Forgiven (The Power of Three Love Series Book 4)

by Leigh Lennon

  With one last deep push, I came inside him as his seed spilled all over his stomach. I leaned over, bringing my head to his. “Fuck, Jack. I wouldn’t mind repeating this again tonight.” It was almost a demand.

  “Yeah, but if we do, you’ve gotta feed me. Good sex will completely starve you.” In the gleam of his eye and the way his lips curved into the most brilliant of smiles, I knew this was my Jack, mine and Clara’s.

  Jack was in the shower while I was raiding the fridge for something suitable to make us. I wasn’t sure what he had planned to fix with the hamburger, onions, and peppers set in the front. Certainly not something for Declan. I soon came up with a plan, locating his rice and tomato sauce. I was in the middle of sautéing the meat and adding diced onions and peppers to it when I jumped at the knock on the door. Jack might have ordered delivery from the restaurant in his apartment building, since I hadn’t told him I was cooking.

  Opening it, I was face-to-face with Clara. I would have brought her into my embrace, but in her expression, I’d guess she was most likely ready to stab me, minus the knife. She flared her nostrils, her arms were on her hips—all signs she was about to transform to the bride of Frankenstein any minute.

  “Where the fuck have you been?” She pushed in past me, turning around in Jack’s tiny living room space in circles, looking for something or someone, I assumed must be Jack. “I was going out of my mind with worry, asshole.” I walked near her, putting my life in jeopardy as I did. I stretched out my hands, pulling her in tight to me, though she was stiff as fuck.

  “Hello to you, too, Triple C.” I dropped a soft kiss on her head, leaning back, in the hopes that flashing my bright white smile would get me out of the doghouse. “Sorry, honey. I got here, and Jack was in the gym. I waited for him, and then well…”

  She didn’t mind if we fucked without her. She was all too willing to jump our bones if the other wasn’t around and she was in the mood. But this was certainly only going to further my time in the doghouse as the reason I hadn’t called her.

  “What the hell are you cooking? I’m so fucking hungry. It may be the only reason you get a pass tonight, Bodhi Merrill Chambers.”

  A loud, haughty laugh invaded our ears when Jack rounded the corner with a towel wrapped around his waist. “How the fuck didn’t I know your middle name was Merrill?”

  My glare was on Clara, and she began to laugh at my expense. “I try to hide it like a bad haircut,” I explained.

  “Shit, babe, that’s more than just a bad haircut.” He stopped in front of Clara, his hand hovering right next to her cheek. “Fuck, foxy...”

  She pulled him into her space. “Jack Calypso, I’m not going to listen to you go on and on about this. It was an accident, one you didn’t have control over. Now, I’m going to say this once and only once, then we aren’t talking about this anymore.” Her attention shifted over to me. “And what the fuck are you cooking? I’m so fucking hungry.”

  I was, too, and I knew Jack had to be. Walking over to the pan, I knew she’d never had this dish before. I’d created it after we divorced. “It’s a secret.” I turned my back to give them a little bit of time, but neither really said much.

  I grabbed the cheese as I added the rice to the meat mixture. Clara, the nosy woman she was, peeked over my shoulder. “What in the world is this?”

  “Well, I normally bake it to really get the cheese all gooey, but since we’re all so hungry, I’ll serve it as is.” I could slice the tension in the room, when it dawned on me—Declan. “By the way, what are you doing here? Who has Dec?”

  She pulled a fork from the drawer, the tension between these two so thick, and she dipped it in my food. “Daria’s with him,” she answered my question, blowing on it to cool it off, she took a little bite and groaned.

  “Hell, this is fan-fucking-tastic.” I moved my gaze to Jack, who was slumped against the wall, his chin lowering to his chest. Clara would ignore every bit of self-pity until he was willing to forgive himself.

  My eyes connected with his, and then I moved my gaze over to Clara, silently telling him to go to her.

  I smacked Clara’s fingers gently. “I’m almost done, little miss impatient. Go set the table.”

  Out of my periphery, Jack approached Clara, circling her from behind with his arms around her waist. “I know you have forgiven me, foxy, but I don’t know if I can forgive myself.”

  She hadn’t grabbed the plates yet and turned around in one fluid motion in his embrace. “Listen and listen good. Your PTSD has taken so much from you already. I refuse to let it take one more thing you love. You love me, you love Bodhi, you love Declan. You love our life we’re building. So I’m done talking about it. And if you are lucky, after dinner, maybe I’ll do something about that erection poking into my stomach.”

  I howled as that towel hid nothing. “Go change, and then we’ll eat,” I ordered, and he was down the hall immediately. It was my turn to go to Clara.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.

  She nodded, lowering her voice. “Yes, as long as he’s okay, and as long as I’m with the both of you.” She was right; the three of us together were unstoppable.

  “Okay, asshole, are you going to tell me what this is called?” Clara’s voice boomed through the room so loud, it startled both Jack and me.

  “Okay, Miss Bossy, it’s called Green Pepper Casserole. You know how I liked the stuffing in the stuffed green peppers my mom used to make for us all the time?”

  “How could I forget. All those peppers gave me indigestion.” Her face soured at the many suppers at my mother’s house, and nine times out of ten, this was what she served us.

  “My point exactly. I’d eat three just to get enough of the stuffing inside. Then one day, I thought to myself, if I just want the stuffing, that’s what I’ll make. So I take one pepper versus the ten my mom had to make to feed us, and I get a little pepper and a fuck ton of the rice mixture.”

  A smirk formed on her face, and she grabbed my hand. “This is a game changer, Bodhi Chambers, and though Dec won’t touch this with a ten-foot pole, I demand this becomes a staple in our house.”

  I hadn’t missed how she called it our house, though all three of us still had our own individual residences. Jack didn’t miss it either, and when we both exchanged a knowing look, I understood we’d be talking about this later.

  34

  Clara

  “I don’t like you going across town this late at night.” I should have known Bodhi would make a stink of this as he pulled Jack into the same argument.

  “I have an Uber, the same one I always use, and I will call you as soon as I get home.” I was pulling my naked ass out of bed where I’d just done what I promised Jack I’d do, all the while Bodhi took me from behind. They were the greedy fucks who seemed to have dibs on anal action, but tonight, I demanded it was my turn. Somewhere in all of this, Jack had pushed into my pussy and leaving them both in bed as I pulled my yoga pants on was not something I wanted to do.

  “So, tomorrow, my house?” I had my back turned toward them as I attempted to find my bra. No one answered me. “Ah, found it.” I swung it in the air, but both men looked sullen, snuggled in bed with one another.

  Looping it through my arms and attaching it in the back, I sat down next to Jack, who had looked away from me. “What’s going on, hon?”

  “I’m not going to come around Declan until I have this managed. The last thing I want is to lose it on him like I did with you.”

  My head dipped to my chest, and I physically ached at the idea of not being around Jack. “I mean, I haven’t had anything trigger me in a long time. I would have never been around Dec if I thought I was a detriment to him. Same went when Maggie and Bridget were born. But I have an appointment with my therapist. I have coping strategies I implement.”

  I crawled back into bed with him, his arm looping around my waist as my eyes searched Bo’s at the same time. “It’s okay, honey. We’ll figure it out. You aren�
��t losing us.”

  Opening the door, I heard voices mingling in the living room. I normally would guess the television was on, but Daria rarely watched it, plus she could never figure out my remote control. The voices weren’t heated, but the conversation was intense, and I only picked up on one word as I walked down the hall to my living space—commitment. In Daria Torrano’s mind, commitment was a more vile word than every curse word combined.

  She pushed off my sectional couch, her face reddening with my presence. “Sorry, Clara. I didn’t want to disturb you when I found out someone had gone out of their way to come see me.” Her words were animated as she pointed at the tall and slender blonde man in the room.

  “Oh, it’s fine,” I began, and I trusted Daria’s judgment. She’d never put Declan in harm’s way. “Did Declan go down okay?” I asked, waiting for my best friend to introduce me to the mystery man.

  “Oh, yeah, it was easy peazy, lemon squeazy.” I stifled a laugh. I’d never heard Daria say anything quite this cute.

  It was apparent she wouldn’t be introducing me to the stranger in my living room, and because I’d been dying for at least a name, I extended my hand to him. “By the way, I’m Clara Ashley, Daria’s best friend.” He instantly locked in on the bruise evident on my face, and I took a stray strand to cover it up.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you, Clara.”

  I couldn’t say the same thing. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I kept quiet, hoping I’d get a name.

  “I’m Logan, by the way. Logan Merran.” Ah, finally a name I could look up on social media.

  “Nice to meet you, finally, Logan.” I wasn’t finished. I had lots more to find out. “What brings you to Chicago?” I assumed it was the little Italian woman in the room, but I was going to dig.

  “Well,” he began, and when his gaze turned to Daria, I was afraid she was going to silently hush him. Yet when his smile broadened on his face, I knew he wasn’t. And yay for me, being insistent. “We were going to meet in Los Angeles tonight. I was on my way from Boston with a layover in Chicago, so when I found out Daria was staying, I figured I would, too.”

  I rotated my body toward my best friend, giving her a large smile that matched Logan’s face. “So, what is it that you do?” I asked.

  “I’m a lawyer. We met through Daria’s cousin who lives in LA.”

  “I’m not sure met would be the right term.” Daria’s pitch was strained, and with my last question, I realized I should be done with the Spanish Inquisition, but I pushed one last time.

  “Will you be here for a while?” If Daria’s eyes could kill, they would.

  “As long as Daria is in town, I’ll be here.” And because I’d been trying to get this information from Daria for months, I couldn’t be done, not yet. After my shitty day, I needed something to cheer me up.

  “Well, you’re more than welcome to stay here tonight. The guest room has a king-size bed, and I’ve just put clean sheets on it for Daria.”

  He was amused by the way Daria reacted to my little suggestion with a small chuckle. “That’s very kind of you, but I’ve booked a hotel room for the night. As a matter of fact, I was hoping I could sway Daria into—”

  She cut him off. “I came to be here for my best friend, Logan. She’s had a shitty day. I’m—”

  It was my turn to cut her off. “As a matter of fact, I’m better now.” I pulled her by the arm, bringing her to the guest room. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Logan was on our heels. “I can use a night to myself.” I walked into the guest room, grabbing her small satchel I knew always had a change of clothes; just in case she had to get away quickly. “Here, go spend the evening with Logan.” I had her pulled to the door, and for once, Daria Torrano was speechless.

  “It was nice meeting you, Logan. I hope you can come back and have dinner with us while you’re here.” I leaned in toward Daria’s space, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Have a good night.”

  She whispered in my ear, “I will get you back, bitch.” Normally, she’d be joking, but she wasn’t.

  “I’d like to see you try,” I said this with every bit of humor I had left in me. I shut the door, happy for the peace and quiet in my house.

  It had been ten days since the incident, and Jack was in counseling every day. He’d been working hard to get to the root of the problem, and each day, Bo and I took turns staying with Jack while the other would have Declan. Since we were together pretty much all the time, the perfectly planned schedule of our son’s had been thrown out the window.

  Bo had hinted around about finding a more suitable living situation for all of us, where we weren’t nomads anymore. He legit used the word nomads, too. After Jack got the all clear from his doctor, we decided we’d meet at Bodhi’s place for the night. His house wasn’t as big as either one of our homes, but it was clean and had a king-size bed. Plus, Bodhi was making his butter rice tonight, which had Jack and me salivating over.

  Jack and I walked in, hand in hand, when Declan almost attacked Jack. “I mizzes ewe, Dackity Dack.”

  Jack’s stare reached mine, and I saw a little hint of tears in his eyes. To say that Jack fell in love with Declan as he fell deeper in love with Bo and me was an understatement. He loved Declan like his own. On top of the whole moving in together idea, I understood Jack was ready to grow our family. He’d come to grips with the fact he’d never be the biological father; however, he loved us so deeply, he knew any kid of ours would be his, too.

  “Dadda say yous be heres today. I bot me dinos. We play?”

  “Of course, buddy. We can play. Anything you want. Oh, and by the way, Dec?” My son stopped, looking at Jack. “I missed you, too, so much.” Dec took his hand, leading Jack to his bedroom.

  The door opened up to the living room and kitchen. I turned around to find Bo, who had been watching the entire scene play out in front of us. Bo was also wearing an apron. I couldn’t miss it because he looked sexy as sin in his domestic bliss.

  “Fuck, Clara, that had to be one of the most beautiful things I’d ever witnessed besides you giving birth to our son.” He drew me close to him, and when I thought he’d crash his lips to mine, he pulled back. “By the way, I want to see that again, and soon. You having a baby, our baby, Jack’s, yours, and mine.”

  “I have a feeling we’ll be talking about this and our home situation tonight after we get Dec in bed.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Before or after we fuck you?” he asked.

  “I guess only the night will tell,” I teased, making my way into the kitchen to sample the butter rice before he could tell me no.

  We laid in bed after Bodhi fucked me while Jack fucked Bodhi at the same time. We were sated, but we wouldn’t go to bed, not without officially making plans. “That’s it. I’m done shuffling Declan around. I want to buy something bigger, and with the release of my new book, it won’t be an issue for me financially.” Jack was about to be the egotistical male, telling me I wouldn’t be paying for a new place on my own. Jack made good money, Bodhi did, too, but no one made quite as much as I had.

  I placed my index finger over Jack’s lip. “And, furthermore, until we find something we can all agree on, I want you two to move in with me. You might not be able to move completely until we get a bigger space, but…”

  “Okay.” Bodhi was the first to speak. “But we split things. We’re a committed couple or threesome, so we start to contribute evenly.” Well, shit, now both men were going to gang up on me.

  Jack moved to his elbows, sweeping a piece of hair out of my eyes. “I’m in, too, foxy. I want nothing more than to be in the same place with my favorite people, always.”

  “One more thing,” Bodhi interrupted. “If we move in, I don’t want you thinking of Dec as a stepson. I want you to start thinking of him as all of ours.”

  I was speechless. It had been his number one fear, but I guess it was different when you loved one another unconditionally like all three of us did.

  “Nothing would m
ake me prouder.” It was Jack’s simple reply, and everything was right for a couple of more hours until I woke up, and my whole world was turned upside down.

  35

  Bodhi

  My eyes flickered open, just enough to see Dec thrown from my bed, a loud thwack hitting the floor. “What the fuck?” I screamed, loud enough that if our son hitting the floor hadn’t woken her, my shrieks sure as fuck had. Clara’s body popped up, and her eyes had to have fallen on Dec when she ran from the bed to him.

  Jack was still thrashing in the bed, not fully awake, when my hand connected with his throat. “What the fuck have you done?” I yelled, moving my body on top of him. At this position, I was stronger, and his eyes instantly opened, an almost fear flashing in them.

  “Bodhi, stop.” I twisted my body around enough to witness the protective nature of how Clara was shielding our son’s face from this. “He’s breathing, a little groggy.” She was still screaming, pulling my body from his, with one arm. It was fruitless, really. She was no match physically to me, but her pleas had been enough to implore me to stop.

  When I let go of Jack, he bucked me off the bed, with one thrust of his body. “What the fuck?” he yelled, all the while I jumped off the floor, ready to take out this man who’d hurt my son. His attention swung over to Clara, who was caressing Declan still, whose cries were finally heard over the commotion of Jack and myself.

  “Shit, what happened?” He searched my eyes, a flare of anger he had to have read in them, and shifted to Clara. In my stance, she screamed a fear-debilitating cry I’d only seen in her one other time—being when she caught me in bed with another man.