Page 79 of Filled

“I know.”

“So we have to be ready. All of us. The second you tell him, the rest of us need to be reachable. Not lurking, not hovering, but there. The second he texts, the second he calls, whoever he picks—we go.”

“He won’t text right away,” Eli says quietly. “He’s going to need time to process. To fight with himself. To decide if he’s willing to risk everything he thought he knew about himself.”

Dakota reaches across the gap between the couch and the ottoman and takes Eli’s hand. “He won’t run. Daddy, I promise you. He’s too far in.” She squeezes his fingers. “I watched him today. He wasn’t fighting his attraction to me. He was fighting his attraction toyou. To Cruz. To Dante. Every time one of you touched each other, he stared. Every time he caught himself, he looked away like he’d been caught doing something unforgivable.”

“He wants all of us,” I say.

“He wants all of us,” she confirms. “He just doesn’t know it’s allowed yet. Doesn’t know he’s allowed.”

“And you’re going to give him permission,” Eli says softly.

“I’m going to give it to him.”

The room goes quiet. Dante looks at me. I look at Eli. Eli looks at Dakota for a long time, and then he nods, slow.

“End of the week.”

“End of the week,” she echoes.

“Friday night.” I crack my knuckles, restless, already half-hard thinking about it. “I’ll make sure his schedule’s clear. Tell him you wanted to talk about training. He’ll come. He’d come if you sent him a postcard with the wordhion it.”

She laughs and the sound loosens a knot in my chest.

“Settled, then.”

Dante’s hand slides higher on her thigh. “You’re going to torture him the rest of the week, aren’t you?”

“Every single day.” Her smile turns wicked. “Every drill that puts me on top of him, I’m making sure he feels it. Feels me. By Friday he’ll be so wound up he won’t know what hit him.”

“Christ, sweetheart.” My voice comes out rough. “You’re dangerous. I can see the headline in the paper now,Death by Dicktease.”

“He can take it.” She tilts her head back against Dante’s shoulder, looks up at him. “He’s stronger than he thinks he is.”

Dante’s dark eyes are full of heat. “He is. But after—after you tell him and he processes—that’s when it gets complicated.”

“I’ll be honest with him.”

“You better be.” Eli’s voice has dropped into Daddy-voice now, the one that makes my spine straighten. “Because if you’re not completely straight with him, princess, he’ll never trust any of us again.”

“I won’t lie to him.” She sounds certain. “I’m going to show him he’s wanted. Show him he’s safe. Show him that what he feels isn’t wrong.”

“And then you’re going to tell him he can have all four of us if he’s brave enough to ask for it,” I finish.

“Yes.”

Dante cups her jaw, turns her face toward his. “You sure about this, baby? Once you start, you can’t take it back. He’ll know. He’ll know today wasn’t an accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident.” She holds his gaze. “I wanted him to know I was wet for him. Wanted him to go home and touch himself thinking about it. And I told him as much.”

“Fuck,” Dante breathes. Then he kisses her hard, his hand tight on her jaw.

When they break apart, her lips are swollen and her eyes have that lusty gleam in them that we all have come to know and love.

Eli’s watching them with heat in his eyes. “What if he decides he can’t do this?” His voice is quieter now. “What if he chooses his faith, his family’s expectations. What if he walks away? Notjust from this, but everything? The gym, his oath, his fight coming up?”

Dakota looks at him over Dante’s shoulder. “Then we let him go. But Daddy, I don’t think that’s what will happen. I saw his face today. Saw his hands on my hips. He didn’t look guilty. He looked hungry.”