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Landry pushes up from his chair and rubs a hand on the back of his neck. I can tell his thoughts are running along the same vein as mine a few minutes ago. He wants to tell her everything. Her father, why we walked and never came back. He paces to the door and back like a caged lion.
Like Boone, the man always liked to get straight to the truth, but in this case, I see that turning on us in a heartbeat and not in a good way.
I hold up a hand and silently ask him to follow my lead. Boone too, but he’s not having it. “I’m sorry you see it that way. Feel we betrayed you. We see it as something that had to be done to protect you.”
She gives Boone a humorless laugh. “Protect me? Are you kidding me? You have to be because there’s no one in their right mind who would do what you three did.”
“Boone’s right, you know,” I say. “Itwassomething that had to be done.”
Her hands tighten into fists around the towel I was using to clean her wounds. “Something to be done? You saw taking my virginity and dumping me that next day as something to be done? What the holy hell are you on?”
“You’re the daughter of a high-profile client. How would it look with you on the arms of three men? Your bodyguards? A princess with her paupers. As taboo as it gets, sweetheart. Your father made that abundantly clear.”
Her throat works and tears rim those pretty eyes at the words Boone hits her with.
“Hold the fuck up,” I say and this time I’m on my feet. “You make her cry and then what? Does that make you feel better? Erase all the shit we’ve gone through in the last three years.”
Tensions have amped up, and I can tell Boone is ready to brawl. His fists are clenched at his sides, but he sees my reasoning. He and Landry are the only men I’ve come across I can go toe to toe with and question which side of the fight I’d come out on. No bullshit or puffing out my own chest, just the truth.
Only the sound of Honor’s voice cuts our stand-off.
“I’ve never seen you in that light. None of you. Stations in life are for the feeble-minded who don’t know their own worth. That isn’t me, and I didn’t think it was any of you.” She lifts a shoulder in a slight shrug, her eyes downcast. “Money doesn’t make a person or should it drive one’s life. Heart, courage and a damn good plan are what get people through life. Alone or otherwise. That’s the part I haven’t figured out yet.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you have no business with us.”
“Then why are you here?”
Her cold stare nearly loosens my lips. “Your father didn’t trust anyone else.” I leave it at that.
She shakes her head. “Bullshit. Again, why?”
“Because of you, damn it, woman. You. The one woman who touches all three of our hearts and completes us in ways no other woman ever has or ever will.” Boone’s icy tone contrasts his words.
I watch her blink as she digests everything.
Her lips are pressed into a fine line of contempt like she doesn’t believe a word Boone said, but her eyes drop down to see the bulge in my buddy’s pants. If she dared look at all of us, she’d see we’re fighting the same urges to shut her up with long, drawn-out kisses.
Honor riled up and pissed off always did affect us.
Red sweeps across her shoulders and climbs to her cheeks.
“Bullshit,” she slings at us again. “You left to protect your own asses and you are not back here for me. You know my father is working all the angles to get his name back on a ballot in the next election. That’s no secret. All these charity events are not for nothing. And you want another go at a high-profile client. So you’re here with your own agenda.”
Boone slams a fist down on the table, making her flinch.
“Don’t go putting words into our mouths or attaching agendas to us you know nothing about.”
She considers me for long seconds through narrowed eyes.
Beside her, Boone takes a deep breath and continues.
“The truth of the matter is you didn’t want to cause anyone any trouble so you tackled this problem yourself whether you realize it or not. You left the safety of your father’s side, drove out here because of guilt. It’s so deep in your brain you went on autopilot. You already ruined your father once, right? And now here you are doing it again just by seeing what you did. But once you got here you didn’t know what to do and that forced your hand in calling your father. Thelastperson who can help.”
“Why are you so damn mad?”
Boone lets out a long, hard breath. “Because you have placed yourself in danger. What if we couldn’t get here in time? What if your father couldn’t reach us or anyone for that matter?”
Boone scared is a new one even for me. I stay silent for a moment. The man has some festering resentment and he’s releasing some pressure.
