Sterling Gates
“King, you may want to consider heading back to the compound for a bit until things settle down,” Mr. Ross’s voice echoed through the speakerphone as King leaned back in the office chair, running a hand over his face.
“I’m not leaving,” King stated evenly, and I knew it wasn’t because he was afraid of getting in trouble for leaving the country during a possible investigation.
“I wasn’t suggesting that you go alone. I think Mr. Aldridge agrees that Dahlia hanging around Camellia isn’t making this situation any better,” he pointed out evenly.
Stratton’s head snapped up from what he was looking at near the bookshelf. I arched a brow in surprise because what Mr. Ross was suggesting was… well, surprising. Dermot nodded in agreement as King stared down at the desk, seemingly caught on how to handle this.
“You know what that would mean,” King leveled. “Telling her is one thing, but bringing her there…”
“There really isn’t a way to backtrack from this, son,” his father admitted with a sigh. “They have video evidence. The greater evil is staying there right now. Until we get the media handled, no amount of money can buy off public suspicion, and it’s just going to grow. Your presence may even encourage Greg to make the stupid decision to come forward.”
Yates entered the room, his gaze conflicted, making me know he had heard the conversation. Probably from one of the many fucking cameras he had in this estate.
“I want to ask her, make sure she knows what she’s agreeing to,” King muttered in thought, but I was pretty damn sure he had already decided. “Mr. Aldridge isn’t going to skin me alive for this?”
A familiar chuckle sounded in the background as King grunted, knowing that wasn’t exactly a ‘no.’ It wasn’t the only thing that I suspected Dahlia’s father was considering hurting us over.
Mr. Ross continued, “Just get this handled, King; you don’t need to be stateside right now. We can talk about everything else later.”
Yeah, like how the families were going to have to come to terms with the fact that all their sons were dating the same girl. Although ‘dating’ seemed like the wrong term, and while I didn’t have solid proof besides Mr. Ross, I had a feeling the parents had been aware of something going on for some time. We hadn’t been typical teenagers or high-schoolers by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m positive they thought it was weird that we had never dated anyone else and attended every event with Dahlia. Or how we spent our entire weekends with her, avoiding going to any parties outside of the events held by our families. Or making our decisions based around where Dahlia was going to be after high school. Our parents weren’t stupid; they had to know.
Everyone had known except for Dahlia, it seemed, and because of that people had tried to prey on the weakness of her not knowing. Specifically people we went to school with. The best part? Because we spent every moment with Dahlia, any rumors that people tried to start at school about us dating or sleeping with anyone were easily proven false. It was almost laughable, the notion of being with someone else when Dahlia was in my life or on this planet in general. Long before I even knew what sex was, the concept of being friends with another girl felt like a betrayal, felt like I would be hurting her. So the notion of sleeping with someone else? Absolutely fucking ridiculous.
“And we are going to be having a conversation later, boys,” Mr. Aldridge called out as I ran a hand over the back of my neck. I literally heard my father laughing in the background, and I cursed, knowing that he would throw us to the fucking wolves—also known as Mr. Aldridge—if we fucked this up.
“We can have the jet there by Friday if you let me know by morning,” Mr. Ross offered quietly. King nodded despite his father not being able to see it.
I turned my head towards the door, hearing Dahlia make her way through the house, her voice echoing alongside my brother’s in the lofty hallways.
“I’ll let you know,” King agreed and said goodbye, hanging up as I offered him a look. Stratton shifted from where he was standing, his very obvious conflict playing across his face. I think Stratton wanted Dahlia completely isolated from the danger of the world but also didn’t approve of the means to do so.
I had to admit I’d missed the bastard, especially because he was so much more rational than Yates, King, and even my own brother. It was a balancing act between us, and when he had stopped hanging out with us, that element had been tilted. Which was also why shit had probably gotten so twisted over the years. Then again, I had no doubt that there weren’t many things Stratton wouldn’t do for Dahlia, if his behavior at school had been an indicator. He’d nearly gotten expelled so many times for beating the shit out of people, it was shocking he’d ever graduated.
“This is a bad idea, King,” Stratton stated firmly. “She shouldn’t be part of any of that shit, and you know it.”
King tilted his head back and massaged his temple with the hand propped up on the leather desk chair. “Stratton, I know exactly how you feel about the shit my family does. Not only is it way too late to keep her out of it, but she doesn’t take the same issue with it that you do.”
“Her life is going to be constantly at risk—”
“Either way,” Dermot finished. “Whether she accepts this part of her life now or not, she will always be in danger. That’s just how it is.”
“This is fucked up,” Stratton muttered and then grunted, “Her father may actually kill us.”
“May?” Yates mused. “I can assure you that he will want to kill us; there is no question about it. Especially once he realizes that it’s all six of us attempting to date his daughter.”
Dermot nodded, putting his hands in his pockets, looking completely unconcerned. I was going to assume that was because he’d never seen Mr. Aldridge lose his shit. Not much scared me, but King’s father or Dahlia’s father angry? That would do it.
“‘Attempting’ isn’t the right word,” I added.
“Think it will make it any better that I plan on finding a way so that we can all get married eventually? Even if it’s just ceremonial?” King asked thoughtfully.
Christ. I mean, this wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation, but in light of everything occurring and the path we were on, it seemed far more serious. Not that I was against that in any way, but it was a bit odd to finally be openly talking about something we’d wanted for years.
Odd, but good. And if Dahlia liked the idea? Well, fuck. That would be amazing.
“Probably worse,” Dermot chuckled, not freaked out by the notion of marrying Dahlia, which told me everything I needed to know about his feelings regarding her. “At least if it’s casual in his mind, he doesn’t have to think about everything that goes along with her being married.”