Alea smiled as she rubbed a palm across her son’s head. “That’s not the question you should ask. Perhaps the better question is, why should you compromise? Do you really believe they wouldn’t be better off sharing you? Are they not close?”
That was a good question. “I know they love each other, but they fight a lot.”
“Sharing you would bring them closer.”
She glanced up at Landon, who smiled indulgently at his wife and kid. “Did you always know you wanted to share?” She felt her cheeks flame in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. That was rude. Please forgive me.”
He was working. She didn’t have any right to ask such personal questions of him.
Lan stepped in closer, his hand coming off the P-90 he wore over his chest like a vest. He dropped to one knee beside his wife. “There’s nothing to forgive, Tori. You ask all the questions you need to. No one here will be offended. And no. I didn’t always know. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really think about the future until I met Alea.”
His wife leaned into him. “Neither did I, my love.”
He kissed her forehead with one arm wound around her shoulder and the other ruffled his son’s hair. “Men don’t think about these things the way women do. When I did meet her, I realized she was far too much woman for one man to handle.” He chuckled lightly. “I know there might have been some alternate world where it could have been just the two of us, but I like how we work. I like having brothers to rely on. Loving a woman, starting a family, it’s a real responsibility and the reassurance of knowing Dane and Coop will carry on if anything happens to me is worth gold, in my opinion. I also like the fact that there are two people in the world who know what it means to love her. I don’t feel alone.”
Wistfulness washed over her. What would it feel like to not be so alone? She’d known for the briefest of moments. When she’d been with Callum and then Oliver, she’d been able to fool herself that all things were possible. She’d been able to dream that she could have the life she wanted.
But she knew reality now and she was going to have to make some hard choices soon. She had a couple of options to consider. She’d already decided against staying here. Besides, being coddled and cloistered like a nun, if she remained at the palace, she would likely find herself dating the infamous five cousins at some point, and she wasn’t sure she could handle that many Bezakistani men. So she’d go somewhere in the States and start over again. She had friends in New York. Los Angeles was also an option. It was a hot spot for a person who knew how to handle a scandal. Or she could be safe and go home to Dallas.
Tori couldn’t stop thinking about London and how awfully she’d left. She’d snuck out in the middle of the night. She’d packed her bags, called a cab, and shown up on her sister’s doorstep right before dawn. If she’d stayed even until morning, one of them would have shown up. Callum or perhaps Rory. Oliver might have torn through her again with his damage and demands.
But they were out of her life now. The day she’d gotten her period she’d sent Oliver a text so he wouldn’t worry about it. Then she’d promptly changed her number because the last thing she wanted was his reply. It likely would have been full of curse words.
“I’m glad you all have each other.” She smoothed down Sabir’s hair. How long would it be before she had babies? Would she ever have them? Even if she did, would she always long for little blond-haired British boys?
“Is it really over with Oliver and his brothers?” Alea asked.
“They can’t share. They can barely be in the same room with each other.”
Alea frowned. “That’s not the way I remember them. Oliver was very close to his brothers once. He was very much the head of his family and he cared for all his siblings. They would come to the palace, and it was where I first worried that Yasmin wasn’t right for him. She hated the fact that he would bring his siblings with them. She wanted all of his focus on her and she was nasty to anyone who took it away.”
“Why did he marry her?” As far as Tori could tell, Yasmin had been pure evil.
“She was lovely,” Alea explained with a sigh.
“She was also super-aggressive sexually,” Lan said. He immediately turned a nice shade of pink and coughed a little. “Not that I would know.”
Alea’s eyes rolled. “She hit on everyone, but she was careful that Oliver never saw. She played him very differently. She went slowly with him. She teased him and kept him at arm’s length.”
“Though she’d likely already slept with most of the men at their wedding.” Lan stood up. “I’ll shut up now.”
“Poor Oliver. He really liked Talib, respected him. She used that relationship to move him toward marriage and did a number on him. I do get that. I guess she knew exactly how to play him.” Apparently Yasmin had known him better than Tori did. The woman had figured out that her best move was to play coy with him. Tori hadn’t, and he’d made it pretty plain what he thought of her that night. Her virginity had only infuriated him. He certainly hadn’t been about to propose marriage.
Well, she didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Nope. She was definitely not a virgin now and she’d already survived her first pregnancy scare. Yay, her. She’d always been an overachiever.
“I remember Oliver before he married Yasmin,” Alea said with a sad smile.
“Douchebag,” Lan coughed.
Alea rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t like the fact that Oliver once had a crush on me when we were young.”
Tori didn’t much like that fact, either. So Oliver’s type was stupendously wealthy, stunning royal women. She did not fit that bill.
“You’re jealous.” Alea reached for her hand. “There’s no reason to be. Oliver and I never even kissed. He married Yasmin because she told him she was pregnant. She conveniently had a miscarriage shortly after. That’s the story she told him anyway. After she nearly killed the both of us, Oliver discovered bills for clinics around London. Apparently she’d gotten pregnant twice and dealt with the problem herself, telling Oliver that she miscarried. She kept him in the dark, and when he finally emerged, the truth blinded him. He was devastated. He hasn’t been the same since, except I saw him smile the last time I was in London. It was just for a moment and I don’t think he knew I was watching. I was about to cross the street to meet Callum and Rory to talk about their company sponsoring a charity event.”
“I remember that visit.”
“Oliver was standing in the lobby, staring out the window, and the loveliest smile transformed his face. I had to stop and stare at him because he looked like the Oliver I knew. He was young and happy in that moment. I wondered what had put that grin back on his face.”