For now, they seemed content to lie there and focus on breathing.
"Sorry." He handed the vase back to Tal. "I'll talk to them."
Tal nodded. "That was a start."
"How the hell can you say I haven't been trying with her? I've been on walks with her almost every day. I try talking to her, coaxing her out of her shell. I've brought her treats, complimented her … Everything I should."
"Everything a vanilla man should. Alea requires more, and you know it."
Fuck. "She's fragile."
"She's also submissive without a firm Dominant. She's in free fall without a safety net. Rafe, Kade, and I have stood back, hoping you three would get your act together, but … " Tal shook his head.
Damn and hell. Tal wasn't telling him anything about Alea he hadn't already known. Every instinct in his body told him to top her, but she just kept shoving back. He didn't want to push her too hard. He'd been down that road with Kelly, and it had only ended in divorce.
"I can't force her to see what she needs," Dane argued.
"I've watched you with Alea," Kade said, stepping up. "You're at your best when you tell it like it is. But you've been very careful with her. Hell, we all have. My brothers and I have resolved to stop now. You have to do the same. I'm not telling you to force her to your will, but you should be open and honest about everything you can do for her. What the three of you give her."
"We've tried so many things," Rafe added. "We've brought in therapists, given her charity work to take her mind off things, surrounded her with family and friends from her past who can help her remember happier times. None of it has worked. She pretends to be content, but she doesn't connect with people anymore."
Coop pushed himself off the floor. "She's got a terrible self-image. She thinks she's ugly and frigid. We can't work on that from a distance."
Lan got to his feet as well, wiping blood from his mouth. "I hate to admit it, but I agree with Cooper. What we've been doing so far hasn't worked. We've been treating her like she's too fragile. We've almost convinced her that she is, too. But she won't break. She just needs to know that we're strong enough to handle her."
Dane looked at his two best friends. They had beaten each other stupid, but now they were standing together. Maybe that's what real brothers were like. And maybe it was time to start following his instincts. Alea was floundering. Her world had been broken in a way that she couldn't put back together all alone. She didn't know how to ask for help and was afraid to need it. She was damn straight terrified to open her heart.
He'd worked plenty of operations where he couldn't just walk through the door, guns blazing. The key was strategy. Find a sneaky way in. He could manage that. A two-pronged approach would work. He could start doing exactly what Tal had suggested, tell Alea everything she was missing, everything they could give her in the filthiest language possible. He wouldn't hold back. He wouldn't be polite. And he wouldn't let her get away with anything.
And then, when she couldn't stand another second, they would deliver on their promises. They would show her just how beautiful they thought she was, how hot they could make her, how high they could send her soaring. Once her body belonged to him and his brothers, her heart wouldn't be far behind.
"Go get cleaned up," Dane said to Landon and Cooper. "We have a lot to talk about. Tal, please have the investigators send me the report. We'll will regroup in the morning and figure out exactly where to go from here. In the meantime, were going to figure out new protocols for the princess."
Tal held out his hand, shaking Dane's firmly. "The backup security team can handle the rest of the evening. It's winding down anyway. Consider your team reassigned. You're completely in charge of Alea's security from now on. Good luck."
Tal and his brothers, along with their friends, filed down the stairs, heading back to the ballroom, leaving Dane alone with the two men who had watched his back for the last two years. There wasn't anyone else he would rather go into battle with.
This was the mission of a lifetime, and Dane didn't intend to fail.
Chapter Four
Alea nearly cursed when she heard the soft knock on her door. The last thing she wanted was more conflict. At least she was dressed this time, having donned silk pajamas after a punishingly hot shower. "Please, Dane, can we talk about it in the morning? I'm so tired."
Dane would be the one they sent. He always delivered bad news or a lengthy lecture on how stupidly she was behaving. She knew putting him off wasn't right, but she couldn't handle another confrontation tonight.