Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(25)

Coop's right fist flew out, catching Lan's jaw. There was a thud, and a nasty, happy little smile crept across Lan's face because he was a man who appreciated violence, and Coop had just made the enormous mistake of giving it to him.

Lan's fist popped up almost faster than Dane could see it, and a nice splash of blood came from Coop's face. His lip, it looked like. He'd shifted just enough that Lan hadn't broken his nose.

They started to wail on each other, but Dane had lost the desire to fight.

Because he was pretty sure they had just lost Alea. Or maybe she'd already been lost, and tonight had simply forced him to face facts. The woman spitting the cruel barbs just wasn't his princess.

He heaved a long sigh. She needed him, but she would never acknowledge it, never give him the chance to prove it to her. And, hell, maybe he was wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. Maybe he should just join a fucking club and spend his time with the subs there who came out for a good time. He'd wrecked his marriage. He'd fucked up his career.

"I should have expected this." Tal stood beside him, watching the fight and shaking his head.

Dane turned, and it looked like Tal had brought out the whole fucking gang. Rafe and Kade were with him, along with the three James brothers-Gavin, Slade, and Dex-as well as the Lennox twins, Cole and Burke.



       
         
       
        

"Brothers shouldn't fight like that, man," Dex said, shaking his head.

Gavin James sent his youngest brother a scorching look. "Really? My nose is crooked because of you two fuckers."

Slade shook his head. "That was all on you, brother. Ouch, that's going to hurt. They're not big believers in rules, are they?"

Dane winced because Coop had just landed a kidney shot. "He was my team's medic. I don't think he takes the Hippocratic Oath very seriously. And we're not really brothers."

"That's where you're making your mistake," Rafe said. "If you want Alea, you better behave like brothers. Blood or no, be a cohesive unit. You have to take care of each other and work together."

"Yeah, you've got to do that if you're going to survive your wife. Trust me, Cole's the dumbass. He's always hiding behind me when he says something stupid." The Lennox twin on the right pointed to his other half.

Yeah, Dane would like a word with Cole. "He might want to hide behind you now."

A single eyebrow arched on Cole's face. "You're pissed that I talked to Landon? Well, someone had to. You guys are fucking this up and hard."

The urge to kill flared up again. "Is that right?"

Tal held up a hand. "Before you kill Mr. Lennox, perhaps you should understand a few things."

"Like he could kill me." Cole rolled his eyes.

Burke shrugged. "Dude, we've spent the last year hauling our son around, not training for battle. He would probably take you down."

"Please. I could take him down with Caleb strapped into his baby Snugli across my chest."

"The fact that you just used the word Snugli proves how out of the game we are."

The Lennox brothers continued to argue, but Dane looked to Tal. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what you've tried hasn't worked. You've all come at her in different ways, and she is going to require a coordinated assault where you leave her absolutely no way out. It's imperative the three of you work together. And be smart for a fucking change. I believe she'll respond to how gentle Landon can be, to Cooper's playfulness, and I absolutely believe she needs you most of all." Tal looked pointedly at Dane. "But you're the one who's holding back the most."

Tal could accuse him of a lot of things, but not that he'd been holding back. Something crashed in the background, and Dane looked over his shoulder. Landon had Cooper pinned to the ground, getting ready to bash his head in with what was probably a priceless vase. Idiots.

Cooper kicked up and Lan groaned as his balls met with a steel-toed boot. Every man in the hallway moaned, and Lan started a long fall to the floor. 

Yeah, this was fucking helping.

Dane moved in to avoid utter catastrophe. The last thing he needed was to get billed for damaging historical art or some shit. He caught the vase just before Lan hit the floor.

Cooper and Landon were both on the carpet, chests heaving and blood dripping. They had done numbers on one another.

"You two, stay the fuck down or I will get involved in this," Dane promised. Maybe Rafe was right and they should start considering themselves brothers. If they did that, Coop and Lan better understand that Dane was the big brother, and they were going to have to fall in line.