Page 54 of My Three Rivals

“There has to be a way,” she insisted, and I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of what she was thinking.

“Let us handle this,” I pleaded with her. “Whatever you’re thinking—”

“We’ve got this,” Atticus insisted, pulling her against him, his hazel irises wider than I’d ever seen them. She didn’t shift out of his hold, but she peered up at him with suddenly wise eyes.

“And you guys—Suncrop—your hands aren’t clean, either, are they?”

Atticus released her, his breath escaping in a wave. I sat back, as did Wyatt.

“We do what we have to do, Tegan. We always have,” Atticus told her firmly, unapologetically. “Our business has endured against all odds.”

Tegan stared at me, the doubt on her face clear. “What does that mean?” she breathed. “That it doesn’t matter who you hurt as long as you survive?”

“Woah! Woah, no, I think you got this all wrong, Princess,” I countered, realizing what she thought. “We’ve never been into anything like what Emerson got into.”

Pursing her lips, she glanced at me and then back to Atticus. It was hard to tell if she believed me, but her shoulders relaxed slightly.

“No one faults you for doing what you have to do when you’re desperate,” she told us slowly.

“But you’re not in survival mode anymore,” she told Atticus, hands reaching out to touch his cheek. “You don’t have to live that way anymore.”

Wyatt fidgeted as I stared at Atticus, but before he could elaborate on what we did or didn’t do, Tegan spoke again. “I think I need some time to myself—to sort this all out.”

“Princess—” I started to say, but her intense stare stopped me from finishing my sentence.

“Come on, boys,” Atticus agreed, standing.

Tegan’s hand fell away, but I caught the imploring look in her eyes.

“Or we could stay,” I offered, but she shook her head, the conflict inside her palpable.

“Let’s go figure out dinner,” Wyatt suggested. “We’ll come get you when it’s ready.”

Sinking back against the pillows, I saw the shadow in Tegan’s eyes grow darker, and a twisted knot formed in my gut. I could almost hear her thoughts, and I wasn’t sure I liked them.

Don’t do anything stupid, Princess. We’ve got you.

CHAPTER24

Atticus

Itook over cooking duties as Maverick helped, Wyatt remaining suspiciously quiet as we worked.

“We should have told her sooner,” Maverick muttered. “She’s going to do something rash now.”

“If we’d told her sooner, she would have done something rash sooner,” I replied smoothly, braising the chicken breasts in front of me in a homemade honey/chili blend I’d concocted myself.

Maverick worked on the potatoes, and Wyatt offered nothing but his stony, intense stare.

“You don’t have anything to say about this?” I asked, nodding at Wyatt.

“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted, finally giving me some insight into what he was thinking. “There’s no good solution.”

“If we stop paying Lou—” I started, but Maverick interjected.

“There’s no if about it. The more I think about it, the more I see Tegan’s point. Maybe we’re not trafficking ourselves, but we’re giving traffickers money.”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I set my braising brush down to look at him. “Is that any different from the hundreds of thousands we’ve invested in other questionable developments?”

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