He could still feel the cold air of the coroner’s office as he received the news. Sometimes he had nightmares about that cramped, foul-smelling room. If he’d never gone, if he’d never known, would he have been able to move on? Could he have forgiven himself if it had only been Nikki he’d killed with his neglect?
“Clearly, you’re under some misconception that I’m hung up on a sad event that happened a decade ago.” Now wasn’t the time to trot out the truth.
Slade sat back, obviously disappointed. “I hate it when you lie to me. But I appreciate your help convincing Hannah of our sincerity earlier. She needed to hear that Dex and I are serious about her.”
He’d ached to include himself in that statement he’d made to Hannah about his brothers’
intentions. That had scared him more than anything. “I know you care about her.”
“I love her.”
Gavin envied the unrelenting sureness of Slade’s statement, but he knew he’d never be able to give his whole heart to another person now. “She seems to feel the same way about you two.
Be gentle with her.”
Slade’s lips slid into a grin. “You think the spanking was a little rough?” He’d thought the spanking was absolute perfection. “It seemed to please her.” One eyebrow crept up on Slade’s face as he stared at Gavin. “But it did nothing for you?”
“It relieved me to see that she handled it well.” She’d been sweet and submissive and graceful. So unlike his typical women these days.
Sex had become an exchange for Gavin. He kept a companion, paid for her condo, and gave her an allowance. In exchange, she was his partner in social occasions and sex until he deemed otherwise.
The arrangement was good enough. It was all he deserved.
Slade’s eyes narrowed, and Gavin was deathly afraid that Slade meant to continue this little interrogation. “How is Kristin doing?”
Kristin? He hadn’t talked to her in over a year. “I think she got married, actually.” Slade’s fingers drummed along the arm rest. “That’s right. You’ve moved on to Tiffany.
She’s your latest…girlfriend?”
He said girlfriend in a halting way, as though he knew the words didn’t fit, but couldn’t come up with anything better. Gavin could. “She was my mistress, Slade. And she’s no longer with me, either.”
His current mistress, Brooke, was exactly like Tiffany, and the sort of woman he needed—
cold, skilled, and efficient.
Slade rolled his blue eyes. “Mistress. That makes you sound like some freaking nineteenth-century lord. No one has mistresses these days.”
“It’s the perfect accessory for the modern-day CEO.”
“You’re more than a CEO, Gavin. I wish you would understand that there’s more to life than work.” Slade’s eyes drifted to the woman at his side. She twisted in her sleep, and her head rolled from Dex’s shoulder to Slade’s. His brother cupped her cheek and kissed the top of her head, practically sighing at the contact. “There’s a lot more.” Resentment bubbled up in Gavin. Of course Slade thought there was more to life than work.
He’d been in college when their world had nearly been ripped out from under them. Gavin was the one who had to deal with the fallout of their father’s untimely demise. Slade had been in college, and Dex had followed him there for fraternity fun and games. Given the fact that Slade and Dex were only a few months apart in age, it was no surprise they had fallen in together. By the time Gavin had been able to come up for air, Slade and Dex had bonded, and Gavin was on the outside.
In the years that had passed, nothing had changed
“How about you work on your little engineering projects, and I’ll run the company.” Slade frowned. “My ‘little engineering projects?’ You mean like the project that found a huge reserve in the middle of the Gulf? That billion-dollar project?” Gavin was saved by the trill of his cell phone. He looked down at the caller ID. Burke Lenox.
The man worked fast. He stared for a moment wondering what he wanted from this call. If the Lenox brothers had solved the crime already, then he and his brothers could turn right around and take Hannah home. Or he could leave and let her, Dex, and Slade have a romantic getaway.
He didn’t want to leave. He wanted more. Damn it, he was tired of being on the outside.
But it wasn’t going to change.
“You’re right. I’m sorry about the engineering crack,” Gavin said shortly. If he wanted to get back in good with his brothers, he needed to stop being such an asshole. He slid the answer button on the phone, and was surprised at how fast his heart was beating. “Lenox? What have you got for me?”