Page 51 of My Three Rivals

Oh, she knew I wanted to give it to her straight, while the other two would sugarcoat it far too much.

“It’s just a little complicated—” Atticus started, but Tegan sprung up and ambled toward me.

“Tell me,” she insisted. “Wyatt. Tell me what you’re not saying.”

I exhaled, knowing that Atticus wouldn’t forgive me for it, but she couldn’t be kept in the dark, not if Lou had sought her out. That meant that it was only a matter of time before he came knocking on her door now. I couldn’t believe it had taken so long already.

Fear snaked down my spine at the thought.

“Your brother,” I blurted out as Maverick groaned so loudly, I felt the floor shake from under me.

Tegan blinked once. “Emerson?” she asked dumbly. “What about him?”

I cast my partners a sidelong look, and Atticus again tried to interrupt, but Tegan held up a hand. “I’m talking to Wyatt.”

“You idiot,” Maverick muttered, flopping down onto the chair that Tegan had previously occupied.

“Tell me!” Tegan ordered, and I knew the cat was out of the bag now.

I pulled my beer closer and took a sip, but she grabbed it from my lips.

“Wyatt!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Atticus growled. “Your brother was a trafficker. He used the vineyard to store women before selling them off, and Lou was his partner.”

Tegan continued to stare at me, the words not fully registering all at once, but slowly, painfully, the concept took, and she wrenched her eyes from mine.

“W-what?” she choked. “Are you fucking with me?”

Atticus shook his head, and Maverick sighed as my hand tightened around my beer again.

“I wish I were, and I wish I’d known what we were getting into when we bought this place,” Atticus grunted. “But it became pretty clear why your cousins wanted to unload their shares so quickly and for so little. Your brother had attracted a shitshow here.”

Tegan started to shake her head, but stopped just as quickly. “No,” she murmured slowly. “No, there’s no way…”

“Lou got in here as soon as Emerson OD’d,” he said tonelessly. “Cleared out whatever evidence they had of their endeavors.”

A small cry of pain erupted from Tegan’s mouth, but she remained standing, even though she looked like she wanted to collapse. I pushed myself off the counter to catch her, but she waved me away.

“So, what… now you’re Lou’s partner?” she whispered, disgust and dread painted on her face.

“WHAT? NO!” Maverick shouted, angered by her suggestion. “God, Tegan, don’t you know us better than that by now?”

“You do business with him knowing that he has criminal connections.” She finally sank down over the counter, and I tried again to help her, but she pushed me back. “No. Tell me what you’re doing with him, if not what Emerson was doing.”

“Dammit, Tegan,” Atticus grunted. “That’s what we’re trying to tell you. You can’t just say ‘no thanks’ to someone like Lou. He wanted to keep running the women through here. I said hell no. He didn’t take the rejection well…”

Atticus looked at me, shame coloring his hazel eyes as he turned away.

“He agreed to a payout,” I concluded. “To keep him and the rest of the mob off our asses, we need to give him a payout every month.”

Tegan stared blankly ahead, her face ashen. “And if you don’t pay?”

“I don’t think we’re going to venture down that road.”

She whipped her head up with a burst of force. “Stop paying him! Right now!”

Maverick reached for her hand, but as she had with me, she pulled away. “It’s just as bad as if you’re trafficking women yourselves. Can’t you see that?” she went on.

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