Forbidden Legacy

by Mari Carr

  They’d driven to the funeral together. As Harrison started the car, he looked over at Michael. “Do you mind if we stop by the library? I need to grab a few things from my office.” Harrison wanted to have his file on the killer on hand in case Tasha got in touch with Ryan’s last name. Once he had that, he could go through the documents once again to see if anything matched up. Plus, he intended to ask Price to put surveillance on the young man. Maybe Ryan’s appearance at the funeral was just a coincidence, but after everything that had gone down, Harrison wasn’t willing to leave any stones unturned. Too many innocent lives had already been claimed.

  “That’s fine,” Michael replied, not bothering to look at him. The trip to the library was made in silence. He parked the car and was surprised when Michael started to get out. He’d figured Michael wanted to keep his distance.

  “You don’t have to come in with me. I’m only going to run in to pick up a few things. It shouldn’t take me more than ten minutes.”

  Michael shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  They climbed the stairs to the seldom-used rare-book room, entered through the storage closet and down the ancient elevator. Michael didn’t attempt to break the silence and Harrison was too exhausted to try to make small talk. Things were coming to a head quickly. And the incredible weekend he’d spent with Michael and Alexis just made everything harder, more painful.

  Harrison unlocked the door to his office and walked to his desk. If he’d been alone, he would have taken his time, finding the folders he needed. However, with Michael hovering behind him, his quiet anger almost palpable, Harrison simply grabbed everything on the oak surface and stuffed it into his briefcase. He’d sort through all of it later tonight after Michael and Alexis went to sleep.

  “Ready,” Harrison said after a few minutes.

  Michael nodded and the two of them returned to the car, the trip home made in more of that cursed silence.

  *****

  Michael held his tongue as they entered their apartment building. His patience was gone. If he opened his mouth, he feared exactly what he would say. Alexis was waiting for them upstairs, but Michael wasn’t fit company for anyone right now.

  When the elevator reached their floor, Michael dug his keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to my place.”

  Harrison looked surprised. “Alexis is—”

  “I know. But I need some time, Harrison. Alone.”

  “Michael, please. Come inside with me.”

  “I can’t go in there and pretend like everything is okay.” Michael had spent months swallowing his pride as Harrison continued to push him aside. “You’ve asked Price and Gunner for help. I know Tasha is working on this too. You’ve included countless people in whatever the hell this problem is, yet you keep me in the dark. I’m done, Harrison. I’m just done.”

  Harrison put his hands in the front pockets of his pants. Michael had never seen his friend look so dejected, so lost. Regardless, he couldn’t find it in him to show Harrison any compassion. They were best friends and they were supposedly working toward a life as partners.

  “It’s almost over,” Harrison said at last. “If you can wait a few more days, soon everything will be clear.”

  Michael was about to refuse when the door to Harrison’s apartment opened. “Michael? Harry? I thought I heard voices. What are you guys doing out here?”

  Michael’s chest ached as he looked at Alexis. She was so beautiful, so caring. She was dressed in yoga pants and one of his T-shirts. Michael grinned at the sight of her despite his pain. She’d swiped the shirt from him on Monday, claiming she liked the scent of his cologne and that she wanted to smell it when she slept alone that night. It had been a sweet confession.

  If things had been different, he would have crossed the distance between them, picked her up in his arms and carried her to Harrison’s bed without a second thought.

  But there were too many hard feelings that needed to be addressed, future plans crumbling apart around them and interwoven with all that was this incredible sexual tension that seemed to grow with each passing moment. They hadn’t been together for two nights, yet it seemed like months to Michael. Within minutes of seeing her, Michael found himself wanting to strip off her clothes and take her with all the finesse of a dog in heat.

  Though he’d seen her in passing at work, he’d longed to touch her, kiss her, scream to the world that she belonged to him.

  Problem was…she didn’t.

  And until all the issues weighing them down were resolved, they needed to take a big step back from the bedroom.

  “Have you made any decisions in regards to the three of us?” Michael asked her. The question came out of nowhere, but Michael couldn’t stand the waiting, the uncertainty. He needed answers, needed at least one person in this hallway to be honest, forthright with him. If this was nothing more than a fling to her, if Harrison had no intention of ever treating Michael as a true partner, then he was turning around and walking away.

  Harrison gave him an astonished look. “Michael—”

  “I know we said a month, Harrison, but you and I both know that’s not going to happen. I don’t think this is a bad time for us to evaluate where we all stand.”

  Harrison didn’t appear to agree, but Michael didn’t care. His friend may be the boss in terms of the Trinity Masters, but when it came to their relationship, Michael had no intention of playing second fiddle. The three of them would be equals—Trinity Masters or not.

  Alexis looked at Harrison. “It’s a fair question, Harry. I mean it’s not like I haven’t been thinking about this—us—pretty much nonstop since we started the affair.”

  Harrison gestured toward the door to his place. “Let’s go inside. We can discuss it there.”

  Michael recognized the resignation on his friend’s face. He looked like a man facing a life-in-prison verdict. In fact, now that he thought about it, Michael realized Harrison had been wearing that same expression for months.

  The three of them walked into Harrison’s apartment and each of them claimed a seat in the living room. Alexis took the couch while Harrison and Michael both sat in chairs across from her. The three of them had seated themselves in the shape of a triangle. The irony of that wasn’t lost on Michael.

  Alexis leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees. “I know there’s a lot at stake for you, Harry. Is that why you look so anxious? Upset?”

  So Harrison’s heaviness hadn’t been lost on her either. Michael wasn’t surprised. Alexis was very astute when it came to reading people’s emotions. It was part of what made her such a wonderful doctor.

  Harrison shook his head. “I’m not upset.” He didn’t bother to expand on the lie. It must have been apparent they weren’t buying it. “I have quite a few things on my plate right now. But, Lex, you have to believe me when I say you’re the bright spot in my life. I know I’m asking a lot of you with this affair, with what I hope will come from it, but regardless of your decision, my feelings for you won’t change, won’t go away. I will always love you.”

  Michael swallowed heavily. Clearly Harrison considered him the asking-a-lot part of this equation. The description rubbed him wrong. “And where do I stand in all of this? Do I get a say in where we go from here?”

  Harrison leaned back slowly, recognizing his error too late. “Michael, I didn’t mean to exclude you or to insinuate—”

  “Of course you did. You’re getting very good at treating me like an expendable third party. I’m simply meant to fall in line and follow your lead without asking questions or bucking the system, right?”

  Alexis raised her hand. “Michael. Wait. Please. Don’t say anything you won’t be able to take back later. Anything you’ll regret. Let me say something first.”

  Michael hesitated, his anger fighting for a way out. He sucked in a deep breath and then nodded once.

  “You asked me how I feel and I want to answer. The truth is I expected to hate this. I thought I’d be uncomfortable and mise
rable. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that at the end of the month I’d say goodbye to both of you.”

  Harrison frowned. “Lex.”

  “I love you, Harry. That will never change, but I meant what I said. I’d never let anyone give up anything for me. And in your case, you’d be relinquishing more than your membership in the Trinity Masters. You’d be turning your back on your family, your friends—” she looked at Michael quickly and then back to Harrison, “—and your legacy. You’re an honorable man with a strong sense of responsibility. You’d never be able to walk away from all of that and still be able to face yourself in the mirror each day.”

  Michael suspected his friend wanted to argue that fact but couldn’t. What Alexis said was true. Harrison would sacrifice his own happiness—and Alexis’s—in the end because he always did what was right.

  Alexis turned back to Michael. “You’ve been such an amazing, wonderful surprise.”

  Michael grinned at her compliment.

  “I truly didn’t believe that a woman could give her heart to two men, but you’re changing my mind, Michael. You’ve touched places inside me that I didn’t even know were there. Maybe this seems sudden, but the truth is we’ve known each other for a decade. We weren’t starting from scratch. We had a solid working relationship—even if it was adversarial at times—to build on.”

  For the first time since this shitty day started, Michael felt the weight on his chest lessen. “So you’re willing to join the Trinity Masters? To accept us into your life?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  Harrison leaned forward, ready to argue, but Alexis cut him off.

  “If it was simply a matter of what I wanted, I’d say let’s give it a try, because let’s face it, you’re the only guys on earth who would put up with my work schedule. For the first time in a long time, I haven’t felt lonely. I don’t think I even realized how alone I was until the two of you offered me something more. Something better. We’ve been friends forever. I know and respect you. I care about you and I know neither of you would ever do anything to hurt me. I’m not an impulsive person by nature, but I swear I’m so very close to saying yes to everything.”

  The words she spoke were everything Michael had hoped to hear. Unfortunately, he knew there was more. “But?”

  “But there are too many things going on here that make me think this relationship is doomed. And none of them have a damn thing to do with my feelings.”

  “Alexis,” Harrison started.

  “I’m not finished,” she admonished.

  Harrison and Michael exchanged rueful grins despite the tension between them. She was a force to be reckoned with, her determination to put them both in their place apparent. Michael had suffered the sting of her bite more than a few times in the past. At least this time he wasn’t taking the hit alone.

  “I think you both made assumptions about how this relationship would play out. After all, you’ve been best friends forever, and in the back of your minds, you knew you’d wind up together. You thought it would be easy. You’re both men of action who are used to waving your hands, saying this is how it will be and having everything turn out okay.”

  Harrison sighed. “I don’t think I care for that description.”

  Alexis grinned. “Tough. You thought I was going to be the hurdle, so you both turned your attention toward convincing me. And while I’m extremely fond of your powers of persuasion, I’m much less impressed with your behavior toward each other. You’re taking your friendship for granted. Harry, Michael is your best friend and he cares about you. I have no doubt that he’s proven his trustworthiness to you at least a thousand times in the past. You take too much on your own shoulders rather than asking for his help. You’re not your father. You don’t have to do everything exactly the same way he did. If you keep walking down this path on your own, I’m afraid the job is going to destroy you.”

  Harrison rubbed his jaw, no longer bothering to hide all the stress he’d been bottling up inside. “Well said, Lex.”

  “And, Michael, this isn’t a pissing contest. Whatever relationship you and I form together needs to be built on our feelings for each other, not my feelings for Harry. You can’t keep comparing it, fighting to get exactly the same. That’s not how it works. You’re different men and you bring out different sides to me. It’s a wonderful gift that you give, but you diminish it every time you start looking over your shoulder to make sure your share is as big as Harry’s.”

  Michael ran his hand through his hair, grimacing. He had been doing that without even realizing it. “You know I hate it when you’re right.”

  She laughed. “Aw, Tin Man, you’re gonna have to get used to that feeling.”

  Harrison rose from his seat and joined Alexis on the couch. He kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Lex.”

  She kissed him back. “Forgiven.”

  Then Harrison turned to him. “Michael. I need help. There are too many things going wrong and I can’t stop them on my own.”

  As quickly as that, Michael forgot his anger. “We’ll figure it out. It’ll be okay.”

  “I’ll help too,” Alexis offered.

  Harrison shook his head. “No. You won’t.”

  She appeared hurt until Harrison continued. “It’s too dangerous. I want you as far away from this situation as possible. In fact, it was my intention to break things off between us this afternoon. At least for a little while.”

  Alexis leaned toward him. “No way. You promised me a month.”

  “Lex. Please be reasonable about this.”

  Alexis looked at Michael. “Tell me the timeline. How soon does Harrison have to get married?”

  Michael avoided Harrison’s glare as he answered her question. “Typically, it takes a month. The triad is introduced at a bonding ceremony, at which point they have one month to get to know one another, to set their affairs in order, stuff like that. Then they come back for the formal marriage. All members have to be married by the time they’re forty-five.”

  Alexis nodded. “So really we have about two months before—”

  Michael cut her off. “No. The problem is you aren’t a member. You’d have to come before the Grand Master for approval and then go through an initiation period before you’d be granted full membership.”

  “How long does that take?” she asked.

  Michael looked at Harrison. It was the question he’d wanted to ask since Harrison had announced Alexis would be their third, but with everything else that had been going on, he’d avoided it.

  Harrison sighed. “Six months.”

  Alexis frowned. “What? Then we’re already too late.”

  Michael held Harrison’s gaze. “But you have an answer, right? A reason for pursuing this knowing there was no time? There’s a loophole somewhere, isn’t there?”

  Harrison didn’t look away. “The threat to the Trinity Masters is directed at me. Not the organization.”

  Suddenly everything was clear. Harrison had never planned to follow through with the bonding ceremony.

  Michael felt as if he’d been sucker punched. “You always intended to walk away.”

  Harrison nodded.

  Michael’s temper erupted, but he managed to control it, kept his voice low. However, there was no mistaking the rage in his tone. “Then why the pretense? Why would you pull Alexis and me into this when you knew the three of us would never be together? You can’t play with people’s emotions like this, Harrison.”

  “You know what happens when I walk away, Michael. No one leaves the Trinity Masters without consequences. I love both of you and I couldn’t stand the thought of you suffering because of a choice I made. Now, you have each other. I’ll make sure my last duty as Grand Master is to partner you with another third. One of your choice.”

  Alexis shook her head. “Hell no. That wasn’t the deal.”

  Harrison reached her for hand. “Lex. You’re beautiful, intelligent and kind. You’re too wonderful to live your life
alone…without love. Michael adores you. I’ve always known that.”

  “He drives me crazy. We fight all the time.”

  Harrison grinned. “He’ll take care of you. He’ll love you until the day you die. Just like I will.”

  “Then we follow the plan. The three of us—”

  “That can’t happen.”

  “We’ll leave town. We can leave the country if we have to. I’m a doctor. I can go anywhere.”

  Harrison gave her a sad smile and then looked at Michael for help.

  Michael moved, claiming the other side of her on the couch. He wrapped his arm around Alexis’s shoulders. Everything he’d imagined for his future was tumbling like dominos, one dream after another falling away. “No one leaves the Trinity Masters. It’s a lifetime commitment.”

  “What does that mean?” Alexis asked.

  “If Harrison leaves, he’ll be ruined. He’ll lose his home, his job, his credibility.” Michael didn’t bother to add that the handful of powerful members who’d quit the organization in the past century had ended up in prison or simply disappeared. Those who were less of a threat often lost either their minds or their lives once their power and positions had been stripped from them. Harrison knew far too much about the Trinity Masters to ever be allowed to walk away unscathed, unharmed. Even people who were his friends, like Price and Gunner, would do their part to make sure Harrison was put in a position where he couldn’t hurt the Trinity Masters. He would be silenced.

  Alexis was quiet for several minutes. “There’s another answer. You can choose a woman who is already a member of the Trinity Masters as your third. Then you can keep your place.

  Harrison shook his head. “No. Lex. The Trinity Masters is in danger because a madman has fixated on me. I can’t find him to stop him. And if I don’t, our society is in danger of exposure. I can’t allow that to happen. All I want is your happiness. Michael can give that to you—a life full of love.”

  Michael considered Alexis’s solution. She was right. Taking a female member as their third would protect Harrison’s position in the organization, but the thought of bringing another woman to their bed made him physically ill. He didn’t want anyone else. One look at Harrison proved his friend would rather risk ruin and death than make that choice as well.