Page 57 of Twins for the Silver Foxes

“I won’t interfere. You’ll never even know I’m there.”

We’ll be fine, Scott.” She cupped my cheek and stood on her tiptoes to peck a quick kiss on my lips. “Be home soon.”

The phrase appeased me enough to stand back and let them walk past without meddling any further. I closed the door behind her. Ryland was out taking Christmas pictures for a magazine article, and Arthur wanted to spend the morning with Megan. It left me with nothing better to do than pace the foyer and consider following Hannah to ensure nothing happened. She trusted Chad and had said he was a good guy. But good guys didn’t abandon their pregnant girlfriends, ignore them for three years, then suddenly have a change of heart.

Okay. Maybe some did. The gnawing in my gut, however, said this was not one of those times.

“It’s not your place.” I drove the words out through clenched teeth and turned on my heel. The study doors stood open, revealing the eighteen-foot Christmas tree we’d bought. Thousands of lights covered the branches, along with what looked like a million ornaments. Pine scented the air and brought up a rush of memories. The clear lights glittered against the glass ornaments, sending rainbows of light around the room.

I tapped a sleigh ornament and rubbed my forehead. Distraction. What could I use as a distraction to keep me from following Hannah? Food? Coffee?

Alcohol was out since I’d overindulged during Hannah’s absence. I needed a reprieve from the brain fog. Coffee would have to do. I spun the sleigh ornament one last time and headed through the study to the kitchen.

Voices reached me as I approached. I entered the kitchen just as Megan slapped her palms on the counter. She sat across from Arthur, the two of them squared off in a staring contest of epic proportions.

“What do you mean?” Megan swept her hands out in wide arcs.

“It’s Christmas, Megan. Can we have one Christmas together where we’re not fighting?”

“I’m not fighting.” Lip curled, Megan dared him to contest that. “I’m asking questions while you’re sitting there like a self-righteous bastard who the world should bow down to.”

A long, slow breath flared Arthur’s nostrils. “What is this really about, Megan? You’ve already berated me for not meeting you at the airport, though I had no idea you were coming. We’ve gone around and around about your mother and what she thinks of me. What doyouwant?”

“I want the truth, dammit!” Megan slapped the counter again. For two people who were so much alike in so many ways, their completely opposite ways of handling conflict almost made Megan’s dramatics comical.

“The truth about what?” Calm and patient, Arthur kept taking the verbal assault like he always did. Poor bastard.

Megan went straight for the jugular. “What are you doing in a relationship with one woman and two other men?”

“I’ve already explained it to you.” Arthur’s calm tolerance threatened to crack when he saw me. He locked his jaw and crossed his arms. Both feet were planted firmly on the floor, the shine on his shoes so perfect he looked ready to walk into the billionaire’s club and take over as president.

“Not good enough.” Megan made a crude noise in the back of her throat. “You said that all three of you sleep with Hannah, but not with each other. So you’re all fucking her at the same time?”

“Sometimes.” Unlike Arthur, I had no problem speaking about our sexual encounters.

“Scott.” Arthur tried to warn me away, but I had nothing better to do and Megan needed to be taken down a notch.

Megan’s venomous look might scare others away but not me. And Arthur had been exposed to it enough that he almost looked immune. “It’s disgusting.” Megan spewed the words with the force of an overheated teapot. “You’re sharing a woman. At the same time. Do you have any idea how deranged that is?” She was clearly looking to stir something up.

Personally, I thought the reason she pushed so hard was to try to make Arthur crack. We all might be better off if he vented a little steam here and there instead of holding it all inside. That was what I’d call deranged. The day he snapped was the day we’d all be in a world of shit. Until then, we did what we could to help.

“You’re looking at life from the wrong perspective. You see love as a linear thing between one man and one woman.” Arthur’s foot tapped once, his only sign of annoyance. “Love is not always clear-cut, Megan. It manifests in different ways.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” Megan sat back and crossed her arms.

Arthur and I both recognized the posture. He forged ahead regardless of the animosity. “Our relationship is one of mutual love and respect. We respect each other, and we all love Hannah.”

It was the first time I’d heard him say it out loud. We’d all fallen for Hannah yet not one of us had told her. Love wasn’t meant to be hidden or squandered.

“We all love and care for Hannah equally,” Arthur continued, matching Megan’s crossed arm posture. His toe tapped again. “It works for us.”

Megan exploded upward in a flurry of movement. “Yeah, probably because you need two other men to make up for your lack of emotion.”

Back up the fuck wagon. I marched over to stand beside Arthur and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Watch your mouth.”

Megan snarled at me, her gaze shooting from my face to my hand on her dad’s shoulder. “Is that how things are? You say you’re not sleeping with them, but you need Scott to come to your rescue. You’re nothing but a bitch.”

I’d never been violent, especially toward women, but the way Arthur flinched at Megan’s attack almost did me in. “Your dad is stronger than I am. I’m not holding him for comfort. I’m using him as a shield so I don’t bitch slap that look off your face. You’re out of line, and you know it.”

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