"This makes no sense." She pushes her mug of coffee aside, then locks her fingers together. "Last night, you didn’t protest when I sat on his lap and called you over. Last night, you told him to show me how the Kane men could take care of me. Last night, you invited him to fuck me—"
"And that’s the difference. I allowed it last night. It was at my behest that things happened the way they did. I approved of the two of us fucking you together. I let you take him into your body. I knew exactly what was going to happen and I let it, knowing it would heal the three of us. Make no mistake, Lena. It took place because I permitted it."
"Oh yeah?" Her voice turns casual. "It’s because you gave me permission that I let him fuck me?"
"Of course."
She firms her lips. "It was your idea that the threesome take place?"
He hesitates. "You suggested it, you were up for it, but rest assured, I allowed it to happen. I gave it my blessing. I knew it was best for all of us."
Isaac clears his throat. "Umm, JJ, I don’t think—"
Lena raises a hand. "No, no, let him get this off his chest." She turns to me. "You were saying?"
My heart thuds in my chest. My senses tingle.What am I doing? Why am I trying to, once again, insist that I’m the one in control?Things have gone far beyond that. Truthfully, nothing prepared me for what happened last night or how I feel in the aftermath. It’s destroyed my composure, my balance, my sense of place in the world, even. The only thing I’m sure of is that she’s mine. And I need to figure out how to convince her of that.
"All I’m saying is that it was a one-time thing. It’s not going to happen again. You slept with him because I allowed it, and now we’re moving on, all three of us."
She turns to Isaac. "Clearly, you’re fine with this."
Why is she asking him that question? What does it matter what Isaac thinks anyway? Maybe it wasn’t a pity fuck, but it was close. She didn’t want him to feel left out. It’s why she went over to him and sat on his lap in the sauna. It’s what started the entire sequence of events. And no, I don’t regret it. But I’m also not going to let it happen again.
Isaac meets my gaze, then nods. "I am."
She stares between us. "So, the two of you spoke and concluded that fucking the same woman helped to somehow heal whatever rift was between the two of you, is that it?"
"It wasn’t any woman. It was you." I reach over to touch her, but she shrugs off my hand.
"I must have some magic pussy if your decades-old grouse with each other melted away after sex with me."
"Not just your pussy, but also your arse," I retort.
"Excuse me, what did you say?" She gasps.
"You heard me." I look between her eyes. "None of us regrets what happened. Indeed, it’s helped us bury some ghosts from the past and move on."
"Maybe that’s what the two of you decided, but what about me? What about what I think?"
"What is it you’re thinking, Lena?" Isaac asks.
"Whatever it is you’re going to say, let me just clarify that what happened last night is not going to happen again. Ever," I snap.
She shoves off the barstool. "And you’re not even going to discuss why you’ve arrived at that conclusion?"
"Why should I?"
"See?" She stabs a finger in my chest. "This is the problem. You’re way too autocratic. You make a decision and think everyone else has to fall in line. You’re so set in your ways, it’s infuriating."
"Not as much as you imply, considering I was an equal participant in what happened last night," I shoot back.
She huffs, "That’s probably because you were curious about a threesome, is all."
"I’ve had threesomes before, and what we had was more than that. It changed things for me and Isaac, and it was all thanks to you."
"Will you stop saying that, please? I didn’t do anything."
"You were generous and open with yourself. You saw how upset I was, and you couldn’t just walk away." Isaac, too, slides off his stool. "You also wanted to show JJ how important he was to you. You wanted to be the bridge between the both of us."