Triple Dog Dare [Triple Trouble 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Tymber Dalton Read Free Book Online Page B

“Haven’t you guys filled her in on what’s going on? She is Elain’s mom, after all.”
    “She just got here a little while before y’all did,” Brodey said. “We didn’t have time to finish going over everything.”
    “Wait a minute,” Elain said. “Back up. Lina, how did you know he was coming?” She decided to focus on the smaller bits of the puzzle, the more easily digestible facts, before trying to take a big honking chunk of a bite out of the overall picture.
    “Simple. I told him to get his butt in gear and get here,” Lina said.
    That made even less sense to Elain. “What?”
    “Zack and I took a little side trip after we went to Seattle a few months back. We flew to Bolivia and tracked him down.”
    “ Bolivia ?” Rick, Jan, and Kael all exclaimed together, shooting nearly identical dark looks at Zack. That was news to them, apparently.
    Zack held up his hands. “Hey, the Goddess rules, dudes. You know the gig. I was sworn to secrecy by her, so don’t yell at me. It’s the Goddess of Snark’s fault.” He pointed at Lina. “Blame her. She’s the Head-Incendiary-Deity-What’s-in-Charge.”
    Lina waved her hand to shush everyone. “Yes, I had a vision, knew I had to find Liam, blah, blah, yadda yadda, we went to Bolivia, found him, and flew home safely. Now he’s here.” She pointed to Elain. “For her. Among other things.”
    “What other things?” Ain asked.
    Lina didn’t answer. She shushed him.
    Elain couldn’t take her eyes off Liam. He smelled so familiar…
    The jacket. It finally hit her. The leather jacket still hanging in her closet in the Venice house had belonged to her father. It was the only thing of his that she owned. It still held the very faintest scent of him in its deep recesses. When she was little, she used to sit in her closet with the jacket draped around her and pretend it was her father hugging her.
    All the while she would wish he’d come back for her, marry her mom, and the three of them could live happily ever after.
    “Are there any other bombshells you want to drop on us, lovely?” Jan snidely asked Lina.
    “Nope. Not right now. Nothing concrete that I can tell you.”
    “Great,” Rick muttered under his breath.
    “I heard that,” Lina said.
     
    * * * *
     
    Micah cleared his throat. “Well, since y’all don’t need us, we’re going back to bed.” Jim, who’d stood at the end of the hallway and watched everything, turned and sleepily followed Micah back to their bedroom.
    “Who is that guy? And who are those other people?” Jim mumbled as he climbed back under the covers with Micah.
    Micah snugged him tightly to him. “A new complication, apparently. Not our concern. Not tonight, at least.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Elain wasn’t sure how many more surprises she could take. The past couple of hours had stretched her nerves to the limit. Which said a lot, considering how much they’d already been stretched over the past several weeks. She stepped forward and stared at Liam for a long moment before throwing her arms around him and hugging him.
    “I missed ye so much,” he whispered in her ear. “Please, I hope ye can forgive me for leaving.”
    Unable to speak, she nodded. They stood like that for a couple of minutes until Elain finally released him and stepped back. “I guess we should all go talk,” she suggested.
    He nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
    “Do you want some time alone with him?” Ain asked her.
    She thought about it. “I do, but not right now. I think I’d rather get all the other questions I have answered.” She nodded toward Lina. “She seems to be the lady to answer them.”
    “That’s me,” Lina said. “Goddess, Seer, and snarkalicious supernatural information desk with incendiary powers.”
    With everyone introduced and settled in the living room, all attention focused on Lina.
    She laced her fingers together and rested her hands on her belly. “Well, isn’t this nice?” she cheerfully asked.