Page 95 of Problems

"I know."

"And you still want it?"

I nodded. "I'm not leaving your side. There's no more shipping me off to get me away from it." I swallowed hard as I stood my ground. "Mom wanted us to be together. That's what I'm going to do, stay with you."

My father shook his head. "You're as stubborn as she is."

I grinned. "Yeah I am. So you know, it's not worth it to even fight."

He laughed as he slapped a hand onto my back. "Fine, fine," he finally grumbled. "You're never going to let it go, are ya?"

I shook my head. "Nope. You taught me too well."

My father dragged me into his arms and hugged me so tightly I thought I'd break. When he stepped back, he cleared his throat, and glanced around the room. I watched as my men all stood a little taller. They hadn't moved since the Vitale's left.

"Well, business as usual," my father said as he took his seat again.

I shook my head. "No," I said slowly. "I need to tell you something." I sat back in my seat and glanced at him.

"Go on," my father said, his brow raised as his eyes roamed over all of us.

I swallowed thickly. "These three are my..."

What are they? What do I call them? I can't say these are my daddies? Inappropriate. Boyfriends? Lovers? Definitely not that.

My mind raced as I considered the possibilities. No matter how many times I'd rehearsed this conversation in my head, I never got this far. I knew how my father was. He was the type of man that drew a gun first and asked questions later. Most of my imagination revolved around me trying to get him not to shoot. Now I was stuck.

"Sir," Finnian said. "We all care a great deal about Jack. I think--."

My father held up a hand. "Jack can tell it to me," he said as he turned back to gaze at me. "What do you want to say?"

A lump caught in my throat. "I wanted to say that they're... mine." Yeah, that felt right. "I want all three of them to start working with me. And I want to be trained to take over the business. You can't do this forever and I don't want it passed to someone who won't appreciate all your hard work."

My father laced his fingers together. "You want them to work for you? That's it?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "Sure."

He leaned forward. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that you're all... together?" He asked.

I stared at my father. One of my men fell into a coughing fit, but I couldn't even turn around to try to place who it was. My mouth opened, snapped shut and then opened again as I tried to force my brain to restart.

"How... How did you?"

"I'm not an idiot," my father said. "The things that have been said. What I've heard?" He shrugged. "It wasn't that hard to put the pieces together. Am I right?"

I bounced my leg up and down. "You're right." I glanced back at them. "They're my boyfriends. And I need them."

My father sat back a bit. "Boyfriends." He glanced at them. "I don't think I sent you to Arizona to seduce my boy."

"That was not our intention, boss," Finnian started.

"Never," Ronan added. "I've watched over Jack for years and I just want to keep watching over him."

Cian leaned on my chair and put his chin on top of my head. "We'd all kill for him. Especially me. And I won't be leaving him alone."

"Cian," I hissed.

He moved back. "I mean it."

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