Page 79 of My Three Rivals

They all stared at me like I’d sprouted a second head, but I knew they were thinking about what I’d said, their eyes growing larger. “But beyond that, he all but confessed it to me when he knocked me out the second time.”

“Second time?!” they choked.

I waved my hand dismissively. “You’re missing the point,” I insisted. “Word needs to get back to his bosses about what he’s been doing, and no one is going to go looking for his killer. You did them a favor, really.”

A spark of appreciation lit up the eyes of all three men, but they didn’t speak it aloud.

“You need your rest,” Maverick told me, leaning in to kiss me on the forehead.

My head jutted back to catch his lips, and he chuckled, surprised by the gesture. When he fell back, I waved Wyatt and Atticus over, kissing them, too.

“Stay with me,” I urged. “I don’t want to be alone.”

There wasn’t a moment of hesitation among them as they nodded in agreement, the palest hint of gray tinging the horizon as they pulled back the blankets and slipped into the bed beside me.

“I just wanted to thank you all for everything you did for me. For coming to save me,” I said.

I rested my head on Wyatt’s chest, and I reached for Atticus’ hand, who was on the other side of Wyatt. Maverick wrapped his arm around my waist from behind.

“We would do anything for you, Little Fire,” Atticus said. “You’ve come to mean so much to each of us, and I can’t imagine life without you. I love you.”

The words made my heart swell, as Wyatt and Maverick both echoed what Atticus said.

These men loved me? How was it possible that the three men who I was determined to destroy had now become the most important people in my life?

“I love you all, too,” I said, burying my head deeper into Wyatt’s chest to hide the tears of happiness that formed on my lashes.

We weren’t going anywhere. We were a family. This was my home, their home, too, now, whether they liked it or not. And no one was ever going to run us out, not today or ever.

Epilogue

TEGAN

Five Years Later

Kneading the bread, I paused, my ears trained to the world outside beyond the sliding doors. My eyes moved toward the windows, a small sense of déjà vu overtaking me at that moment, a memory of three men locked out on the back porch as I avoided their eyes from my position. The doors were different now, of course, changed with the rest of the house, their pristine glass nothing like the old doors that had once stood in their place.

I caught sight of my reflection, a small grin on my lips, the swirl of my hair curling at the base of my chin, the memory tickling me, but the grin slipped away as another face appeared, startling me.

“Oh shit!” I gasped, laughing as I recognized my cousin’s face, Sabrina raising her hand to wave at me nervously, unsure if I could see her or not under the dim porch lighting.

My hands were still coated in flour from the bread, but I didn’t bother to wipe them on my apron as I pulled on the handle to let her in, shaking my head in amusement as she ambled over the threshold sheepishly.

“Sorry,” she chuckled, her round face relieved. “I didn’t know if you saw me.”

“I didn’t at first,” I told her, gesturing for her to sit down. Her light blue eyes brightened as she inhaled deeply, and I returned to my baking. “How did everything go at the shelter?”

“Good! Great!” Sabrina informed me, her face animated now. “All the beds are in, and the doors will open tomorrow as planned.”

I exhaled, grateful for the news. “That’s excellent. I’m always expecting problems when one opens, you know?”

“Me too,” she agreed, standing as quickly as she’d sat. “I can’t stay, though… I have a date.”

My dark eyebrows shot up with interest. “A date?” I echoed slowly. “With whom?”

A slightly petulant pout overtook her mouth, and she folded her arms over her bosom. “You do know I’m a grown woman, right?”

“Sure,” I agreed lightly, suppressing the urge to remind her that she’d never had a childhood or the chance to exercise her own gut instincts properly. We’d had this argument too many times.

---