like a flash of lightning and then it’s out there and I can’t take it back. “But it’d be just as fun if you were to join us upstairs.”
Aaron goes stiff and still behind me, one hand gripping my hip possessively. But he doesn’t protest, not even when Vic laughs, the sound low and thick like smoke.
“Really? You think I’m the type of guy who likes to share? Not a chance in fucking hell.”
“Why?” Aaron retorts immediately, nuzzling into my hair. We both notice Victor’s shoulders stiffen, no doubt about that. “Are you scared you can’t compete?”
Silence stretches, taut and dangerous, and Victor grunts, shoving up from his chair.
“Glad to see you lost the cop bitch. We’ll have to be more careful from now on. She’s a tenacious little justice warrior.” Victor heads toward the kitchen, but I’m not done with him.
Neither is Aaron, apparently.
“You can’t keep running away from me because you think I’m a threat,” he challenges, pausing in front of the peninsula and putting his palms atop it.
Victor stops dead in the center of the kitchen, turning around so slowly that I’m almost positive he’s about to level a weapon at Aaron. Instead, he just lifts his eyebrows in surprise.
“A threat?” he asks, and even if he doesn’t think Aaron is one, there is most definitely a threat apparent in his words. “Aaron, my darling, my friend, my beloved brother.” Vic moves over to the opposite side of the peninsula while I stand at the end of it, stuck between two of my boys and sweating bullets. “You are not nor have you ever been a threat to me.”
Aaron doesn’t flinch, maintaining an unblinking stare that he keeps leveled on Vic’s face.
“No?” Aaron echoes, shaking his head and smirking. “Because you sure as shit act like it. Why are you so afraid then? You think if we fuck her together that she’ll choose me over you when there’s a direct comparison?”
Vic smiles, and it’s terrifying.
“Aaron, do you know why I let you have her once upon a time? Hmm? Do you really want to know?”
“Because you loved her enough to recognize that I was the only one of us who could ever give her the life she truly wanted?” Aaron laughs at the end of that statement, tapping his fingers on the counter. “If you weren’t afraid of me, you wouldn’t have asked me to give her up for Havoc. You could’ve used your powers for good, you know? Protected me and my sisters without asking me to give anything up.”
A long stretch of silence fills the space after Aaron’s words as I flick my gaze between the two boys. Wait. Two men? Yep. Two men. It’s been awhile since either of them was really a boy in his heart or body.
I try to decide if I should speak up or let this play out as it will.
But this has needed to happen for quite some time, hasn’t it?
“You’re walking a very fine line with me,” Vic says, choosing instead to go all boss-man on Aaron rather than respond to his words directly. “Like I said, I told you that you could do whatever with Bernie; I did not give you permission to go rogue. So, what do you want to do now, Aaron Fadler? Fight me in the dark of night and end up bleeding out on your kitchen floor?”
“No.” Aaron’s voice is firm and hard as he moves over to stand closer to me. “I want you to take Bernie up on her challenge. Stop being so goddamn selfish, and just fuck her with me. If you’re right, what do you have to lose? We’ve been at this a long, long time. And I’ve hated you for a long, long time. Aren’t you tired? Don’t you just want to let it go? We’re in this together, man.”
Victor looks from Aaron and down to me, his obsidian gaze an endless void in the dark kitchen. I stare right back at him. He only just gave us the go-ahead and already, there are problems. Prove to me that you can do this, I think. All this time, I wanted to see Hael disobey Vic’s orders—which he did in the Ferrari. All this time, I wanted to see Aaron fight for me—which he’s doing now.
All I want is for Vic to make some sacrifice for me.
He said his love was selfish, but is it? It doesn’t have to be.
“Bernadette,” Victor says finally, voice softening. “What the hell have