“Remember this is the man who beat your brother’s face to a bloody pulp.” Jacob spoke loud enough for Landon to hear.
Lou tensed. “You’re right. You can certainly handle the chair by yourself.” She folded her arms over her chest, and Jacob smirked at his brother.
“That’s not very nice,” Riley said, coming into the room carrying two boxes from her kitchen. “That was all in the name of sport, and you’re using it to stop her working hard.”
“See, Riley doesn’t hold a grudge. We’re totally friends, right, Riley?” Landon asked.
“Total BFFs all the way.” Riley clapped Landon on the back. “I’m still not helping you carry that chair. I’ve heard you’ve spent most of your down time playing games. You’re not going to catch any girls by becoming a couch potato.”
Lou laughed and moved away from him. Jacob caught her by the waist, tugging her against him. “You see, I told you that my brothers would be more than happy to help.”
“We didn’t have a choice. On pain of death, you better be there, I think those were the words,” Gideon said, entering the apartment.
“You’re all making my apartment look small,” Lou said.
“You don’t have a lot of stuff,” Charlotte said, coming out of the kitchen with a box of her own. Maddox was following close behind her with two more boxes.
“I thought I’d gotten a lot.”
“In your new place, it’s going to make everything seem so small. Jacob will take you out shopping.” Charlotte winked at her and moved out of the apartment.
“I’m going to pack up the bedroom.” Lou patted his hands, but Jacob wouldn’t let her go without taking the kiss he wanted. He saw she looked sad, so he followed her.
“What’s up?” he asked.
She had opened a wardrobe and started taking out some of her clothes. “Nothing, why?”
“You’re just a little quiet.” He moved past her, going to her clothes, and taking a bunch out. She was removing the hangers and folding them up, so he did the same.
“It’s nothing.”
“Lou, babe, you’re going to have to trust me.”
She sighed, dropping the folded dress on the bed before turning to him. “Are you really ready for this? Moving in is a huge step.”
He chuckled. “You think I don’t know that?”
“I’m trying to be serious.”
“Lou, you’re always serious, and it’s time that you stop being serious, and start having some fun.” He placed the skirt that he’d been folding on the bed and caught her hips, pulling her against him. His cock nestled against her stomach, and if it wasn’t for all of his family, he’d have taken her again. They hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night as he hadn’t been joking in the bath. Three months was a long time to go without, and he’d done his best to make up for the lost time. “If I could have, the first night I saw you, I’d have gotten you to move in.”
“You’re not being serious,” she said.
“I’m being totally serious. I think it’s time I tell you about the Denton men.” He stared into her eyes.
“Is this something about the Denton legacy?”
“It is, and it’s so much more. Tell me what you know?”
“The work you do, the jobs you have to take. It’s all part of the family legacy. You’re born into it,” she said.
“That’s part of it. The other part, well, let’s just say I didn’t believe it until I met you.”
“I’m confused.”
Cupping her cheek, he stroked his thumb across her lip. “It happened to my father, my uncles, my grandparents, to all of the male family line. We’ve not had a lot of women in our family. Tamsin is the first girl in three generations at least.”
“Okay, so if we ever had kids, they’d be all boys? Is that what you’re trying to say to me.”
He shook his head. “The moment we see the woman destined to be ours, we know.”
Lou frowned. “Destined?”
“I know, it makes me sound completely crazy but the men in our line, we’re fated to love one woman, to be so consumed by her.”
“You’re starting to sound crazy.” She placed her hand to his forehead. “Are you okay? Maybe you’re sick.”
“It’s true, Lou,” he said.
“It is,” Maddox said, coming into the room, followed by Charlotte. Jacob turned toward his parents.
He held Lou in his arms, thankful she didn’t try to escape him.
“No one can feel like that.”
Maddox shrugged. “It’s the way of the Dentons, honey. We see the woman who is supposed to be ours, and the rest is history. We don’t have a choice, and we fall in love.”