Adams, Eve - Trio [Gideon's Ring 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (37 page)

He laughed.
“
A guest, no.
”

“
But you
’
ve been in love.
”

“Love doesn’t pay the bills. It doesn’t put food on the table or keep the lights on. Love doesn’t do anything but leave you broken and bitter. Seeing Barrett and my cousin go through this only reaffirms my belief.”

She stared at him, stunned into silence. What happened to him to make him so bitter about love?

She wanted to be angry, but instead she only felt sadness. Sympathy. Who could live like that?

A knock at the door and then Norris’
s
voice from the other side broke them of their intense conversation. “Wrap it up, boys and girls. It’s time to move. Meet me downstairs.”

Sarah kept her gaze on Wyatt. “You won’t tell them, will you? About the baby, I mean.”

He opened the door and turned to look over his shoulder. “If you want to pull the secret baby thing, that’s your choice. It’s a shitty thing to do, but it’s your choice.”

“I’m not doing that. I told you that I’m just waiting for the right time. Let’s get your money back and save the ranch. Then I’ll tell them.”

“And if we don’t save the ranch? Then what? Will you tell them then? Or will you just leave again?”

She swallowed down the reality of the situation. Despite what he thought, she knew the truth. Barrett didn’t stop her. Chris gave her an escort. Bottom line, they both just let her go. If they
’
d loved her
,
they would have stopped her.

“Let’s go.” Wyatt thrust open the door and stormed out.

She waited until she heard him pound down the stairs before keeping a safe distance behind him, following him into the business office. Everyone had gathered there, all the Gideons and Norris and Amber. When she walked into the room, everyone looked up—everyone except the sets of eyes she wanted to see.

But they felt her. Both Barrett and Chris stiffened and kept their gaze focused on the papers on the round table in the center of the room. She walked in and over to Amber, keeping a safe distance from them.

Matt watched her carefully, his gaze narrowing as he listened to Wyatt whisper something into his ear. He then grit
ted
his teeth and joined his twin and stopped, his gaze never leaving Sarah.

“What’s got you so pissed off?” Michael asked Matt.

Matt turned and shot Sarah a glare meant to burn her on the spot. She dropped her gaze to her socked feet. Where were her shoes?

She looked up and then over to Barrett and Chris. They both had their gazes on her, but when she caught them looking at her, they both quickly looked away, and their dismissal hurt more than the pain of knowing she’d never be anything more to either of them than the mother of their child.

“What are you two up to?” Norris asked as he looked at the twins.

Michael continued to watch his brother. Matt nodded. Michael frowned. Matt widened his eyes and stared at his brother. Michael then dropped his jaw. Matt narrowed his eyes and gave him a slight shake of his head. Michael lifted his brow. They seemed to have an entire conversation without ever talking.

Amber stood up from behind her laptop. “I’ve heard of this. It’s called twin talk. They can read each other’s thoughts at times. They even have their own language. You boys are driving me to drink. Is there any whiskey?”

“I’ll take a tall glass, no ice.” Norris tapped at the keys on his own laptop. He didn’t even bother looking up as he barked out his order.

Wyatt moved to the door. “I’ll get it. Anyone else?”

The rest of the Gideons spoke up.

“I’ll just bring the bottle,” he said and disappeared out of the room. He then returned with a bottle of Jack and a handful of glasses. After filling them
,
he handed them to everyone, including Sarah.

She looked down at the amber liquid and sighed. If she drank it
,
she could hurt the baby. If she didn’t, she’d have to explain why. She looked over to Barrett, who pushed his drink away. With a relieved sigh, she did the same. Chris drank his and then grabbed his cousin’s to consume.

After taking a long drink, Norris turned back to the plans. “I’ve had tracers on your account. Once Lucky struck
,
I knew he’d made his move. I traced the withdrawals back to his account.”

Michael stiffened. “How? You don’t have access to our account.”

“Now why do you think I paid Sarah’s fee for the weekend via wire transfer? Wire transfers aren’t as safe as you think. I had your routing number and your account number. It was easy to piggyback on that transfer and have open access to everything. Why else do you think I sent her here? I needed a way in.”

Sarah glanced over to Barrett and then Chris. Both of their spines went ramrod straight as they jerked their attention to Norris.

Barrett spoke. “You sent her in as bait? Did she even know that you set her up?”

Norris shook his head and went back to the plans. “She knows now. So, as I was saying, if we dangle a better deal in front of him, he’ll be too greedy to turn it down. He’s feeling awfully cocky now that he thinks he’s gotten away with another scam.”

Barrett wouldn’t let it go. “But she didn’t know about it ahead of time?”

Norris lifted his gaze to Barrett. “I said I needed a reason in. Are you a little slow?”

Sarah knew that look on Barrett’s face, that hardness in his eyes. He was on the verge of exploding.

“You used her,” Chris growled, an equally inflexible look on his face.

“She understood the reasons behind it.”

Sarah went to her men. She knew both of them well enough to know when they
’
d reached their boiling point. When she put one hand on each of their shoulders, they both relaxed in their chair
s
and labored their breathing in unison.

Chris
then shrugged out of her touch and leaned forward. “Tell me about the better deal.”

Barrett
reached up and held her hand with his. They both watched
Chris
. He had to be hurting.

Sarah stepped back. Her lips trembled, but not from sadness. She was done with
Chris
dismissing her
,
tossing off her touch as if she were nothing more than an annoyance.

Her hormones took over, and she let them have full force.
Barrett
knew better than to intercede and even stood up and moved away from the imminent blow up.

She spun
Chris
around in his chair and nailed him with a finger poking at his chest. He’d hurt her, almost destroyed her, by thinking the worst of her.

By damned, it stopped here.

“On your feet.”

He looked at her, shock and something else swirling in his eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Unless you want me to kick your ass while you’re sitting down, get on your damn feet. Now.”

“Sarah—”

She poked his chest again. Hard. “Now.”

“
I
’
d listen to her. I don
’
t think she
’
s fooling around.
”

“
Shut up,
Barrett
.
”

Barrett
chuckled a
s
his response.
“
This
ought
to be good.
”

Chris
slowly rose to his feet in front of her, and everyone else spilled away as he did. Ice lurked behind that
hazel
gaze as it grew to a glare. She hoped that she knew him well enough, knew that it would thaw as soon as she admitted her feelings to him.

Sarah pulled in a deep breath as she stared into the depths of his eyes. She wanted to run away and hide as those eyes bore into her soul, but her hormones were in full swing and fueled her words.

If he didn’t love her, then fine. He could go back to his life as
an
alpha male. Dom Extraordinaire. But she’d be damned if she allowed him to treat her like another one of his subs.

She
’
d still have
Barrett
, and
she
knew he
’
d take on the world to love and protect her. But she wanted them both. She
’
d fallen in love with them both and to only have one felt like half of a whole.

She had to crane her neck to look into his eyes, but that didn’t deter her. She poked his chest furiously. “How dare you,
Chris
Gideon.”

“What did I do?” He stared back at her, taken aback at her sudden rage. To tell the truth, so was she.

All of the disappointment of
her men
not stopping her from leaving, not coming after her, came back with a vengeance. The hurt and betrayal of how easily
they’d both
dismissed her
tore at her heart
. The knowledge that they were quickly becoming enemies instead of lovers
had her close to collapsing
.

Everything exploded at once and erupted as she attacked him. “You are running scared. You can’t handle one little woman who stands up to you. I refuse to obey you, and that is more than you can handle. Everyone else in this world follows your every command, and I won’t, and that terrifies the hell out of you.”

“Sarah—”

“I’m not done!” she screamed and poked his chest again. This time he stumbled back.
“Not every woman you fall in love with is going to cut you out of her life and keep your child from you.”

He frowned at her but said nothing.

She marched forward and continued her assault. “You are being a big
,
selfish baby,
Chris
Gideon, and I, for one, refuse to raise two of you. Now man up or I’m raising this baby without you.”

“Wow,” she heard Matt mutter.

“You don’t think she will?” Michael asked him.

“Oh, I’m sure she will, but I’ve never heard threats like that come from a woman. It’s like she’s channeling Barrett or Chris or something.”

“Well, she is carrying a little mini
Gideon in there. Maybe he’s doing it.”