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Hope wakes up and starts crying. Olivia is quick to hand her over to me, turning her back to shelter me as I pull the blanket over the baby and present my nipple to her. The baby immediately relaxes as soon as the milk starts to flow.
"We're getting good at that transition," Olive says. "I feel like we could enter some sort of timed race."
I smile ruefully. "They could call the race The Golden Nipple, maybe," I tease.
Burn appears out of nowhere at my elbow, looking over my shoulder to see the baby. Or maybe he's just a disgusting pervert who wants to see my breasts while I feed Hope. I don't know and I don't wait around to find out.
Out of pure knee-jerk reaction, I raise my elbow and hit him in the throathard. "Get back!"
Burn clutches his throat and staggers back, his eyes going as wide as frisbees. He makes an unintelligible grunt of anger.
My face flushes and I step back. Olive steps in front of me, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"I train in Muay Thai. I would love to put you on the ground," she growls at Burn.
"I was just trying to see the baby," Burn protests. "I didn't realize she had her tits out."
Bristling, I hiss, "Shewants you to stay at least twenty feet away."
Dare enters the fray, pushing his brother back a few feet. "You need to give Talia some space."
"I just want to meet my baby," Burn says.
Dare slaps Burn's cheek, so fast that I barely see it.
"Look at me, asshole. Hope isn't your baby. You drunkenly slept with a girl. That's it. Everything else that happened after that was just biology. Get it through your incredibly thick skull."
Burn lurches back another step. "I just wanted to see Hope. That's all. Maybe... Maybe I shouldn't have called her mine."
"You're goddamn right, you shouldn't have!" Olivia's hackles are definitely raised. I put a hand on her shoulder, shushing the conversation.
"Shh. Can we all argue about this more quietly? I'm trying to nurse a baby here."
Dare lowers his voice to a stage whisper.
"We talked it over, Burn. We're not ready for you to be a part of Hope's life yet. You have a lot to make up for. You have to prove that you will be a beneficial influence on our daughter."
"And not be a fucking idiot," Olivia hisses.
Burn looks at the faces of my defenders. Finally he sighs. “Right. We still have work to do." He glances between Dare and I, resolve etched on his face. "There are a ton of Morgan Drilling investors coming to the estate today. Even if we aren't in perfect agreement--"
Dare pushes out a breath of laughter. "You can say that again."
Burn eyes him. "Even if we aren't in perfect agreement, we need to look like we're one solid entity. Fake it till we make it."
Olive crosses her arms but Dare nods.
"He's right. We keep our personal wars private."
I arch a brow. "Agreed."
The brothers exchange a knowing look, ghosts of past betrayals darkening their eyes. Then Dare turns to me, expression softening. "Tonight, we celebrate."
Burn grins. "I'll open a thirty year old bottle of Scotch."
* * *
Much later,we all reconvene at Remy's study on the estate. Remy is sitting at his desk, his lips pulled into a permanent pout.
