Marrying Mari (4 page)

Gabriel’s finger flicked the ends of the velvet ribbon at her throat, drawing her eyes to him. Without looking at her directly, he moved away slightly, handing her coat to a staffer who had laid three more small plates, this time sizzling ones, on the table.

When the staffer was gone, Gabriel looked at Ethan. “Maybe we’d better eat and talk. First.”

Mariella glanced back and forth as something passed between the men.

“Back to hinky.” Ethan sounded smooth and cool again. In control.

She considered that, even as Gabriel spooned something from each plate onto a clean one. Added cornichons and olives. For her. “Okay,” she agreed. “Hinky. Like no one pays one thousand dollars just to have a single, practically weightless envelope delivered. No one who’s not doing something hinky, I mean.”

“So hinky means…” Gabriel asked.

“Illegal. Immoral. Dangerous. Wrong stuff that could get me in serious trouble with cops and/or my priest. That’s what hinky means.” She stared at each man.

“The envelope was not hinky, in that case.” Ethan looked her in the eye.

She looked back and conceded. “Okay. Then you were trying to buy something not for sale.” Her chin went up again. “You asked for me specifically. Why?”

Another look zoomed between the men.

“Stop doing that! Stop checking out your story, your con, your whatever. Forget it—let me out of here.” She pushed, actually pushed at Gabriel.

It was like shoving a redwood.

“We did ask for you. Specifically, as you say. Want to know why?” Ethan’s voice was steel.

She looked at him. “I said so, didn’t I?”

“First, the money is yours—no strings. No matter what. And no, no one is trying to buy you. Based on our brief time together, I don’t think it could be done.” Ethan poured more wine for each of them, then settled back. He stared into his glass, then at her. “Have you ever heard of the Colony?” When she shook her head, he continued. “It’s an enclave, a kind of closed society in upstate New York, north of the city. Most people have never heard of it, but I wondered if you might have.”

Mariella stared. “Why?”

“The Colony was founded in the late 1600s. You know the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620. They left England because of religious persecution. About twenty years later, another group did the same. This time not for religious persecution, but because they could see that England was heading for civil war, and that it was likely that the Puritans would win. The Puritans were as narrow-minded as the Royalists, so this group banded together to find someplace more open to their ideas of freedom. Some of the group were Catholic and Royalist, some Protestant, and there were two Jewish families. Mostly, they were wealthy and well educated. So they built three ships, they changed half their worldly goods to portable items, and they sailed west, to America.”

Gabriel took up the story. “When they got here, they landed in Plymouth. But they didn’t stay with the Pilgrims. Instead, after a year they moved to the Hudson Valley, which was primarily Dutch. They settled on the east bank of the Hudson River, north of what would become Manhattan. And they founded the Colony. They bought the land from the natives and the Dutch—twice—paying in gold.”

“Then, in 1664 when the land came under British rule, they petitioned Charles II for colony status. Instead, he gave them a land grant that has never been revoked. One hundred thousand acres reaching from the bank of the Hudson into Connecticut and Massachusetts. Much of it is now developed land, and the people living and working there don’t even know who owns it. But the heart of it is still the closed settlement where the original families, and now their descendants, live.” Ethan sipped his wine.

“Your bank, that’s their bank, right?”

“Our bank, sugar.” Gabriel said. “Ethan and I are direct descendants of the original settlers. Our families, like all the Colony families, keep their money there. Ethan’s family has always managed it.”

Ethan nodded. “The half of the money that didn’t come with the original settlers remained in Europe and, later back in England. A few men stayed to manage it, in Amsterdam and London. We’ve evolved, but not much. It’s still a private bank. The original families still live in the Colony and still live by the rules established back in the 1660s.”

Gabriel added, “With necessary modernization.”

Ethan smiled ruefully. “Not very many.”

She sipped her wine and thought. “So is Insatiable another Colony business?” she asked Gabriel.

“No, it’s all ours. Owning restaurants and clubs doesn’t fit well with Colony members.” He looked at her, then Ethan, then added, “We also own Crave.”

The club where she had delivered the envelope.

“Okay, no matter what you say, this is officially hinky.”

Gabriel put his hand over hers on the table. “Please listen. There’s more.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

“As I said, Gabe and I are direct descendants of Colony settlers. There have been three periods when the Colony opened its doors to new members—only three. Once right after the Revolution, again about a decade after the Civil War and again after World War II. In each case, it was thought that the incoming wave of immigrants would make a great addition to the assets of the Colony on several levels. Those interested or recruited could buy in or, in some cases, were gifted with land and gained a share of the annual profits. One could also enter in those periods through marriage.”

She jerked her head toward Ethan. “Marriage?”

“No one is getting engaged tonight, sweetheart.” Gabriel murmured in her ear.

“But…”

“Right now, we’re in a closed phase. Meaning no new members.”

She sat back, feeling confused and relieved. “Okay. But I’m still in the dark about everything. Why am I here?”

“Hold on, Ethan,” Gabriel growled. A host of waiters appeared at their table and set down three plates, one for each of them. She gawked, and looking up, saw Ethan and Gabriel watching her.

Each plate was exquisitely presented and full of the most delicious smelling food she had ever encountered. Unlike most chic restaurants, apparently Insatiable realized people needed more than nibbles to live on, so the plates held four to five dishes, but each was no more than five to six bites. More croissants, more butter, and a second bottle of wine appeared. After fussing with the silver, the plates and the side dishes, the minions disappeared.

“What do you think, sugar?” Gabriel smiled at her.

“What is this? All of it?”

He shrugged. “Just a sampler of our best dishes. Ethan has his favorites, but I bet he’ll share with you.” He winked at her. “I’ll definitely share mine.” She swallowed. “I’ve made sure there’ll be room for dessert too.”

Mariella tried one dish on her plate. It had a crust that melted in her mouth and she tasted tart, salty, sweet. Shrimp. Mint. Something cool and tangy, like lime custard. Whatever, it was the most delicious thing she’d ever eaten.

“Try this.” Gabriel held his fork to her lips. She licked them, then opened her mouth. He pressed it in, sliding the food onto her tongue. Spicy, with a hot bite and a sweet undertone. She licked her lips again. “Wow!”

“Yes.” Ethan’s eyes were hot again, and when she glanced at Gabriel, there was a smile flirting across his lips, complete with dimples. Their combined stares made a wave of heat sweep over her, leaving her a little breathless and very, very aware of her body’s reaction. Ethan shifted in his seat, cleared his throat, and continued. “Gabe and I have known each other all our lives, obviously. Colony children go to the same school and prep school, located in the Colony. They grow up and live and work in the Colony, at Colony-owned businesses. It’s a very limited life. But even when we were teenagers we both knew we weren’t going to stay there. That we wanted out. We’ve maintained our ties, through our families, for example, but unlike everyone else, we don’t chose to live or work there now. We’ve been accorded a lot of space, but there are conditions. Which bring us to you.” He picked up his fork and began eating.

“I don’t get it.” Mariella sat back. Ethan’s words made her feel apprehensive.

“How much do you know about your family background?” Ethan asked.

“Enough. My mom and dad are both from Queens, my grandparents are dead. Dad split when I was eleven and lives somewhere in the Midwest now. We never see or hear from him. Unfortunately, neither he nor my mom had brothers or sisters, so no aunts, uncles, cousins. It’s just always been the two of us. So what? Are you saying because I don’t have any family?” She stopped, uncertain what she was asking.

Ethan took her free hand in his, holding it gently. “Your mother is not from Queens. Her name is Anna Worth and she was born in the Colony. She ran away when she was sixteen.”

Mariella snatched back her hand, curling the fingers into a fist. “What the fuck? What are you talking about? You’re a liar.”

Gabriel caught her. “Ethan’s not lying.”

She shook her head, confused and upset. “You’re crazy.”

“I’m sorry, beauty.” Ethan’s voice was regretful. “If you’d like to see some documentation, I can provide it.”

“No.” She shook her head. “But so what? You can’t make her go back after all this time.”

“No one wants to send her back, unless she wants to go. Her parents, your grandparents, are dead, yes. But no, we’re not planning to do anything to your mother.” While she watched, Ethan paused. He actually looked uncertain for a moment as he examined her face, then smiled crookedly. “The truth is that Gabriel and I are more interested in you.”

“Why?” Her voice was a whisper.

“One of the conditions of our agreement with the Colony Trust is that we choose a mate. Someone who is a member, with blood ties reaching back into the Colony. A woman who will be our wife and bear our children.” Ethan gazed at her.

Her mouth fell open. She stared at Ethan. Her mind scrambled. “A mate? A wife? And what do you mean
a
mate?” She looked back and forth at the two men. “
One
woman for both of you? As in,
both
of you?”

Ethan nodded. “That is exactly what I mean.”

“Oh, hell no.” Mariella responded to his words, as well as to the part of her that went liquid at the image, blasted into her brain, of being naked with these two men. At the same time. Her, naked. Them, naked. In a bed. Or, hell, on a table, up against the wall, on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fireplace. The sequence of erotic images that suddenly and colorfully shot through her conscious mind stunned her. “Oh,
hell
no!” she stated loudly. “Uh-uh, no how, no way, sorry no sale.” She threw down her fork and pushed again at Gabriel’s chest. He captured her hands in his.

“Shh, sugar, we’re not done.” Gabriel’s voice was cajoling, but she heard the steel underneath. Plus, well, she really couldn’t budge him an inch. She was trapped there for as long as they wanted. In response, she folded her arms over her chest, set her chin stubbornly, and stared out into the room, refusing to look at either man.

“This arrangement is not as odd as it sounds inside the Colony. When they first arrived, there were fewer women than men in the group, and some couples opened their houses to a second man, always unattached. It made good economic and survival sense. With three parents, two fathers, the children of the union always had someone to protect them. The practice lingered. Not all couples choose to embrace it. Mine didn’t, for example. But for Gabriel and me, it makes sense.”

“Why?” She stared at him imperiously.

Ethan looked at Gabriel, who whispered in her ear, “This isn’t our first rodeo, darlin’.” When her head whipped around, he nodded. “That’s right. We’ve shared women before. It works for us.”

“We’re agreed we want one woman, one mate for the two of us. We’ve been looking for a while. It’s not that easy to find the right woman. Most Colony females want to live inside the community. We don’t. A certain percentage of the available women are related to one or both of us too closely by blood. Others…well, let’s say we already know them and it wouldn’t work.” Ethan’s voice was bland.

“Let me see if I get this. Because I have the right bloodlines, and we’re not related in a
Deliverance
sort of way
and
because I don’t know anything about life inside the Colony I’m strong mating material?” She snorted. “Oh, and because I’m not a rejected fuck toy.”

Ethan’s hand shot out and caught her chin. He looked her in the eyes. “Don’t ever talk about yourself that way. If you do, I’ll have to spank that pretty backside.” His thumb caressed her cheek. “I know this is a shock for you, but no one is going to hurt you. Or force you to do something you don’t want to do. If you aren’t interested, just say so.”

“But I have to be interested in both of you, right?” She stared back.

He nodded. “Right. In terms of a mating. Now if you’re only interested in sex with one of us, that’s something different.” Ethan’s eyes gleamed. “Is that it? You prefer one of us?”

Gabriel crowded her from the right, stroking her thigh under the tablecloth. “Which one?”

She felt hot. Gabriel’s touch made her go liquid as the blood rushed through her body. “Shut up. Just…shut up.”

Ethan smiled again. “No.” She understood why he was president of that bank. How could anyone resist him?