by Abby Blake
* * * *
Ryan couldn’t quite believe he was being sued by a woman he’d never even met, let alone that she was suing him for breaking an engagement he hadn’t been a part of. Hell, from what their lawyer had said, the woman’s claim was not only solid but likely to cost them plenty if it ever got before a judge.
“We need to contact the others,” Peter said tiredly, “and let them know the mess I dragged them into.”
“Peter,” Mikayla said softly, her heart obviously breaking for him. “This isn’t your fault. You have every right to search for love. Just because she wasn’t the right woman for you doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.” He didn’t look convinced. “We are a family. We’ll get through this as a family. Okay?” He nodded. “No more secrets. We need to know exactly what’s happening. Where did she get the idea to claim she was engaged to all of you?”
Peter looked uncomfortable but managed to force the words past his throat. “Because I asked her to consider meeting my brothers and maybe sharing their beds.”
Ryan didn’t think he could be any more surprised than he was at the meeting. Turned out he was wrong. Peter had wanted to share a wife even before they’d met Mikayla? It seemed so far out of the realms of possibility that Ryan had to look to his twin for confirmation. Ty just shrugged, clearly as astonished as Ryan.
“But she never met them?”
“She met John, who didn’t say if he liked her or not, and Matt, who disliked her immediately, but not the others. I think she just got lucky today with Ty and Ryan because she knows my youngest brothers are twins.”
“What happened when you suggested she sleep with the others?”
Peter rubbed his hand over his face, and Ryan could see the toll this was taking on him. Peter had always been rather serious, but today his skin looked pale and unhealthy, his eyes were puffy, probably from lack of sleep, and his shoulders slumped forward in defeat.
“She demanded that I sign over the business and all of our assets to ‘lie with my miscreant brothers.’” He used his fingers as quote marks indicating they were her derogatory words, not his.
Less than four hours ago, Ryan couldn’t have imagined a woman so callous as to demand that sort of payment under the guise of love, but having met Jessie Evans, he now had a very clear picture. The woman was a first-class bitch.
Chapter Four
Ty lay on the bed, his wife cuddled to his side, his twin cuddled behind her, and his older brother asleep in the chair beside them. Mikayla had insisted that they needed to be together tonight, and Ty had wholeheartedly agreed. Of course, Peter wasn’t going to climb onto the bed, but at least by having him this close, Mikayla had been able to fall asleep.
His eyes strayed to Peter’s sleeping form. They’d managed to get all of their brothers into a conference call, and after the expected surprise, concern, and much arguing back and forth, they’d finally agreed to fight. Jessie Evans had no genuine claim over them, and to hand over their hard earned money without standing up for themselves just seemed wrong. Fortunately, Brock, Lachlan, Matt, Bryce, and John had managed to get the station pieced together and were able to lock up and travel back to Earth if it became necessary.
Ty really hoped it wasn’t necessary.
A quick call to their lawyer had confirmed that a court date had been set for six days time. They’d been surprised by how quickly the system worked until their lawyer had explained that Jessie Evans’s legal team had applied for the date nearly two years ago. The negotiations had just been part of the usual legal process under current laws. No case could go to court unless they could provide proof of failed negotiations.
Considering that Peter’s lawyer was about to tell them to go to hell, Ty was fairly certain that would count as failed negotiations.
* * * *
The next afternoon Ryan ground his teeth as he listened to their lawyer explain what would happen next.
“As expected, her legal counsel was quite pleased that you didn’t show up to the negotiating table.” Their lawyer was a pleasant, middle-aged man with spectacles and thinning hair, and there was no doubt he knew his stuff. So far everything he’d predicted had come true. “Mrs. Davidson, they will definitely try to use your marriages as a way of proving Peter’s intent. They may even drag up some personal details to try and paint you as a husband-stealing, gold-digging whore.”
“Hey,” Ryan protested, but their lawyer simply held up his hand.
“Get used to it,” he said, shaking his head slowly. “These are the type of things that are liable to be said in court. If you react violently, the judge will kick you out of the courtroom and be less inclined to listen to your side of the story.” He twisted his pen in his hand as if trying to find the exact words to get his point across. “If you seem to be upset, then the lawyers will use the offensive terms over and over in an effort to provoke you to violence and get you kicked out of the courtroom. Am I making myself clear? Their aim will be to get you to lose your temper. You need to stay very tightly in control.”
The man took his glasses off, rubbed a finger over his left eye, and directed his attention to Mikayla. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Davidson, but this is liable to get very ugly, and you will likely cop the brunt of it. I want you and your husbands to be prepared for what you may encounter in court.”
Mikayla nodded, obviously determined to stand up to the woman bold enough to sue her husbands, but every instinct Ryan owned screamed at him to remove his wife from the legal line of fire.
“Can we still make an offer?” Ty and Peter were obviously having the same thought process because they nodded in agreement to his question.
“That would be a very bad idea. Making an offer now would show weakness, and once the sharks smell blood in the water…”
“No,” Mikayla said decisively, “I will not run and hide over a few nasty names. I know who I am, and I know why I married all of you.”
She glanced around the room, daring any of them to dispute her right to make that decision. Their lawyer looked quite pleased.
“Excellent,” he said. “I think it would be helpful if you were able to take the stand, perhaps explain the circumstances of your marriages. How you met them, why you decided to marry all of them not just one or t—”
“Hell, no,” Ryan said as he turned to Mikayla. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to do this. We’ll just pay the money. I don’t want you going through this.”
Mikayla smiled so beautifully Ryan’s heart hurt just thinking of her being savaged by Jessie Evans and her posse.
“It’s not about the money,” she said, touching his face with her fingertips. “It’s about right and wrong. Peter did nothing wrong. We can’t let her win like that.”
“But I don’t want you hurt,” Ryan said as he pressed her hand harder against his face and closed his eyes.
“I won’t be,” she said, sounding very confident, “because I have my husbands beside me, and I know that they’ll love me no matter what some nasty woman or her lawyers say.”
Ryan nodded, wanting to say more, but also stunned by his sweet wife’s conviction. She may have looked fragile, but she possessed a streak of courage a mile wide.
* * * *
Mikayla tried to sound very confident. She needed to fix this. Despite the fact that Jessie probably would’ve learned of Mikayla’s marriage to the brothers eventually, she couldn’t help but feel responsible for setting all of this in motion. If only she’d abided her husband’s orders… She shook her head slightly. Nope, she couldn’t even finish that thought. Following the orders of eight bossy husbands was a sure way to lose the person she believed herself to be.
It wasn’t easy to hide the shaking in her fingers, but somehow she managed. She glanced at Ty and Peter’s worried faces and forced herself to smile calmly. Going to court and standing up to this woman was the right thing to do, but a small worry niggled at the base of her skull. Despite everything she’d just told them about knowing they would love her no matter w
hat, a small voice inside her whispered insidiously that maybe she was wrong.
Her husbands knew very little of her life before meeting them, and they knew absolutely nothing of her life before being abducted by people traffickers. They knew she had no family, but she’d always managed to avoid questions about her childhood. None of them even knew she’d been in the foster care system until the day she’d turned sixteen.
And not one of them knew what happened after that.
Their lawyer was still talking, and Mikayla tried to return her focus to the conversation.
“…we may well be able to convince the judge that Jessie Evans is actually the gold digger, but she plays the role of scorned lover quite well.” Mikayla smiled, very pleased to hear that she wasn’t the only one who could see past the woman’s act. “But we need to be careful, or Peter will just be seen as a man who moved on to greener pastures with scant regard for the woman he’d promised to love.”
He turned to Mikayla and held out his hand. “I will try to minimize the damage, but things will get a little rough. Let me know if you have any questions,” he said as he shook her hand. “I’ll see you in court on Thursday.”
She nodded and followed him to the door. Once he’d gone, she turned to face her husbands. They all looked a little pale, and almost as one they started talking about her involvement in the court case. She held up her hand to silence them.
“Simple fact,” she said very clearly. “Nasty things are going to be said about me whether I am there or not. At least this way I get to defend myself.”
Ryan and Ty nodded thoughtfully, but Peter still looked miserable. Before he could apologize again, she moved into his arms and pressed a kiss to his lips. “First, I want a nap,” she said on a yawn, “and then I want to go back to California for a couple of days.” He nodded, pulled her closer, and turned toward the bedroom.
“Oh, no, not this time, brother,” Ryan said as he followed them into the bedroom. “You can sleep in the chair if you want, but I want my wife in my arms. So you can either sleep on her other side or watch from a distance. Either way, Ty and I aren’t going to be left out. Not today.”
Surprisingly, Peter nodded, perhaps in resignation, and then climbed onto the bed and dragged Mikayla into the middle. He didn’t look comfortable when Ryan slid onto the other side, or when Ty stretched out at the end of the bed and wrapped a hand around Mikayla’s ankle, but Peter stayed there and held her as she fell asleep.
* * * *
Traveling back to California was a very good idea. Ty watched his wife talk animatedly to Tracey and her partners. Mikayla appeared relaxed, and it was certainly distracting her from the stress of the upcoming court date. As childish as it seemed, Ty was still hoping for a miracle so that he could spare his wife the pain and humiliation of having her life with them dissected and vilified.
Tracey laughed as her partners pulled her in for a tight hug. The four of them seemed very happy together. Rick, Tony and Ashton seemed very protective of Tracey in much the same way Ty and his brothers were toward Mikayla. They were also cops, and even though Ty worried for Tracey’s well-being if her partners were hurt on duty, he also felt relieved that Tracey was well protected.
He shook his head minutely as he realized his faith in the human race had certainly been tainted by their experiences on the ice planet. Although, the realization didn’t make him want to protect his wife any less.
“So have you set a date?” Mikayla asked in a very excited voice. He tuned in to the conversation hoping to catch on to whatever he’d missed.
“We’re not planning anything over the top. Rick’s parents and sister aren’t pleased with their choice of lifestyle.” Mikayla could tell by the way Tracey spat the words “choice” and “lifestyle” she was not thrilled by her soon-to-be in-laws’ opinion. “And you know I have no family, so we thought we’d just have a civil ceremony with a couple of work colleagues and a few close friends.” Tracey glanced up at Ty and then back to Mikayla. “When do you go home?”
By the beautiful, excited smile across Mikayla’s face, Ty figured they weren’t going home until after Tracey’s wedding. And at the moment he couldn’t think of anything more perfect than giving Mikayla a good memory of this trip to Earth.
He nodded when Tracey looked at him, and then the women giggled like teenagers and got down to the serious business of planning a wedding.
* * * *
“As you can see, Your Honor, Mr. Davidson and his brothers are all married to Miss Mikayla Noone. I offer these marriage certificates as evidence that clearly supports Ms. Evans’s claim that her engagement to Mr. Peter Davidson also included his brothers.” The bailiff handed the paperwork to the judge who looked through them without changing the expression on his face.
Jessie Evans had arrived at the courthouse wearing a simple, yet elegant and obviously expensive, summer dress. She was the picture of sweet innocence, and it made Peter want to strangle the woman. Obviously he’d given her far more ammunition than he’d realized.
It would’ve been difficult to sell the claim that Peter would fall for two such wildly different women, but by dressing in a similar fashion to Mikayla, Jessie had a much better chance.
How the hell had he missed Jessie’s real personality? He’d once thought himself in love with the woman, but clearly the person she’d pretended to be was not the real person underneath. Peter clasped his hands together tightly, trying to still their shaking, as the judge turned to speak to Mikayla.
“Mrs. Davidson,” he said in a kind voice. “Can you tell me the circumstances of your marriages? Where did you meet your husbands?”
She explained in a clear and concise voice exactly the circumstances of their first meeting, holding her head high as she explained about the human trafficking ring and her brief time spent in the world of prostitution. She left nothing out, and he couldn’t have been more proud. Mikayla was one in a billion, and he’d thank every deity known to man for the rest of his life for bringing her to him.
Peter glanced at the woman he would’ve married and frowned at the malicious smile on her face. It was the only hint he’d seen that the woman wasn’t quite as in control as she seemed. Surely the judge wouldn’t consider that smile sweet.
“Why did you agree to marry all seven of the Davidson brothers?” the judge asked, seeming just a little perplexed that a woman could want so many husbands.
“Because I love them,” she said simply. “And it’s eight brothers. I met Bryce a few months after I married Lachlan, Brock, John, Matt, Peter, Ryan, and Ty in a civil ceremony the last time we were on Earth. My marriage to Bryce was filed, witnessed, and approved via intergalactic channels several months ago.”
“Who the fuck is Bryce?” The woman’s screech was so unexpected that Peter didn’t even realize it was Jessie’s voice until she jumped to her feet and screamed the question again. She looked like she intended to march up to where Mikayla sat and confront her nose to nose. Peter and his brothers were on their feet in an instant, but fortunately her lawyers and her father held her back. It didn’t stop her from hurling obscenities. “Can’t you tell the little whore is lying? Why would they even want that pathetic excuse for a woman as their wife? Let go of me!” she yelled at her father and pushed the man away. “She probably just gives them really good blow jobs.”
“Ms. Evans!” the judge growled as he hit his gavel against the desk. “Counsel, control your client, or she will be removed from my courtroom.”
The whole room had turned to watch Jessie throw her tantrum, but Peter’s eye were only for his wife. She gave him a soft smile and sat serenely while the courtroom exploded in movement. He could hear Jessie’s nasty words spewing from her mouth, but none of it meant a damn thing. Mikayla was his soul mate, his one true love, and he would cherish and protect her to his last breath.
* * * *
Mikayla couldn’t quite believe the relief coursing through her. Some of the accusations that had been pointed her way ha
d been completely hideous and very untrue, yet others had hit just a little too close to home. Living in such isolated circumstances, she really hadn’t given much thought to how society would judge a woman with eight husbands. How ironic that the worst vitriol came from a woman wanting to steal seven of them from her.
She watched, surprised and maybe a little concerned for the woman and her mental health. The way she seemed to have completely lost her composure didn’t quite seem normal.
Mikayla sat there, trying to look calm and composed but jumped in fright when the judge banged his wooden hammer against the desk and ordered Jessie be removed from the room.
When Jessie’s frantic screeching finally faded down the hallway, the judge turned to Mikayla. “Mrs. Davidson, in light of the fact that Ms. Evans was obviously unaware of an eighth brother and, therefore, not as knowledgeable of the Davidson brothers as she claimed, I am dismissing her claim and finding in your favor. The court thanks you for your time.” He smiled then said with a suspicious gleam in his eyes, “Go home to your husbands, Mrs. Davidson. It’s obvious that they love you, and it’s exactly where you belong.”
She nodded as tears filled her eyes. She did belong to her men, and they belonged to her, and hopefully the past would leave them alone now to get on with their lives.
Chapter Five
Proposed Mining Planet M789zi.
Mikayla sighed as she entered the last report into the computer. Her satisfaction lasted all of two seconds before Ty dropped a heap more onto her desk. They’d been working their collective asses off since returning home three weeks ago. Tracey’s wedding had been perfect, and she’d promised to contact Mikayla as soon as she returned from her honeymoon.
Tired but happy and relaxed for the first time in a long time, Mikayla put off starting the new pile of work and instead watched the newest specimen they’d collected. The cute little fur ball held a piece of vegetation between its paws as it munched away and watched her at the same time.
