The fucker still had him tagged. At one point, Kell would have regarded it as a horrible invasion of his privacy, but now it just felt like someone gave a damn about him. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Eric sighed. “You didn’t.”
Tate shrugged. “He’s been in the hospital. He shouldn’t have been traveling. I had to keep tabs on him. Besides, I didn’t need to tag his phone to hear what he was doing. I just had to talk to Jeremy from Petty and Associates.”
Yeah, he was never going to be able to slide much past Tate. “I thought he would be good to head up litigation. He got passed over for partner and he’s hungry.”
Eric’s eyes widened. “You’re taking on new partners?”
Tate grinned. “Nope. We’re taking on new partners because we won’t be in Chicago enough to keep the firm running, but I don’t want to give up the income. Do you?”
A huge grin broke across Eric’s face. “Now that you mention it, Belle has very expensive tastes. Do you know how much this master bedroom renovation will cost? We need the money just to feed her need to make things pretty.”
Eric had accepted him back. Kell was finally coming home. A weight lifted off him and he felt lighter than ever.
From the other side of the room, Belle looked up and her eyes sparkled as she caught sight of him. He could see her relieved sigh. She’d thought he wouldn’t return. He couldn’t blame her for fearing he would walk away for good. He’d started to a hundred times. But the thought of never holding her again had stopped him. He intended to prove to her that he was a changed man. He’d changed for her. Because of her.
After a quick hug, Belle left Kinley and approached him with a wariness in her eyes that saddened him. She slid into his embrace, but didn’t give him her usual full-body cuddle.
Obviously, she had no idea he’d come back to stay.
“Hey, Kellan. I’m so glad you could make it back for the engagement party.” Her smile was gorgeous but didn’t quite reach her eyes. “How was Chicago?”
His whole body went on alert the minute she got near him. Blood thrummed through his system, racing to get to his cock because it had been far too long since he’d been inside her. “Chicago was fine, but DC was a little more interesting.”
Everyone stopped, all three of them staring at him. It was good to know he could still surprise them.
Eric reared back in shock. “What on earth did you do in DC?”
“Shit. Did you kill someone?” Tate looked wide-eyed. “Because you really should have called us, man. We would have helped bury the body.”
It was good to know he could count on Tate if he ever needed to murder someone.
Kell laughed. “I didn’t kill anyone.” Though he had laid a couple of his demons to rest. “I went to see my father.”
Belle had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him. “You wanted to mend the rift between you?”
He hadn’t changed that much. “Hell, no. I looked the asshole in the eye and told him what I thought of him. And then I told him I wanted to be part of the family again—and not because I’m desperate to get in good with dear ol’ dad.”
Belle reached for him. “You want to know your brother.”
His brother. Harrison Kent was a toddling ball of energy being raised by nannies and housekeepers. He would be sent to boarding school in a few years, poor guy. His brother was innocent, and he needed to know that he always had a place with someone who would care no matter what. Kellan intended to give his brother what he’d never had—someone who understood him, someone who loved him for who he was, not what he could accomplish or who he could crush on his rise to the top.
“I do. I don’t know how much contact Dad and Lila will let me have, but I’ll take whatever I can get.”
He’d finally figured something out. He didn’t have to be perfect for the people he loved. He just had to be there. With them. Through everything.
“I’m so glad,” Belle said. She kissed him on the cheek. “Kellan, I’m truly happy for you.”
“How long is this party going to take?” He was anxious to get to the good part.
“It’s winding down now,” Belle explained. “Kinley’s getting tired. The pregnancy is rough on her, but she’s so happy I don’t think she cares.”
Tate leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll have the caterers start wrapping up.”
Eric shook his hand. “Good to have you back. I’ll start gently moving people toward the exits. We have a lot to talk about.”
They did.
And Belle had to answer a question before she spent the night serving her Masters.
All three of them.
* * * *
Belle tried to calm her shaky nerves as she let Sir back inside. The house was quiet, the guests and caterers gone. The place was back into shape for the next day. She was going to start meeting with clients tomorrow and her first ones would likely prove to be fairly easy, since Eric and Tate wanted her to decorate their brand new offices here in New Orleans.
She would miss having them with her all day, but she wouldn’t miss the masses of paperwork and computers underfoot and on her grandmother’s antique surfaces. They were all starting fresh.
How long would Kellan stay with them?
She patted her puppy’s head and settled him into his little dog bed they kept in the kitchen. She would have let him sleep in her room, but Eric had nearly killed the little thing by rolling on top of him because Sir wouldn’t stay off the bed. Despite the fact that their new bed was built big enough for four, Sir always tried to sleep right against someone.
Was Kellan going to take her up on her offer? Was he going to visit her for sex, then go back to his life in Chicago? It had seemed all right when she’d made the offer weeks ago, but now she wasn’t sure she could surrender herself to him all night, then watch him leave the next morning.
After discovering that none of the men were in the living room or the library, Belle started up the stairs. She’d watched them talking together through the end of the party. They’d had their heads together, and their conspiratorial air had given her pause. What were they up to? They’d given every appearance of plotting and planning together. Had they been deciding how to tell her she’d have two husbands, not three?
Belle stopped just short of the third floor. When she closed her eyes, she could still see Kellan lying on her bedroom floor, wounded. Bleeding. That night, she’d been so scared he would die. She’d pressed her hands to his body, as if trying to push her life force into him. She’d refused to let him go then. She wasn’t sure she could do it now.
No matter what he told her tonight, she couldn’t give up on him. He had a second chance. So did she. Belle intended to fight harder than ever.
Resolve settled over her like a warm blanket. Kell was evolving. He’d gone to DC and confronted his father. He’d reached out to start a relationship with his brother. Those two things had been inconceivable a few weeks before. But now, Kellan was accepting his past in a way he never had. She had to believe he’d come around in time. She would wear him down, give him so much love he wouldn’t be able to say no to her in the end.
She opened the door, ready to don something sexy and fight for her reluctant man as she seduced the other two.
But Kellan stood in the middle of the room, looking absolutely perfect in his suit and tie. Eric and Tate flanked him. Someone had transformed the place.
Belle looked around in complete wonder. “How did you do this?”
Everywhere she looked, the room seemed soft and romantic. At least a hundred candles lit the room with gauzy splendor. And dozens of bouquets of her favorite flowers, calla lilies, lay all around the room.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Kellan asked, his voice tight with some unnamed emotion. “This place is magical.”