Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(94)

Cooper was the one with something to lose. Dane couldn't care less if the press inconvenienced his father, but Cooper was still close to his family, and he'd heard the press had been harassing them.

A low laugh escaped Cooper's throat. "Are you kidding? Have you met Colorado ranchers before? My momma met those reporters at the gate with a shotgun in her hands, and my brothers decided it would be fun to drive the herd their way. Said they'd never seen a bunch of city folks run so fast. And they want to be invited to the wedding so the guest list could get big, but I can't let Momma down. Not just because she's already bought a dress, but also because she still scares me a little."



       
         
       
        

There was a long laugh, and Dane looked back at Tal, who was walking toward them. He'd been so grim before, but now there was a light in his eyes. "Rest assured, Cooper, that your family is more than welcome here. I can't wait to meet them."

Cooper reached out and shook Tal's hand. "I thank you for that. And when the time comes, I'll consult with the kitchen staff because my parents don't eat anything that hasn't been fried and smothered in gravy. Now, do you happen to know if you have a battering ram handy because I suspect our fiancée is currently barricading herself in her suite as we speak."

"I have some climbing equipment. I can scale the balcony. The doors into her room are about half glass. I can cut through it and be in the room in about a minute and a half," Lan said with utter confidence. He shrugged a little when he noticed everyone was staring at him. "I think about things at night. Do you really think she's going to lock us out?"

"I do not believe so," Tal said. "I think the possibility of her pregnancy has made Alea rethink her position."

So she knew she needed a father for her baby. It wasn't all he wanted from her, but a step in the right direction. He still had to wonder if she would always resent him for forcing the marriage. Would he always be just another man who bent her to his will?

"She asked to start seeing the counselor again." Tal was practically beaming.

"She wants to talk about her captivity?" Dane had tried every sneaky trick in the book to get her to open up. He wanted it to be him she talked to. He was a selfish bastard, but he was also deeply in love. He would take what he could get.

Fuck. He would take her any way he could and pray that he could make her love him. He'd started their relationship with the firm belief that she'd have to take him as he was because he couldn't change. But now he realized that he would. He refused to be another man who controlled her. All his life he'd needed that control, craved it, but he needed her more. He needed to be a husband and father more than he needed to be a Dom.

"If you gentlemen would care to join us? We've got everything set up and we've found some interesting information," Riley said.

Dane joined his partners and walked into the conference room, the knot still in his gut.



* * * *



Alea sat on the sofa in her living room, looking out the window as night began to fall. Pinks and oranges lit up the sky, and she took it in, feeling more settled than she had in years. All the time she'd been held in that horrible brothel, she'd wanted to come back to this place, to this room. When she'd made it home, she locked herself in for days at a time, refusing all company. She'd sat in this room time and time again, looking for safety and peace and finding none because rooms themselves didn't bring such gifts. 

People did. Love did. She'd been looking for something around her that could fix her when, all along, the power to heal had been deep inside her. Asking Tal to call the counselor had been a decision that only she could make. A decision to really live. A decision to be brave. She could be hurt again. Or her men could be hurt. The people she loved could die. Life had no guarantees.

But she could control allowing herself to love, to build a future and to fight for it. She could choose to face whatever future came with Dane, Cooper, and Landon, as well as the babies they had. She could choose to love them and be the best wife and mother possible.

And it was certain now. The doctor had just left. She was pregnant.

She took a long breath and waited. How long would their meeting take? She knew she could probably walk in and take part, but she didn't want to sit across the table from Dane with all that nastiness between them unresolved, and the last thing she wanted to do was have the discussion in front of her cousins and the investigators. She had already put Dane in that position once. She wouldn't do it again.