Page 27 of Mastered By Bliss

Leah

We have a lot to talk about.

Gage’s words replay in my mind as Lauren drives me to the library.Today, I have SAT prep with Hector.

We have a lot to talk about.

Does he want to break things off?I can’t get married.If that’s a deal-breaker for him, for Dmitri…what does that mean for the three of us?

My eyes fill with tears.I surreptitiously wipe them away, hoping Lauren doesn’t notice.That’s the problem with having a bodyguard shadow me all the time—it’s impossible to feel my feelings in private.

When Lauren and I pull into the library parking lot, another car pulls in right behind us.It isn’t a busy time of day.I frown.It’s probably nothing, but I’m a little triggered after the last time a car tailed me.

I peer through my window, grateful for the heavy tinting on Gage’s car.

The male driver doesn’t look like anyone I know.But the woman in the passenger seat looks familiar.It takes me a moment to realize that I’d seen her in photos online—always with Harvey Billings.

“Do you see her?”I point.

Lauren can only spare a glance as she navigates Gage’s car into a parking spot.“The blonde in the sedan?”

“Yeah—she looks like Harvey Billings’s daughter.”

The sedan motors past us and out of the parking lot.

Why did they follow us in, only to leave?

“Was that weird?”I ask.“That was weird, right?”

Lauren nods.“It was weird.I’ll call in the incident to Ironwood.”

* * *

Dmitri

Gage is already at Low Vice when I arrive.I find him at the bar, keeping Betty company.When he sees me, he stands.“Let’s go back to my office.”

“Sure.”I follow him back, waving at a couple of coworkers who are here to prep the rooms ahead of a busy Saturday night.

His bodyguard, a tall guy with a build almost as big as mine, moves with us to the hall, but waits at the end.

We enter the office, Gage going to stand in front of his desk.I remain by the door.Neither of us seems inclined to sit down.I wonder if we’re squaring off for a fight.

“I want to marry Leah.”He doesn’t look away when he says it.“I want her in my life forever, and I want her to know it.You want to marry her, too.”

“We both can.”The laws changed recently, allowing for multiple marriage partners.So the possibility is there.

“And you’re okay with this?Both of us marrying Leah?”He clears his throat.“Dmitri, we haven’t been in this situation long, but I see you as a friend.More than a friend, because you’re a partner in loving Leah.It isn’t easy to describe?—”

“I get it, though.”Fucking feelings.“I care about you, even though you’re one of the most aggravating people I know.”

He laughs.“Fair.At any rate, I’d be honored to marry Leah alongside you.”

“Same.”I don’t even have to think about it.I can see that future stretched out before us, bright, perfect.Leah between us, making us the happiest guys in the universe while we work together to make her the happiest woman.

Gage sobers.“Obviously it’s up to her.”

I nod.

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