Page 35 of Emeric

“How do you think Jordan gets the ideas for how to stage his murder scenes?” I asked. There was no worry here about what Emeric would say. He’d proven time and again he was there for Jordan. Besides, if he weren’t on Jordan’s side, he would have never been hired. Oleander wouldn’t have let him in here. There was a lot to be said for Emeric being trusted enough to come to the safe house. Few knew its location or what it was like inside.

“You write them?” Emeric asked, surprise evident in his voice.

“It’s fun to do.”

“God, I love your mind,” Oleander said. Then he did the wildest thing. He blushed. Oleander blushed because of something I said. How I continued to stand, I didn’t know. Between Emeric and Oleander, I was shocked I wasn’t a puddle on the floor.

If I really was lucky enough to get to be with both of them in a relationship, I was holding on with everything I had. No one would be able to take them away from me.

I beamed from Oleander’s compliment. He’d said kind things to me before, but this hit different. This was more.

“We should talk,” Emeric said, bringing us to the reason they were here. I didn’t forget completely, just got momentarily distracted. How could I not?

“Let’s sit.” I brought them into the library, where the furniture was more comfortable, and the room wasn’t so formal. This space was my happy place. One of them, anyway. Dinner would keep for a little longer.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever sat in here,” Oleander said as he took a seat. “This was always your room. I didn’t want to invade your space.”

“You’ve been in this house countless times, and you’ve never had a seat in this room?” I asked. I couldn’t believe that. Although, thinking back, he was probably right. When Oleander had been here to teach me to shoot, or when there was a pressing matter that they had to come here for, it was for a reason, not to relax.

He shrugged and leaned back, sinking into the couch. “This is nice. Much better than out there.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

“Even I don’t like sitting there.”

Emeric chose to sit in a chair situated between the couches. I was on one with Oleander on the other.

“Okay, let’s get down to business so we can move on to hopefully much better things, like the meal I smell,” Emeric said. “I see no reason to skate around this. If at any point I say something you don’t agree with, speak up. This will only work if we’re honest and open with each other.”

I nodded and hoped beyond anything that he meant for us to be together.

“Agreed,” Oleander stated.

Emeric continued, “We’re grown men who are attracted to each other. This is not a situation that will be purely sexual. We want to be in a committed relationship.” He paused, waiting for us to speak, and neither of us did. “Obviously, sex isn’t the only reason to get together. If we’re doing this, it has to be at a pace that’s agreeable for all of us. That being said, to put it out in the open, Sylvan and I have kissed. Oleander and I got off together. I’m not saying that to upset anyone, just to state where we are.” His eyes were on me.

I dropped my gaze to my hands.

“Syl…” he said softly.

“It’s fine. We hadn’t defined anything, or even if there was something.” I let out a breath and lifted my chin. “I would have liked to have been there, but I understand.”

“You do?” Oleander asked.

“I have no claim on either of you. We’re adults, like Emeric said. You don’t owe me anything. Going forward, how would this work?”

“Does that mean we’re all in?” Emeric asked.

“Yes,” I said. I was a little jealous to have not been included, although hanging on to that feeling wouldn’t get me anywhere.

“Yes,” Oleander agreed.

“Okay then. How do you feel about sex in any form? Only when it’s the three of us, or are we okay when it’s two?”

“Or one.” Oleander waggled his eyebrows.

I laughed. It was what I needed. “I’m fine with just two, but I think this should be open to being revisited if one of us is feeling left out.”

“Are you sure?” Emeric had caught my jealousy easily when I dropped my head before.

“Yes.” I sat up straighter. The more I thought about it, the more it felt right.