Theirs to Corrupt (Titans Captivated #5)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Tessa

Understand?

No.

Surely I misheard. “Both of you?” I repeat. “As in…” I’ll have two husbands?

Neither say anything.

Reeling, I stand and pace to the window.

This can’t be happening.

They remain silent until I turn to face them.

Pax speaks, his voice gentle but firm. His green eyes, usually so guarded, are open, honest. “We’re a package deal, Tessa. Link and I…”

Trying to keep up, to process the loaded glance that the two of them share, I shake my head. My thoughts are a jumbled mess, and I struggle to form coherent questions.

Then I remember last night. Pax walked upstairs with us, and I asked where he lives. “He has the guest house out back.” Link’s answer had been evasive. He never said Pax stayed out there.

Blushing, I wonder how I could have been so naive. “So you two are love?—”

“No,” Pax interrupts, a hint of amusement coloring his tone. “We’re not partners in that sense of the word. But we have a close relationship.” He pauses. “Any woman we’re involved with understands that.”

My head spins, and a bead of sweat trickles down my spine.

“So…” I’ve barely wrapped my mind around marrying Link, and now this? “How does something like this even work?”

Link leans forward, and for a fraction of a second, his usual mask of control slips. “We’ll both be there for you, always.”

“For protection,” Pax adds, his voice low and reassuring. “For support. Anything you need.”

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry.

When I finally find my voice, it comes out as a whisper, despite my best intentions. “And…?” How do I ask this? “I’m sure you don’t mean…intimately. Right?”

They exchange a look. Once more a form of silent communication passes between them.

Link nods, his expression serious. “I do mean intimately.”

The room is suddenly too small, too warm.

Trying to sort all of this out, I wrap my arms around my middle. “This is…a lot to take in.”

“It is.” Pax’s voice holds a note of understanding.

Both men remain where they are, giving me the distance I need.

“We’re willing to take things at your pace,” he goes on.

Then Link seems to lose his patience. Standing, he crosses the room.

He stops close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his body.

Thankfully he doesn’t try to touch me.

“We needed you to know the full picture before we proceed. No secrets, Tessa. That’s crucial.”

My mind races. This arrangement is unlike anything I’ve ever imagined for myself. Or for anyone else I’ve ever heard of.

It’s shocking, unconventional, and yet… ”I need time,” I manage to say, my voice stronger than I feel. “To process all of this.”

“We leave for Las Vegas tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” My knees go weak. This has to be some bizarre dream.

Link’s gaze is unwavering. “We’ll be married the day after that.”

Frantically I shake my head. “No.”

Before he can respond, his phone buzzes.

With an annoyed sigh, he digs the device from an interior pocket in his suit coat and glances at the screen. “I need to take this. Excuse me for a moment.”

He paces to the far end of the office.

As he talks in low, clipped tones, I’m struck by how he commands everything around him. King of all he surveys.

Including me.

Pax takes the opportunity to join me.

Though he’s enormous and lethal, he intimidates me less than Link does. Maybe that’s foolish.

He captures my shoulders and makes tiny circles on them.

His touch is electric, and I pull back from his powerful draw. It’s either that or surrender completely.

To his credit, he doesn’t try to touch me again.

When Link ends his call, he walks back to us.

I look from one to the other. And the idea of sleeping with both of them…

“Are you still willing to marry me?” Link asks. “Us?”

Do I really have a choice?

Unable to believe I’m agreeing to this, I close my eyes for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”

As if he never doubted my answer, he announces, “In that case, we’ll celebrate. With lunch.”

My stomach flip-flops. How can I possibly eat when my entire world has just been turned upside down?

Before I can protest, Link places his fingers against the small of my back. Awareness of him crashes through me, and I shudder.

Pax moves ahead of us, speaking quietly into his watch, and he opens the door.

Link tells his admin to cancel the rest of his day.

“Of course, sir.”

In the hallway, Mira detaches herself from the shadows where she’s been standing guard.

The ride down and the walk across the lobby are silent, and when we step outside into the bright Houston sunshine, the heat is like a physical force.

At the curb, the SUV is waiting, Torin behind the wheel.

Mira holds the door for the three of us, and the moment she’s securely in the passenger seat, Torin is rolling without wasting a single moment.

As we zip through the streets, I try to gather my scattered thoughts.

“Where are we going?” I ask, desperate for any distraction.

“Maestro’s,” he replies. His tone is casual, as if he’s unaware that he’s turned my entire life upside down. “Best steaks in town.”

We pull up to a restaurant with a facade of gleaming glass and polished stone.

My parents had taken me to a place like this to celebrate my sixteenth birthday. In another lifetime.

I’m the last to leave the SUV, and Link offers his hand to assist me down onto the sidewalk.

His touch is firm, and he lingers for a few seconds.

Suddenly I’m feeling anything but safe.

Mira and Torin enter the restaurant ahead of us and survey the surroundings.

As if this is an everyday occurrence, the ma?tre d’ pays them no attention and instead greets Link. “Mr. Merritt, always a pleasure.” He nods to Pax. “Sir.”

“Gianluca.” The men shake hands. “Please meet my future bride, Tessa. We’re celebrating.”

“Incantata. Welcome, welcome! We’re delighted to have you.”

“Our usual table, please.”

“Of course, sir.”

We’re shown to a secluded table near the back of the dining room, partially hidden by an elegant partition. The decor is all dark wood and soft lighting.

As I take a seat in the chair that Link holds for me, I shift uncomfortably. The elegance of the place makes me hyperaware of my jeans and well-worn tennis shoes.

Unfortunately for me, I’m Cinderella. My fairy godmother showed up with two princes and a carriage. But there’s not a single gown in sight.

As he always does, Pax selects the chair where he will have his back to the wall. And I notice Torin at a nearby table, all by himself.

Almost instantly, a server appears, a bottle of sparkling water already in hand. “Mr. Merritt, so good to see you again. Pellegrino for the table?”

“Thank you, yes.”

As the water is poured, Gianluca arrives once more, along with a bartender. They’re carrying a tall, silver ice bucket and a bottle of champagne that he shows to Link.

“Compliments of the house, Mr. Merritt,” Gianluca says. “If the vintage meets with your approval.”

Link glances at me.

As if I have any idea. “I’ll leave the decision to you.”

“Thank you,” he tells Gianluca.

He uncorks the bottle, and I catch a glimpse of the distinctive label that’s shaped like a shield. It’s everything I can do not to gasp. Even though I don’t really drink, I recognize the brand.

A sample is offered to Link who lifts the glass, swirls it, then takes a sip. “Perfect. Thank you.”

“Salute!” Gianluca says as he leaves the bartender to finish the service.

Once we’re alone, Link picks up his glass as if to offer a toast, but I lean forward. “Link, this is all too much. I don’t need…”

He silences me with a look, his blue eyes intense. “We’re going to be married, Tessa.”

As if that explains everything.

Maybe to Link, it does.

Undeterred, he lifts his glass and tips it in my direction, and then Pax’s. “To new beginnings.”

Pax raises his flute. “Hear, hear.”

Both men look at me expectantly, waiting for me to follow suit.

My fingers are frozen in my lap.

I can’t believe I’m engaged to the Vulture and an overwhelming bodyguard. How can I celebrate, knowing my future with them might be no better than the one I ran away from?