by Abby Blake
A small part of him mocked that obviously false assessment, but right now he was willing to lie—even to himself—if it meant a small measure of peace.
“Sorry to drop by unannounced,” Brick said as he stepped into the room. Viper didn’t bother commenting. “I just wanted to check the rumor before anyone mentions it to Bianca.”
Viper wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose and close his eyes in an attempt to contain his annoyance, but he’d always viewed such things as a display of weakness. He never showed his emotions openly. He’d learned at a very young age that it didn’t do any good. His life since then had always been about control.
“Yes, I’m selling the club,” he said, lifting the contract up to show Brick the signature at the bottom. Brick merely nodded and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. Damn, he didn’t want this meeting to be any longer than it had to be. “It’s a done deal. You can tell Bianca her half of the money will be in her bank account as soon as the paperwork is finalized.”
“That’s not why I came,” Brick said in a voice that suggested he could be just as controlled and in charge as Viper when he put his mind to it.
Viper leaned back in his chair, projecting confidence and calm, and assessed the man in front of him. He waited for several moments, expecting Brick to be intimidated enough to fill him in without him having to ask. Brick shook his head slowly, raised an eyebrow, and waited for Viper to ask.
“Don’t play games with me,” Viper said as his annoyance unexpectedly exploded. Never in his adult life had he let the emotions burst free. Ironically it felt damn good to lose control. “Why the hell are you here?”
“I came to see if you’ve given up.”
“Given up what?” Viper asked angrily.
“Given up on getting Bianca back.”
“Why? So you can move in on her?”
Brick shrugged, apparently unimpressed with Viper’s show of temper. “Maybe. She is certainly a woman worth knowing, but something she said a long time ago still niggles at the back of my mind.” He waited for Viper’s nod of acknowledgement before saying any more. “She said that she left because she was holding you back from the life you deserved to live. She believes that when you no longer feel responsible for her that you’ll move on and find a wife and start a family. She thinks that you’ll do it without her.”
Viper could barely breathe at the implication of those words. A long time ago he had given Bianca the impression that it was her or a family. At the time it had made sense. He hadn’t been able to imagine Bianca ever being independent enough to cope with a baby or two.
But now things were so very different.
Brick, apparently having delivered the body blows he’d intended, stood up from the chair and went to leave the room. He stopped in the doorway and waited until Viper looked him directly in the eye before delivering the verbal knockout punch.
“She thinks you don’t love her, that she was just a burden for you to carry.”
“That’s not true,” Viper said before he could call the revealing words back.
Brick nodded. “Then maybe you should stop being such a coward and go talk to her.”
Being called a coward barely registered in Viper’s mind. It was the suggestion that Bianca could still be his that was stealing his voice. He shook his head, trying to understand why Brick had come here.
“Why are you telling me this?” Viper finally asked as Brick went to leave. “It’s obvious that you love her, too.”
Brick didn’t deny his feelings. He turned and looked him straight in the eye. “I do, but I love her enough to want her to be happy.”
Viper leaned back in his chair, his legs no longer strong enough to even consider standing up. Hours later, he still stared at the contract, the words blurring out of focus as he rolled Brick’s words over and over in his mind.
* * * *
Bianca no longer jumped in fright when the doorbell rang unexpectedly, but she did make sure to use the camera surveillance to check who was on the other side. Independence was one thing. Stupidity was entirely another.
But it was the person who appeared on the view screen that set her heart racing. Her breath lodged in her throat at the familiar lines of his face, the solid jawline, the indulgent smile he’d always given her when she’d pleased him.
Unsure why he’d come, she hesitated a moment too long. Panic gripped her when the smile he’d worn dropped away and he turned to leave.
“Ben,” she whispered as she fumbled with the locks on the door, her breathing suddenly rapid, her heart pounding harder. “Don’t go.”
He turned back to her, his expression neutral, his eyes filled with an emotion she’d never seen him wear before—uncertainty.
It was probably stupid to rush into his arms, but that was what she did, desperate to erase the worry lines from his face. He held her close, his arms shaking as they embraced in the hallway, her eyes filling with tears at the comfort she’d always felt when he held her.
Neither of them spoke, the urge to fall into her submissive role conspicuously absent. In their years together Viper would have lifted her into his arms, carried her wherever he wanted to go, and then made love to her—in the many varied ways that were part of their Dom-sub lifestyle—until she was too exhausted and too sated to move.
But she’d walked away from that dependence and chosen to take control of her own life.
Before Viper could misunderstand her clinging hug, Bianca stepped back slightly and made certain that she was looking him in the eye. “Would you like to come inside and…um…talk?”
He looked confused by the question, perhaps not really aware of how much she’d changed in the past year, or perhaps even wondering why she’d stumbled over her words. Talking—really talking about the important stuff—wasn’t something they’d done during their time together. However he interpreted her meaning, Viper seemed to recover quickly, his legendary control back in place by the time she showed him onto the sofa and offered him a drink.
“Not at the moment, li—” He closed his eyes briefly and then took a deep breath. “Thank you, Bianca, but I’d rather talk for a moment.”
She nodded quickly, tempted to take the seat beside him, her physical longing to be held almost outweighing her need to be independent just now. She sat on the chair on the other side of the coffee table and waited for Viper to explain why he’d come here.
“You look healthy,” he said quietly, his voice deeper than she remembered. “Are you sleeping well?”
It was so stupid, but the pain that ripped through her made it difficult to hide the tears. She wasn’t sure what she’d been hoping for, but formal inquiries into her physical health hadn’t been it.
“Is that why you came? Perhaps you thought I was starving to death or hiding under the bed?”
“Li—Bianca,” he said, moving like he was going to reach for her, but at the last moment pulling back. He opened his mouth to say something, but then shook his head, apparently changing his mind. “I’m selling Viper’s Dungeon.”
“Why?” The word blurted out of her mouth, Viper’s announcement throwing her thoughts into confusion once more. When he remained quiet, she asked again. “You built that club piece by piece. It’s been your life, your passion for the past decade. Why would you sell it?”
For the first time since she’d known him she saw a glimpse of the man behind the controlled mask. It was gone almost too fast, but she felt certain of what she’d seen. “It was never my passion,” he said in a low, inflectionless voice. “You were. I built the club for you, so that you had a place to feel safe. Without—” He cut his words off, slamming his mouth shut on whatever else he’d been going to say.
“Ben?” she asked quietly, tears burning her eyes at the deep emotions she thought she could sense him hiding.
He took a moment, and she could feel him deliberately dragging his emotions back under ruthless control. “Without you, it’s no longer necessary.” He moved off the sofa, obv
iously intent on leaving. “I just wanted you to know.”
“Are you happy, Sir?” she asked, deliberately using the submissive term of respect he’d always asked her for. The look he gave her proved that he knew why she’d used it. He walked to the front door, his hand on the door knob, his face turned away from her as he finally answered.
“How can I be?” he said in a barely audible voice. “I failed the one person I tried so hard to protect.”
Bianca saw him turn the handle and somehow knew that if she didn’t do anything that this would be the last time she ever saw the man. This felt like the final good-bye. Words were unlikely to stop him. Seeing only one course of action she ran at the door, throwing her weight against it, trapping him inside the apartment.
He looked startled by her behavior and a part of her suddenly realized how little they truly knew about each other. He’d always been larger than life, always in control, always in charge. He’d been everything she’d needed him to be when she’d been at her worst. But now he needed her. He needed her understanding, her compassion, her love.
She had to believe that, because the alternative was too bleak to contemplate.
“Please don’t go. Please, Ben, talk to me. You never failed me. How could you even think that?”
He shook his head. “Look at you. You’re whole. You’re healthy. You’ve built a life for yourself without me. All those years I wrapped you in a cocoon and protected you from the world I should have been helping you regain your independence instead, not taking it from you even more.” He blew out a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair—both signs of emotion that she’d never seen from him before. This was the real man under the Dom she’d known. Ironically, it gave her hope.
“If you want to play the blame game,” she said with a smile, reaching up to touch his face, gently encouraging him to look at her, “I shouldn’t have leaned on you the way I did. I should have found the courage to take this step much earlier. I shouldn’t have been so selfish that I let you take on the responsibility for everything.”
“I didn’t make it easy for you to break away.”
“And I didn’t make it easy for you to help me stand on my own two feet.” She reached for his hand and pressed it against her heart. “Ben, we’re both to blame for the mess we made, but we can fix it. We can find a compromise.”
“What about Brick?”
The question was so out of the blue that she nearly took a step back.
“What about Brick?” she asked, not sure how to classify her feelings for the man. In some ways she knew him better than she knew the man in front of her, but they were only friends. They didn’t have that sort of relationship. She’d thought maybe they were heading in that direction, but now…
“He loves you,” Viper said in a tone of voice that suggested he wasn’t upset. It was confusing as hell.
“How would you know this?” she asked, wondering—hoping—it was true. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d always loved Viper and wanted a chance for a future with him, but somehow in her head and her heart Brick was there, too.
“I know because he told me. Do you love him as well?” Viper watched her closely, and smiled when she nodded and dropped her gaze to the floor. He lifted her chin, making certain he had her full attention. “It’s okay to love him, little sub. He’s a good guy. He’ll bring you the happiness I never could.”
“That’s not true,” Bianca said quickly but then shook her head, partially denying her words. “I mean, yes, he’s a good guy and I care for him deeply, but you made me happy too.” She took Viper’s hand and led him back to the sofa. This time she did sit down beside him, facing him, determined to talk this thing through. They’d lost too much through misunderstandings. “Ben, I don’t think I would have survived those early years without you dominating me. I was so lost, so overwhelmed with grief. You filled a void in my life that I never thought would be filled. Whether you realize it or not you are the reason I’m here right now. Loving you made me happy, gave me strength.”
“You loved me?”
He seemed so genuinely surprised she wanted to smack him upside the head. “Of course I loved you. I still do. Why would you ever think I didn’t?
“I…” He hesitated, searching her eyes as if he could find the answers there. “I thought you saw me only as your Dom.”
“Did you see me only as your sub?”
“Of course not,” he said, seeming almost offended by the question. She smiled until he gave her a lopsided grin in return. “I guess we both really do share the blame for this mess. So where do we go from here?”
“I’m not sure. Please just give us a chance to work this out.”
“On one condition,” Viper said, his in-charge tone the same as she remembered, but the worry was still very clear in his eyes.
“What condition?” she asked warily. She loved him and wanted him back in her life, but she wasn’t willing to repeat the mistakes of their past.
“On the condition that you continue your relationship with Brick as well.”
Chapter Ten
Viper watched her face closely, reading his sub’s response and sincerely hoping that this time he’d gotten it right. She loved Brick. Even if she didn’t acknowledge that out loud, her feelings for the man ran deep.
“I can’t ask that of Brick,” she said, sounding shocked at the suggestion but not denying the connection to him.
“Why not?” Viper asked. “At least give him a choice.”
“But he’s vanilla. He’s not like us,” she said offhandedly as her mind obviously whirled with thoughts. It was quite a relief to hear the word “us” when she was referring to kinks. At least some things hadn’t changed.
“Perhaps he’s not as vanilla as he believes. He has been spending a lot of time with people who live our lifestyle.” If he were perfectly honest, Viper would acknowledge that Brick was unlikely to accept an arrangement to share Bianca between them, but it felt like something he needed to arrange. Brick loved the woman enough to make way for Viper. The least Viper could do was offer a compromise.
And judging by the way Bianca was gnawing on her fingernail, it was something she wanted also but was very worried about asking for.
They needed to make the offer. It was the right thing to do.
“Come on, little sub,” he said, offering her a hand up. “No time like the present.”
* * * *
Brick almost didn’t answer the door.
He already knew Bianca would take Viper back. It was there in her eyes, in her voice, in her smile as she spoke about the man. Their relationship hadn’t been perfect—whose ever was?—but with a few tweaks it could suit them once again.
But the thing Brick couldn’t seem to climb over was the realization that he would likely lose his best friend as well. He hadn’t even understood what she meant to him until she was as good as gone from his life. Yes, he loved her, but it was more than that. It was a friendship that he’d never expected to find.
Discovering a tattoo-covered, ex-Navy SEAL on his doorstep was just the icing on his pity-party cake.
Fuck.
When he’d suggested that Viper try to win Bianca back, he hadn’t expected the man to turn up and rub his victory in his face. He gave the ex-SEAL a belligerent look and waited for him to speak.
“The three of us need to talk.”
Brick leaned sideways to look around Viper. He hadn’t even seen Bianca standing behind him. Great, Viper was already moving to take over her life. Maybe goading the man into reclaiming his sub had been a monumentally stupid idea. Brick wanted Bianca to be happy, but he didn’t want her being bullied back into the dependent sub she’d once been.
He held his hand out to her, inviting her into his home without extending the invitation to her Dom. Viper grinned like he knew something Brick didn’t, and then stepped back to let Bianca inside. Unfortunately he followed her in.
“Are you okay?” Brick asked Bianca as she stepped into
his embrace. He felt the fine tremor running through her and wanted to snap Viper in half—unlikely of course given the guy’s size, but the thought was quite satisfying.
“I’m good,” she said, snuggling closer. It seemed a strange thing to do considering the news he was expecting her to give him. He’d never actually held her this close, but he couldn’t deny how right it felt, even with Viper looking on. “We want to run an idea by you. It’s a little unusual.”
“Not that unusual,” Viper said with a grin.
What the fuck was going on? Brick turned his attention back to the woman in his arms.
“What idea?”
Bianca blushed and ducked her head.
“We would like you to consider a relationship similar to the one Derek, Cam, and Maya share,” Viper answered for her.
“With you?” Brick asked as he turned to face the man. He couldn’t do a damn thing to hide his shock. Viper did not seem the sharing type.
“Of course,” Viper said, seeming rather amused by his response.
“But Bianca and I don’t even have that type of relationship. We’re just friends.” It was probably an unconvincing point to make when he held the woman in his arms like they’d been lovers for years.
“But you want more,” Viper said, not making it a question, just leaving the statement hanging out there for all to consider.
“I want Bianca to be happy,” he said, not bothering to deny Viper’s assumption.
“Well that should work nicely. So do I,” Viper said, wandering deeper into Brick’s apartment uninvited. “Who else lives here?”
It was a surprisingly accurate observation. Technically this was his brother’s apartment, but since Corey spent more time traveling for work than actually staying in his home, it was almost like living alone. With the bills for his mother’s nursing home it had been necessary to streamline his finances. His brother, who made much more money than the average cop, hadn’t been happy that Brick insisted on paying half of their mother’s expenses, but Corey knew Brick well enough not to argue.