When she caught sight of them, her bow mouth pursed. Fire shot out of her eyes, and she looked ready to erupt like a volcano. “How fucking dare you—”

  Hammer clapped a hand over her mouth. “Not one more word.”

  She screeched, struggling against his firm hold, tearing at his wrist to tug it away. She screamed behind his palm, still making enough noise to alert the whole club.

  “We know where you’ve been. We know who you saw. We’re going someplace private to talk about it,” Hammer growled. “Settle down unless you want everyone to know our business.”

  If anything, her eyes flashed with more fury. She bit at him and glared, looking as if she’d like to boil the flesh off his scrotum.

  Liam resisted the urge to cover his own balls and leaned into Raine’s face. “Give us a chance to explain, love. Thirty seconds, and we’ll be in Hammer’s office. Then you can vent all you want.”

  Raine zipped that lethal glare at him, then tried to stomp on his toes. He managed to dodge her at the last second. Bloody hell… His wee lass had turned violent.

  Damn it, he should have followed his instincts and told her about Gwyneth’s phone call from the start. Hindsight was a bitch. If he could somehow make her listen, maybe he could reach her. At present, she was disinclined to do anything but tear his head off.

  “You have a choice,” Hammer snarled in her face with low, controlled tones. “Come with us quietly or…” He pulled a ball gag from his pocket and dangled it in front of her. “I know how much you love these.”

  Instantly, her eyes widened, all shock and blue lightning. Then they narrowed again. Behind his palm, she panted hard, her breath hot. At barely five feet tall, she didn’t pose them any threat, but her temper was fearsome.

  “What’s it going to be, Raine?” Liam asked quietly. “You can walk with us…”

  “Or we’ll hog-tie you,” Hammer finished.

  “Either way, you’re coming along. There’ll be no more biting, stomping, or screaming. And no more swearing. Do you understand?” Liam asked.

  Her little hands balled into fists, and she shot them both death glares. No doubt, if she’d been a man, she would have thrown a punch or two.

  “You locked the gun away, didn’t you, mate?” he asked Hammer.

  “Yeah. She’ll have to rely on verbal combat. Raine?” Tentatively, Hammer withdrew his hand, keeping it right above her mouth.

  She stewed. And fumed. As she glanced at the ball gag again, she somehow managed to turn even redder. “Fine.”

  Liam felt as if they’d defused a bomb—at least temporarily. She was still liable to go off, but at least it would be in private. He was grateful that he and Hammer had talked this out a bit, and turned to his friend with a questioning stare.

  Macen pocketed the ball gag and answered with a nod. Together, they each grabbed one of her arms and lifted her, carting her away from the common area and down the hall.

  “Don’t touch me,” she hissed.

  Liam’s inner Dominant roared to life. Like hell.

  They both secured their grip.

  “I can walk,” she insisted.

  “We’re going to help you,” Liam crooned.

  “You can shove your help—”

  “Do we need that ball gag after all?” Hammer sent her a silky warning as they hit the hall, wending past the door of Seth’s room, steps away from their destination.

  “No,” she spat.

  Liam gripped Raine’s arm tighter as they crossed the threshold of Hammer’s office, Macen sliding in first and all but dragging her inside. Gripping the knob, Liam shut it, knowing her explosion was imminent in three, two, one…

  As soon as the latch clicked shut, she yanked her arms from their holds and balled her fists again. “You both fucking lied to me. And I don’t give a fuck about my language. You can both go fuck yourselves. But oh, that’s right. Liam has already fucked me—and his perfect Barbie doll ex-wife. Were you taking notes? Making comparisons? I can’t believe you didn’t say a fucking word about that fucking bitch.”

  “That wasn’t what happened at all,” Hammer insisted. “Calm down and we’ll explain.”

  She whirled on him. “Don’t fucking talk to me like I’m a child. Though I guess you two have decided I’m as naïve as one. How long did you think you were going to keep me in the fucking dark? And that lie about Liam’s business problems?” She rolled her eyes. “Lame!”

  “So you don’t want to hear the truth?” Hammer raised a brow at her.

  “You can take your fucking truth and shove it up your fucking—”

  “Love, listen to us. We—”

  Raine spun around to Liam again. “Not only did you not tell me about your fucking ex-wife—nice lingerie, by the way; I’m sure you enjoyed that—but you have a son you never fucking bothered to tell me about. So are you packing your bags and leaving with them to live happily ever after? She’s only going to screw you again, but maybe you enjoy that.”

  Betrayal fueled her angry speech. But their disillusioned girl believed the damning situation after a mere glance—without asking him a single question. In some ways, that cut Liam to the quick…but he reminded himself that only a week ago, his relationship with Raine had seemed hopeless and he’d ended things with her abruptly. Of course she would worry he meant to do the same now. She was giving up on him before he could hurt her again.

  “I divorced Gwyneth with good reason. I would never want her back, and I certainly wouldn’t leave you for the likes of her. That’s the sincere truth.”

  “Oh, so now you’re telling me the truth? But not earlier today in the car?” She wagged a finger in his face. “You two spent the last few days lecturing me until you were blue in the faces about honesty and communication and how great our relationship would be if we could all just trust one another. Blah, blah, fucking blah.”

  “Raine,” Liam reassured softly because telling her to calm down would not go well. “Love, I don’t want Gwyneth. I didn’t touch her.”

  “Bullshit! I saw the nipple clamps, an imprint paddle, and the fresh welt that said slut on her ass—not that I doubt that for a minute. Oh, I forgot the restraints and the elephant dildo. So if you weren’t playing with her, you were…what? Recreating your good times and reminding her of all she’d been missing?”

  Liam didn’t falter. “No. If you’ll stop losing the bloody plot, I’ll explain.”

  “Explain what? She told me the two of you have worked out her ‘lapse of judgment’ that ended your marriage. Wow. So I guess paddling her was better than couple’s therapy, and now all is forgiven. How long before you leave me to join her and be a family?” Raine challenged, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course she zoomed right to the worst-case scenario. In her case, it had happened every damn time.

  “Oh, that calculating cunt,” Hammer muttered.

  Indeed. Gwyneth had played Raine perfectly. Like dominoes in a row, each felled the next in an inevitable chain reaction. But Liam had handed his ex-wife the means. His maneuvers—however well intended—had backfired.

  “Why would you think she told you anything resembling the truth?” Liam asked.

  “Because I already know you two lied to me.”

  “To protect you, yes. We’re sorry if that upset you. But her lies were meant to confuse you and cause you pain,” Hammer spat. “Don’t let the doubt she planted in your head grow, precious. And don’t give her any of your power. That belongs to us.”

  “Nothing she said is true.” Liam sighed. “All she wants to do is separate me from you. You can’t let her.”

  “Give me one reason I should believe you,” she challenged.

  “Do you think we would have planned to take you to dinner tonight to explain everything if we weren’t going to tell you the truth?” Macen asked.

  She shot him a skeptical glare. “Maybe it was taking you two that long to get your stories straight.”

  Liam leaned into her face, fusing their gazes together. “Because I love you, Raine. That’s why you should believe me.”

  Liam had this one chance to convince her that he loved her with every cell in his body. If not, she’d let doubt overtake her and leave. But as long as he was breathing, he’d keep fighting for them.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t read Raine now. Since she’d always worn her emotions on her face, that was dangerous. She hadn’t dropped the f-bomb for several minutes, so he took that as a good sign. But he still sensed a palpable storm raging beneath Raine’s surface.

  She teared up. “You didn’t even tell me about your son.”

  “I don’t think he’s mine,” Liam countered. “Tell me what else Gwyneth said to you so I can explain everything.”

  “She pitied me. No, first she thought I was the maid. Then she said I was cute, but I couldn’t keep you amused for long because you like the hunt, and I’d never provide you enough sport.” She covered her face, and her body shook. Pain drenched every sob as she swiped at her cheeks and backed away. “I’m sorry I wasn’t entertaining enough for you.”

  His worst fears had come to pass; Gwyneth had cut her to the bone. The knife in Liam’s chest twisted harder as he watched Raine cry, longing to enfold her in his arms and kiss away every tear. Fierce and proud, she looked hauntingly lovely, even as she stood wronged and breaking before them.

  He bit back a curse. If he had a do-over on this afternoon, he wouldn’t have simply humiliated Gwyneth; he would have throttled her.

  Liam darted a glance at Hammer, who looked as if he wanted to unleash his own form of justice on Gwyneth. But now, they needed to deplete Raine’s anger and heal the devastation the bitch had inflicted—fast.

  Hammer met his stare and nodded.

  Without a word, Liam wrapped Raine in his arms.

  She flinched and bucked against him. “Don’t you touch me!”

  He ignored her because she obviously needed the reassurance of his embrace badly. Instead, he nudged her against the wall as Hammer gathered her flailing arms and pinned them above Raine’s head.

  Liam cupped her cheeks in his palms and forced her to look at him. “Listen to me, Raine, and listen well. You’ve let Gwyneth crawl inside your head and dredge up your insecurities. Hear my side of things before you decide to do anything rash, like throw us away.”

  Liam explained everything, beginning with that bloody benefit. Raine took that in stride, sending him a shake of her head. Clearly, she thought he’d been an idiot. Take a number and get in line…

  Explaining today’s events, starting with Gwyneth’s four a.m. phone call, proved much trickier.

  “I didn’t want to leave the lodge,” he swore. “I never would have just for Gwyneth’s sake. I don’t give a shit about her. But I had a responsibility to find out if Kyle was mine.”

  “But you don’t think he is?” Raine asked.

  “I’m about ninety-nine percent sure, but I’ll have proof of that by tomorrow.”

  “How?” She cut him a skeptical glare. “Something other than ESP or simply deciding that your ex-wife is a loon, I hope.”

  That segued into the stickiest explanation—him taking Kyle’s DNA, fucking with Gwyneth’s head, then walking out on her screaming and restrained to Beck’s kitchen chair.

  She rolled her eyes. “Please… Looking at her in that killer lingerie wasn’t any sort of hardship. No living heterosexual man would turn her down. I can hear you still breathing. I know you’re heterosexual, so—”

  “I rebuffed her,” Hammer cut in. “More than once. I refused her four years ago, and I did it again this afternoon.”

  Raine’s blue eyes widened. “She hit on you?”

  “More or less. I shut that down.”

  “I did, too,” Liam added. “She took me by surprise when she popped out of the loo in that getup. I certainly didn’t ask her to put it on.”

  “But hey, since she’s wearing butt floss and you just happened to have full use of Beck’s toys, why not relive the best parts of your marriage?”

  Liam choked back a laugh. Even mad, his saucy wench had a quick wit.

  “No. Gwyneth and I never engaged in anything remotely close to BDSM play when we were married. Today was the first time. And what you saw—the toys, the restraints, and the welt on her ass—that wasn’t for any sexual pleasure or because I wanted her submission.”

  “He had to mindfuck her to get some answers because we owe them to you, precious,” Hammer insisted.

  “Exactly. I used her desperation and my Domination to manipulate her. I owed her humiliation, and trust me when I say she didn’t enjoy it.”

  “She looked pretty damn satisfied when I saw her.” Raine struggled against their hold again. “Let go.”

  He and Hammer held firm, knowing they couldn’t give her any slack now.

  “No.” Macen gripped her wrists tighter.

  Liam brushed the hair from her face. “Never.”

  “Seriously, Liam…” Raine gritted her teeth. “I don’t believe for one minute that you shoved your Dominant side away when you married her. That would be totally out of character.”

  But he had. “After Juliet took her life, I did my best to deny myself the lifestyle that made her want to end everything. I buried my needs and swore I’d fly right. I knew abstaining wouldn’t bring Juliet back, but I felt compelled to give her some penitence. It wasn’t until after my divorce that I did some soul searching and realized I couldn’t deny my nature forever. I need to be who I am.”

  “So you came here,” Raine stated flatly.

  “Eventually, yes. Then I met you, love. But that’s why Gwyneth and I were purely vanilla. I didn’t believe I should live a D/s life with my wife.”

  Raine didn’t say anything for a long moment, but her lips began to quiver. “But D/s is okay for your whore? Got it.” She struggled for freedom again. “I know my place. You can let go now.”

  Liam almost did. Damn it. No matter what he said, she only heard the worst. He understood that she was hurt and angry…but she made him feel as if she would never trust his love.

  “When have I ever treated you like a whore, Raine?” Liam wanted to say more but wasn’t sure what would convince her. He looked at Hammer, wordlessly asking for help.

  “Never,” the man growled. “And she knows that. She’s thinking with emotion, not logic.” Macen turned on her. “Listen to him. You know damn well where Liam’s heart lies. Mine, too. We’re both in love with you or we wouldn’t be here fighting. And don’t you ever call yourself a whore again.”

  Looking slightly chagrined, she stopped trying to pull from their grasps. Liam wasn’t sure they were reassuring her. Suddenly, he knew what would.

  Liam sent a resolute glance at Macen. “I think we need to show her. Right now.”

  Hammer looked blank for a moment, then he caught on. A slow smile spread over his face. “Oh, yeah.”

  “Show me what?” she asked suspiciously. “Your penises? I’ve already seen those. If you two think you’re going redirect me with sex and cool my anger with orgasms, think again.”

  Liam shook his head. “I’d like to, but no. We have something else in mind.”

  Hammer issued an evil chuckle. “And if we take you someplace, you can’t act like a brat. Can you stop clawing, biting, and screaming for fifteen minutes?”

  She leveled Hammer with a dry, derisive stare. “I don’t know. Can you stop being an ass that long? You’re on my shit list, too. You lied straight to my face.”

  Remorse settled over Hammer’s features. “Yes, I did. And I’m sorry. Without consulting Liam, I decided the gas station on the side of the highway wasn’t the time or the place to tell you about Gwyneth suddenly appearing with a baby. I wanted to wait until the three of us could sit down so we could tell you privately.”

  She sighed. At least she appeared to be mulling his words. “Don’t ever lie to me again, Macen.”

  “I won’t,” he vowed softly.

  She softened slightly, then raised her chin to scowl at Liam. “That goes for you, too.”

  “Lying to you was never an option for me,” Liam assured as he leaned closer and brushed his lips over hers.

  Thankfully, she didn’t object.

  “So…will you come with us and not raise a fuss?” Hammer settled his lips against the pulse point of her neck.

  Raine gave a shuddering little exhalation, part resignation…and just the smallest part excitement. “All right.”

  “Wait here. I’ll be right back,” Liam instructed, then rushed down the hall to his room.

  Yanking his suitcase from the back of the closet, he unzipped a side compartment and plucked the blue velvet box from inside. He flipped it open. Yep, the little gem still lay inside.

  Though it had barely been two weeks since Liam had intended to surprise her, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Of course, chaos had ensued—a shit storm coming from every direction—and he’d never found the right moment to give her this gift. Maybe that had been for the best. The three of them had been through so much together. Liam felt a unity and rightness in surprising her with Hammer at his side. The time was now.

  Liam hoped this would be the key to solidifying their future.

  When he returned, Raine had sidestepped to put a bit of distance between her and Hammer. She wore a pensive expression.

  He crossed the room and wrapped an arm around her waist. Hammer joined him and did the same. Together, they filed out the door.

  Her posture was stiff as they led her down the hall, through the dungeon, past the bar, and finally outside. She didn’t utter a word as they made their way to the Escalade. Discreetly, he scanned the car park for any sign of Bill. He noticed Hammer did the same. With Kendall popping up to extort more money and making veiled threats, they couldn’t afford not to tell Raine for much longer. And Liam also suspected his old pal hadn’t come clean about bribing dear old Dad. Christ, they’d have to cross that bridge soon, too…

  One catastrophe at a time.

  * * *

  As Liam slid behind the wheel of his SUV, Hammer settled Raine in the front passenger seat, ensuring she was buckled in. Then he folded all six foot three of him in the backseat.