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I let out a small shrug. “Then your choice is obvious,” I told them. “You love what you do. You do what you love.”

“Or,” Gage countered carefully, “we just haven’t found a reason to get out yet. We haven’t encountered anything compelling enough that we’d end our service.”

Maverick nodded. “We always assumed it would be something that would be ours. That we could share together, all three of us, like everything else we’ve done in our lives.”

“A business venture?” I offered. “Or maybe—”

“No,” said Devyn. “Something likeyou.”

His eyes were still fixed on the swell of my belly. All at once, the full realization of what he was saying dawned on me.

“Me.”

“Yes.”

“Shareme?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m not a pizza,” I frowned instinctively. “Or an ice-cream cone. Or—”

“Hey. Jules.”

I stopped everything and looked up into Gage’s blue-grey eyes. For once they were dead serious.

“Youknowit’s not like that.”

His expression held me, keeping me from looking away. Forcing me to understand what he was saying, even if I couldn’t fully believe it.

“We’ve never met a woman like you before,” Devyn went on. “You’re tough. Fierce. Powerful in your convictions.”

“You’re driven and ambitious,” added Maverick. “Take this as a compliment, but you’re a fucking shark.”

“And yet you’re also sweet,” Gage jumped in. “You have a soft side. A sensitive, loving side.” He shrugged one big shoulder. “On top of all that you’re drop dead gorgeous. Sexually insatiable.”

The others nodded as their friend finished.

“You drive us wild.”

For another long moment no one said anything. Then Devyn took my hand.

“So yes, we’re obsessed with you,” he said, his blue eyes blazing. “We want the child in your belly, but we wantyoueven more. Juliana the warrior. The lover. The soon-to-be-mother.”

“We want toshareyou,” Maverick reiterated. “You and our child. And we want the both of you to share our lives, too.”

Our child. Those two words had never before been put together. Up until now it had always been nothing but me.

“W—We don’t even know whose child this is,” I breathed, touching my stomach.

“And we don’t care,” said Devyn firmly. “As far we’re concerned it’s all of ours.”

I gulped, trying to get past the lump in my throat. They were all so genuine, so understanding. Between all three of them, there wasn’t a hint of anything but truthfulness.

“One day it might become obvious who the biological father is,” Devyn went on, “but that still won’t change anything. If you stay with us — if you’re willing to become ours —that child is going to have three fathers instead of just one.”

“Three verykickassfathers,” Gage smiled gently. “Let’s not undersell that part.”

Become ours.