Page 74 of Triple Pucked
D’Angelo arches his brow. “Can I get back to my apologizing?”
I nod, enthusiastically.
A groveling D’Angelo is a rare thing.
D’Angelo plays with his suit jacket buttons, twisting them back and forth in patterns of three. “There is more support for all of you in this town than you know. I should have allowed you to experience it earlier. There is a side to Freedom that you haven’t seen yet, which most haven’t. It’s a discrete community that will welcome you because you’re with me.”
Shay pales. “I knew that this was all too good to be true. He’s a bloody Freemason.”
“He’s not talking about the Freemasons.” I cock my head. “Right?”
Please say no…
“If a secret society is going on beneath this town with hazing rituals in the woods that include paddling, kneeling, and sucking cock then…” Shay grins. “Actually, sounds my kind of thing. Guess that we’ll have to go and buy robes and?—”
“There is no secret society or paddling in the woods, although I may change my mind on that last point.” D’Angelo clears his throat, trying to regain the control, while Shay and I grin at him. “Brats, I’m trying to tell you that I have friends in town who would know how to tame you. Also, I hope that meeting them will help both of you see how our new lives can work.”
My grin widens. “Finally, you’re going to introduce us to your mysterious friends. What took you so long?”
D’Angelo smooths down his tie. “I survived in the past by keeping sides to myself compartmentalized. I was self-destructive for a decade and holding tightly onto the control in my life is the only thing that saved me. But I didn’t mean to keep you at a distance. I was just worried that you wouldn’t be able to accept all of me, if you knew everything about me at once.”
Concern washes through me.
I sit up. “I’ve always accepted you.”
“Me too.” Hurt flashes across Shay’s face.
“My mind knows that,” D’Angelo replies. “But my body doesn’t. My family didn’t accept me. They rejected me twice. I’m still wired to be on high alert. My heart would break and never mend if you rejected me.”
My chest is tight.
But I force myself to say lightly, “Unless you’re about to reveal that you’re Freedom’s secret Butt Plug serial killer…”
“Or a Freemason,” Shay adds.
“Then we’re good.”
D’Angelo’s shoulders straighten; his smile becomes devilish.
Uh-oh.
What have we just given unwitting permission to?
Pretty much everything.
D’Angelo looks like a demon prince who has just had a soul sign themselves over with their own blood.
Shay appears to realize what we’ve done as well, gripping my hand in his.
“I’m going to introduce you to my friends tonight. They are trained to be discrete, and I trust them in the same way that you do Neve not to spill our secrets. You’re my first girlfriend and boyfriend. They’ll be excited to meet you. And I need you both to start to trust that you already have all of me without the need for symbols like rings, wedding vows, or collars. All of me in a way that no one has before.”
His words hit me in a place deep in my heart.
“Jude…” My eyes burn with happy tears.
“I own a business in town. It’s the most important place to me, apart from wherever you two are. Finally, I want to show you my soul. I co-own the business with someone who is both my best friend and the man who trained me as a dom.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
