Cole shakes his head. “No catch. I want her always, and I want her to be happy.”
Shrewd as ever, CK narrows his eyes. “I have a counteroffer,” he declares.
Of course, he does.
Cole nods grimly, having expected that.
“Aefre divorces you, marries me, and I let you share her with me, in our home until she decides it’s time to cut you loose.”
“CK,” I hiss at him, but he ignores me. As does Cole. This is quite clearly between the two of them and never mind little old me over here, the one they are discussing as if I weren’t even here…as usual.
Cole snorts derisively. “Not a chance. I am not divorcing her because you will take that as your cue to swoop in and take her from me regardless of any other agreement we come to.”
Huh, nice one. He has clearly thought about all of this and I wonder when he came up with this idea. It strikes me suddenly that he thought of this months ago. That is why he asked me for one month, on our own, just the two of us. He wanted thirty days of me to himself before he gave half of me up to his challenger. I swallow loudly and he looks at me, knowing that I have drawn this conclusion. I love him so much in that moment, I almost weep.
CK sniffs delicately. “Well, you have thought this through, haven’t you?”
“Do you accept?” Cole asks him.
“I agree to everything except the housing arrangement. I want time with her in our home,” CK states.
“What do you propose?”
“Six months, July to December, in Italy. January to June in England. Or L.A. Whichever you choose,” CK says smoothly.
“Done,” Cole agrees, and they shake hands. I blink at them and clear my throat. They both look at me as if they had forgotten I was even here.
“Do I get a say in this?” I ask, already knowing the housing thing isn’t going to happen.
“This is not what you want?” CK asks me seriously.
“Yes, I want this,” I say quickly before anyone changes their mind. “It would have been nice to be included in the negotiation though. I have concerns that need addressing.”
They both frown at me and I bite my lip.
“You two have to stop sniping at each other,” I say before either one can speak. “This will only work if we all get along.”
They stare at each other for the longest time. I know that Cole is waiting for CK to say something first as he is the one with the obsessive jealousy, not that he would ever admit that.
“I will put all of my feelings of jealousy aside, if you will,” CK says, and once again I find myself with my jaw on the floor.
Cole nods and is about to say something when CK interrupts him, “On one condition.”
Oh, here we go. I knew that was far too easy to be true.
“Aefre becomes my wife. I will not have her in any other capacity than that which she deserves,” he says.
“No,” Cole says forcefully. “I will not divorce her.”
“I am not asking you to,” CK says. “I am merely saying that I will also take her as my own wife.”
Cole furrows his brow. “I don’t understand. We cannot both be married to her.”
“Yes, we can. You have had a human civil ceremony, but what I propose is that we join together in a hand fast.”
I stare at CK. A hand fast, the old Pagan ritual that binds two people together.
“That is what I wanted with her centuries ago and I will not enter into this agreement without it.” He looks directly at me as he says it.