the other three men, who all stepped forward when he did. They’re surrounding me now, the heat of their bodies seeping into mine. “We protect each other by being the only people we can trust unequivocally. That’s what love is.”
I blink, my heart lurching in my chest. “What?”
“Love,” Hale repeats, his eyes still flashing. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? I fucking love you.”
“You do?” I whisper.
“Yes.” He reaches up to trail his fingertips down the side of my face. “So fucking much my heart might stop if I ever lost you. So promise me you won’t pull this shit again.”
Zaid catches my hand, turning me to face him. “I love you too, kitten. I think I’ve loved you since I was sixteen.”
Lucas chuckles, although when I turn to him, his expression is serious. “I know he loved you since he was sixteen. Because I fell in love with you too, and I knew even then that neither of us would let you go.”
My mouth is dry, my fingers shaking from the rush of emotions that’s flooding me. Without a conscious command from me, my body turns toward Ciro, my searching gaze colliding with his.
The hard line between his eyebrows softens, and he lets out a slow breath. “You’re… everything, Grace.” He grimaces, frustration passing over his features. “Love isn’t enough. It’s not the right word. I…” He searches for a moment, then shakes his head. “I need you.”
His face blurs in my vision as tears well in my eyes, and I blink them away, wanting to see all of them. All of my men.
“I love you too,” I murmur. “I need you too. And I promise, I will never, ever lie to you again.”
“Then this is real?” Hale’s deep voice draws my attention toward him, and I find him watching me with a strange intensity. “This is what you want? All of us?”
I swallow. My hands are still shaking, but my voice is completely steady when I answer. “Yes. That’s what I want. I want to be with all of you.”
A ripple seems to go through the room, some kind of shift in the very fabric of the atmosphere. We’ve all been dancing around this for weeks, slowly falling into it without ever openly acknowledging that this was what was happening. I fell in love with four men, and they fell in love right back.
And instead of fighting over me, the four of them will share me.
“Thank fuck.” Zaid grins, making a smile tug at my lips. Then he drops his head a little, his expression turning serious. “Make deals, kitten. Keep secrets. Play the fucking game. But do it with us by your side. Always.”
I nod, too overwhelmed by the rush of emotions to speak.
And then it doesn’t matter anyway, because the world tilts in my vision as I’m suddenly lifted and thrown over a broad shoulder. I yelp in surprise as Hale grips my thighs, pinning them to his chest as my upper body dangles over his back.
“What are you doing?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Grace?” he growls, turning and striding toward the stairs. “You almost died tonight, you told us you love us, and you agreed to make this thing fucking official. If you think you could say all of that and not get thoroughly fucked afterward, you don’t know any of us as well as I thought.”
24
Grace
Hale’s words crash through my mind, making me flush with heat and anticipation. A noise that’s half laugh and half gasp falls from my lips, and I let him carry me up the stairs toward my bedroom. I’m not sure I could walk anyway, after everything the men just told me.
I’m sure Hale is still angry, and Ciro and the twins too—but their anger is born of fear for me, and I know they’ll get over it in time.
Because they know I did what I did for them.
And they love me.
Just like I love them.
Zaid opens the door to my bedroom, and Hale strides inside. I expect him to toss me down on the bed, but he surprises me by setting me down gently. He perches me on the end of the mattress and takes my face in his hands, kissing me deeply. Then he steps back.
My eyes widen, a new shock of surprise moving through me when I realize what he’s doing. He’s solidifying this thing between all of us.
He’s sharing me.
Zaid and Lucas both glance at him, and I know they see the same thing I do.