He wanted to know she wore something he’d bought her. Even if she was Leo’s wife.
“Why are you being such a dumb fuck?” Leo asked. “She will never wear this. If you walk out on her tonight, she won’t even hold it in her hand. Why are you doing this to her?”
“I’m doing this for you, asshole.”
Leo threw his hands up. “Why? So I have to comfort her? So I can sit and watch hours of mind-numbing shows about people cooking things I can’t eat and installing tile? You need to talk, now. And do it fast, because the longer she stews, the worse this is going to get. She could lock us both out of the bedroom, and if that happens, it’s your ass on the couch, understand?”
Leo stalked off the stage toward a more private part of the dungeon. His boots rang out over the silent space. The minute he walked away, the chatter began. Gossip. They were talking about how the Dom in residence had just gotten his ass handed to him by a sub, and his brother had not done a thing right all evening.
He’d fucked Leo, and he hadn’t meant to. His stomach turned. Everything had gone wrong. He could still see the betrayal in Shelley’s eyes. He’d been so sure she would pick Leo. He’d been sure there would be a part of her that would welcome not being forced to make a decision between them.
She hadn’t looked happy at having the decision taken away from her. She’d seemed downright pissed that there was a decision to be made at all.
He’d wanted to find a way to live with them in some form of harmony, and now they were both so angry at him that neither one wanted to look him in the face.
But Leo had said it. Damn it. He’d heard it.
He stalked off after his brother, determined to figure this thing out. He hadn’t done everything he’d done only to lose his relationship with both of them.
“You said you couldn’t share her long term,” Wolf accused.
Leo turned, his brows up in that fashion that always let Wolf know what a dumbass he was being. “I said that when?”
He felt himself flush, but this wasn’t the time to turn back. “I heard you say it to Shelley. You told her you couldn’t share her, and you asked what the two of you were going to do with me. I made it easy on you.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. “Well, baby brother, the next time you decide to eavesdrop, maybe you should hang around and hear the whole conversation. Shelley told me flat out she wouldn’t take me without you. Apparently, she’s got it in her head that she can have us both. I wonder who gave her that idea?”
Wolf felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Had he missed something? He’d heard Leo’s words, and he’d wanted to find a corner and lick his wounds. Should he have stormed into the room and demanded that they all talk?
Leo pointed an accusatory finger his way. “The answer is you did it, Wolf. You walked into this club with a plan, and don’t you dare try to tell me that the plan was to walk in and hand Shelley off to me. What the hell? That is the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve had therapeutic sessions with Kitten. You didn’t make love to her because you were trying to push her off on me. You’ve done everything you could since the minute you walked into here to throw the three of us together.”
“I didn’t know she was the girl you were crazy about until after I fell for her.”
Leo scrubbed a hand through his hair. “And then you decided to be a self-sacrificial idiot?”
God, no one on earth could make him feel as dumb as his brother could. “I couldn’t take her away from you.”
A slow smirk crossed his brother’s face. “As if you could.”
Asshole. But his arrogance was starting to spark Wolf’s own. “You didn’t get into bed with her until I came along. If I hadn’t come to town, you would still be yanking your own dick.”
“Would I? I don’t know about that. I do know that we’re both going to be out in the fucking cold if you don’t find a way to suitably grovel. You hurt her.”
Shame coursed through his system. He hadn’t had faith. “Why did you say it? I heard you, Leo. I get that I misunderstood and I’m a dumb shit, but I don’t understand why you would say it if you didn’t mean it.”
Leo sobered, his shoulders slumping slightly. “The relationships I’ve had before were disastrous. I can counsel people all day long, and I can make sense. I haven’t been good at following my own advice. I made Janine miserable.”
According to Janine, he simply hadn’t loved her the way she’d loved him. His brother had been faithful. Wolf would have bet that if Janine hadn’t left, Leo would still be married to her, still clinging to his vow though he felt more friendly toward her than passionate. “Janine still loves you.”
“But I didn’t love her very well.” Leo’s eyes found the ground. “I think I have a lot of our dad in me.”
Wolf’s jaw nearly dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me? We’re back to this again?”
Leo shrugged. “I probably should have stayed and taken care of Ma. I couldn’t wait to leave.”
“Leo, you wanted your own life. Kids are supposed to leave their homes. Ma is proud of you. You should hear the way she talks about you. You would think you walk on water. She wanted us to find our places. She never wanted us to stay and take care of her. God, Leo, she’s really happy with Mel. They would get married, but they’re worried about aliens tracking the paper trail. You’re under some mistaken impressions, and there’s nothing of our dad in you.”
Leo sighed, the sound a heavy weight. “I don’t know if I can do the kid thing. It scares me. I want them. I really do. I’m brutally jealous of Jack and Julian and Aidan. But I have no idea how to be a father. I didn’t have a dad.”
Wolf felt his heart squeeze in his chest. “But I did. I had a great one.”
Leo’s eyes came up. “Wolf, I was a dumb kid who was just trying to help our mom out.”
“And yet you raised me. Why the hell do you think I was willing to give her up? I love her, Leo. I can’t tell you how much I love Shelley. I fell for her before I even laid eyes on her. Choosing to honor you by giving her up was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I did it because I owe you.”
“Stop owing me anything. Be my brother. Damn it, Wolf, that’s part of the problem between us. I don’t want to be this man you look up to. I just want to be your brother.”
Being with Shelley had pointed a few things out to Wolf. Part of his problems with Leo were just that—his problems. If he wanted this ménage to work long term, he had to move forward and find himself. “I want that, too. I love her. I want to marry her. I want a family with her. I can’t think of anyone I would rather have for a partner, man. But you should know that I won’t be bringing a ton of cash into this relationship. Not for a while. I want to go back to school. I don’t know what I want to do, but I can go to college and figure it out.”
He might be one of the oldest freshmen around, but it was past time to make a choice about his future, and he wasn’t going to just be a guy who stood in the way of bullets. He was going to push himself, be better, for his wife, his brother, his future family.
“I think I can handle you sponging off me for a while,” Leo said, his smile wide. “Besides, you’ll find that Julian blows up from time to time and then he cools down and passes out the bonuses. I’ve saved a lot of money over the years. And Shelley is serious about her business. Julian is going to give her a sterling recommendation. She might be the primary breadwinner. You could get that degree and find yourself playing Mr. Mom.”
He would do it with joy in his heart. And then he remembered what he’d just done. “I think it could be a while before she talks to me again.”