Claimed by Three (2 page)

“Well, she was sitting with her friends at a table, talking. She was so relaxed I became angry. I asked her if she was trying to drive you crazy. Imagine my surprise when she didn’t know you were trying to get in touch with her, other than by holo-comm, much less trying to court her.” Samuel glowered at his son.

“We haven’t been able to get close enough to court her. We’ve been busy. Every time we try to find her, she’s not at her house or her work.” Teague rolled his eyes. “We were trying to be subtle.”

“She thinks the only reason you’re trying to contact her is you want to apologize to her. She’s probably avoiding the calls, because she doesn’t feel like hearing anything about it.” Samuel tapped his hand against his thigh. “And at what point did you start dating Lillie Malone?”

“We’re not dating Lillie Malone, Dad. You know that.” Kassius’s tone lowered. He frowned. His hands clenched, and his body tensed as his annoyance began to show. “Why would we apologize to her?”

“Because you three managed to sabotage your relationship with her before it ever began.” Samuel glared at both of them. “On top of that, you’ve been seen around the city more than once with Lillie, at the least, in your company. Even Sephanie’s friends think you’re dating Lillie.”

Teague shook his head and tried to make sense of what Samuel had told them. How could they have damaged their relationship with Sephanie when it had barely begun? As for Lillie, the woman gave new meaning to “persistent” and apparently did whatever her father told her. She’d shown up in several places they’d been and invited herself to sit with them. She’d asked to dance with them.

“How did we manage to sabotage our relationship?” Teague shifted on his feet restlessly. Kassius’s father seemed to have gotten so much information from Sephanie, while they couldn’t catch her at work or on the holo-comm. “You never said why we’d apologize.”

“Your mouths ran off when she was near enough to hear at her café. I think while you were at her bakery during the time her brother was threatened. I’m sure you didn’t mean the words in the way she perceived them. She did take offense. She tried to hide it, but she was hurt.” Samuel’s eyes swung from one to the other as he waited for a response.

“Our mouths… What did we say? I can’t remember saying anything that would cause her any pain.” Teague frowned as he tried to think what she might have heard.

“Do you remember talking with one another and one of you telling the others something to the effect of you were ready to end the job of watching over her and you had better things to do?” Samuel’s stern gaze bore into them.

Teague closed his eyes as he remembered. It was the last time they’d seen her. Someone had threatened her brother, Cooper, a fellow guard in the PD. The threat had spread to his family. They’d been at Sephanie’s shop, watching over her. That day they’d been talking among themselves.

Teague hadn’t meant they had better things to do than watch over her. Yes, he remembered that, but it had been part of a larger conversation started before they came to her shop. Even though they were in public, he hadn’t thought about how that might sound to someone hearing it. He wanted the danger to be over so they could begin to build a relationship with her.

They couldn’t do it while watching over her. It was hard enough to sit in her bakery and try to be unobtrusive guards. They’d lose what little objectivity they had if they were involved with her. She’d been so vulnerable in that shop. They’d longed to take her away and keep her out of sight from the moment they’d learned of the possible danger to her.

“So she thinks we’re dating Lillie and we had better things to do than watch over her. She thought we considered it a waste of time.” Teague’s eyes widened as realization hit him. That explained the cold attitude he’d received from Cooper, but why the man hadn’t taken a swing at him was beyond him. He didn’t have a sister, but he did have female cousins. If someone had said something similar about one of his cousins, he’d have been tempted to do worse than take a swing.

“Damn, we’ll have to make sure she knows we weren’t talking about her. Not in the way she obviously thought. We hoped to get that damn mess out of the way so we could focus on convincing her to be our woman. No wonder she didn’t answer our call.” Kassius thrust a hand through his hair.

“I don’t think she’ll believe you at first. I also don’t imagine she’s been waiting around for you. So if you still intend to get her attention, it might be a good idea to start now.” Samuel turned on his heel and stalked away from them.

Teague didn’t know where to begin. If she hadn’t hidden from them before, she might this time. He couldn’t imagine her conversation with Samuel had been comfortable.

“Damn.” Teague thought about what she could be doing if she wasn’t waiting for them. She’d better not be dating someone.

“I know. He’s done this with my mom. She rips into him, but it doesn’t stop him.” Kassius drew in a deep breath. “I always thought she overreacted, but now? No.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. He cares and that’s good, but I’m glad my mother’s not here. Or my father, for that matter. They would have done worse. They might have decided to appropriate her for us if they thought we were moving too slowly.” Teague grinned. His parents were entertainers and had traveled for most of his life. The only stable home he’d had was with his grandparents. With all the moving around they did, sometimes his family took the most expeditious route rather than the strictly legal one.

“Then what were you cursing about?” Kassius began heading back to the envia plum grove.

“What your father said about her not waiting. She might have been dating while we were busy here.” Teague felt nervous about that. They couldn’t lose her. Not even if he had to resort to less-than-legal methods himself.

Kassius frowned. “Oh fuck, yeah, if that’s happening, we need to stop it. We’ll talk to Berenger and find her as soon as possible.”

* * * *

Berenger climbed down from the harvester-glider, bracing his hand on the big black bin as he took the final step to the ground. He grabbed a rag from the portable table where he’d set up his tools. With a last glance at the big piece of machinery, he turned to face Kassius and Teague where they waited.

Fucking hell, this isn’t good.
He exhaled slowly.

“So what’s wrong with it?” Teague leaned against the wall of the equipment shed.

It would be easier to tell them what wasn’t wrong with it. Berenger grimaced. “The wiring was messed with, but that’s not all. Someone sabotaged the fuel cell. That’s leaking and will need to be replaced. Something’s been put in the engine. I don’t know what, from the first inspection. The harvester belt’s been cut and the rollers bent. There’s probably more damage I haven’t found.”

“Can you fix it?” Kassius asked.

“Yes, but Kassius, this was no prank. Someone either tried to make this an expensive repair or meant for you to have to completely replace it.” Berenger walked over to his tools and began cleaning them. He gritted his teeth to keep from blurting out the suspicions swirling in his mind.

“No prank.” Kassius said the words as if feeling them out.

“And we had dinner with someone not too long ago who mentioned how useful we might find some extra money.” Teague straightened, coming away from the wall.

“Yes.” Berenger limited himself to one word. The conversation with the other man seemed to replay in his mind.

Derek Malone wanted a tract of land Kassius owned. A few days after Kassius had said no to the deal, one of the most expensive pieces of equipment on the property had been deliberately vandalized. It was too damn coincidental.

Kassius’s hands clenched at his sides, and he pulled in long, slow breaths as if to calm himself. “We can’t throw around accusations. Not without proof.”

“No, but we can keep watch for any other strange incidents that will cost a lot of money to repair.” Teague’s eyes narrowed and his mouth thinned as he looked at the harvester.

“We’ll watch, and if we do find proof, we’ll hand it straight over to the authorities.” Kassius’s gaze moved from Teague to Berenger.

Berenger had no problem with that. Considering Malone’s status, the proof would have to be solid. The statement was probably aimed more at Teague. Teague was usually a by-the-book PD guard, but he tended to cross the line when it came to those he loved.

Chapter Two

Sephanie wiped down the counter as closing time approached. She looked up when the door chime sounded. She saw three men entering the store. She recognized them immediately. Kassius, Teague, and Berenger. Since they were here, she’d guess Kassius’s father had had a talk with them. She sighed and rested her hand on the dark blue countertop.

Damn, this was going to be awkward. She bit her lip and waited. They strode across the bakery. It was empty, so there was no one to overhear. She didn’t want to hear them apologize.

She couldn’t stop herself from letting her gaze wander over their bodies. All three men’s gazes were locked on her. Berenger’s black hair hung around his face. He looked like he’d been more than a few days without a shave. The dark hair at his jaw was longer than normal. He’d probably been extremely busy at his skimmer repair shop.

She’d noticed that if he was busy, he would let his beard go a little wild. That untamed look sent a thrill through her. Muscled, strong, and in shape from hard work, he led the way over to the counter. He didn’t look happy, but he wasn’t obviously angry.

“Hello, Sephanie. I think we need to talk.” Berenger placed his palms on the counter.

“This isn’t necessary.” She tried to forestall the coming apology. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“I doubt you do.” Kassius eased up alongside Berenger and braced an arm on the countertop.

His blue eyes sparkled with some emotion she couldn’t quite read. He was solid, muscular, and strong. Berenger and Teague were also fit and brawny. Kassius’s came from hard physical work in his groves and winery. In contrast, the jut of his high cheekbones and his aquiline nose gave him a refined look. His blond hair hung past his shoulders.

“I realize your father probably talked to you, but there’s no need for this.” She shook her head.

She glanced at Teague when he stopped on the other side of the counter. Teague epitomized the hard training and rough life of the PD. The sharp angles of his jaw and the lean muscles of his body reminded her of a warrior ready for battle. His black hair was short but shaggy at the moment. He’d probably been growing it out since the regulations for PD on planet were much more relaxed than while they were in space. His light brown skin gleamed and tempted her to reach out and touch him.

“Yes, there is a need for it. We didn’t know you heard our conversation or you misunderstood what we were talking about that day.” Teague leaned closer to the counter. “We didn’t mean it in the way you took it.”

She glared at him. “I misunderstood? What other way could you mean it?”

“We didn’t like guarding you from possible danger, because you might be hurt by it. Yes, we had better things to do than sitting there keeping our distance. We wished we could take you out on dates and get closer to you, but we had to wait. We couldn’t keep our objectivity and watch over you if we became involved with you.” Teague reached over, cupped her chin, and gently turned her head until she looked at him.

She swallowed hard. She wanted to believe them, maybe too much. Without a doubt, she’d had feelings for them since she’d met them. She wanted to take the chance on them.

Although their appearance drew her eyes, it didn’t keep her attention. Their personalities and interactions together did that. She liked the way they backed one another up and always seemed to be there for friends and family. Sephanie came from a family with strong ties. That type of behavior was an important part of what she wanted from a relationship.

“We intend to court you, Sephanie.” Kassius stretched across the counter and clasped her hand. “Please come out from behind there.”

“You intend to court me? You don’t know me.” With a nod, she let him draw her down the counter and out from behind it. She pursed her lips to keep from smiling. She’d wanted to hear they were interested for a long time.

They stood in front of her but didn’t crowd her. She appreciated that. Even though she longed for physical closeness, they had some things to clear out of the way first.

“We know we like you. Do you think we haven’t seen what kind of person you are?” Teague smiled.

“I don’t know how you would. You’ve only seen me at work.” Sephanie folded her arms across her chest and stared at him. She watched him intently, needing to know what they thought about her.

“The first time I saw you, I didn’t know you were Cooper’s sister. I didn’t know anything about you except you were one of the volunteers during the cleanup after the earthquake hit Dashil. I saw how hard you worked and how kind you were.” Teague’s voice softened.

She hadn’t known he was there. The quake had hit Dashil, a city on the coast, and had done quite a bit of damage. The area wasn’t near a fault line, so the buildings weren’t built to withstand the shearing forces. Fatalities were few, but the damage was extensive. She had managed to stay there a few weeks to help but still felt as if she hadn’t done enough.

“I didn’t see you there. Were you part of the volunteers?” She blinked at him. She could see him doing that, helping others even when he wasn’t called to do it as part of his duty.

“No, I was there with other guards to help prevent looting and other crimes. The police force there was stretched past their limits. You had your hair up, a smudge of dirt on you cheek and neck. You looked hot and exhausted, but you kept going. I believe you were helping a family gather what could be saved from the debris.” Teague slowly exhaled. “Do you think I could see something like that and not see a woman I wanted to get to know?”

“We know you can handle a life with us. When Cooper told you about the threat from the people stalking him, you weren’t worried about any danger
you
might face. You wanted to know how
he
was and made sure he didn’t feel guilty about it. You have no idea how alluring we find that.” Kassius’s intense gaze nearly scorched her.