Page 43 of The Triangle

“Fortnight,” Alec yells, the adrenaline catching up with him. “I fokken love you right now, Fortnight.”

“Me too,” I breathe. Staring straight ahead. Unable to chance a look at these two men who fill me up like nothing else in the world ever could.

Exhilarating. All of it. Every fucking second. And I’m not talking about the firefight. Or the way we just slipped past like a trio of charmed gods. Or the fact that we’re back doing what we do best. Shooting and being shot at.

I’m talking about the kissing, and the touching, and the fast-beating hearts of three people who fit together the way they’re supposed to. I’m talking about the yearning, and the deprivation, and the energy it took to convince Danny that this is right. That love comes in many shapes and no one gets to define it for anyone else. That a triangle of lovers is no more or less legitimate than a couple of them.

But he gave in. I felt it. Something changed in him today. I’m just afraid that he got lost while giving in. That the moment overtook him and he accepted what Alec and I have wanted all along, not because he loves us both equally, but because we were just there. That he was a victim of circumstance.

But, the inner optimist inside me counters, he did give in. And if he gives in once, he can do it again.

And anyway, Danny Fortnight has never been a victim of anything.

I know I should be thinking about what just happened. About the bullets and the diamond and—

“Holy shit! The diamond! Does one of you have the diamond?”

Alec’s eyes meet mine without him turning his head. “Please, nunu. Give me some credit.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the metal case, then tosses it up in the air. “I believe this belongs to…” He stops to huff out a laugh. “All of us.”

Finely honed reflexes snatch it before I can blink. Danny, sitting in the passenger seat, gives me his trademark sidelong smile as he leans into the door, shifting his body slightly away from me.

I know that smile. I remember that smile. And all thoughts about the danger and the risk float away again, leaving behind the doubts I was previously musing about. Did he move away from me because he’s still thinking I’m off limits? Or maybe he wanted to see me, and this gives him a better view?

God, this man. I’ve known him most of my life. As my memories keep coming back, I recognize that I probably still know him better than any other person on the planet, Alec included. He’s been there for me every single time without fail. And still he makes me doubt everything between us.

Because he walked out, Christine. And the whole reason he walked out was because you and Alec were pushing him in a direction he didn’t want to go. Why can’t you be satisfied with what he’s offering? Why must you ask for more?

It’s a fair question, but wholly unfair at the same time.

A girl is allowed to dream and this—these two men sitting on either side of me basking in the afterglow of death and destruction—they are my dream.

“We need a new vehicle,” Danny says. “Take the next right.”

“Why?” Alec counters, still leaning out the window.

“Why? Because this one is shot to shit.”

“I know why we need a new vehicle,” Alec growls. “Why take a right?”

But he takes the right and we enter another abandoned industrial complex. “This left right here,” Danny says. Alec takes the left. “Second garage on the left right there. Stop.”

Danny is out of the Jeep before we can ask him anything else, punching in a series of numbers on a security system.

“Are you OK?” Alec asks me as we wait.

“Cold,” I say, rubbing my hands on my bare thighs to create the heat of friction. “But fine.” I look over at him and he’s staring at me. “What?”

His hand covers mine on my leg and chills run up my spine. “I—”

Danny whistles to get Alec’s attention as the garage door lifts up. “Hey, pull the fuckin’ Jeep in.”

Alec doesn’t finish whatever he was gonna say, just nods at Danny and eases the Jeep forward into darkness, stops when the front bumper is inches away from another car, and the garage door closes behind us.

Lights flick on and then Danny is in motion. Over in another bay of the garage, pulling a cover off a brand-spanking-new Range Rover. “Give me a second to grab some things. Christine. Come with me. I’ll find you some clothes.”

Putting clothes back on isn’t where my mind is right now, but that’s stupid. We just lucked our way through a spectacular firefight and we’re on the run from someone, so this is no time to be yearning for sex.

“What were you gonna say?” I ask Alec.