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“You’re good company out here,” the other man admitted then as the boat drifted lazily through the waters. “I wonder though, if your brother would be near as well mannered.”
Falcon couldn’t help but chuckle as he relaxed back in the low seat, facing Summer’s father.
“If he wanted to be here, then he’d only piss you off hourly—that’s Raeg being nice,” he grunted. “If he didn’t want to be here, then he’d piss you off about every other word out of his mouth—bad enough that you’d used his body parts for those gator traps before you ever made it this far.”
There was no sense in glossing over the fact that his brother could be the world’s biggest prick. Especially when he resented someone as he resented Cal.
Summer’s father was quiet for long moments, simply pushing the boat along the water, obviously well aware of where they were going despite the lack of light.
“You know,” he said heavily when he finally spoke again. “I’ve heard about the two of you for the past eight years. How Raeg had taken his little jabs and pissed her off or hurt her tender heart. You’d smooth it over, get her laughing, and she’d forgive him.”
Well, Falcon thought, he’d wondered how long it would take her father to work his way around to this particular conversation. It wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have with the other man and he knew Summer would never appreciate her father knowing anything intimate about her life. She had a squeamishness about that he found both amusing and confusing. That was a part of what made Summer so unique though, so he didn’t question it. Neither did he want to disrespect it.
Her father didn’t understand their past though, or the hell Raeg had felt the night he walked in to find his lover dead only to learn his father had killed her. Because she was an agent. Because she’d been sleeping with him in an attempt to learn if he was actually Roberto Falcone’s son as she suspected. It was information she would have sold to Roberto’s enemies who wanted to find his son and use him to force Roberto and his lovers out into the open, so they could kill them.
“No comment?” Cal asked softly.
“Raeg doesn’t try to hurt her,” Falcon told him quietly. “And when he does, it actually hurts him far more deeply.”
“You gonna make excuses for him like Leasa used to make for me?” Cal asked, his voice low. “Do that a lot, do you?”
Falcon gave a rueful smile at the question, knowing what the other man was trying to do and hoping he was smart enough to stay out of that trap.
“I know Raeg as no one else does,” he stated carefully. “It’s not making excuses. There is no intent to hurt Summer. Making her angry places a shield between them and ensures his emotions are not affected any more than she has affected them already. You see or hear only Summer. I see and hear them both, and I see things no one else would understand.”
Because he loved both of them. His love for his brother was a lifetime of shared experiences and pain. His love for Summer, just as Raeg’s love for her, was just as deep, just as enduring. She was the light to their dark, and he was going to hate losing her
every second after they were forced to leave.
“Your brother’s in love with her.” It was a statement, not a question.
It was something Falcon hadn’t expected Summer’s father to realize so quickly. Though he should have expected it, he realized. Cal, like his daughter, was damned good at hiding exactly how perceptive he actually was.
“He is, sir.” Falcon sighed heavily. He’d fallen into the trap so fast, Raeg would be disgusted with him but hell, he respected this man. And lying to him just didn’t seem right. He loved Summer as well, as no one else ever could. “As am I, before you ask. Raeg simply has yet to admit it.”
This could be a mistake. This man could kill him without a single moment’s guilt, Falcon guessed, but, if Cal didn’t kill him, he’d at least know he showed her father the respect she would expect of him. Even if she’d kick his ass for letting out any information that would even hint that she was having sex with him and his brother.
“Two men who love her,” Cal mused. “Knowing how your brother feels and how he watches her with hunger, yet refuses to claim her, why haven’t you claimed her? Why bring Raeg and tempt losing her forever yourself?”
Hell of a question, wasn’t it. Yes indeed, Summer was going to end up kicking his ass in the worst way.
“I’ll never lose Summer to my brother, sir,” Falcon assured him, ensuring his tone was far more gentle than the fierce possessiveness he felt where his and Raeg’s claiming of her was concerned.
“Because both of you think you can have her?” her father charged, his voice low but echoing with anger now.
Falcon simply stared back at the shadowed outline of the outraged father. And he couldn’t blame him. There was a time when such sexual acts were kept so silent that they became skeletons skulking in family closets, and never allowed to see the light of day.
“Sir, this is a conversation I’d prefer not to have at a time when you could toss me overboard and provide your friends, the gators, a bit of a predawn snack.” He sighed. “Could we talk of these things when we’re once again on dry land?”
With a hard push of the pole the boat turned and headed back the way they had come.
“You think you can carry on like that here in Cliffton?” Cal growled. “That Summer won’t be hurt because of it?”
“Sir, I think once Summer makes up her mind about anything, then she truly does not care what others believe. I’ve seen her face down the worst society has to offer, and suffer nothing more than their respect when it was all said and done.”
“This isn’t DC, boy,” the other man snapped.
Falcon remained silent.
