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When we’re inside, Owen excuses himself to take a shower, leaving me alone with Bellamy.
“That was quite a night,” she says, more to herself than to me.
“Care for a nightcap?” I ask as I make my way to the bar along the living room wall. She gives me a single nod and I pour each of us a glass of whiskey.
“What did you enjoy most?” she asks as I hand her a drink.
I reach up and pull the hair tie out of my hair and shake it out as I consider the question.
Finally, I settle on the truth. “Seeing you happy.”
Surprise momentarily flashes in her eyes, but she shakes it off with a sip of the whiskey. “Las Vegas is home, Tobias. It always will be. Please don’t be offended by that.”
I hold up a hand to stop her before she can go on a tirade. “Why do you think I prepaid for a year of membership, Bellamy? It may not be obvious, but I want you to be happy. I can’t do anything about you being in love with Owen. But we have an obligation to fulfill. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to do whatever it takes to put that smile on your face. That smile is worth a lot of sacrifices.”
“Tobias, I don’t know what to say.” Her voice is thick with emotion, and ice rattles in her glass as she swirls the liquid around. It kills me that it’s a surprise to her that I want her happy. And that I’ll go to great lengths to see to her happiness. Deep down, I know it’s entirely my fault for shutting her out. If I’m honest, I shut her out because I always thought Gabriel would take over for my father and then I could dissolve the marriage contract. Then cancer happened, and that changed everything. It doesn’t change the fact that I want her to be content in our marriage.
“Be honest with me, Bellamy. Can you ever love me the way you love Owen, or am I always going to be competing with him?”
She laughs. “My friend Zara suggested I should show you something Owen did for me because men are competitive. But my love for Owen is completely unique. It can’t be duplicated. That doesn’t mean you have to compete with him, or that I can’t love you in an equally unique way.”
I glare. “I swear to god if you say you love me like a brother, I’m going to take you over my knee.”
“Kinky,” she teases, making my lips twitch upwards.
“Is that your kink?”
She shakes her head. “We’re not ready to talk about my kinks.”
My brow raises and I flash her a devilish grin. “I’ll get them out of you eventually. Or maybe I should just ask Owen.”
Her mouth falls open. “You wouldn’t!”
Laughter shakes me. “Probably not. But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Do you mean that?” she whispers, growing serious.
“Would I really ask Owen?”
She shakes her head. “No. Desperate measures.”
“When it’s called for.”
“Would you go to desperate measures to make me happy?”
I eye her skeptically. “What are you getting at, Bellamy?”
She puts her glass down and moves closer to me. “Just hear me out.”
I cup her face in my hands, imploring her to understand me. “Believe me when I say I’ll always listen when you talk. I can’t promise to always give you what you’re asking for, but I’ll always listen.”
“How do you feel about…”
She hesitates and looks away, but I force her gaze back to mine. “How do I feel about what, vixen? Spit it out.”
“Polyamory.”
I frown. “Poly-what?”
