Page 95 of Succumbed

He’s dangerously close to pouting, and I have to swallow my smirk. “You are. I want to know why.”

“I told you. I’m on the outside.”

“Why do you care about being on the outside? Linc and I have shared before and you’ve never joined in.”

He shakes his head. “Not like this.”

“What makes this different?”

Fucking say it, Dec. I regard him, waiting it out. He hates every time Lex does the same, but she only does it because it’s so effective.

“It’s not the same,” he finally says. “She’s different and you fucking know it.”

Nodding slowly, I agree. “She is.”

Dec swallows roughly. “He’s in love with her, isn’t he?”

I hold his gaze. “He is.”

He looks away. “I thought so. Saw it all over his face when she was over last.”

“I know.”

Seeing Dec’s realization, and how things unfolded between him and Lex after, was my primary motivation for this little chat.

“He thinks you’re still hung up about the business stuff, Dec. That you don’t trust Lex like we don’t trust Anne-Marie. You get why that’s a problem?”

He frowns as he turns back to me.

“He thinks you’re making him choose.” I give him a pointed look. “Between the woman he loves and the brother he would give anything for.”

My words are hard-hitting. Dec dated a few women over the years, though only one came close to lasting. Shortly after their engagement, she grew tired of the time he spent with us, both for work and as friends. She issued him an ultimatum: either he prioritized her and reduced his time with us, or she walked.

The decision had been an easy one because he was never in love with her–not that he’d ever admit it aloud. It happened around the time we started Procerus, and, after he recovered from the shock, he never once looked back.

“Shit,” he groans.

“Indeed.”

Dec eyes me. “You’re awfully calm.”

I cock an eyebrow. “All these years together, and that’s a surprise?”

He smirks. “No, it’s not. You’re seriously not worried?”

“Shockingly enough after the last few months, man, I trust you. I know you’ll fix it.”

His expression sobers, and he nods, looking down as he clears his throat. “Thanks, man.”

“I’ve got your back, Dec. Always. You gotta fix it, though.”

“I’m not sure I know how, Shane.” Vulnerability swims in his eyes. “Where do I even start?”

“Do you want her?”

He releases a slow breath, shifting in the booth. The bar is still mostly empty, and it’s almost like we’re the only people existing in the space. The groove between his eyebrows deepens.

“I don’t think it matters, Shane. According to her rules, isn’t it all over after the Summit anyway?”

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