27
Do you love Xavier in the same way you love me?
That was the last sentence she was going to hear. She was certain of it. Because her heart was about to seize up. There was no way Brick had just asked her that.
Right?
Because there was no way he could know. She hadn’t let it slip in her sleep, had she?
Oh God. She was going to lose him. She was going to lose Brick.
“Juliet. Juliet, look at me. Fuck.”
“Maybe we should have waited,” Xavier said, sounding stressed. “Maybe she doesn’t want this. Want me.”
“She does. She’s just in shock. Juliet, talk to us,” Brick urged.
“Perhaps I should leave,” Xavier said.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Brick told him sharply. “You need to stay here. You’re in this just as much as me. We agreed. If this relationship is going to work, we’re all equal. No one is more important.”
“She is.”
“Well, yeah, obviously,” Brick agreed. “But between you and me. One of us isn’t more. Now, stick to the plan.”
Their conversation started to penetrate. And she . . . she didn’t understand it.
She cleared her throat and tried to move out of Brick’s arms.
“Nope,” he told her. “You’re not going anywhere. At least not until you talk to me. To us.”
She glanced over at Xavier who looked worried. She hated it when he was worried.
“I need an answer, Duchess,” Brick prompted.
“Nobody will get angry at you either way,” Xavier promised.
She looked at each of them. “Is this a dream?”
“No, baby.” Brick pushed her hair off her face. He gave her such a tender look that she stared at him in amazement.
Tender wasn’t exactly a word she would use to describe Brick. Unmoving. Stubborn. Loyal.
“If this relationship is going to work?” she repeated back his earlier words. “You mean a relationship where . . .”
“We share you,” Brick told her. “A permanent ménage.”
“I don’t understand . . . why would the two of you come up with this?”
“Because I think you love Xavier. I’ve seen the way you both look at each other. I know how devastated you were at the idea of him leaving Wishingbone. Do you love him?”
“I love you.”
“I know you do,” Brick told her warmly. “And I’m not upset or mad. I was the one who went to Xavier to propose this. It’s my idea. So don’t think you’re losing me. You couldn’t even if you tried.”
“I . . . I . . .”
“You don’t have to answer now,” Xavier told her gently, but she saw some sadness in his gaze. “If this isn’t something you want, the two of us, then all you have to do is say. Then I’ll go.”