“Last of all, she knows Flint had a stroke, can’t speak and it’s not certain whether he’ll ever fully recover.” Ryker sat down.
There was a long period of silence.
“What are you going to do?” Mollie asked.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Ryker barked. “Because most of this appears to be true. I’d consider paying off a source to make it go away, but it’s clear there’s more than one person involved. I think Melanie had a call about Flint, maybe from a flight attendant, maybe even from Corin, and that started the ball rolling. Melanie, though I’d like to wring her neck, is a good investigative journalist. I’m not sure she’ll run with all of what I’ve told you, but any of it will hurt. If it hurts Flint, it hurts me.”
“Would she give up that story for another?” Mollie whispered.
Lysander tensed. “Mollie…think before you speak.”
“Now I’m intrigued.” Ryker leaned forward. “Depends on the story. I might be able to get some stuff left out. The whip thing for a start. But you and that bully of a cop isn’t enough. I’m having that dealt with anyway. A word or two from my contacts and Lewin will run in the other direction if he sees you. So what do you have?”
“Voudin is my father.”
Ryker’s eyes widened. “Go on.”
Lysander went to sit next to her on the bed as she repeated the story she’d told them last night, but in far more detail. He took hold of one hand, Flint held the other. As Mollie related the conversation she’d had with Voudin, and revealed his comments about making her disappear, Flint growled.
“Can you prove you’re his daughter?” Ryker asked.
“Yes. A friend of mine got his autograph for me. She queued up to see him. He wrote on a T-shirt and on a piece of paper and she asked him for his empty coffee cup. I hoped there’d be enough skin cells to get his DNA. I paid to have everything tested. Paid for a DNA test for me. Paid again to have the two compared. It cost me a fortune to find out it was a ninety-nine percent certainty he’s my father. I have the paperwork in Yorkshire.”
“Mollie, you don’t have to do this,” Lysander said.
“He had his chance. I owe him nothing.”
“It could ruin him,” Ryker said.
She shook her head. “It won’t. He’ll say he didn’t know even though he did, but he can’t argue with the evidence. Talk to the woman at Gossip. She can take my photo. Twist the reason I’m doing it any way she likes as long as she makes it clear I’m not doing it for money, that was never the point. All I wanted was to know where I came from, to have a father that cared about me. After he turned his back, I started my life again and pretended he never existed.”
“If he was one of mine, I’d dump him,” Ryker said. He pushed to his feet. “Get dressed. Max is waiting downstairs. He’ll take you all to the airport.”
“No,” Flint said. “Tell the truth. Don’t tell about Mollie.”
Ryker laughed. “The one thing we’re definitely not going to do is tell the fucking truth. She might just have saved you.”
He walked out.
“Moll…ee—”
She put her finger over Flint’s lips. “Let’s just see what happens, okay?”
* * * *
When the three of them emerged into the lobby, Jean-Paul and Aden were waiting with Max, and Jean-Paul hurried over. Mollie was desperate to get out of there.
“Flint’s agent said we can fly back with you.” Jean-Paul beamed then lowered his voice. “How private is this jet? Because I’m thinking mile-high club.”
“Jean-Paul,” Aden snapped.
“What? They can look the other way, can’t they?”
Aden rolled his eyes. “Last night has gone to his head.”
“So it has.” Jean-Paul grinned.
Mollie sat between Lysander and Flint in the limo and they held her hands.
“Second thoughts?” Lysander asked. “We can call Ryker.”
“No. It feels…right to do it like this. If I’d said something before it would only have been out of spite. Not the sort of satisfaction I was looking for.”
“What about his wife and his kids?” Lysander asked quietly.
Mollie felt a pang of grief. “I thought about that. But I grew up with an image of a father who never existed. They should know the truth. If they love him, they’ll forgive him. Same with his wife.”
“What are you talking about?” Jean-Paul asked.
“Voudin, the magician, is my father.”
Jean-Paul gaped at her.
“I can prove it, but he won’t acknowledge me as his daughter. Gossip has some…stuff they are intending to reveal about Lysander, Flint and me. I’m hoping Flint’s agent can do an exchange of stories and get them to tell mine instead.”
“Are you any good at magic?” Jean-Paul asked, and Aden smacked him around the head.
“Ouch. I just wondered.”
“Yes. Good,” Flint said and grinned.
“I need a favor, guys,” Lysander said. “One of the things Gossip is claiming is that I’m a sexual pervert who regularly shares my bed with several partners of both sexes, and that my lodgers are chosen on the basis of whether I want them in my bed.”
“We’ve never been in your bed,” Jean-Paul blurted. “You always get into ours.”
Aden delivered another smack to Jean-Paul.
“Not often,” Jean-Paul said quickly. “Hardly at all in fact. Not recently. Well not since Mollie arrived.”
“I think the answer you need to give is not at all,” Mollie said.
“You’re not a sexual pervert anyway,” Jean-Paul said. “You’ve never asked us to do anything with food or hamsters—yeah, I’ll shut up now. I think the hamsters thing is just a myth anyhow. When you think about their teeth, I mean—”
Aden put his hand over Jean-Paul’s mouth. “As far as I’m concerned, you chose your lodgers with a view to painting them.”
Mollie wondered if that was entirely true, but the alternative wouldn’t look good for any of them.
* * * *
Flint had tuned out of the conversation in the limo and he pretended to sleep on the jet. He kept thinking he shouldn’t let Mollie do this. He should have agreed to an interview with Gossip and told them his side of the story. Maybe he’d be doing a good thing in making others aware strokes can hit at any age. And if he lost his role in Turning Circles, then he lost it. There were other things more important.
He wasn’t sure Mollie understood quite what would happen if her story came out. How her face would be all over the papers, her life dissected in minute detail, how Lewin would undoubtedly lie about their relationship, how she’d be portrayed as a greedy little bitch. Worst of all, her chance of ever returning to teaching would be small.
The spotlight would be on the three of them. Even if Gossip withheld some of the details, maybe those who’d revealed them would go and tell someone else. The safest thing would be if he walked away and left Mollie and Lysander together, they… Flint swallowed hard.
Sometimes you didn’t get what you wanted in life.
When Max pulled up outside Wood House, Flint stayed in the car. Jean-Paul and Aden headed for the house, Lysander and Mollie hung back.
“Come on.” Mollie held out her hand.
“Need rest.”
“Rest with us,” Lysander said.
Flint hesitated. The pull to go with them was strong, but he had to be stronger.
“No,” Lysander said. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?” Mollie asked.
Flint got out of the car and waved Max on. He had to explain and make it his fault. Lysander strode off and Flint and Mollie followed.
Having dumped their bags, Jean-Paul and Aden were already on their way out again.
“I’m going to get the sack,” Jean-Paul wailed. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to be back first thing.”
“Stop worrying. I’ll drop you off and pick you up,” Aden said. “See you guys later.”
The door slammed shut and the house fell silent. Flint shuffled his feet, Mollie sat on the stairs and Lysander leaned with his back against the front door.
“You’re worrying me,” Mollie said.
“He’s going to walk out of this,” Lysander said. “He thinks if he steps out of our lives then everything will be fine.”
“We can’t be three,” Flint whispered.
“Why not?” Mollie stood and took his hand.
Be strong. “Won’t work.”
“Bullshit,” Lysander hissed.
“Not fair to Mollie.” Flint squeezed her fingers.
“But…” She let out a broken sigh.
“You love being teacher,” Flint said. “Different world.”
She pulled free of his hold and wrapped her arms around her body as if she were trying to hold herself together.
“Don’t want you to tell about ma…ma…magic. I’ll tell Ryker no.”
“That’s not your decision,” she said. “It’s mine. But…” She swallowed hard. “But if you don’t want me around, I understand. I’ll pack up my stuff and go.”
“No,” Flint said. “You and Lys…ander.”
She shook her head. “How could you think we’d be happy without you?”
Flint’s heart sank as she fled to her room.
“Well done,” Lysander said.
Flint glared.
“You couldn’t wait to see what Ryker managed to sort out?”
“Not fair on Mollie.”
“You’re not being fair on Mollie. For Christ’s sake, don’t you know how she feels about you? She loves you.”
Flint felt as though he was standing in freezing water, the chill creeping up his body, and he couldn’t step out of it. I love her too and I love you. But love was putting someone else’s happiness over your own. He moved toward the door and Lysander stepped in his way.
“You’re not going anywhere. You’re not thinking straight, Flint.”
Flint clenched his fists. “Look at me. Might never be better.”
“Don’t talk crap. You’re already much better. We don’t love you because you’re a famous fucking actor. We love you in spite of it.”
Lysander lifted his hand to Flint’s face. “It’s as hard for me to say it as you. That word. Maybe if we’d said it two years ago, things would have been different. But this is our second chance and I won’t let you fuck it up. Mollie! We need you here.”
She came out of her room.
Lysander took a deep breath. “I love you, Flint. I love you, Mollie. I want you both in my life and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make that happen. I know the world isn’t ready to accept us as a three but part of me wants to shout it out and tell them to go fuck themselves because we are a three. I want to sell this house and buy one for us to share near London. Jean-Paul and Aden should have a place of their own anyway. When Flint goes away on location, if we can, we’ll go too. If Mollie wants to teach, then she can. If she wants to have our kids and teach them to be just like her and not us, then that would make me very happy. I’m not going to let this go because you think the alternative is easier. If the alternative is without you, how can that be fucking easier?”
Mollie took hold of Lysander’s hand then took hold of Flint’s and he reached for Lysander’s fingers.
“If neither of you ever worked again, I could support us all,” Lysander said. “But Flint, they aren’t going to turn their backs on you. You earn them a fortune. Mollie, if a school can’t see the love in your heart, they don’t deserve you.”
The ringing of Flint’s mobile made them jump. Flint pulled it from his pocket. “Ryker.”
“Put it on speaker and let’s go to my room.” Lysander pulled them in a chain up the stairs.
“Hi,” Flint said into the phone.
“Mollie and Lysander there?” Ryker asked.
“Yes. You’re on speaker phone,” Lysander said.
The three of them sprawled on the bed.
“Gossip wants Voudin’s story,” Ryker said. “In exchange, they’ll keep quiet about the rest. Of course, I owe them big time, but they owe me too.”
Flint exhaled. Did I understand that right?
“What’s to stop the sources going elsewhere?” Lysander asked.
“The odd word in the right ear revealing that Gossip won’t touch it because of verification issues should be enough to deter their competitors. After all, much of what was said wasn’t true and they can’t prove a thing. Make sure it stays that way.”
“Ryker? I want…to tell Weston… I can’t…read script.”
“What the fuck for? By the time you need to, you will be able to. It’s a top secret project because of the controversial storyline. There’ll be no full scripts until the last minute because these days too many copyrighted documents end up on the Internet. You have plenty of time. Just concentrate on getting better.”
“Not in that house.”
“You want to live somewhere else?”
“With Lysander and Mollie. Let Beat and Ham know.”
“Who the fuck are Beat and Ham?”
“He means Brigid and Andy,” Mollie said.
“Right. Okay. I’ll pay them off. The house is yours for another month anyway. Use it or not, I don’t care, but work hard at speaking. Understand? You can’t have a sore throat for months.”
“Yes. No,” Flint said.
“Mollie? I’ll come up with Melanie and a photographer in a couple of days, make sure no one takes advantage.”
“Okay.”
“Make sure you phone first,” Lysander said.
Ryker laughed and Flint ended the call.
“Moll…ee. You sure?” Flint asked.
She shrugged. “Show me I made the right decision.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mollie squealed as they launched themselves at her, stripping her as they stripped themselves. She had a fit of the giggles when neither of them could unfasten her bra. But when she tried to do it herself, they stopped her. She lay face down on the bed with the guys breathing on her back, their fingers struggling with the tiny catches.
“It’s caught on something,” Lysander said. “Lift your arms up.”
Mollie laughed as they maneuvered the bra up her body, got it tangled around her shoulder and finally managed to pull it free as they rolled her over. The guys lay on either side of her, panting.
“Exhausted now,” Flint said.
“That’s not very impressive.” Mollie kissed his nose.
But when Lysander took her nipple between his lips and Flint wrapped his mouth around the other, she slid straight into bliss. She sucked in a breath as she felt their fingers drift down her body. Together, they eased her panties down her legs.
“See?” she groaned. “That wasn’t so hard. Working as a team is the key.”
Why did it feel like they had more than two hands, two mouths? Fingers and lips drew loops and circles and figures of eight in teasing nips and loving strokes. Mollie’s head began to spin. Her eyes fluttered shut as she surrendered. It was their turn to show her how much they wanted her. Then she’d show them how much she wanted them.
Flint had his fingers between her legs, sliding them in her slick heat, and when he put his face there as well, Mollie’s back arched and she cried out. Lysander caught her mouth in a kiss and captured her groan. The longer they played with her, the more unsure she became over who was doing what. There was no part of her they hadn’t licked or sucked or kissed, and she rode the storm raging in her head with lightning shooting down her spine and thunder rolling through her veins.
She came and came and came until she thought she might die and they still played with her. Every time she tried to put her hands on their cocks, they stopped her. All she was allowed to touch were their faces, their hair, their hands. Lysander slipped his fingers into her mouth—she sucked and he moaned. Then their heads rested on her belly and they took turns to play between her legs until they bot
h had fingers inside her mimicking what she wanted to happen with their cocks.
They moved in unison, fingers sliding in together before switching into a different in-out rhythm that sent her spiraling toward release. Before she reached it, they withdrew and Lysander’s fingers fell from her mouth. Mollie took a deep breath, pushed up on her elbows and looked down at them. Flint wiped his mouth, licked his hand and grinned at her.
“Did you make…right decision?” Flint asked.
“Yeah. Toast not cereal,” Mollie mumbled. “Coffee not tea. Three not two.”
“Think you can cope with both of us?” Lysander asked.
Always. They only had to look at her to make her desire them. She didn’t want to imagine a life without them in it. And children? Oh God. Yes, yes, yes. She’d been a good girl all her life and she knew what she was doing now would be considered bad by a lot of people. But she didn’t care. If people couldn’t accept they loved each other, that was their problem.
“Are you still having that conversation with yourself?” Lysander asked.
“Yes and yes.”
Lysander narrowed his eyes. “What’s the second yes for?”
“You know,” she said, and when Flint widened his eyes as if he were puzzled, she added, “You know too.”
Lysander ran his teeth along her hip bone and made her squirm. “You have to tell us.”
“Yes, I can cope with both of you. We share washing and ironing though, and you’re going to have to start emptying the dishwasher.”
Lysander laughed. He lifted her to one side and Flint slid onto his back in the middle of the bed, his thickly veined cock rising straight up against his belly. Lysander reached for a couple of condoms and lube, tossed one condom to Flint and put the other on.
Flint dropped it twice.
“Can I do it?” Mollie asked.
He offered it to her.
“With my mouth,” she said.
Flint snatched it back. “No. Maybe in…ten years.”
Mollie’s heart pounded faster and faster. She straddled Flint and he put his hands on her waist and pulled her down for a kiss. When Lysander pressed against her back and she was sandwiched between their cocks, she couldn’t draw enough air into her lungs.
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