Page 28 of Broken Love

“We had her, Arden, and now I think we’ve lost her. The grief consumes her, and we don’t know what the fuck to do.” How do you help a woman who has had such a profound loss and not make it worse by saying or doing the wrong thing?

“Tucker.” Arden sighs my name like she’s said it a dozen times and I’m not listening to her. “You be there for her, wipe away her tears. Hold her while she sleeps. Listen when she speaks. Windsor is a strong woman, and it’s only been a few days; all she needs is time. This wasn’t you guys or her fault. A madman attacked her.”

Speaking of which, I’ve been holding onto a folder with possible suspects from my brother-in-law Boston for almost an hour. He stopped by first thing this morning and had it ready for me. I haven’t been able to bring myself to look because if it’s someone after me and Tanner and using our woman as a target, it’ll gut me.

“I’ll talk to you later, Arden. Love you.” After I hang up, the office is filled with silence. I’ve shut the phones off for the week, and everything is being redirected to Jessica in Human Resources since she’ll know where to direct calls.

My phone beeped earlier with a text from Tanner, but I haven’t looked yet. If Windsor is worse, I don’t know how I’ll handle it. Yeah, it’s the coward’s way out, but I can’t help it if I want her better already.

Physically, she’s been given a clean bill of health. Mentally, it is a different story. We’ve encouraged her to speak to someone professionally, but I’m unsure if she will. I’d like her to; hell, I’d go with her. Until we were told the consequences of her attack, I had never given children much thought. Now, I grieve for that same child. I ache inside my chest, like an itch I can’t scratch, and there’s nothing I want more than to feel as though I can breathe again. We’ve stalled, the three of us, drowning in our own suffering.

At the sound of the elevator dinging, I twist back around and shove the envelope in my desk drawer just in time to see Windsor and Tanner enter our office.

“Sweetheart.” I’m on my feet before she can gift me with her sad smile. Pulling her into my arms, I press my lips to her head and hold her tightly. “How are you feeling?”

She draws back to look up at me. Grazing her fingers across my stubbled cheek, our eyes lock. “Like I can breathe again. I’m so sorry I shut down. It wasn’t fair to either of you…for me to get to grieve and you both worrying about me. I didn’t think beyond what I was feeling.”

“No, Winds, babe, we all needed time to process. We did as much of it together as we could. You’ll always come first.”

She shakes her head as Tanner drags two chairs over to my desk. “No. You guys took care of me, but who took care of you?” I share a look with Tanner, and I recognize he’s feeling the same as me. “We need to take care of each other equally,” she says, pressing up, looking for a kiss, and I’m all too happy to give it to her.

Her unique flavor bursts like ripe berries on my lips, and, in the next breath, I slide my tongue into her mouth for more. “I missed you,” I tell her when we pull back.

“Me too.” She kisses my jaw before moving over to my desk and the bags Tanner had with him. “We brought lunch. I needed out of the house, and this seemed like a good idea. Is that okay?” Her insecurity hurts.

“Yeah, sweetheart.” I kiss her temple. “This is perfect.”

After dishing out the street tacos and drinks, we eat in silence for a few minutes before Windsor says, “I was thinking, tonight we could camp out in the living room, watch movies, and binge on junk food until our bellies hurt.”

“Anything you want,” my brother and I respond in unison.

She flashes a brilliant smile until it wanes, and her eyes drop to her lap. “I was also thinking…” The thought hangs open-ended.

“What,” I ask softly, leaning forward to capture her gaze.

“I know it was only a couple of weeks, and we didn’t know, but I was hoping we could do something to say goodbye to him or her.” Hearing the vulnerability in her voice and seeing the tears in her eyes, I know we’ll both do anything we can to give her closure.

CHAPTER 13

Windsor

The sadness I’ve been feeling is still overwhelming, but it’s more manageable now. It’s like shadows at the edge of my vision, still present but not as consuming.

Tanner watches me from the kitchen, where he’s making fajitas, while I set up the living room with dozens of pillows and blankets for our movie night. It’s such a simple thing—something I’d have done with girlfriends in high school—and the fact that they’re humoring me makes me even more attracted to them.

“All set,” I proclaim, wandering towards him and sitting across the island on one of the stools. “You know, for rich guys, you sure don’t act like it,” I point out, stealing a raw pepper before he adds them to the pan.

“We weren’t raised to be fed from a silver spoon. Our folks always made sure we didn’t act like spoiled brats, forcing us to learn to cook and do household chores.” I love that. My mom was the same way. More out of necessity than anything else, though. “I admit I’m not a fan of doing laundry, so we have a service for that.”

“So close to perfect,” I tease him.

“Perfect is such an ambiguous word.” Draping his arms on the counter, Tanner spears me with a heated look. “Perfect is the sounds you make when you come for us. Perfect is the way you sigh our names as we slide in and out of your snug pussy.”

My core pulses with desire as my legs rub together to alleviate the throbbing pressure he’s created within me. “Uhm.” I don’t know what to say.

His grin is so cocky, I want to kiss him, but I know that’ll just feed into his ego, so I stay put as he chuckles, pulling back to stir the chicken and steak for dinner.

Thankfully, I’m saved by the bell when Tucker walks in, a covered item in his hands. “Come outside with me,” he says, moving towards the balcony off the living room before we can even greet him.

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