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She was too wild to be contained, from the time she was born. She’d been like a little firecracker roaming across the land, and he’d always known that if she caught alight, she had it in her to destroy the whole place. And herself along with it.
Here she was, in a whole pickle, and he was going to help fix it.
Because that was what he did. Because it was who he was.
Maybe then people wouldn’t say Gus McCloud, possible murderer. They would say Gus McCloud, all-around decent guy, and a pretty good dad.
Adad.
The word made him uncomfortable. Fact of the matter was, hehatedthe word. As much as he hated his old man.
He had never thought that he’d be a father.
But again, this was different. He was offering protection. And he knew how to do that.
“So you’re just going to marry her and... Why? I don’t get it, Gus. You’ve never seemed interested in having kids,” Brody said.
“I’m not. I wasn’t. Look, I never would’ve set out to make one. This world is shit. Our blood is... No offense meant to you loved-up idiots.”
“None taken,” Hunter and Tag said.
“You guys procreate all you want. I wouldn’t have done it. But as for leaving a vulnerable woman who needs help to flounder on her own...”
“It’s not your job to fix the broken things in the world,” Hunter said. “Just because Dad was a dick doesn’t mean that you can fix it by...”
“Maybe not, but I can fix something. I swear, if that little weed Travis comes back here, I’m going to make him a new asshole.”
“Oh,” Hunter said, grimacing. “I was afraid of that.”
“What?”
“That it washim. I hate that guy.”
“Yeah, you just hate him because Elsie was hung up on him there for a while,” Gus pointed out.
“All right,” Hunter said. “I get it. I really do. Because there but for the grace of God went Elsie.”
Lach snorted. “I think you meanthere but for the lack of self-control in your pants, Hunter.”
“Hey,” said Hunter. “I may or may not have seduced her, but it kept her away fromhim. And I’m going to marry her.And, I didn’t get her pregnant.” He smiled. “Yet.”
“Yeah, you’re a real prince,” Brody said.
“Look, Gus,” Hunter said, getting serious again. “You spent our whole childhoods saving our asses. You’ve always been there for us. I guess my biggest question is...don’t you want a break? Don’t you want to quit doing that?”
Gus sat with that for a second.
But he couldn’t imagine what the hell a break would look like. He lived in this house. He used the living room sometimes. His bedroom and the kitchen. There were whole sections of the place he didn’t go into. He didn’t care about much of anything other than the ranch. Other than his brothers.
He just felt like he had a whole bunch of unused space and resources.
And Alainaneededhim.
He thought back to that moment she asked him about sex. His whole body went tight.
That was something hedidn’twant her to know.
That he’d wanted her since she became a woman.
