Page 63 of Kiss of Smoke

There was a long pause. Then Cindy’s voice went low. “Think very carefully, Chloe. Because—”

“I have.” Chloe squeezed my hand, and a little tug in my chest let me know she was drawing from me. I squeezed back. Take whatever you need, baby. I’d give her anything.

She’d given me everything.

Alec gripped my other hand and feathered his thumb over my knuckles.

“I’m staying in Scotland,” Chloe told her mother.

“With those men?”

“They have names. Alec and Lachlan. And I love them.”

My chest swelled.

“You’re in love with two gay men?”

“They’re bisexual,” Chloe said. When her mother gasped, she kept right on talking. “I don’t expect you to understand. I can’t explain it all right now. Maybe someday…if you’re willing to listen.”

There was another long stretch of silence. When Cindy spoke again, her voice was hard and flat. “Chloe, I’m sure you believe yourself to be in love. But I’m not sure you even know what love is.”

I tightened my fingers around Chloe’s. Alec gazed at her with steady eyes shimmering with power.

She looked between the two of us before drawing a deep breath and focusing on the phone. “You could be right. I may not know what love is, but I definitely know what it’s not. And I have you and Josh to thank for teaching me that.”

Cindy’s swift intake of breath was loud in the kitchen.

“I’m going now,” Chloe said. “If you ever decide you want a relationship, then I’ll expect you to treat me and the men I love with respect. This is the life I’ve chosen. I’m going to go live it.” She reached out and ended the call.

For a moment, the three of us looked at each other. Her words rang in my ears. I love them.

She loved us—enough to uproot her life and enter an entirely new world.

I was moving before I even realized it, circling the counter and plucking her off the barstool so I could take her in my arms. Alec was right behind me, and I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into our circle.

In typical Alec fashion, he got straight to the point. “So you love us, hmm?”

She smiled up at him, her cheeks flushed with pink. “Yes.”

“Do you have a favorite, and why is it me?”

I reached around and pinched his ass.

He leaned down and murmured in her ear. “You can tell me later, lass. For now, just know that we love you, too.”

“Aye,” I said, drawing them both closer. “We love you, Chloe. And we’ll spend the rest of our lives showing you just how much.”

“We’d do anything for you, sweetheart,” Alec added.

She shifted her gaze between us, her big blue eyes shining with love. “Anything?”

“Name it,” he said.

The pink in her cheeks deepened. “I have a few ideas in mind.”

My cock twitched, completely on board with whatever her imagination could conjure.

She reached up and lay her palm against my cheek, then did the same to Alec’s. “For starters,” she murmured, “I was thinking you could lock me in that tower again.”

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