He was too close to having the family he wanted to screw it up now. He’d found the right woman thanks to someone named Kitten. He wasn’t going to allow her brothers to fuck it up for him.
And he wasn’t going to let Logan fuck it up either.
Win Dawson took a long breath and closed the file. “This is a long line of dominos you’ve set up, Stark.”
Seth knew he would understand. “Yes and they end in my hostile, but easy takeover of DawComm. I estimate it will take about ten months and a hundred and fifteen million or so, but I can have your company. I suppose you understand that I wouldn’t keep you around.”
He could see the minute Winter Dawson decided to take him seriously. “What do you want, Stark?”
That was the easiest question he’d had all day. “I want Georgia. I intend to marry your sister. I intend to make her my queen, and I won’t allow you to come between us.”
Win frowned. “Your intent is to marry her? You’re going to marry Georgia and take care of her for the rest of her life?”
“That’s what marriage means.” His parents’ marriage had been a piece of shit, a cold contract between two wealthy people. Seth’s marriage was going to be different. It was going to be about passion and love and friendship, and it was going to be just the slightest bit illegal because he wanted a threesome and he intended to have it at any cost.
“Why the fuck didn’t you say that?” Mark asked, rolling his eyes.
“If you’re willing to marry her, we’ll welcome you with open arms, man,” Drew said.
“It’s not as simple as that,” Ben broke in.
“She’s in love with Logan Green.” Chase neatly summed up what should have been his problem.
“I’m counting on it.” If she didn’t love Logan, nothing would work.
Win groaned and let his head hit the desk. “God, I don’t get the ménage thing.”
Mark and Drew shared a high-five. “We do.”
“Oh, because you’re so fucking original,” Chase said, shaking his head.
“We’re the originals,” Ben agreed.
He must be in love if he was willing to deal with these insane idiots, but they weren’t exactly scaring him off. Family was important. He should know since he’d never really had one. But a man couldn’t pick his family. It tended to be thrust upon him, and the Dawson brothers were going to be his. Luckily, Logan seemed to have liked at least a couple of the Dawsons.
And if Logan hadn’t wanted Georgia, he would sell his company stock for a penny.
Georgia was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She was curvy and sexy and had a submissive streak that Logan would need. Seth required it, too, but not the way Logan did. Seth would be utterly content to quietly top her without ever acknowledging who was in charge. He would smile and tell the world that he was pussy whipped and happy to be so.
Win’s eyes narrowed, and Seth realized this wasn’t over. “How are you going to handle the whole acting thing? Is she over it yet?”
The rest of the room groaned.
“She’s still auditioning occasionally. I’ve taken care of it. She was cast in an off-Broadway play, and I managed to get it shut down.”
Ben frowned. “She got cast and you shut it down?”
“The director is known for fucking his actresses and tossing them aside. He cast her as Lady Macbeth. Do you honestly see her doing Shakespeare? And it was, shall we say, a nontraditional version with an enormous amount of nudity.” That director had recently left New York when it had become apparent to him that he wouldn’t be hired here again. Seth had made damn sure of it.
Ruining the lives of those who truly deserved it was Seth’s gift, and he genuinely enjoyed doing it.
All five brothers froze, predatory eyes zeroing in.
“Yes, I felt the same way. He was using her because she’s gorgeous and a little naïve, and so fuckable it hurts.”
“Not to sound like my sister,” Mark began, “but ewwww.”
Seth shrugged. They should get used to it. “I think she’s the most beautiful woman on the planet. I don’t intend to allow others to use her. She’s actually a quite horrible actress. She’s brilliant at improv, but if you give her a few lines, she turns into a robot. I could get her parts on Broadway, but I haven’t figured out how to bribe the entire world to say she’s good. She would get her feelings hurt, and I won’t allow it.”
“You’re a manipulative little shit,” Win said with something akin to respect.
He wasn’t that freaking little. He was six foot two, and he might not be the bulkiest guy, but he was strong. He worked out every day. He couldn’t help it that the Dawson brothers were overgrown Neanderthals.
Logan was bigger than he was. Logan was more masculine. What if Georgia only wanted Logan? Sure there had been that one night that she’d tried to kiss him, but she’d had a bit too much to drink and he’d been playing a long game.
If he’d slept with her that night, she very likely would have run the next morning, or she would have stayed but for the wrong reasons.
He stared at Win. Win was the hard-ass. The others would fall in line if Win gave the okay.
“I’m going to marry Georgia, and I’m going to share her with my best friend. I’ll do it whether you like it or not. If you try to come between us, I’ll bury you. I’ll play it smart. She won’t know what’s happened, and she won’t believe you when you try to tell her what I’ve done.”
Win’s eyes narrowed, and Seth saw the shark that hid beneath Winter Dawson’s three-piece suit. “If I want to, I’ll make her believe.”
“Do you really want to start a war with me? Perhaps you could win, but your sister would lose a man who would die for her, a man who firmly intends to put her first, to take care of her. Make no mistake, I am in love with your sister.”
Win studied him, the silence heavy in the room. After a long moment, he held out his hand. “Welcome to the family, Seth. Good luck with her. You’re going to need it.”
He was suddenly surrounded by Dawsons. They slapped him on the back and started telling all kinds of stories about Georgia’s childhood and the trouble she’d been.
He listened, enjoying the feeling of being accepted, but it was a little hollow without his brother by his side.
Unfortunately, his “brother” was twelve kinds of fucked up. Logan was in a bad place, and it was up to Seth to bring him out of it because his long dark period was starting to look like a permanent state of mind. He couldn’t lose Logan like this. And he wasn’t about to lose Georgia.
Seth was going back to Bliss, and this time he would never leave.
And he damn straight wasn’t going alone. The plan was already in motion. He was hours away from the call he’d been waiting for, and then he would take Georgia and start his real life.
Chapter Two
“Earth to Logan. Come in, Logan.”
Logan Green opened his eyes and frowned up at Leo Meyer, who should know better than to interrupt a nice nap. He glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was barely three in the afternoon. He didn’t have to be on the dungeon floor until nine. He had hours and hours to sleep. He just probably shouldn’t have tried to do it during a counseling session. “It’s your fault, man. This couch is comfy.”
Leo frowned. “Blame Shelley. She insisted on redoing my office. She said it wasn’t patient-friendly enough.”
Leo’s office before had been a whole bunch of Asian stuff and weird rock garden tables. There was still a waterfall on the wall, but the rest of the room had been transformed into something infinitely comfortable and yet wholly masculine. Logan yawned. “I don’t know that I need this anymore, Doc.”
The talking thing just didn’t work for him. Talking about shit just made him antsy. Now working the dungeon floor soothed him. Leo had been right about that. He’d managed to find a happy place where he could tie up a sub and spank a sub’s ass and send her on her way and everyone was satisfied.