Page 59

FIFTY-NINE

Brantley

She doesn’t answer right away, but I can see her brain working, the breath stuttering from her lungs. Her eyes never leave mine, those baby blues still laced with anger, but there’s another kind of heat swirling in the depths.

“Yes.” She backs up, only stopping when her back hits the conference room table behind her. “Drop to your knees and beg for my forgiveness.”

This is a terrible time to be hard as nails, but here we are. I really don’t want her to get the wrong idea, but hearing her strong and steady voice demanding my obedience is a kink I didn’t know I had. It's an inopportune time for it to present itself.

Wyatt and Maverick are standing on either side of me, but I don’t let my gaze waver from Kinsley’s. I’m the one who fucked this whole situation, me and my fucked-up baggage, and I’m the one who has to fix it.

I sink to my knees and crawl to her, not stopping until I’m inches from her bare legs.

She gasps as I kneel at her feet, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her cheeks flush.

“Kinsley, I’m a moron. The last person I fell in love with cheated on me with my best friend, and after I found them in our bed, I shut down. I closed myself off to the world around me, and when you came into our lives, you forced me to see again.” I grab her trembling hand and drag my lips across her knuckles. “When I heard about you and Thomas meeting, that was it for me. I thought the worst, and I refused to see anything else. I’ve never been more wrong in my life.”

Her breath hitches, and her fingers tighten around mine. “And Thomas?”

“Married my fiancè.”

“You…you said the last person you fell in love with…” Her voice is quiet, barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, past tense because I fell in love with a beautiful redhead I wasn’t supposed to notice. I love you, Kinsley. I love you more than I’ve loved anyone, and that includes my brother.”

Her lower lip quivers, and a few tears fall from the corner of her eyes, but she doesn’t let go of my hand.

Maverick sinks down next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “The second you walked out of that office, it was like you took a part of me with you. I started digging, searching for the truth, but it was too late. You were already gone.” He’s quiet for a second, likely collecting his thoughts. “I’m not sure when it happened, but I love you. I’m sorry for not believing you.”

“Me too.” Wyatt kneels on my other side. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to you first, that I jumped to the easiest solution. I love you so much it fucking hurts. Without you, our lives have no color, no direction, no purpose. Do you think you can forgive us, baby girl?”

“You all love me?” She wipes the tears from her cheeks, her watery smile nearly knocking me on my ass.

My heart is rattling around in my chest, trying to bust out and get to our girl.

“We love you more than anything. And if you tell us that you don’t love us back, that you’d be better off without us, we’ll walk away right now.” I hate myself for saying it, but it’s true. I love her enough to let her go, but only if she needs to find her happiness outside of us.

Kinsley stays quiet for a second, and when she pulls her hand from mine, I almost die on the spot, but then she lowers herself to the ground. “I love you too. All three of you.” She lunges for me, and I wrap my arms around her. I’ve never been a religious man, but I’m thanking every god out there for helping me get the girl. “But don’t do that shit to me again.”

“Never,” Wyatt mumbles as he and Maverick wrap around her in a group hug.

She yanks herself away from us and points to us each in turn. “But don’t think I’m coming back to work for you.”

I let out a nervous chuckle, wringing a hand around my neck. “We were thinking you could go to law school. Maybe finish up your undergrad at Vanderbilt.”

Her jaw drops as she takes me in. “But Colin and tuition… I can’t.”

I reach out and stroke a hand down the side of her face, then tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “We’re a family, Kins. Families support each other.”

At first I’m not sure if I said the right thing or the wrong thing. A sob catches in her throat as tears stream down her face, and she launches herself at me, nearly toppling us both over.

I hold her as tight as I can, stroking a hand down her back, until she lifts her head from my chest. “I’ve never had a real family before. It’s only been Colin and me.”

Maverick leans over and brushes his lips across her temple. “You do now.”

“Your dreams are our dreams.” Wyatt nods. “We’ll pick up the slack, take Colin to his appointments, make sure you’ve both done your homework, and Mav will cook us dinner. You deserve everything in life, and we can help you get it.”

“I love you guys.” Kinsley glances behind us to the conference room door as it opens. “But maybe we should get out of here.”