Now Stefan felt his own anger building. “First of all, there is nothing weak-willed about Lana. She is my guest, and I would prefer you treat her with respect.” He looked down at his part-time submissive. “You have my permission to speak, sweetheart. Tell our intensely rude guest who you are and what you do for a living.”

Lana’s head came up. Stef could see Rye flush with embarrassment. He knew Rye hadn’t meant to be rude, but the mistake would be corrected nonetheless.

“My name is Lana O’Malley. I’m the owner and CEO of True Line International. I’m worth roughly a billion dollars, depending on how the market goes. I enjoy my time with the master. It’s how I relax. I make no apologies for my sexual desires, whoever you are. If you have a problem with it, I really don’t care.”

“I am sorry,” Rye said sincerely. “I don’t judge. As perverse as I’ve been on occasion, I really shouldn’t. I’m just pissed off that your master here seems to think he can swoop in and take my girl.”

Stefan raised a single eyebrow. “Your girl?”

“Max’s girl.” Rye corrected himself, sounding sheepish. He suddenly seemed fascinated with his boots.

“Then I have to ask, why Maxwell isn’t here defending the lady?” Stefan walked to his friend and put an arm around his shoulder. “You really need to figure this out. I can see it’s killing you. Why are the two of you denying your natures? We promised each other a long time ago that we wouldn’t pretend.” Stef remembered the day well. Callie had been there, too, and the four of them had sworn to be true to themselves no matter what.

“Max loves her.” Rye’s hoarse voice matched the weary look in his eyes. “She loves him. I can’t screw it up for him.”

“You love her, too. You have to know Max wouldn’t want you left out.”

Rye shook his head stubbornly. “I don’t think Rachel would want that. She’s a normal girl.”

Stef sighed. “There’s no such thing. If someone looks ‘normal,’ they’re either hiding their kinks well or utterly denying who they are. I don’t think Rachel is into denial. Have you asked her? Have you been honest about what the two of you need?”

Rye ran a frustrated hand through his hair, and every muscle in his body seemed bunched and tense. “Just stay out of it, Stef. It’s none of your business. If I see you trying to tempt Rachel away from Max, I’ll take care of it, and you won’t like how I do it. Do you understand?”

Stefan put up his hands. He had no intention of staying out of it, but he wasn’t going to argue with Rye. It was time to bring it down a notch. “Absolutely. Will I see you at the picnic tomorrow?”

Tomorrow was the Founder’s Day gathering. It was the biggest event Bliss held. Stefan had plans for the brothers. He and Rachel had been plotting for almost a week.

“Yes.” Rye seemed to make a conscious effort to calm down. Stefan knew that Rye usually attended, but Max stayed away from crowds. They tended to annoy him. “Rachel says we have to go. All of us. She’s helping Stella out at her booth, but she’s made it plain we’re to put in an appearance. She wants Max to clean up his image or some nonsense.”

Stef doubted there would be any image building for Maxwell beyond the fit he would throw when he realized what was happening. “I’ll see you then.”

Rye walked out, but Stefan was satisfied that he looked more contemplative than when he had walked in. His friend would think about what they had talked about all day. Rye would be ripe for the plucking when tomorrow came around. Stefan looked down at Lana.

“What do you think, dear?” She was a highly intelligent woman whose opinion he valued.

Lana’s stared at the door that Rye had walked out of. “He’s in love with her. She’s an idiot if she doesn’t want them. His brother is a twin, right? I have friends who will take them, if she’s too much of a prude.”

Stefan sat down and tapped his thighs. Lana immediately placed herself in his lap. “She isn’t. She’s very much looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll need to stay in the main house. I’m giving them this place for the evening.”

“He seemed adamant,” Lana stated thoughtfully.

Stefan reached over and pushed a small button on the side table. A door slid open where there had appeared to be none. Lana showed no discomfort as two men walked out from the hiding space.

“I intend to give him a reason to stake his claim,” Stef explained.

“I take it that was our mark?” asked Bay, the older of the brothers. Shane was silent, watching Lana with lust in his eyes.

“One of them,” Stef replied. “Lana, dear, do you think they’ll do?”

Stef watched as Lana looked over the two men thoughtfully. They were in their early twenties, and both had a rugged attractiveness to them. Stef had met the older of the two brothers when he bought a sculpture the man had done. It was a haunting piece of work, and Stef had sought out the artist. He’d been surprised to discover he was a rodeo cowboy. Stefan had struck up a strange friendship with the brothers. Now he would use them to his own ends. They would get something out of it, too, of course. Stefan Talbot was a great believer in reciprocity.

“Yes, I believe they will work quite nicely.” She pouted a little as she looked back at him. “Are they only here to make the twins jealous, or did you have something else in mind, master?”

She knew him well.

“Shane, Bay.” Stefan indicated that they could come closer. “My little slave would love for you to play with her.” Stefan liked to watch. The brothers were out of their clothes before he could get another word out, but Lana waited patiently.

“Go on, dear,” he said affectionately. “I believe they’re ready. Ah, youth.”

Lana fell to her knees and put that talented mouth around Bay’s cock. Shane positioned himself to taste her pussy. Stefan sat back and enjoyed the show.

* * *

Max stared at the computer in front of him.

Callie stood in the doorway, peering into his brother’s office. Max could tell she was beginning to suspect he was using the computer for something he shouldn’t. “Are you sure you don’t need something, Max?”

Oh, he needed something. He needed better weaponry and a security system for the house and some bodyguards so he knew Rachel was never alone. Liz, he corrected. Her real name was Liz.

“Do you know where Rye is?” was all he asked.

Callie shook her head. “He’s not supposed to be back in until Monday. Logan’s staking out that T-intersection where no one ever stops.” She shrugged apologetically. “We could use a new fridge in the break room, and the microwave is on the fritz.”

“I tried his cell, and he didn’t answer.” Max just stared dumbly at the computer screen. He should have done the search at home, but he knew Rye had access to things he didn’t. He’d gotten past Callie by saying he just needed to use the Internet to look up some directions. He guessed Rye’s password on the second try and quickly found what he needed now that he had her real name.

Of course, if he had known what he would find, he would have brought Rye in from the beginning. He’d just been cautious. If Rachel was running from people she owed money to or was running from the cops, he would have handled the situation without Rye.

She was running from a cop, all right, but there was nothing about the situation that could compromise Rye’s job. This was Rye’s job. He was honor-bound to protect and serve, and Rachel needed both.

“He’s in the Bronco, right?” Callie twirled her dark brown hair around her fingers thoughtfully. It was a habit she’d had since they were kids.

Max nodded. Rye had taken his county-issued vehicle when he left on his mysterious errand.

Callie sighed, and Max could tell she’d decided to shelve her curiosity. “I’ll try raising him on the radio, then. Sometimes he forgets to charge his cell. Half the time that thing doesn’t work, anyway. The coverage out here is iffy at best.”

She walked off, and Max felt bad. He’d always been the one to see to things like that. He was more organized than Rye. Even when they were kids, Max had been the one to make sure Rye had everything he needed when it came to school. If it had been up to Rye, he would have never brought a lunch or had a pencil with him. Rye forgot, so Max took over. Max just handled that stuff for Rye when he was doing it for himself. He plugged in Rye’s cell every night just before he plugged in his own. Last night, he’d put his on the charger and then charged the one he had bought for Rachel. It seemed an imposition to barge into Rye’s room and force him to charge his phone.

When had that happened? When had he started worrying about his brother’s privacy? Max didn’t like it. Something was going to have to give, and soon. He needed to talk to Rachel. First, though, he needed to deal with the problem at hand.

Someone out there wanted to kill their woman.

Max didn’t correct himself mentally this time. She was theirs. She just didn’t know it yet. She was living with them, and they would wear her down. One day in the not too distant future, she would wake up between them and realize that they could make it work.

After he’d killed one Tommy Lane.

Max swore out loud as he looked over the newspaper articles. Tommy Lane had stalked the young insurance adjuster, and when he couldn’t scare her into complying, he’d set her house on fire. Liz Courtney had barely gotten out with her life. He’d killed her dog and ruined her reputation at work. He’d made her life a living hell. The Dallas papers wondered where he had stuffed her body. None of it could be proven. Like so many other women, Liz had been caught in a legal Catch-22.