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Lincoln
They insisted that the EMTs check out their girl while the cops asked her their questions. There was no way that they would let her wait to be checked out, and the authorities would need to get started looking for her ex-business partner. Finding James was just as important to them as it seemed to be to Ella.
Luckily, it was determined that Ella didn’t need to go to the hospital, as long as she promised to let them wake her every hour and she didn’t have any further complications that would need medical assistance. They stitched her up and she agreed that she’d go back to Ethan’s to rest, but he could still hear the worry in her voice. She didn’t feel safe and Linc was sure that would entail them finding James and putting him behind bars.
By the time they got back to Ethan’s place, Ella had fallen asleep in the back of the SUV, snuggled against Ethan while Linc drove them back home. “She’s out cold,” Ethan whispered. “I’ll carry her upstairs and then, we should talk about how we’re going to keep our girl safe.”
“Agreed,” Linc said. “She doesn’t leave our sight until James is caught.” Linc got out of the SUV and helped Nathan get Ella up to the room that the three shared. They tucked her into bed, and she didn’t even stir.
“She must be exhausted,” Linc said.
“Let’s grab a drink—I could use one,” Ethan insisted. He took Linc’s hand and led him down to the family room where he poured them both a bourbon from his well-stocked bar.
“What the fuck did that guy even want?” Linc growled. “Why would he just show up at her condo like that?”
“I don’t know, but I plan on finding out,” Ethan insisted. “She said that he wanted to sit down and talk to her, but that was about all she got out before the cops showed up and the EMTs started working on her.”
“We can ask her about it tomorrow, but right now, we need to decide what we want to happen next,” Linc said. “I know that you’ve been open to us both moving in here with you. And yeah, we agreed to do so on a trial basis, but how would you feel about making this official?” he asked. Ethan’s smirk told him exactly what he needed to know; he had been planning this all along. “You want that, don’t you?” Linc asked.
“I do,” Ethan admitted. “I have for weeks now, but I didn’t want to push either of you into something that you weren’t ready for. I’d like for you both to give up your places and move in here. Hell, I’d be fine with giving up this place and the three of us moving into your penthouse, if that would make you happy, but I want us to be together. I’ve fallen in love with both of you, Linc, and that’s not going to change no matter where we live.”
“I love you too, Ethan. I’ve fallen in love with both of you too, and I don’t want to live anywhere else. I love your place, I always have. My place will never feel like home to me again, not after the break-in. I want to live here with you and Ella, but will she feel the same way?”
“I don’t know, but all we can do is ask her in the morning,” Ethan said.
“I think we can do one better than just ask her to move in with us,” Linc insisted. “How about if we make it even more permanent?”
“More permanent than living together?” Ethan asked.
“I was thinking we could have some kind of ceremony—you know, ask her to be our wife. I want to spend the rest of my life with you both, but I’m not really sure how this will work,” Linc admitted.
“I think it works like this,” Ethan breathed. He put down his empty glass, took Linc’s from him and set it next to his, and pulled Linc into his arms. “Marry me,” he whispered. “I love you, and I love Ella. I want you both to marry me.”
“Well, I can’t speak for our girl, but I’d love to marry you,” Linc said. “Shouldn’t we wait to do this with her?”
“We all agreed that one on one time was important. I think that we should each ask Ella to marry us. It’s important that she wants every part of what we’re offering her together,” Ethan assured.
“You really think that this will work?” Linc asked.
Ethan shrugged, “No clue,” he admitted, “but think that it’s worth a shot. I don’t want to lose either of you and I’m done pretending that this isn’t forever,” he said. “I want you both forever.”
* * *
Linc and Ethanspent most of the night talking about their future and how they wanted everything to turn out, not really knowing if Ella would be on board with everything they planned. He just hoped like hell that she would be because for the first time, in a long time, Linc was excited about their future. By the time they crawled into bed with Ella and slept with her wedged in between the two of them, the sun was almost up, but staying up late with Ethan was worth it.
Linc woke to find the middle of their bed empty and went to find Ella. He followed the smell of coffee to the kitchen and found her sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her coffee. “Hey,” he breathed. “How are you doing?”
“I’m not sure, really,” Ella admitted. “I’d love to say that I’m fine, but I’m not. I got a phone call from the police detective who questioned me last night, and I didn’t want to wake either of you, so I got up to take it.”
“Any news?” Linc asked.
“Yeah, they got James. He went back to my condo and broke in again, looking for me,” Ella said. Linc grabbed a mug of coffee and sat down next to her, pulling her into his body.
“I’m sorry that this happened to you,” he said.
“You two are up early,” Ethan said, walking into the kitchen to grab some coffee. “What’s up?”
“I got a call from the detective on my case, and they got James,” Ella said. “It’s over.”
