Unfortunately, he was fairly certain she wasn't the only one who was going away for good. No matter how he tried to reach Tori, she seemed further away than ever.
They made love to her every night, pushing her boundaries a bit more, preparing her for what they all wanted. She was loving and giving when they stripped her down, but the moment they donned clothes again, the careful distance she always maintained snapped back in place.
Callum was beginning to ask himself if he could truly breach her walls. Given the rate of her progress now, two more weeks didn't seem like enough time to win her.
"Ah, you need fortification, too, I see." Rory sighed and grabbed a glass. "Her lawyer alone is enough to drive a man to drink. Do you think she found him on a list of the most despicable solicitors in Great Britain?"
Thea's solicitor was a cadaverously thin prat with dark eyes that made Callum think of the Grim Reaper. "I hate all of this."
Rory poured himself two fingers of the fifty-year-old liquid. "It'll be over soon."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
Rory's jaw tightened. "Don't be. I was talking about Thea, not Tori. It's going to be all right."
"How can you say that? She's no closer to becoming our wife than she was before. She won't talk about the future."
"She's skittish, but she's also smart. She'll make the right choice."
"Or we'll kidnap her again." Oliver strode in. "We're going to need more Scotch to get through this day." He clapped a hand on Callum's shoulder. "We're going to take care of the Thea situation. Maybe then the press will settle down."
"We promised her. We told her if she would give us thirty days, we would let her go if that's what she still wanted." That vow haunted him, kept him up at night. But he was a man of his word.
Oliver shrugged a shoulder elegantly as he poured himself a drink. "We promised her she could leave if she gave it a real shot."
Rory nodded. "Good point. She hasn't done that. She's enjoying the sex and holding herself apart the rest of the time. So our deal is off. I say we give it the thirty days, then we put her on a private plane back home. But, oh, it got diverted. That's so sad. I'm thinking of that little island we own in the Bahamas. It's quite lovely."
His brothers were ruthless. He might dominate in the bedroom, but they had the devious minds. "I don't know if that will do anything but make her angry."
"She'll relent after a few years. Also, oops, we accidentally left the condoms behind. After we impregnate her a couple of times, she'll settle right down," Rory explained.
Callum had to laugh. "What century are you living in?"
"The one where we get the girl and we're all happy," Rory shot back. "I intended to play fair, but she's not, so why should we?"
Oliver leaned against the bar. "All of this is a moot point. I've handled it. We won't have to risk prison or try to find a sneaky way to impregnate her. I think she'll fall into our hands quite smartly soon."
A little flare of hope sparked through Cal. When that look filled Oliver's face, it meant he knew something the rest of them didn't and he thought his next card would win the game.
Before Callum could speak, the door swung open and a somber-eyed Claire walked in.
She was dressed casually, but a determined look flashed through his sister's eyes. "I'm here to help now. I think it would be best if Callum made himself scarce for the rest of the afternoon."
He would love to, but there was a problem with that scenario. "If I don't make an appearance, Thea won't sign the documents. That's the entire point of this meeting. She swears she'll sign the nondisclosure agreement. If she manages to fake her way through a whole pregnancy and produce a child, I'll take a paternity test. It will be administered by a doctor of my choosing and processed at a lab she can't bribe. That's the agreement."
Claire shook her head. "No. We're not going to reward her poor behavior. And she won't stick to it. She'll simply switch to feeding the tabloids through 'sources' and it will continue on. There is no negotiating with a woman like her. She believes she can have whatever she wants because up until this moment she's been dealing with a bunch of men. I'm going to take charge and absolve her of those ridiculous notions. She'll learn quickly that I won't be moved by false tears or promises of sexual favors."
Rory frowned down at his sister. "I wasn't promised sexual favors."
"I was," Oliver admitted with a sigh.