Theirs to Keep - Maya Banks Page 0,56
tonight. Rest up, and if you’re feeling up to it, you can train in the morning. But I want your ass here at the clinic as soon as the session is over.”
Merrick nodded.
Dallas put his hand on Merrick’s shoulder. “I’m going back to check on Elle. I’ll be back to let you know when you can see her.”
The two men watched as Dallas left the room, and then Cade turned his gaze on Merrick.
“He has a point,” Cade said. “Elle needs an identity. It can’t help to wake up every morning worried what the day will bring. She can’t even go to the grocery store without fear because she doesn’t have a driver’s license or any sort of identification.”
“So, what, we get her a fake ID?” Merrick asked slowly.
“We could,” Cade said. “But I was thinking along the lines of something a little different.”
Merrick lifted one eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”
Cade blew out his breath in a controlled manner as he figured out just the right way to say what he was thinking. It was something he should have thought of a lot earlier, but he wouldn’t have wanted to pressure Elle too soon. Hell, maybe it was still too soon to be thinking along these lines.
“If we’re going to invent an identity for her, then why not go with one that affords her the most protection?”
“I’m with you,” Merrick said.
“We give her ours,” Cade said in a low tone. “We make her Elle Walker-Sullivan.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
MERRICK WAS SILENT FOR a long moment as he stared at his friend. “You mean, like marriage?”
Cade nodded. “Yes and no. I mean, there’s no way to have an official ceremony where she marries us both. Look, I may be jumping the gun here. I’m only speaking for myself. I have no idea if you’re ready for that kind of commitment or not—”
Merrick held up his hand to cut Cade off. “I’ve already committed to her, and I didn’t do it lightly. I’m in this for the long haul, and marriage is a logical step. But as you said, there’s no way to work that kind of thing out when more than two people are involved.”
“Well, if we’re going to create an identity for her, then we give her one of our names and then we go through the process of having a legally binding ceremony wherein she marries whoever’s name she didn’t originally take. She can keep her original name and hyphenate it so that she carries both our last names.”
“So she’d only marry one of us,” Merrick said grimly.
Merrick’s heart thumped like a jackhammer against his chest. Sure, he knew what kind of relationship he’d signed on for. He’d never have Elle fully to himself, and he was okay with that on most days. He’d be a liar if he said he never struggled with it.
But for her to marry Cade? He wasn’t sure he could live with that. Marriage meant something to him. Call him old-fashioned, but marriage was something to hold sacred, and he’d always imagined that he’d find the right woman, settle down and get married and grow old together.
He just never thought finding the person he wanted that kind of commitment from would mean sharing her with his best friend.
Cade slowly nodded. “Yeah. I don’t see a way around that.”
Merrick nodded, his lips pursed. “Okay, so who marries her?”
He watched Cade intently, searching for any signs that this was going to cause serious issues between them. Dread was tight in his chest as he waited for the answer. Could he be the bigger person here and act like it didn’t matter when it did? He caught himself before shaking his head because no. Hell no. He wasn’t going to pretend. This was too important.
Cade leaned against the exam table and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“As long as the agreement is made that nothing changes between the three of us, I don’t really care who marries her on paper. That’s all it’ll be is a piece of paper binding her to one of us. It also gives her the legal protection of being able to be listed as a dependent and beneficiary. But she belongs to both of us, and we know that. You know it. I know it. And she knows it.”
Merrick nodded.
“We can’t even decide this kind of thing until we talk to her about it anyway,” Cade said. “I’m jumping the gun here.”
“But it’s a good solution,” Merrick said. “I like the idea. I