Theirs (12 page)

“How could she do that?” Alex wondered.

“She had a contract drawn up. We had to stay away from you for four years,
basically
,
the length of time you were at college or the shares would revert back to her. She probably figured that by then we’d be over you. So we were in between a rock and a hard place. We could either give up all hope of saving the factory or take the risk of losing you. It was a tough decision
but the town’s economy rested on our shoulders. A lot of people had already lost their jobs and there was another wave of layoffs on the way. My Dad put his life’s blood in that place. I couldn’t
let it fall into ruin
. It was still a tough decision nonetheless. The only thing that made me sign that agreement was my faith in the strength of our love. In my heart, I knew I’d never stop loving you. And
eventually
,
I would see you again.

Alex gasped.
Mrs. Bradford had most certainly
been
a snob
but Alex never imagined that she’d
willing
destroy hundreds of livelihoods to get her way. “All because she didn’t want us to be together?”

“
That was part of it.
I honestly think in the beginning she believed she could make the factory a success, but she had no experience and was too proud to ask for help.
It was her
incompetence
that nearly ruined the factory. I don’t believe she meant for things to get as bad as
they
did. But when I offered to buy her shares, she saw it as an opportunity to not only wash her hand of the business and save
face
but a way to keep you out of our lives.
”
Cash answered.

Alex shook her head in disgust. “It doesn’t seem fair that you two got stuck with fixing the mess she made, while she got to live off your inheritance.”

Rusty grimaced. “Lif
e hasn’t exactly been that kind to her.”

“How so?”

“Look, we’ll always care about her because she’s out mother even if we haven’t always had the best of relationships but everything that happened to her
afterward
is basically what she had coming.” Cash sighed. “Sh
e cared so much about what others thought of her that she
believed
the best way to change their opinion of her was to lord her position over them.
Because she was Sabrina Brad
ford, people showed deference to her. She’d grown accustomed to it and soon she expected it. What she didn’t count on was that when Dad died, a lot of people didn’t bother to hide what they really thought of her. I think that could have been one of the reasons she decided to take over the factory. But after that disaster, there were many people in Bradfordville who
hated
her.
If you thought you were villainized when you left
town
, you should have seen how the people acted whenever she showed up in public.
Someone spit in her face. After that day, she barely stepped foot out of the house. Her only companion was your grandmother until Miss Ida Mae’s retirement.”

“Where’s your mother now?”

“She decided to
move. She bought a small house in
Savanna and she’s been there ever since. The last time we spoke to her, she was dating a widower. She seemed happy, maybe even a little different. I think leaving town changed her perspective on a lot of things. But enough about her.” Cash waved his hand dismissively.

“
When I finally got control of the company, it was an even bigger mess than I thought it was
.
Most of the workers had been laid off and all that basically remained was a skeleton crew.
Rusty turned his inheritance over to me to help. We took out some hefty business loans and I even borrowed money from my Uncle Roger to get the equipment up to date. That wasn’t enough, however, because without
new business strateg
ies
to bring more business to the company
we were doomed.
I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it without Rusty.”

Rusty shrugged. “I did what I had to do. I couldn’t leave you hanging, bro.”

Cash smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t.” He returned his attention back to Alex. “I’d already left school to get the factory up and running, but I didn’t want Rusty to give up his education as well.
But you know how stubborn he is so we
compromised.
He
transferred
to closer school so he would
n’t
have to drop out.
We put our heads together to come up with ways to save the business and decided to bring the company into the modern age.
Thanks to Rusty’s
tech savvy, we created a website and a global internet presence. We’re turning a profit again and have basically
undone
the damage our mother
did
. But it took time. We
’ve
worked sixteen hour days, seven days a week
. But
even
then
, it was always our intention to come for you once we had everything under control.
That’s why it took us so long to get to you. If there weren’t so many people’s livelihoods on the line we would have said fuck it. But we couldn’t turn our backs on them
or what our father had basically died for
.
And even through
all this, we kept tabs on you
through our private detective. The clause in the contract my mother had drawn up for us said no direct contact. It didn’t say we couldn’t have someone else check up on you.
”

All this time she believed they didn’t care, but instead they’d been dealing with a major crisis.
Alex had been so focused on her own pain, she
hadn’t
considered there was another reason for them not contacting
her
. Now that she knew, Alex realized it was probably for the best because had she known what they were going through she would have returned to Brad
fordville to help them unaware that her presence would make the deal they made with their mother null and void
.
She felt horrible that they had to take on such a huge endeavor at an age
when most men were still partying and trying to figure out what they wanted out of life.
Being in the medical field, Alex understood how it felt to have people depend on her so she could only imagine the tremendous burden they must have experienced to have most of the town folk’s hopes resting on their shoulders.
“I
had no idea.
”

Rusty
rubbed her leg
. “How could you
have
? If we didn’t have an obligation to our father’s memory and to all the people who would have found themselves out of work, we would
have
be
en
here much sooner
.
”

“
And what you said
about my grandmother?
Was that just a ploy to get my attention?”

Cash shook his head. “No. It wasn’t. She actually wants to see you. In fact, we have a letter from her
for you
to read whenever you’re ready. She wanted
us to give it to you on the off chance you decided you didn’t want to
visit her.”

“Do you have it with you?”

“
Yes, I placed it on the end table by the door when we came inside.
I could get it now if you’d like to read it,” Rusty offered.

Alex folded her hands in her lap.
Hearing Cash and Rusty’s story made her realize that sometimes perceptions didn’t always equal to reality. Maybe her grandmother saw their relationship different. Alex owed it to herself to at least find out what her grandmother wanted.
And if she didn’
t like it, then
at least another chapter in her life she could finally close.
“I...I’ll read it
.
But
not right now. I’m still trying to process everything you just told me. I mean, it’s been
eight
years and I don’t know how we can go back
to the way things were
.
We can’t just take up where we left off.”

Rusty stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Actually we don’t want things to be the way they were between us.” He started to pace her living room floor. “Actually we don’t want to rekindle what we had because I realize, it’s just not going to work out.”

Chapter Eleven

Alex’s mouth fell open. Wasn’t the reason why they’d drove here was to convince her to come home with them. What the hell were those letters for? To be truthful she had no right to be upset but hearing Rusty say he didn’t want to make things work with her, was like a dagger to the heart. “I…uh…, well oh. I guess I don’t understand the point of your two being here. You could have explained all this to me in one of your letter
s
.

Cash glared at his brother. “I think you’ve misunderstood what Rusty mean. What he was trying to say is that yes, eight years is a long time and it’s impossible to get back what we had.”

Alex raised a brow. Cash’s explanation didn’t sound much better.

Rusty stopped pacing and looked her in the eyes. “We want you, Alex. The thing is,

“Aww, fuck. I’m making a mess of things here too.” Cash stood up as well and raked his fingers through his blond locks. “It’s kind of hard to think when you’re so close to me. I’ve been fighting a hard-
on the entire time I sat there.”

She licked her suddenly dry lips. Alex wasn’t sure what to say to that, especially since she’d sat with her thighs
cl
e
nched
tightly together to temper the heat burning within her core. “So, what do you want from me exactly? Did you guys come for one last roll in the hay?”

“Don’t put words into our mouth,” Rusty growled. “If all we wanted was a quick fuck, we could have gotten that without traveling seven hours to get it.
At first
,
we came with the intention of taking you back home with us, but we realize how bull-headed we were to think we could disrupt your life after all this time. We were just excited to see you again that we didn’t think things through. But like I said before what we had won’t work because we’re not going to sneak around town and hide you like you’re our dirty little secret. We love you and we want everyone to know you belong to us.”

Alex opened her mouth and closed it again. She didn’t know what to say because she hadn’t been prepared for this. She placed her hand against her chest.

“Alex?” Cash prompted.

“Wow. I mean, I’m not really sure what to say.
Eight
years
might be a long time for some, but it’s not enough time for people to forget.
I’ll still be that slut screwing the Bradford men
.”

Cash returned to the couch and say next to her.
“Alex, we can never guarantee that someone won’
t give us a dirty look
when we’re
out together or judge us, but we do vow to protect and honor you in every way.
Like I said before, the town is almost unrecognizable. There are so many new people they wouldn’t have heard about what happened back then. And for the people who have, so what? Screw them.
All that matters is how we
feel
about each other and the fact that you can’t say you don’t still love us
,
too, makes me think we can build something together. Can we?” Cash gently
cupped her chin.

She glanced away, unable to meet the scrutiny of his green gaze.
“I have a life here. A job and friends.”

He
tightened
his grasp and tilted her head until their eyes met. Alex could easily get lost in his hypnotic green stare.
“
Tell us that you don’t love us.”

“You’re not being fair
.”

Rusty clutched her arm. “You’re not being fair to yourself if
you
deny how you feel.
” Alex turned to face him, freeing herself from Cash’s hold.

“The two of you may have had a lot of time to think this through but for the past
eight
years, I’ve been trying to find ways to put the past behind me. You say you’ll protect me, but who’s to say when someone
will
come along and start trouble.
Your mother and Tabitha may no longer be an issue but there will be others who may want to cause trouble.”

Rusty scrunched his face in frustration.
“
Who cares about them? People will talk no matter where we go. Look at your neighbor? He doesn’t exactly strike me as the type of guy who keeps his opinions to himself.”

He had a point there.

“Alex,” Cash caught her attention again, “We understand that you have a life
up
her and we understand that you don’t want to make any sudden decisions about moving. We respect that and we’ll give you all the time you need.”

Alex tilted her head to the side. “How would that work? Are you suggestion that we do the long distance thing?”

“What we’re proposing is to do what we should have done the first time. We want to court you properly, take you out on dates. Get to know each other again as adults. We want to reconnect and give you the time to reacquaint yourself with us.
Obviously
,
our responsibilities in Bradfordville won’t allow us to relocate so we’re going to do our best to convince you to come home with us. We’ll come up every
weekend for as long as it takes even if its fifty years
. All we’re asking is for you to give us a
chance to prove our love to you
.” Cash leaned forw
ard and brushed his lips against hers.

A jolt of pure delight raced up her spine. Did she dare give them another chance and put her heart at risk
again
?
It was scary to think of all the things that could go wrong. “If I eventually go back, I’m sure I’ll run into my grandmother again. I’m not interested in her telling me what an embarrassment I am to her. I know you two think the sun rises and sets on my grandmother like I said, she’s not the same around me as she is around you.
I might very well be able to ignore everyone else, but what about her?”

Cash pulled away from her.
“
You’re right, we didn’t know her the way you did but you’re the one we care about and if she has a problem that you’ve chosen to love two men then she’ll just have to deal with it.
We wouldn’t allow anyone to say a single derogatory word about you and that includes your grandmother.
Anyway, you won’t have to worry about seeing her if you don’t want to.
We haven’t needed a housekeeper for
a long time, not that we could have afforded one when we were rebuilding everything.”

“
So what is my grandmother doing with herself? I thought she would work for the Bradford family until the day she died.”

“Miss Ida Mae is up there in years, she doesn’t move like she used to. She has arthritis in her knees and uses a walker to get around.
There was no way she could live on her own without assistance so we set up a guest room in our house for her.
Once we started earning a
decent profit from the factory,
w
e bought her a condo in a retirement community. She loves
it
. There are lots of activities a
nd she gets to be around people
her age. We visit her
when we can
. She
seems happy enough, except, she talks about you a lot. Whether you want to see her or not is up to you
,
but we’ll support you in whatever you decide.
”

“Seems like you guys have this all figured out. Let’s just say for shits and giggles that I do move back to Bradfordville, I hope you don’t expect me to sit around the house like
a
lady
of the manor. I worked hard to earn my degree and I’m good at what I do. I don’t want to give it up.”

“We would never ask you to give up something you love. I understand you have ties to the hospital you currently work at and that you’ve made friends there. But you’re fortunate to work in a field that can be done anywhere in the world,” Rusty pointed out.

“And you expect me to work in that tiny clinic in town?”

Rusty shook his head. “
There’s a new state of the art hospital being built a couple towns over and they’ll need a skilled practitioner like you. As for your friends, they can always visit and you can come back to see them as well. We’re not trying to take over your life, just be a part of it again.
But as we’ve already stated, this is not something you have to consider overnight. We’ll give you time, travel back and forth if we have to, but we hope that you’ll eventually come live with us.
”
He stalked across the room and sat next to her again. “What do you say?”

Alex slid of
f
the couch not trusting herself with Cash and Rusty so close.
She started to
circle
across the room, trying to come up with reason
s
why they shouldn’t be together when her heart kept screaming yes. All the old arguments didn’t seem to matter when the three of them were together. But she was frightened that if something went wrong, she’d be the one to pay the price as she had the last time. She stopped and turned to the men who watched her with an intensity that sent pulsing waves of heat throughout her entire body. “
It seems like you two have this all figured out.”

“That doesn’t answer our question, Alex,” Rusty asserted.

“
I’m scared,” Alex admitted.

Cash and Rusty were on their feet in an
instant
but halted
mere inches
away from her. “Alex, do you love us?” Cash asked softly.

She squeezed her eyes shut.
Of course
,
she did. Why else would she have suffered through all
those
sleepless night
s
these past year
s
? Why else had she never felt safe since she was last in their arms? And why, when she tried to move on to other romantic liaisons
,
did no other man compare
?
Alex had been prepared to spend the rest of her life alone because she knew no other man would do because no
ne
of them held the key to her soul the way Cash and Rusty did. “Yes,” she finally whispered.

“About damn time,” Rusty growled before yanking her in his arms. His mouth was on hers before she could utter another word.
Alex
was
no longer able to deny the insatiable
hunger
she had for
these men,
a hunger
only they could satisfy. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she melted against his rock hard body.

Cash pressed his body against her back, molding his erection against the curve of her ass. He pressed fervent kisses along the sides and back of her neck. She parted her lips with a sigh as Rusty thrust his tongue inside her mouth. Alex was ready for him, taking
it
and sucking it in
to
her mouth. H
er nipples hardened and her pussy
pulsed as the need to be joined with them again took over.

Being in their arms again like this, she felt
…
like
she was
home. Threading her fingers through Rusty’s ginger locks, she held his head firm, deepening the kiss. She was the aggressor, taking everything he had
to
give and more. Alex whimpered when Cash pulled her away. Her disappointment was short-lived
when
he spun her around until they were facing each other.

“I need a taste
,
too,” he whispered before capturing her lips. Instead of ravenous
ly
taking the kiss, Cash’s seductive assault was more methodical. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged,
nipping
just enough to cause a delicious ache.

Slowly, he planted his lips on the corners of her mouth before tracing her lips with the tip of his tongue. He cupped her face between her palms. “I love you so much. Just
so you
know
,
after tonight there’ll be no going back. You belong to us and we’re not going to let you go ever again. Understand
?”

Alex nodded. “Good.” Cash pressed his lips against
hers, greedily exploring her mouth like a man starved and she gave back as good as she got, loving his unique flavor, so raw and masculine.

Rusty slipped his hands beneath the top of her scrubs kneading the taut muscles of her back. She didn’t protest when she felt him fumble with the clip of her bra. He moved his hands along her waist sliding them up and down her sensitive skin. His touch made her dizzy with need and he had yet to touch her most intimate parts. Whenever Cash or Rusty caressed her, every part of Alex’s body became an erogenous zone. She was so hot
,
she could barely stand it.

She wiggled, unable to keep still, sandwiched between these two hunks that she had always loved and doubted she’d ever stop loving. Alex twisted her head away from Cash to gasp for breath. He grinned triumphantly. “It’s hotter between us than ever
,
isn’t it baby?
”

“Hell yeah, it is,” Rusty answered before Alex could. “I bet she’s all slick and ready for
us.
I remember how wet your pussy used to get for us. Are you wet now? I think we should check.” He whispered, fanning his breath against her face. Rusty licked the shell of her ear. “Shall we?”

Alex couldn’t speak if she wanted to. Her mind was mush and her knees were weak. She pressed her thighs together
to
temper the fiery
heat
deep within her. Her panties were damp and she knew was so
much
more turned on than she’d ever been.

Cash smirked. “I think
a
cat has her tongue, Rus. But I know what will make her talk. Cash slipped his hands beneath her top and under the bra that Rusty had already unfastened. “Look at me, Alex. I want to see the gleam you get in your eyes whenever I do this.” He pinched each nipple bearing down with just the right amount of pressure to make her gasp.

“Oh!” she moaned. A
lightning
bolt of pleasure raced up her spine. Her knees could no longer support her.

As if he realized her predicament, Rusty wrapped his arms around her waist and held her steady as Cash continued his delicious brand of sexual torture. “Easy, honey.”

Cash gave her that devilish grin that made her even hot
ter
. He gave her nipples another squeeze, but
this time
,
he twisted them a little more roughly and she loved it.

“God, yes,” she whispered.

Cash chuckled. “There’s her voice. I knew I could find it.” He released her nipples much to her dismay and grabbed the hem of her top. “I think we can get rid of this now. Don’t you?”

She nodded.