Missing Linc (5 page)

Finally, he nodded. “I sorta fell apart for a while after that. Guilt ate me alive. I locked

myself in my condo for weeks, wouldn”t talk to anybody and wouldn”t see anybody. I”d

convinced myself that if I”d given Paul and Ava the kind of love and commitment that they

wanted and deserved, they”d still be alive. My family was terrified that I was going to do

something crazy. Finally, my cousin Pedro came to see me. He practically kicked my door in

and dragged my ass here to Puerto Rico for some R and R.” Linc sighed. Time was a funny thing. Some days, it seemed as if a million years had

passed since his life had taken such a sudden, dramatic change. Other days, it felt like it

happened yesterday.

“I never went back to New York City, never tried to reopen the firm. I”d made good

investments over the years, so money wasn”t an issue for me. I already owned a house here,

so I spent a few months trying to regroup and get my shit together. Once I felt sane again, I

worked through my attorney to provide settlements to all my employees, including those

who died. I was the beneficiary on Paul and Ava”s life insurance policies, and when I

received the money, I gave it to their families, along with whatever personal items they

wanted. Everything else I either sold or gave away. After that, I started the limousine

company.”

Linc gave them a small smile. “That was seven years ago. Now things are great. I”ve got

a good, solid business going, I live on this beautiful island, and I”m having dinner with two

amazing people.” They both smiled in return, but it never reached their eyes.

Oh, hell. He just had to screw up the mood by telling them his depressing life story.

Because of him, the relaxed, laid-back couple of a few minutes ago was gone, and in their

place sat two people whose expressions held a mixture of emotions — none of them happy.

“Listen,” Linc began, hating the sudden change in direction the evening was taking,

“it”s obvious that my story bothered you. I”m sorry. I didn”t mean to upset either of you.”

“No,” Tomi spoke quickly, trying to reassure him. “You didn”t do anything wrong. I

think we just realized that we have more in common with each other than any of us knew.”

Linc frowned as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “What do you

mean?”

They both seemed to hesitate before Mitch said, “Tomi and I used to be part of a triad

relationship too.” Linc stared at him in shock. He didn”t know what he”d expected the other

man to say, but that wasn”t it. “His name was Alec,” Mitch continued. “He was my lover as well as my business

partner when I first started my personal training business several years ago. Alec handled the

sales and marketing part of the business, while I focused on the daily operations. We”d been

together for three years when he started hinting that he thought it would be fun to add a

third person to our relationship. At first, I was hesitant. I was worried that the wrong person

would disrupt our life together.”

Mitch”s gaze shifted from him to Tomi. Linc watched him stare into her eyes, his

expression filled with worship.

“Then, Alec met Tomi. She was looking for a personal trainer and came by for a

consultation. When Alec told me about her, I was still skeptical. But when I met her, I knew

right away that she was the one.”

Tomi nodded. “It was mutual. The connection between us was so immediate, so…right.

I”d never felt anything like it before.” She paused for a moment before shaking her head and

chuckling. “I wish I knew the right words to describe the feeling to you.”

Her words weren”t necessary. Linc already knew the feeling. He suspected that it was

similar to what he”d felt when he first met them.

“You don”t have to,” Linc murmured. “I think I know exactly what you mean.” Their

eyes locked, and from the look on her face, it was obvious that Linc”s eyes reflected what he

felt for her.

“Yes.” Her voice was soft. “I think you do.”

Linc slowly dragged his eyes away from Tomi and glanced at Mitch, who sat watching

their exchange with a knowing look on his face.

“Anyway,” Mitch continued, “it didn”t take long before our threesome became a lot

more than physical — at least for Tomi and me. I think the novelty of it wore off for Alec

after the first few months we were together. I don”t think any of us could have guessed that

Tomi and I would bond the way we did. Within weeks, we had feelings for each other that would have taken most people years to develop. The love that I felt for her was deeper and

stronger than I”d experienced with anyone else before — including Alec, even though I”d

known him longer.”

“I think Alec knew that, and he felt threatened,” Tomi spoke up. “He was used to being

the center of attention, and for a while, he was the center of our relationship. When we

realized that we shared a special connection that didn”t exist between Alec and us, we felt

guilty. We never meant for it to happen, but we couldn”t deny that it existed. That didn”t

mean we loved Alec any less, because we didn”t. We loved him differently. We went out of

our way to make sure that Alec knew how much we loved him, and how important he was

to us, but it seemed that the harder we tried, the more he resented us. He went out of his

way to let us know as often — and as cruelly as possible — that his biggest mistake was

bringing the three of us together.”

The sadness on Tomi”s beautiful face, the pain in her words, was almost too much for

Linc to bear.

The conversation stopped for a moment when the waiter came by and refilled their

water glasses. When he walked away, Mitch spoke again.

“Finally, we decided to do something symbolic to show our love for Alec — and each

other. We approached him about having a commitment ceremony. Frankly, I was surprised

when he said yes, considering how distant and combative he”d become lately. But he really

seemed excited about it, even made most of the arrangements, and I remember thinking that

we were finally on the right path to getting our relationship back on track.”

Mitch grew quiet for a moment, as if lost in a distant memory. Based on what he”d

heard so far, Linc suspected that the worst of the story was to come. He waited patiently for

Mitch to continue.

“On the day of the ceremony, we were all set to leave when Alec said that he”d left

something back at the apartment, and he”d meet us there. When he was a few minutes late, we weren”t worried. After a half hour, we were calling his cell phone. Once nearly two

hours passed and he still hadn”t shown up or called, we knew he wasn”t coming. By the time

we got back home, all his things — and quite a lot of ours — were gone. He”d even emptied

out the accounts that we had together.” Mitch paused, his jaw muscles clenched tightly, and

his face showed the disgust he felt.

“Five years together, and he wasn”t man enough to say good-bye. He didn”t even have

the courage or the decency to leave a note or anything. He just disappeared like a fucking

coward, and we never saw him, never heard from him again.”

The lingering anger and resentment in Mitch”s voice was evident. Reaching out, Tomi

grasped Mitch”s hand; her impressive diamond solitaire engagement ring sparkled brightly in

the dimly lit room as she brought his hand to her lips for a kiss. He placed a kiss against her

temple, and Tomi rested her head against his shoulder as she looked at Linc.

“That happened over a year ago, and for a while, things were difficult for us. We were

both so bitter; we felt so betrayed by Alec. He started as the anchor in our relationship, the

one who brought us together. Then he became our adversary, the one determined to tear us

apart. And he almost succeeded. When Alec left, it was as if he took a part of us with him.

We felt like we had a void in our relationship, and we couldn”t figure out how to fill it. One

day, we realized that we didn”t need to fill it. We had more than enough love between us to

make up for the loss of Alec in our lives.”

Linc remained quiet as he struggled to gain control of the inexplicable anger that boiled

inside him. He”d only known Mitch and Tomi for a few hours, but that was more than

enough time for him to see their true character, to know that they were good, beautiful

people — inside and out.

“Pathetic bastard.” Linc looked up to find both Mitch and Tomi staring at him. He

hadn”t meant to speak out loud, but now that he”d said it, he refused to take it back. He”d

love the chance to be a part of their lives, to be included in the love they had for each

other — even if it was only for a little while. It was unfathomable to him how a person could deliberately try to destroy them, would voluntarily walk away from them. He didn”t know

who the fuck this Alec asshole was, but it was obvious that he was a sorry piece of shit.

“I know it”s not my place to say this, but I can”t imagine how anyone could give up the

chance to be with the two of you. He didn”t deserve you.”

Tomi laughed. “I couldn”t agree more.” She sobered some. “Despite everything that

happened, despite everything he did to us, I still can”t bring myself to hate Alec. If it weren”t

for him, I would never have met Mitch.”

“And now you”re finally getting married, like you”ve always wanted.” Linc changed the

subject and tried to lighten the mood. “When”s the big day?”

“Two weeks from tomorrow,” Mitch told him. “It can”t happen soon enough for me.”

“Well, I think that deserves a toast.” Linc lifted his glass. “To new beginnings.”

“To new friendships.” Mitch touched his glass against Linc”s. Tomi raised hers as well.

“And to new possibilities,” she added.

Linc took a sip from his glass before placing it on the table again. Glancing at his watch,

he was surprised to see that it was after midnight. They”d been at the restaurant for hours. As

he looked around the room, he saw that most of the other patrons were already gone.

“Wow, it”s later than I realized. We probably should get ready to go before they kick us

out.” He meant for his words to be a joke, but inside, he hated the thought of leaving them.

“You”re right.” Tomi stood. “I”m going to use the ladies” room before we leave.”

Both Linc and Mitch watched as she walked away from the table. Linc glanced at the

remaining men in the room, and he noticed that their gazes followed her as well.

Turning to Mitch, he said, “You”re a lucky man.”

“Don”t I know it,” Mitch murmured. His gaze remained locked on Tomi”s departing

form. Linc paused for a moment before he said, “I”m sure Tomi knows how lucky she is as

well.” Linc waited for him to meet his gaze, made sure Mitch saw the interest in his eyes,

understood the meaning of his words.

Mitch gave him a slow, sexy smile and a slight nod. Understanding shone in his

expression.

They both looked up as Tomi returned to the table. “Ready to go?” She smiled down at

them, and Linc felt his heart skip a beat. He was blown away by how unbelievably stunning

she was.

Damn, he wanted this woman. His gaze switched to Mitch, and he felt the same

attraction, the same desire for him as well. God knew he had no right to feel the way he did

about them, knew he was only making things worse for himself when the night was over and

they walked out of his life for good. Nevertheless, he couldn”t seem to help it.

“Yeah,” Linc said. He and Mitch stood as the waiter arrived with their bill. Linc

reached into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out his credit card.

“Uh-uh.” Mitch stopped him. “We invited you, remember? This is on us.” Before Linc

could say anything else, Mitch handed the waiter his credit card along with the bill.

Smiling, he said, “You know, I really don”t mind paying. I”m honored that you”d want

to spend part of your evening with me.”

Tomi laughed. “In that case, you can pick up the bill next time. How does that sound?”

Linc searched her face, trying to make certain he wasn”t reading between the lines,

wasn”t jumping to conclusions. But Tomi”s expression confirmed her words. She wanted to

see him again. One look at Mitch and it was obvious that he felt the same way.

“That sounds good.” Linc spoke casually, trying not to sound too excited or appear too

anxious. It was hard to do when that”s exactly how he felt.

After the waiter returned with Mitch”s credit card and receipt, they left the restaurant

and got into the car. The ride back to their hotel seemed much shorter than the ride to the restaurant, and Linc was tempted to take a scenic route in order to stretch out their time

together.

All too soon, he pulled up in front of the hotel. Linc got out of the car and met them

around on the sidewalk. He forced a smile and prepared to thank them for dinner, say good

night, and get the hell out of Dodge before either of them had a chance to see how deeply

they”d affected him in such a short period of time. However, when he opened his mouth,

what came out was nothing like he”d intended.

“I have to be honest with both of you. I”m not ready for this night to end. I don”t want

to say good-bye.”

There. He”d said it. The looks on their faces left no doubt that they”d gotten his message

loud and clear. It was too late to pretend that he hadn”t said it, to act as if he didn”t mean it.

Besides, he wouldn”t take it back even if he could. All he could do was hold his breath and