Adams, Eve - Trio [Gideon's Ring 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (36 page)

“Looks like Lucky struck again.” Amber shrugged and ran her fingers through her long hair. “I just hope you won’t have to declare bankruptcy like the last family he hit.”

Chris
reached for Wyatt, fully intending to kill him. Sarah jumped in front of him and, deceptively strong for her size, stopped him. He pushed her away before realizing what he’d done, not willing to trust another thing from her, including her touch.

She staggered back, her eyes wide as they swelled with tears.

Norris grabbed Sarah and pulled her to him, his cold glare on
Chris
. “Do that again and I will kill you,
Gideon
. Do you understand me? You will never, ever touch my little sister again. That goes for the both of you. You’ve done enough damage.”

Chris
cringed but didn’t deny it. He couldn’t. He saw the pain in Sarah’s eyes, the stunned look on her pretty face. Instead of facing her, he turned away to look at his dysfunctional family.

Barrett shook his head. “I failed.”

Oh, shit. He knew that look in his cousin’s eyes. He blamed himself for this. “No way, cuz. Do not put this on you.”

“GG
left
me
in charge.
We’ve
lost everything.
”

“We’re finished,” Matt whispered and released Michael before sinking down in a chair, now as pale as Wyatt. “Broke. That’s it. It’s over.”

Chris
could barely see straight. Between his need to kill Wyatt and the blow of Sarah’s betrayal, he only saw red.

“You’ve sent this ranch into bankruptcy, Wyatt.”
Chris
had to swallow several times to stay in control. If he weren’t so preoccupied with Sarah
, if
he weren’t so hell-bent to stay between her legs
,
he would have picked up on what Strickler had up his sleeve. On Sarah’s involvement, whatever that was. If GG were still alive, he wouldn’t have let it get this far.

If only, if only.

“I’ll find a way to get the money back.”

“Bullshit!” His hand
s
ached
from the way he kept his fingers curled so tight his short nails dug into his palms
. He almost drove
his fist
through the wall,
he was that pissed
.
Barrett and he could have matching casts.

None of that mattered. GR&L was ruined.
The
ranch had been in the family for three generations
.
If GG weren’t already in the ground, this would have put him there.

“
Chris
, calm down.” Sarah tried to reach for him, but he jerked away. Never again would he let her melodic voice comfort him, or her soft touch soothe him.

Or the promise of her love blind him.

Sarah shifted, her gaze more determined as she reached over, grabbed
Chris’s
hand, and held it in hers. “Stop being such a prick. I’m here to save your ass, but the way you’re acting makes me want to knock you on it instead.”

He tried to take his hand back, but she squeezed his fingers in hers. Hard. When she pinned him with a glare that made her look like she wouldn’t hesitate to break his hand if he tried to pull it back again, he let her keep it.

“I can still fix this.” Wyatt, always looking for an angle, still had his head so far up his own ass he couldn’t see the writing on the wall.

Chris
shook his head and felt much calmer than he expected. He refused to believe it had anything to do with Sarah’s hand in his.

Chris spoke up. “You can’t fix this, Wyatt. Your precious five-star rating won’t do a damn thing for the ranch. Don’t you get it? It’s what Barrett has been saying all along. People don’t book weekends at a Montana ranch to be waited on. They come here for an adventure.”

Sarah spoke up. “That’s why I came to the ranch.”

“You came here looking for Lucky,”
Chris
reminded her, not bothering to hide the bitterness in his tone.

She squeezed his hand.
Really
hard. He winced when a few of his knuckles popped. “I came here looking for an adventure. I may have come here looking for Lucky, but I didn’t find him. I found you and
Barrett
.”

Damn her. God
damn
her. How did she do that? The resistance he’d built around his heart wavered. But then he thought about their current situation and how she’d had a hand in it. That thought drove the barrier back up around his heart with a painful vengeance.

“No offense, Sarah, but you really have no idea what’s going on. None of you do.” Wyatt didn’t win any points with that comment.

Chris
tried to step between them, but Sarah pushed him aside and challenged Wyatt without a second thought. Oh yeah, she was pissed.

“Is that so? And I suppose you do?”

Wyatt colored but didn’t say anything.

“You don’t, but you should. After all, you’re responsible for the PR for this ranch, aren’t you?” She bunched up her fists and brought them to her hips.

Oh yeah. Definitely pissed.

“Yes,” Wyatt answered in a small voice. “Not that it’s anyone’s business.”

Norris stiffened as he moved toward Wyatt. “That’s where you’re wrong. This
is
my business. I know a thing or two about the right way to pull a con. Lucky’s good, I’ll give him that. A bit old school, but still good.”

“Your point?” Wyatt growled.

“My point is, I’m better.”

“She’ll want to see me. Trust me.”

Was that Barrett?

“You’re a Gideon. Why would I trust any of you?”

That was definitely Norris.

Sarah blinked awake and sat up. She glanced at the clock and dropped her jaw. She’d been asleep for hours.

Damn, being pregnant really took it out of a girl.

She jumped off the bed and threw open her door. Wyatt stood there next to her brother. They both turned and looked at her. She tried to not look disappointed that it wasn’t either Gideon she wanted to see.

“Hey, Wyatt.”

“Hey, Sarah.” He stepped toward her, but Norris pushed himself between them. Wyatt stopped and looked at Norris, then Sarah.

“Give it a rest, Norris. Your bodyguard act is really starting to wear on me.” She pushed him aside and stepped into Wyatt’s arms.

And burst into tears. Damn her hormones, but it felt so good to be held by a Gideon again, even if it wasn’t one of the ones she wanted. His smell, so familiar, yet different, teased her memory. And the way he hugged her—it wasn’t like a lover. It was more like a big brother. It made her want to never let go.

She finally broke their embrace when she regained her control and invited him into the room. With a glare at Norris, she slammed the door in his face.

Wyatt looked around and nodded. “I’m shocked that Barrett put you up in this one. This is his room.”

She stopped and traced the walls with her gaze as she wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks. Vivid memories of how Barrett had snacked on her flesh and driven her into a wild orgasm right there on that bed had her flush with excitement.

“So it is. Why is that such a big deal?”

“Barrett never lets any of the subs into his room. He must really have it bad for you. And the way Chris was ready to go through your brother to get to you…They both have it bad.”

She closed her eyes against his comment. She didn’t want to be just another one of the subs. She wanted to be a lover—their only lover. Their wife. The mother of their child.

At least she got to be the last one. One out of three wasn’t that bad.

“Why are you here?” Sarah looked at Wyatt.

He stared back. “Are you going to tell them?”

She stilled. “Tell them what?”

“Sarah, it’s obvious that you’re pregnant.”

Her jaw dropped clean to the floor. “How did you know?”

“I didn’t, not until now.”

Now she was pissed. “That was a dirty trick.”

“Do you know which one it is? The father, I mean.
”

She shook her head. It didn
’
t matter to her. They were both the father. They
’
d all created this child together.

“
Why haven’t you told
them
already?”

“I’m waiting for the right time.”

He shook his head and let out a long sigh. “There is no right time. Barrett has lost everything, Sarah.
Everything
. And Chris is at a loss on how to help.”

“We can still catch Lucky. Norris said his trail is still warm. Amber is really good at tracking. She’ll find him. She’ll get your money back.”

He laughed but didn’t have an ounce of humor in his tone. “You don’t get it. That isn’t what has Barrett ready to give up and Chris ready to join him. Neither one of them are the same man since you. They both sit in the dark and just stare at the fire. I’ve never seen either one of them like this. I thought their infatuation with you was just so Barrett could get over Gail
,
and Chris just played along. Now I know better. Had I known how they really felt
,
I wouldn’t have driven you away.”

The sadness in his voice shocked her. Wyatt looked so lost, so gloomy. Those stunning blue eyes swirled with such pain it made her ache.

“What can I do? They don
’
t love me, Wyatt. It was all part of their role.”

Wyatt brought that striking gaze to her. “If you believe that,
really
believe that, then you are just as blind as they are. Love them, Sarah. I know you do. Tell them. They both need saving a hell of a lot more than the ranch does.”

“What about you? How would you feel if Barrett and Chris and I…If a miracle happened and we all did end up together, would you and the others be okay with that?”

He laughed as he went back to the door and rested his hand on the knob before turning to her. “Sarah, you’ve always been their girl. It was never to fulfill a contractual obligation.
”

“
What about you?
”

He glanced back over his shoulder.
“
What about
m
e?
”

“
Have you ever fallen in love with a guest?
”