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June
Afew weeks later, Seth headed home after an uneventful day in the office, surrounded by a five o’clock full of sunshine. The official first day of summer was on the horizon, so the afternoon was still temperate. Everywhere he looked, joggers and cyclists were getting in their cardio, kids played soccer, and sun worshippers soaked up rays. People drove with the tops down on their convertibles and walked their dogs. Potential earthquakes aside, he had to admit that Los Angeles was an urban paradise. He definitely didn’t miss New York’s humidity. In fact, he didn’t miss much about the place he used to call home, except his family. But his future was here.
He just had to fully embrace it.
Since Beck had texted to say he’d be home a couple of hours late, and Heavenly was spending some girl time with Raine and Jasmine, Seth had an opportunity to start wrapping his arms around his tomorrows. And to check on his brothers. The twins had been too quiet lately, which meant they were up to something… Seth was afraid to ask what.
But most of all, he was here to mend a fence. He just had to find his balls.
As he approached his former apartment complex, he let out a deep breath. You sure you want to do this?
The short answer was no, but he had to stop running and start dealing with the unpleasant things he’d been avoiding—chief among them, Zach. It wasn’t that he disliked the guy. Hell, Seth didn’t even know him. He felt sorry for Zach and everything he’d lost, absolutely. But being around him triggered all the dark memories of grief, sorrow, and rage Seth had tried so fucking hard to forget. That was on him.
But his avoidance had come at Beck’s expense. It was time to man up and admit that ducking Zach had been a temporary solution. A Band-Aid destined to slough off. After all, Zach was Beck’s brother; that wasn’t going to change. Zach had stepped up and found the courage to destroy his twisted way of life—the only one he’d ever known. And what had Seth done? Run from his ghosts and his failures. No more. He owed it to Zach—and to Beck—to face his fear head on and meet them halfway. Looking back, Seth was ashamed that Beck had been forced to turn out his brother simply to shield him from his own failures. It wasn’t fair, and he needed to rectify it.
Come hell or high water, Seth would get to know Zach and make peace with his own tragic past. After eight years, wasn’t it time to let go?
After slinging his SUV into a parking spot at his complex, he locked up his vehicle and climbed the stairs. Once he made his way down the hall, he slid his key into the lock of his apartment. As he stepped inside his unit and closed the door, the hairs on the back of Seth’s neck stood on end. It was disturbingly quiet. Considering the twins didn’t know how to exist without making noise—and lots of it—the silence was deafening. But he wasn’t alone; he could feel people here.
Something was wrong.
Seth reached inside his jacket and pulled his Glock from its holster. Then he heard a long, drawn-out moan and stopped in his tracks, heart revving. Was one of his brothers sick? Hurt? Fuck, what if Jericho’s intel had been wrong and the sons of Messiah City’s elders had tracked Zach down and beaten the shit out of all three of them?
Since he had surprise on his side, Seth needed to proceed carefully. It was the only way he could take down whoever might be threatening his and Beck’s brothers.
Cocking his head, Seth listened for clues. A short second later, another guttural groan sounded from the living room.
Adrenaline firing his veins, he tiptoed out of the foyer and rounded the corner. When he caught sight of his brothers on the sofa bed, he stopped short. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
Jack and Connor were fucking the same glassy-eyed brunette.
Holy fuck!
He blinked. But the vision was still there. His twin brothers were definitely hammering their cocks into the woman, whose lips were parted and her head was tossed back in a picture of ecstasy as the sofa bed shook violently with each thrust. She moaned again.
Shock ricocheted through Seth. He stood slack-jawed, his thoughts racing as he tucked his gun away. What the hell should he do? Leave them to their devices…or confront them?
Legally, they were adults, capable of making their own decisions—in theory. It would probably make him a giant hypocrite to shut them down…but they weren’t mature enough to grasp how difficult it was to mesh three lives into one. If he could guide them down a simpler path, wouldn’t he be doing them a favor?
Oh, god. I should have been a better role model.
And what if they were both in more than lust with this girl? What if it was love? Fuck, that would complicate everything. As that nightmarish scenario skittered through his brain, the urge to do something to save them from such a difficult future pressed in on him. Maybe in a few years, when they had more life experience—when they understood themselves and love, commitment, sacrifice, compromise, and all that entailed a lot more—they could handle it. But right now, Jack and Connor weren’t ready for the long-term ramifications of loving one woman.
While Seth had miraculously found love again with Heavenly and Beck, their relationship wasn’t always easy. Every day, they had to make the conscious choice to find the common ground necessary to keep moving forward. The three of them had overcome so much to be together, and Seth knew they still had hurdles to clear. He hated to think they might eventually encounter one that tripped them up for good. They were committed to working through those issues…but what if the day came when love and commitment weren’t enough? It would end in obliterating heartache. Being the only father figure in the twins’ lives, Seth felt obligated to steer his brothers away from these kind of difficulties. But he had to do it without revealing his own secrets.
Fuck me. This is going to be like jogging through a damn minefield.
“Didn’t I tell you that once you’ve had twins, you won’t go back?” Connor panted, shuttling in and out of the woman’s ass. “You believe me now, don’t you, Emily?”
Seth rolled his eyes. The dumb ass was still using that idiotic phrase he’d spewed to Heavenly at the pool the day he and Jack had arrived. When Seth had pressed him about it, both brothers had assured him they’d been kidding.
Clearly, they’d lied.
That was nothing new. Growing up, the twins had told some whoppers to cover for one another so neither got grounded. Obviously, they were still lying as adults. They weren’t fucking teenagers anymore. They needed to stop acting like it.
Emily responded with an incoherent whimper that morphed into a long-suffering wail.
At the same moment, Jack sucked in a sharp hiss. “Slow the fuck down, Connor. Every time you take the ass, you go too fast. Ease up so I can get off, too.”
