A Triple Melody (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Page 18
Time seemed to stand still as all three men looked at her with accusing eyes.
“I left because…” She looked down at her lap. “Because, I love you, all three of you, and I knew if I stayed you’d toss me aside the way you did Calla and Jessica. They both warned me. Calla said I’d end up like my mother, staying in a bad relationship until there was nothing left of me. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Did you say Calla and Jessica warned you?” Gabriel said sharply.
She hadn’t meant to tell them about her lunch, but it had just slipped out. But there was no reason to lie to them. “Yes. Calla asked me for lunch and Jessica showed up with her. They told me that you used women for sex like you had them and would me. I couldn’t bear it…the thought of you throwing me away like that.”
“Melody, you can’t believe we would ever throw you away,” Constantine said. “You should have told us you had lunch with those two. It would have helped to explain a lot.”
“Why. Would it have mattered? I was already in love with you, don’t you see?” She cried. “I’m addicted to you. I want you all the time. You have to let me go now. You have to,” she pleaded. With a cry, she threw herself from the sofa and ran out of the room.
She hadn’t made it past the doorjamb when she was hauled backward and into the arms of Constantine.
“You had lunch with those two bitches the day you left us, didn’t you?” he asked softly.
She shook her head in the affirmative.
“Dear God. You believed them. You believed them and didn’t even tell us why you were questioning our relationship? Do you really think so little of us? And,” he said, turning her so she couldn’t move, “what did you think you’d accomplish by keeping it from us?”
“Melody,” Jonathan choked out her name, coming to stand beside Constantine. “You little fool. You dear, sweet little fool. Have you no idea how much we love you?”
“Love me?” she whispered, trying to catch her breath.
“But love without trust. Where does that get us?” Gabriel’s words cut between them. She looked to where he was sitting. His eyes said it all. He was hurt by her.
“You know”—Constantine shook his head—“it all makes sense now. But what also makes sense is why your friend Calla’s father called Allison.”
“Why did Mr. Henderson call Allison?”
“He and his wife became concerned after you had called them. They had received a conflicting story from Calla. She told them you had lost your record contract and that you were singing in some seedy bar in the city. They wanted to at least confirm the part about you losing your contract with Alison before they called you. Alison told them about Calla’s phone calls and to say they were pretty upset was an understatement. They confronted Calla and called Allison back to let her know that Calla wouldn’t be calling or bothering anyone concerned with you again. They asked that you call them. They want to apologize for their daughter, but they weren’t sure you would want to talk to them.”
She felt like such a fool. But at least Calla’s parents still cared for her. She would call them, but right now she had more pressing matters to try to put right.
“Do you think you could ever forgive me for being so stupid?” She felt the tears running down her cheeks. She had been on the verge of tears ever since she had seen Constantine at the studio. Now there was nothing she could do to stop them.
She watched as Gabriel limped toward her. Jonathan and Constantine moved slightly away to give him some room. She looked down, wondering if he were going to tell her that love was no longer enough. That leaving them had broken their trust and it couldn’t be repaired. Why had she been so quick to listen to Calla and Jessica? Because, she now faced the truth, she had never believed one man, let alone three, could ever love her.
“We were angry as hell at you and didn’t understand why you ran away from us. We knew we cared for you, but it was Matilda who tore into us after my accident and forced us to see what we refused to see. She told us that you were in love with us and that we had to fight for you and get you back because she knew we loved you, too. And she was right.”
“So you do love me,” she breathed.
“Yes, we all love you,” Gabriel said, his voice catching. “But you have to learn to trust us. If you had, you could have saved us all so much pain. You can’t compare us to your stepfather. We aren’t anything like him. You have to see that.”
Gabriel drew her to him with his good arm. His lips found hers. When he pulled away, he said, “Tell me you trust us.”
“I want to,” she said, her voice strained. “I love you both so much it hurts.”
“Then you don’t,” Constantine said sadly.
“There’s a part of me that trusts you completely and then there’s that part that doesn’t trust anyone. It’s hard for me to believe that you love me. I’m damaged.”
“We’re all damaged to a certain degree. But without your trust it doesn’t matter how much we love you,” Gabriel said just above a whisper.
“Would it help if we told you that we want to marry you? We do, you know. We want it more than anything,” Constantine said, taking her hand.
Jonathan took her other hand in his and kissed it. “We do so much want to be with you for the rest of our lives. I never believed in love at first sight, but you’ve made me a believer. It’s incredible that we all fell in love with you the moment we saw you. Tell me you didn’t feel it, too?”
“I felt it. I’ve never felt that way before either. And yes, it is incredible. But…is it enough?”
Gabriel’s eyes held hers. “I have to know you trust us and that we can trust you before we marry.”
“Calla knew my weakness only too well and used it to make me think I wasn’t worthy of love, that you could never love someone like me and that if I didn’t leave, I’d be no better than my mother.”
“You’re more than worthy of love and the fact that you don’t think so breaks my heart,” Gabriel said, closing his eyes against the pain she had glimpsed within their depths.
“I need you so,” she cried. “I do. I love you so much. Please want me. Give me a second chance, Gabriel. Trust me to trust you.”
Gabriel opened his eyes and looked down at her. “I really do love you. There’s no one else for me. That I know for sure.”
Both Constantine and Jonathan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the same time as they hugged her. She was home, really home, and she never wanted to leave.
There was a noise just behind them. They turned as Matilda came walking into the room with a tray of champagne classes. “I thought a celebration might be in order,” she smiled.
“Yes, indeed,” Gabriel said, still holding onto Melody.
“Your mother and fathers are going to be so pleased.”
“Yes, they will be. I thought maybe we’d invite them down next week for dinner along with Jonathan’s so they can meet our fiancée,” Gabriel said, looking down at Melody with a huge grin on his face.
Her head was spinning. They loved her. They wanted to marry her, and, she realized with a start that Matilda had said mother and fathers. Could that mean? She looked between the two men.
“Do you have two fathers?”
“Yes.” Gabriel nodded. “Our mother fell in love with two men and they adore and love her. My sister is also marrying two men. Jonathan’s parents are part of our community. We didn’t think it would happen for us. But it seems we were wrong. ”
“This is so totally unexpected but wonderful!” She laughed and cried at the same time. “I’ve so wanted a family.”
Gabriel handed her a glass. She sipped it as Matilda set down the tray and clapped.
“I’m so happy for you. I love you boys, and I love you, Melody. I did right from the beginning. I knew you were the one. I just knew it.”
“Matilda wants to fill this place with babies.” Constantine laughed.
“Me, too.” Melody smiled at Constantine. “Lots of them.”
“Well, first,” Gabriel said before he pressed his lips into her hair, “We’ll need our time and then, we’ll talk about how many babies you want.”
“Whatever you say.” She sighed. “I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”
“And we are yours,” Jonathan murmured before he put the palm of his hand on her face, looking deep into her eyes. “We will love you forever.”
“Yes,” Gabriel and Constantine echoed. “Forever.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kalissa Alexander loves to write stories about love. She is a woman of diversified interests, from singing karaoke, to knitting, to creating her own crafts at the holidays. However, nothing brings her more pleasure than to write about desirable, loving women that regardless of life’s obstacles always find true love with the men that can make their dreams come true. She believes that happy endings are what women not only want but need to believe in. On any given day or into the night, she can be found bringing her characters to life with an anxious smile as she finds the words to express their feelings in a story that makes them perfect for each other in an imperfect world. Life is full of possibilities; she enjoys bringing all of them to her readers.
For all titles by Kalissa Alexander, please visit
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
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