Cowboy Boots and Unadulterated Pleasures [Cowboy Boots 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (27 page)

“That’s the reason for the two priests. Only, we discovered soon after arriving here that they don’t want to perform the ceremony. They won’t knowingly marry someone who is already married or about to wed someone else.”

“Well no shit,” she said, placing her hands on her hips.

“We want you to be ours, Kelly.” Colt ran his splayed fingers through his long hair. “We thought you wanted the same.”

“Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“Why would you ask such a question?” Crue crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t you love us?”

“I rarely hear the four-letter word from either of you and I’m certain there hasn’t been a proposal.”

Crue stroked his defined jaw, dragging his fingernails over a well-formed five-o’clock shadow. He opened his mouth then thinned his lips. She easily sensed his internal struggle.

Finally, he said, “Kelly Lynn Martin, would you be my wife?” He ran a trembling hand over his brow. He took her hand in his and knelt to the floor. “Would you please be my wife?” He looked away and his brow furrowed. He cleared his throat. “Soon. Today?”

His appearance gave off the impression of a man under tremendous stress, of a man who seemingly knew what he wanted, but wasn’t quite convinced he could attain what he needed. After several weighted breaths, he squeezed her hand and said, “I have loved you for the better part of my adult life. I’ve dreamt of you. I’ve lived for you, and if ever asked of me, I will die for you.” His eyes watered and he looked away again.

“Just say yes,” Colt said, taking her free hand in his.

“What about you?” she rasped, her gaze working between two of the men she loved more than anyone else in the world. “I don’t love one of you more than I love another.”

“And you think we don’t know this?” Colt asked, taking his position on bended knee in front of her, too. “We’ve talked about this, Kelly. We want you to be Mrs. Colt-Crue Candy.”

“Crue-Colt,” Crue bit out, shooting Colt a sideways glance.

“I’ve heard of hyphenated last names but—”

“Say yes to both of us, sub,” Crue said, his tone dark and mysterious.

A shiver ran up and down her spine. She observed the brothers knelt before her and knew without any shadow of doubt, if she didn’t say yes, there would never be a second proposal from Crue. He wasn’t a man a woman easily denied.

“Yes,” she whispered, her heart racing as she tried to wrap her head around the idea of being a wife to two different men.

“That’s my beautiful woman,” Crue said, the first one to stand and embrace her. When he released her, he tilted her chin to his and kissed her. The kiss wasn’t hungry or suggestive, only simple and loving, a kiss to seal their promise and commitment.

Colt, on the other hand, pulled her into his arms and a passionate kiss. His mouth assaulted hers as he savagely thrust his tongue between her lips and deepened the kiss, rubbing against her as if he had more interest in consummating the commitment than reciting actual vows.

A door slammed behind them and Brock entered the room. “So which is it? I do or I don’t?” He gave her a hard look before a slow smile crept across his face. “That’s about what I thought. Take a lesson from a man who’s been there. If you love these two, you’d better go with what feels right.”

Kelly took a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure that’s what got me in this predicament in the first place.”

Kelly’s real issue, in Colt’s opinion, was the timing. And maybe the timing wasn’t perfect. Then again, Colt believed everything happened for a reason, in due time, at the appropriate time. If that wasn’t true, then the big moments in life wouldn’t occur at all.

As Father Paul spoke about Daniel’s kindness and generosity, he and Crue cradled her in their arms when she leaned one way or the other. After scattering Daniel’s ashes in the courtyard, located near the angel with broken wings, Brock stood before them.

Everyone formed a circle around Brock and he said a prayer, one which seemed recited from memory. Then, he took a piece of paper from his pocket, a document he barely acknowledged outside of crumpling the page and stuffing it back in his pocket. By the time he cleared his throat and directed his conversation to Kelly, she’d wept until her swollen eyes were dry.

“Kelly, there are a few words you need to hear and it’s best if you hear them from me. These guys won’t tell you the truth about your father because they don’t want to hurt you.

“I don’t want to cause you pain either, but what I tell you will maybe better explain why Colt and Crue made their plans to commit their lives to you on this day, the one which will also mark its place in history as the day we remembered your father and celebrated his life.” He paused long enough to look at Riley, who shook his head firmly.

Crue clutched her head against his chest and over the top of Kelly’s head mouthed, “This isn’t a good time.”

Brock squared his shoulders and stared at Colt. He knew better than to go up against a Donovan when one of them had made up their minds, but where Kelly was concerned, he would’ve gladly taken a stand if he had feared the ramifications of what he’d soon say would be too much for her to handle.

Fact was, she needed to hear the truth.

“Your father made these men promise they would never pursue you for a long-term relationship. They haven’t told you because they gave their word they wouldn’t.” Brock’s lips twitched. “After viewing some of the footage, I have reason to believe Colt had every plan of breaking his word. Crue, I never could figure out what you were thinking.”

“What do you mean they promised him…” She gasped. Her fingers skimmed across her brow. “Wait a minute. Was he blackmailing you?” She searched their eyes. “That’s it. Isn’t it?” She studied the others. “He was blackmailing you.”

Crue stiffened beside her. Kemper walked out of the courtyard and Brand bowed his head. Only Gabe looked directly at her. Colt had to give him props for keeping his cool.

“He was,” Brock agreed. “Do you want to tell her the rest or do you want me to continue?”

Crue glared at Brock. “I gave my word as a man I’d never breathe a word about what happened in Virginia. You started this. You finish it.” He looked at Kelly and said, “And when he’s done, you ask every question you want to know because when I give my word, I do not break it.” His gaze flitted over Colt and he returned to Brock. “And you’re wrong about Colt. None of us broke our word to Daniel. We knew as long as he was alive we couldn’t have a lasting relationship with Kelly.”

“So if he were still alive, you wouldn’t want me?”

Crue’s nostrils flared. His jaw flexed. He took several breaths before he said, “Every second of every minute I wanted you. I physically ached when you weren’t in my arms, but I couldn’t risk the consequences.”

“What consequences?” she asked.

“Daniel said he’d—”

“Brock, no,” Brand said, holding up his hand. “I am a man of my word, but I gave my word to a manipulating, lying bastard.” He took a deep breath. “Kelly, forgive me, but that is truly who your father was and I’m starting to see that.

“If you want to know what happened it’s pretty simple to understand. Your father used our greatest weakness against us. He said we could play around—be boys—but he would see you dead before he would be embarrassed by a public relationship like the Donovans have, and he made us believers several times.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, her eyes now dry from the earlier tears she’d cried.

“The hit-and-run in LA, the one that landed you in the hospital two years ago? Daniel’s men were behind it. We were supposed to meet you in Beverly Hills, remember?”

“You didn’t show,” she said quietly.

“We showed,” Brand said, a distant look marking a remembered time, a horrible moment in their lives. “And we guarded that hospital like hawks, but we left before you were discharged. We had no other choice.”

“Your father was ashamed of the relationship you’d formed with these men,” Riley said gently. “My guess is, he probably trained you to kill because he believed you wouldn’t appeal to them if you were like them.”

A gasp slipped from her lips and she slapped her hand over her mouth. Her wide eyes were cold and set, an expression Colt couldn’t bear to see. He stiffened and waited, wondering how they could ever move past this, how she could possibly forgive them.

Finally, she said, “You didn’t tell me.”

“No,” Crue said, never apologizing. “We didn’t tell you.”

“Kelly, I’m sorry,” Colt whispered, wondering if the rest of the evening would go as planned and understanding if she needed to wait until she had time to reevaluate her feelings for them.

“All this time, I thought there must’ve been someone else. There should’ve been someone else.” She touched Crue’s cheek and he clasped his hands around her wrist, his eyes watering as he held fast to her arm. “There never was anyone else. Was there?”

Crue’s brow furrowed. “No, Kelly. After you, there wasn’t anyone else.” He glanced over his shoulder and said, “There wasn’t anyone else for any of us.”

Lifting her head, she stared straight ahead. “Is that all of it?”

Brock paused. And like all good operatives, she picked up on Brock’s hesitation.

“No. It isn’t. Tell me the rest.”

“The reason your father kept his position with the Underground Unit is because these men protected his job by fighting to protect you.”

“What does that mean?” She looked around the courtyard, her gaze stopping at Kemper when he reentered the area. “You mean you followed someone you couldn’t trust? Someone you didn’t admire?”

“No,” Kemper said.

“Not all of us,” Crue said.

“Let’s just say they learned to manipulate Daniel as well as he manipulated them.” Brock frowned. “Never forget who trained them, Kelly, and how well Daniel trained them. They still had some measure of respect for him.”

“Like a son’s love for a father,” she muttered.

“Yes,” Colt said, ashamed of the fact.

“Why did you let him keep his position?” she asked Brock.

“These guys thought you were worth the trouble, and I happen to believe they were right.”

* * * *

The priests met with Brock and Riley and described the official or standard way of bringing two people together in holy matrimony. As they discussed the ceremony, Kelly could tell how uneasy they seemed and she didn’t like it. They had been coerced into coming to a home to commit an act they didn’t believe in, and she couldn’t let them go through with a ceremony, officiating or not, if their joining represented everything these men stood against.

Polygamy clearly didn’t work for them.

“Crue, Colt, I don’t want to get married today.”

“I understand,” Crue said, straightening his shoulders and clearly expecting her to back out altogether.

“I’m not saying no,” she said. “I’m just saying not today.”

The way he’d fought to keep his composure was absolutely precious and warmed her heart, reminding her of all the many reasons why she loved him. The thing was, she loved all of them. As she’d watched Kemper, Brand, and Gabe try to come to terms with the fact that she would commit to the Candy brothers, she wondered why they hadn’t asked for the same commitment.

“You don’t understand,” she said, turning to Brock and Riley. “They might. But you and Colt won’t.”

Riley grinned. “Here it comes.”

“I can’t marry you because I don’t love just you,” she said. “I love all of you. I’m inexplicably devoted to each of you. Knowing that, how can I commit to two of you and leave three of you out?”

“Told you,” Riley said, winking at her. “Good choice, lady. Ask Sydney. Far as I know she has no complaints.”

Father John dabbed his brow. “I believe I’ll say farewell now. If we aren’t needed for this occasion, I think it might be best if we go.” He motioned for the other priest. “Now, Father Paul.”

Bidding them good-bye, Kelly turned to Brock and Riley. “Thank you both for your honesty and your friendship. I know you went above and beyond what any organization would do for its operatives. I’m in your debt.”

“We know,” Brock teased.

Colt frowned. “We still have time to work on an alternative plan.”

“Good luck with that.” Brock laughed. “Oh, and if you talk to Sloane, ask him how his plan B worked out for Veronica. Rumor has it she worked until the baby was born.”

They were settled in within an hour of Brock and Riley’s departure. After locking down the house, Crue met Colt in the hallway outside the master bedroom.

“What is it?” Colt asked. “I know that look.”

“Something isn’t right,” Crue said. “It’s a gut feeling I have.”

“We’re safe here,” Colt assured him. “Come to bed. We’ll all feel better in less than an hour.”

“Maybe,” Crue said. “I’ll have another look around.”

“Take your time, little brother,” Colt said, slapping him on the back. “I won’t miss you.”

As they turned in opposite directions, Colt heading to one end of the house and Crue walking to the other, a spotlight shone inside, lighting up the corridors. The perpetrator was close in proximity, leaving them blinded by the light.

“Get Kelly,” Crue said, grabbing a pistol from behind a wall clock, a special design built to house several weapons. Cautiously, he approached the terrace doors. “Who’s there?”

“Mr. Candy?” Several knocks turned into pounding fists. “It’s Father Paul.”

Colt stopped outside the bedroom door. “Father Paul?”

“Just a minute, Father,” Crue called out, returning the pistol to the clock.

“Who’s at the door?” Kelly asked, tying the sash around her robe as she left the bedroom.

“It’s Father Paul,” Colt said, cupping her waist and steering her back to the bedroom.

Glancing over Colt’s shoulder, her eyes widened. “Crue! Get down!”

Glass shattered as bullets ricocheted off the furniture. Machine guns were the weapons of choice as their new home became ground zero for an outright battle.

“Fuck!” Crue slammed his fist against the wall as he crawled to the wall where he’d just concealed his weapon.