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Lotto used my momentary distraction to his advantage. With a guttural growl, he bucked upward violently, dislodging me enough to slip a knee up between us. The sharp pain shot through my abdomen as his knee connected, and my grip slackened just enough for him to shove me off. I rolled away, gasping, trying to regain my composure.
Ari scrambled to grab her scattered clothes, clutching them against her lower half.
Lotto staggered to his feet, lips curling back over his teeth in a snarl. “I wasn’t abusing her, you fucker.”
I pushed myself up off the ground, glaring at both Lotto and Bones, who up until now had remained out of it.
“You stupid motherfucker,” I said to Lotto. “How dare you touch her like that. I don’t care what little sex games you’re into, you do not ever. Lay. A. Hand. On. Ari.”
Ari stepped toward me. “Frankie, calm down. He wasn’t hurting me. Not like you think.” She swallowed. “I know it might have looked that way but, it wasn’t. I’m fine. I promise.”
Her voice was pleading, her eyes imploring me to understand, to accept a truth my brain refused to compute. The protective fury that had fueled my initial outburst had not fully abated, and it left a rank taste of anger in my mouth.
Ari reached out toward me, her fingers trembling with an emotion I couldn’t decipher. “It’s just how we... how I cope. It’s an escape,” she whispered, as if the words pained her to say them.
Lotto rubbed his jaw where I had landed a solid punch, still eyeing me warily. “You think you’re some kind of knight in shining armor, Frankie? She’s not your fucking damsel in distress.”
Bones finally moved from his spot against the wall, an unreadable expression cast across his face. “Enough,” he said in a flat tone that brooked no argument. His gaze focused on me. “Frankie, you need to step back. Take a second and cool off.”
My breaths were shallow, each one fighting against the boiling blood that demanded action. I pointed at Lotto. “You ever bring a goddamn belt to her again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
Ari cautiously approached me to rest her hand lightly on my forearm. Her touch was both calming and confusing. “I liked it,” she said softly, “And you can’t be standing here dictating the rules.”
“Why the fuck not?” I shouted, looking at each of them. “Someone needs to. What the fuck is going on between all of us? Maybe it’s time we actually discuss this madness!”
Ari locked eyes with me, then turned to face Lotto, then Bones. Nodding, she added, “Maybe you’re right.”
The room fell silent, the tension between us thick enough to slice with the discarded belt abandoned on the floor. Lotto straightened his shirt, a careful mask slipping over his features to hide whatever thoughts were churning behind his eyes. Bones didn’t move, but the intensity of his gaze told me he was calculating every possible outcome of this confrontation.
Ari gathered her resolve like a cloak around her, pulling her clothes back on with a sort of defiant grace. She took a deep breath and addressed us all, “I don’t think any of us are rule followers but... Maybe we do. I don’t know.”
Lotto’s eyes darted to Ari with an unreadable flicker before he faced me again, his posture relaxing marginally as if acknowledging her words held weight. “Okay,” he said grudgingly, “let’s lay it all out then. No more secrets. No more surprises like this one.”
“Frankie,” Ari said, her voice steadier now. “You came in here thinking you were protecting me, but you’ve got to trust that I know what I’m doing with my life. With my... desires.”
The word hung in the air, thick with implication. The idea that I was out of touch with Ari’s needs gnawed at me, left me feeling both protective and excluded.
“You’re mine to protect,” I bit back.
“She’s ours to protect,” Bones countered.
Ari shook her head with a mixture of exasperation and affection. “No one owns me. I’m not a thing to be protected or possessed. I’m my own person, and I’m telling you all that what happens between me and with any one of you—is my choice.”
Silence followed her declaration, a challenge hanging in the balance.
Then Lotto, with a subdued fierceness, broke the silence. “You’re right.” His eyes softened as they met Ari’s. “It’s your choice, always has been. But understand this, we’re all one now.”
“The three of us revolve around you, Ari,” Bones added. “We need to acknowledge that. It’s not ownership. It’s devotion.”
“I don’t expect to be the only female,” she started. “If you all?—”
“I only want you,” I snapped. “No other women.”
Both Lotto and Bones agreed.
“Okay,” Ari said. “If we’re going to do this—if we’re going to be involved with each other on any level—we need clear lines. No lies. No fights like what just happened.” She glared at the three of us then added, “And we all go get tested. I’m on the pill, so that won’t be a worry, but since I’m pretty sure we’re having that awkward exclusive talk right now, I think this needs to get done as well. And then after that… well, we figure it out as we go.”
