her? As in happily ever after?”
“Yes,” said Liam. “Yes, we do. Both of us. With all our hearts.”
Estevan glanced at the crowd around them, realizing for the first time how many Sybaris Cove residents were there and had heard what they’d just said. They were all very quiet, watching, waiting.
Jade lifted her head and gazed at each of them in turn. “What?” she whispered. “What did you just say?”
“I said we love you. Liam and I both do. We want you with us forever, Jade.”
“Oh my God…” She let go of Santos and stood in front of them, her gaze filled with so much love that Estevan knew his life would never be the same again, and he welcomed that realization with open arms. “I love you, too. Both of you. And I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you two in it.”
“That’s all we needed to hear, sweetheart.”
As the crowd cheered and wolf-whistled once again, Estevan and Liam each took turns picking up Jade and twirling her around while she cried, laughed, and shouted her love for them, over and over.
Chapter Nineteen
Jade was so nervous Friday evening that she kept dropping things. Finally the guys made her sit down to wait for Santos and Asa to arrive for dinner, and they finished getting everything ready. It had been one week since Santos’s rescue. The other three kids had been safely extricated from the storm drains as well, and the entire area was being dug out to place new storm drains that would prevent something like that from happening again.
Santos and Jade both had taken the week off work, at Nick’s insistence, but Estevan had gone to see Santos on Monday and said it was time for him and Jade to talk everything out so they both could move forward in their lives. Santos had agreed without hesitation.
When Estevan told Jade he’d invited Santos to dinner, she was reluctant at first, not wanting anything to ruin the bliss they’d shared since publicly declaring their love for each other in front of half the island. But she finally agreed, knowing that Liam and Estevan were right. Until she and her brother talked, nothing would really change.
On Tuesday, Liam came home from work and told her that Asa was coming over as well, and she nearly lost it. After they both got her calmed down, she knew they were doing this because they loved her, and because they wanted nothing and no one to stand in the way of their future happiness.
They’d decided to eat outdoors because the night was warm but not humid, and their backdrop was a perfect, cloudless, purple-and-gold sunset. Asa was early, and he handed Liam a bottle of whiskey as he came inside. Liam handed it to Jade, who took it into the kitchen and resisted the urge to drink the entire thing. Instead she mixed a pitcher of whiskey sours and took it outside to the patio.
When Santos arrived, he brought a covered baking dish containing bananas baked in rum. “Kate made it, if you can believe that. She’s suddenly into learning all she can about the island and its native heritages, including the food. She’s giving me heartburn every night.”
Liam raised his brows. “Are you with her now?”
Santos almost smiled, and Jade could hardly believe the change that came over his face at Liam’s question. “Well, let’s just say we’re going to see where it leads.”
“You could have brought her along for dinner,” said Jade.
“No. She knew I would be more comfortable talking to all of you without her here.”
The three made small talk about the weather during dinner, and then turned to the subject of recovery from the storm and the near-tragedy last Saturday morning. Over dessert and coffee, Liam broached the reason they were here, reaching over to take Jade’s hand before he began.
“We intend to collar Jade. We’ve all discussed this. We want her to be not only our lover, but our sub. She’s agreed to this, but only if you both know about it first, and have no objections. And we agree. We don’t want to start our new life together with any of the past hanging over our heads.”
Asa cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. “You’re not the only employee of mine to have a sub, or to have one who isn’t a Raleigh or a Durante, you know.”
“I know that. But are you all right with it being Jade? I have to be sure of that because I want to continue working for you, but not if it means giving her up, or listening to you make digs against her or her family.”
“You’d do that? Leave the company to be with her?”
“Yes. In a heartbeat.”
Asa and Liam locked gazes for a few seconds, and then Asa turned his dark gaze toward her. She squeezed Liam’s hand tightly. “I should have pushed harder all those years ago to find the men who came to the island looking for your parents. If I had, they might not have been killed years later. If it had been one of my family members, I would have moved heaven and earth to do something about it. I was wrong not to for your parents. I need your forgiveness for that.”
She swallowed hard, blinked a few times, and then let out the breath she’d been holding. “You don’t need my forgiveness, but you have it anyway. You did what you thought was right at the time. My parents had a choice to leave the island and go into witness protection. Twice. And twice they refused to do so. That was their choice, and you couldn’t have done anything about that.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re an insightful woman. We all make choices in this life. Every single day. And we each have to live with the consequences, good or bad.” He leaned forward. “Are you sure of your choice now? To live with both these men for the rest of your life? Because Liam is a hard worker and there will be times he won’t work normal hours.”
“He doesn’t now. I’m supportive of his choice to keep working for you. It’s what he wants to do. But I need to know his future at Phoebe’s Playthings is as secure as it would be if he weren’t with me.”
“It is. His future is secure, and I’m supportive of his choice to be with you.”
“Thank you, Asa.”
“Thank you,” said Liam. “But I have one question for you. What about Estevan? Can you meet him halfway?”
“Tell me why it’s important to you that I do.”
“Because he’s part of our life now. Mine and Jade’s. You just sat here and talked about choices. His are different than mine, but he’s still your blood. If I know you think less of him because he chose a different path than I did, that will always be hanging over our heads.”
Asa turned his gaze toward Estevan. “Your grandfather, Alejandro, wasn’t my favorite uncle. I know you already know that. But what you don’t know is that he and I never saw to eye-to-eye. Not from the time I was a kid. You’re just like him, and I’ve always been this way. But I know he loved you, and I realize he saw that you weren’t a ruthless cutthroat like most of us, and he respected that about you. Most of the rest of us never have.”
Jade dropped her jaw as Asa reached across the table to shake Estevan’s hand. “But I’ve been doing some soul searching lately, and I realize I’ve been wrong about you, too. You’ve never done anything to hurt me or my company. All you did was choose not to work for me, and I have to respect your decision to go your own way, even if I don’t understand it. So let’s call a truce, okay? I’ll stop bad-mouthing you to the rest of the family, if you agree to support Liam in his choice to work for me.”‘
“Absolutely,” said Estevan. “Like Jade said, we support each other’s choices.”
He eyed Jade. “Are you going to keep working at the police station? Because if you ever want a job, I’m sure we could find you something at the company.”
“Thank you, but actually I’m going back to school.”
“Oh? For what? A business degree?”
“Cultural anthropology. I want to study the various heritages that make up the people of this island.”
Asa shook his head. “More mysteries and curses. That’s all you’ll find, you know.”
She grinned. “I certainly hope so.”
“Which brings us to my big question,” said Santos. “How were you two able to swim out into the ocean like that?”
Estevan shrugged. “No clue. My best guess is because we weren’t trying to leave the island, the curse didn’t apply.”
“You going to try it again one day, just to see what happens?”
“No,” said Jade. “They’re not. They’re never taking another chance like that. Santos, they saved your damn life. Pretend to be grateful, okay?”
“I am grateful. But I’m also very curious now. None of you even go into the water. Ever. You swim and fish and boat on that private lake, and you all have swimming pools. But not the ocean. Never.”
“There are plenty of things about the curse that no one can figure out,” said Asa.
“And it’s time you and Jade talked about your past,” said Estevan, quietly. “That’s why you’re here tonight. Not to rehash the curse.”
“Asa said it all,” said Santos, glanced toward Jade. “They made their choices. Choices neither you nor I will ever understand or agree with. I loved them and lost them, too. Not just you.”
“I know that.”
“And I was older. I understood more of what was going on than you did. If I had it to do over again, I still would have begged them to take the protection being offered, and I would have kept certain things from you to protect you. But I would do one thing differently. I wouldn’t have kept trying to protect you once you were old enough to make your own choices. I’ve been an asshole. A stubborn, pig-headed bully.”
“You always were,” said Estevan. “Even when you were a kid.”
“Yeah. I know. But I’m a damn good cop because of it.”
“You’re a fucking scary cop because of it,” said Asa. “Don’t try to downplay what you are. Call a spade a spade.”
They all laughed, but it was more nervous chuckling than anything.
“Bully or not,” said Liam. “It’s time to let Jade live her life. Surely you can see that now.”
“I see it. But if you two ever hurt her—”
“We aren’t going to do that. We love her. This is real, and it’s forever.”
“I’ll be watching.”
“I certainly hope so. You’re her brother and she loves you. You’re welcome here anytime. And that goes for Kate, as well.” Liam glanced toward Asa. “And you’re welcome here, too.”
Santos eyed them each for a few seconds, and then he stood and walked over to where Jade sat. She stood as well, and waited until he reached for her first. Then she gave her big brother a hug. “I’m sorry, Jade. I want you to be happy.”
“I am. I am happy.”
He actually did smile this time, and her heart soared. “One question. Am I invited to the collaring ceremony?”
She laughed. “Of course you are. We’ll invite the entire island.”
“We can have it on the lake shore if you want,” said Asa.
“Thanks for the offer, but we have a different place in mind,” said Liam.
* * * *
The following Friday evening, about an hour before sunset, Jade stood on a private beach along the Gulf that bordered the land owned by Nando. He was one of the few Durantes who had built his home that close to the ocean, but the house was on raised ground so it had survived the flooding without major damage.
His sub, Leta Da Costa, whose brother Jorge worked for Taj and Jeff as a supervisor in the shipping department, lived in the home with him, and they had offered their beach as the setting for Jade’s collaring ceremony as soon as Liam told them they wanted to have one.
Leta had helped her choose a dress, and Jade asked for the tenth time if Leta felt it was right for this occasion. “You look gorgeous. And there is no ‘right look’ for this. There aren’t any etiquette books for collaring ceremonies.”
“I wish I’d known you and Nando when you had yours. I’d have loved to be there.”
Leta’s smile was warm and soft, as if she was remembering something romantic and emotional. “It was amazing. And we had it on this beach as well. That’s why when he came home from work and told me Liam and Estevan wanted to collar you, I asked if we could have it here.”
“Thank you.” Jade smoothed down the cream-colored cotton skirt one more time then turned to face the men as they approached her and Leta on the beach. Behind them, it looked like half the island followed them onto the sand. Leta gave her a quick hug, then joined Nando.
Jade dropped to her knees, as Estevan and Liam had previously instructed her to do. The ocean breeze whipped her hair and clothing, but she didn’t mind. The sand was warm on her knees and the sound of the waves soothed her, as they’d always done.
Maybe the two had lifted the curse when they went into the water to rescue Santos? Maybe it had been sheer dumb luck? Or perhaps whatever fates held the curse in check had been kind to them because they were on a mission to save a human life that night.
It didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that they loved her, and they wanted her with them for the rest of their lives. And they were here today to let the entire island witness that love and commitment.
Once they stood in front of her, smiling down with love in their eyes and excitement on their faces, Liam held out a silver necklace with a tiny turquoise lock on it, and jade hearts adorning half the chain. She’d never seen anything so exquisite, and she gasped.
“Estevan made this.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“And we would be honored if you would wear it, as a symbol of your love for us, and your submission to us, for the rest of your life.”
Jade couldn’t stop the tears that trickled down her cheeks. “I would be honored to wear the collar as a symbol of my love and submissiveness to you both, Sir.”
Liam’s eyes were bright and alive with emotion as he handed the necklace to Estevan. Estevan moved behind her, slipped it on and fastened it, then bent down to kiss her neck. “Thank you,” he whispered.
When he stood in front of her again, side-by-side with Liam, each man took one of her hands. “I love you, Jade,” he said. “I promise to protect you, cherish you, love you, and guide you to become the woman you want to be, for the rest of your life.”
“I love you, too, Sir.” She could hardly speak. This was more emotional and beautiful that she’d imagined it would be. “And I promise to love you, serve you, and cherish you for the rest of my life.”
Estevan leaned over and ki
ssed her gently on the lips, and then Liam spoke. “I love you, too, Jade. Thank you for giving me another chance. I promise also to cherish you, love you, protect you, and guide you for the rest of my life.”
“I love you, too, Sir. And thank you for taking that chance. I promise also to love you, serve you, and cherish you for the rest of my life.”
Liam kissed her, then they helped her stand. As each man pulled her into his arms and twirled her around, the crowd surrounding them clapped and cheered. They wished her, Liam, and Estevan the best of luck, drinks were passed around, and Jade couldn’t stop smiling and crying at the same time.
Asa and Santos were there as well, and Santos had brought along Kate. They congratulated the three as much as everyone had done, and then Kate whispered in Jade’s ear that she wanted to hear all about “this BDSM stuff” when Jade had time to explain it to her. She promised Kate they’d talk about it as soon as possible, but Jade knew that Kate would be better off asking Liam and Estevan questions, not her.
Jade stood next to her two Doms, while everyone admired her collar, all of them talking at once. Jade gazed at each of them in turn, her heart racing each time they caught her eye and smiled. She had everything she’d ever wanted and dreamed about, right here. Liam and Estevan would protect her and keep her safe. They’d never abandon her, or place her in danger.
The ghosts of her parents that had haunted her for twelve years had finally been laid to rest, and she and Santos were on their way to forming a healthy brother-and-sister relationship. They had a long way to go, but they’d made a great start, thanks to her two Doms.
Even Asa seemed more relaxed than usual, and Leta had confided earlier that his girlfriend had left the island again, but this time Asa had asked her to go. Maybe one day Asa would be this happy, too?
But for now, Jade was content to bask in Estevan and Liam’s love. She’d started this journey a long time ago with each of them, and during the storm she thought they’d simply been fooling around. But along the way they’d also fallen in love, and had come to a few life-changing realizations.
