Kellan was jealous, and that was a good thing. He could work with jealous. “Then what are you upset about, man? I’ve never cut you out. Tate won’t do it, either.”

He huffed a little. “Yeah, am I going to have to ask permission? Am I supposed to beg my way in every night?”

Eric sighed. Kell was going to heap on the drama. “I haven’t asked you to beg before. I wasn’t planning on starting. What’s really making you act like an asshole? Belle told you that you would be welcome. You can come and go as you please. That’s what you wanted. Isn’t it? No strings.”

He didn’t answer for a long minute. The bar got quiet momentarily as the jukebox shifted from jazz to the blues. The beat thudded through the place, setting the scene for Kellan’s misery.

With a sigh, he shook his head. “I don’t know what I want anymore.”

Now, they were getting to the real problem. For a control freak like Kell, not understanding his world was bad enough. Not understanding what was going on in his head would be catastrophic. “You don’t have to know this instant. You just have to come home and give it some time. That’s what Belle is offering you.”

Kellan shook his head. “There’s no time. There’s no way you’re not going to marry her right away. You’ll have her in front of a justice of the peace before she can change her mind.”

“She’s not going to change her mind.” He knew his Belle. Now that she’d committed, she’d stay that way until the day she died. She would love them all with every breath and every beat of her heart. Now that she had agreed to marry him, he felt a deep conviction that everything would be all right. “We’re still going to marry her as soon as possible. I think we’ve waited long enough. Even when we do, that won’t change our offer.”

Kell didn’t appear to believe him. “If you say. And what about the firm? You’re just going to throw out everything we worked for in Chicago?”

It hadn’t been easy, but Eric had made his peace with that. He could find work here. “It’s not as if Louisiana has met its quota for lawyers.” And even if he convinced Kell to stay with them, he didn’t see a reason they couldn’t keep the branch in Chicago going, too. “I know she’s asking us to uproot our lives and careers, and it’s not easy. I think if we pushed her now, she’d return to Chicago with us. At the end of the day, she won’t choose this place over her husbands. That’s exactly why I’m going to move here. I’m going to support her and help make her dream come true, but if you’d rather go back to Chicago, do it. You can come and go from her bed as you please. You can run that office and visit us whenever you like. I’m not going to stop you. As long as Belle wants you around, I’ll say yes.”

A nasty frown crossed his face. “And what happens when you start popping out kids? She mentioned that would be an issue.”

Eric leaned forward, getting a little angry himself. There was only so much he was willing to take. “I’m sorry. Did you mean to ask what happens when we decide to start a family?”

Kellan flushed guiltily. “Sorry. I really didn’t mean any disrespect. I…I just haven’t thought about a family in a long time. The idea of you and Tate starting one with Belle is disconcerting.”

“You can’t expect us to wait, man. We’re not getting any younger.” He was ten years older than his parents were when they had him. It was time for him to start building his future, and that began with Belle and some kids he could raise, mold, and love.

Kellan ran a weary hand over his face. “Well, I’m not ready—for any of this. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.”

Eric had an easy answer for that. “No one ever is. No one. Do you think I’m ready for kids? It scares the holy hell out of me. What are we going to tell them? How are we going to explain the fact that they have a mom and more than one dad? We’re going to have to try to fit in at PTA meetings and neighborhood block parties. The idea that we could make our kids’ lives hard makes me sick, but that won’t stop me from trying. Because I love that woman and I’m going to love our kids. After that, being ready has nothing to do with it. I’m just going to lead with my heart. But I think everyone who’s ever had a kid worries about being a good enough parent.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Kellan shot back.

“Only if you make it that way. I think it’s pretty damn simple.”

“You don’t understand what happened to me.”

Frustration welled inside Eric. “I know exactly what happened to you. You were humiliated. You were betrayed. But most of all, you were embarrassed. And guess what? It doesn’t matter. That’s what you’ve never gotten. It doesn’t change who you are to me, to Tate, or to Belle. You think you looked like a fool. You’re wrong. We think Lila and your father are terrible human beings who didn’t give a shit about you. None of that was your fault. Even if it had been, we wouldn’t give a shit. We just love you. You’re letting a woman who didn’t give two shits about you—not even for one second—win over three people who have always loved you and always will. For a Dom, you sure are giving her all the power.”

Kellan flushed, his mouth firming to a hard line. “I’m not giving her power. That’s such a fucking simplistic thing to say. This is about more than just Lila.”

“You’re right. This isn’t really about Lila at all. This is about you. You can walk away from what Lila did. You can even walk away from your father. You think it’s Belle you don’t trust.”

Kellan slapped a hand against the bar, the sound jarring. “I trust Belle. I don’t trust me.”

Finally, he was being honest. “You blame yourself for everything, but it wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have seen it coming. I should have seen through her.”

“You have to forgive yourself. God, Kellan, do you really think this self-flagellation hasn’t affected the rest of us? You seem to think you’re the one on the outside, but you’re wrong. You are and have always been a part of this family, and we need you. You think your choice won’t hurt anyone except you. You’re wrong. And Tate and I will miss you. Belle will regret losing you until the day she dies. Here’s what you really don’t understand: our kids are going to miss you too because you would be a spectacular father.”

Kellan closed his eyes, but not before Eric saw a sheen of tears there. He swallowed it down. “I don’t have any idea how to be a father. Mine was such a crappy example.”

It was easy to see he wanted it though. Eric relaxed. This wasn’t a case of Kellan being stubborn. He was scared, but that wouldn’t last forever. The situation called for a little patience and kindness. But then, he’d learned the hard way that patience and kindness were two requirements to make a functional, happy family.

“My dad was an asshole, too. He wanted to live through me. He expected me to do all the things he wasn’t able to and he didn’t care if I got hurt in the process. My last concussion put me in the hospital. My dad was there when I woke up, calling me a pussy and telling me to get my sorry ass back out on the field. I refused. He won’t talk to me anymore. He didn’t want a son, just a star athlete. He was a horrible role model. He taught me nothing about being a good parent. But he showed me exactly what not to do. I can figure out the rest because I’m going to love that kid like I love his mother.”

Kellan set the beer down. “I don’t know what to do. I…I care about Belle. I really do. You and Tate are the brothers I never had. I don’t want to lose you all, but I don’t trust it either. I couldn’t make a lasting relationship with one person. How do I do that with three of you? If it falls apart, it will happen in spectacular fashion because of me.”

Eric couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “This will work because we all want it to. We’re stronger than you think. Yeah, we’re all broken, but we need each other. We prop each other up. Where one of us fails, the others take over. Belle needs all three of us. This family needs all of us, but you have to be willing to try, put some faith in yourself and us. More than anything, you have to forgive yourself or you will never move forward.”

“I don’t know that I can. How did I miss the signs? Hell, I knew the marriage wasn’t normal. I knew I didn’t even love her. I didn’t even want to. Maybe that’s the worst part; I wanted an easy marriage. We had the same goals. I wanted her to be a good political wife. I wanted her to be a good mom, but I expected any kids we had would be raised by nannies and likely go to boarding schools. I wanted us to have good sex. In exchange, I was willing to support her career goals. I thought we’d make a good team.”

Eric couldn’t imagine such a cold exchange of loyalties. He’d always known he wanted a real marriage, even if it was messy and hard. Before he’d really understood what love was, he’d wanted caring and kindness in his life. “I know you think you wanted that, but I firmly believe you would have found it empty and left anyway in the end.”

“What if that kind of marriage is all I’m capable of? This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had a relationship with someone who wants something real from me. Not money or power. Not connections or my family name. Belle doesn’t want a teammate. Belle doesn’t care that I can take care of her financially. I sure as hell don’t think Belle is going to want the same kind of childhood I had for our kids.”

Eric ached for his friend, but he had to be utterly honest. “None of us wants that, man. What Belle requires from you is simple. She wants love and honesty. She wants to love you back and won’t accept anything less than your all. But here’s the thing: she’ll give you everything she has in return. Always. She won’t ever leave us. She won’t cheat or stab us in the back. She would never whore herself for money or fame or anything the rest of the world can give her. Belle will love you for you. She’ll do it whether or not you’re brave enough to try. Just because you walk away, doesn’t mean Belle will love you less.”