~~*~~
“I have a question,” Cole said when they took a step back from one another after she managed to silence her sobs somewhat.
Startled, she looked at Cole as he stared down at her, a serious expression on his handsome face.
“Did my mischievous brother help you to get this taken care of?”
Sierra noticed Luke glance her way, but she didn’t take her eyes off of Cole. She settled for a sheepish little smile, one that she hoped would soften the lines on his face.
When she’d talked to Tag, he had been more than happy to help her get the legal documents necessary to make the changes and he’d actually been happy for them. Tag had told her that although they’d had a reception of sorts, he felt as though they’d possibly missed a step. Sierra took that to mean that Cole had obviously talked to his stepbrother at some point, which only reaffirmed her reason for wanting to do this.
In their attempt to ensure their friends and family were at ease with their decision, they’d managed to deny themselves one thing. Granted, they didn’t need a piece of paper, or even rings, but they did need the openness that they’d been missing all along.
It was clear that what she felt for them, they felt for her, but they hadn’t confirmed as much in words. Now, they had the opportunity to go beyond words, making it as legal as they possibly could to show that they were in this together.
“So, what do you think was going through Tag’s mind when I asked him to help me?” Cole asked, reaching beneath his tuxedo jacket and pulling a piece of paper from his back pocket and holding it out for her to take.
Sierra cocked an eyebrow as she took the paper from his outstretched hand, feeling the presence of so many eyes still on her, probably all waiting for this to be over with. She unfolded it slowly, then started at the top. Cole had essentially had the same contract drawn up as she had, only there was one addition. Out of all of the legal mumbo jumbo listed, the one thing that stood out clearly was the request for a name change from Hannah Gabriella Ackerley to Hannah Gabriella McCoy-Ackerley.
With tears in her eyes and a sob escaping, she handed the paper to Luke and moved into Cole’s arms, her eyes never leaving Luke’s face.
She knew the instant he read that part because his eyes got wide and she was almost positive she saw a sheen of moisture, but he quickly masked it and grabbed her arm, pulling her against him at the same time he pulled Cole in close. Sierra wished she could be as strong as they were, but she couldn’t control the sob that tore from her chest. Never had she believed she would be so lucky as to share this unconditional love.
And the fact that these two men had enough love in their hearts to share with her and each other only made it that much more significant.
Chapter Thirty Two
Luke was finally beginning to feel his limbs once more. There for a little while, he thought he was having a heart attack. As if Sierra’s impromptu little ceremony hadn’t sent his heart soaring into another realm, Cole had to follow it up with his request to change Hannah’s name. From the second he saw the words, he’d pulled Sierra and Cole into his arms to keep from breaking down in front of so many people.
Hannah was going to have his name. Although she shared part of his name – Gabriel – as her middle name, this was beyond what he ever anticipated. In his heart, she was just as much his daughter as Cole’s, but now…
“I love you,” he whispered to both people standing within the circle of his arms. Looking up, Luke forced the lump in his throat down as he pressed his lips to Cole’s. When he pulled away, he cupped Sierra’s face in his hands and kissed her, tasting her tears and feeling her love as it bubbled there for everyone in the room to see.
He knew without a doubt that the three of them had been working toward the same thing all along, and maybe they needed this formality to ease some of their insecurities, but in Luke’s heart, he knew where he belonged.
Another round of applause broke out around them, and thankfully Trent’s voice came across the speakers as he took the microphone and began his little spiel about the club.
“Well, I guess it’s no secret as to why we named the club what we did,” Trent told the crowd.
Luke glanced up instinctively at the single word etched in script on the glass mirror behind one of the bars. Maybe there had been a reason that he’d come up with that name, and he hadn’t even realized it.
When they’d been tossing around names, Luke kept coming back to one word that reminded him of what he felt for Sierra and Cole. With all of the crazy names that Trent and Xander came up with, Luke was still surprised that the moment he suggested it, the two men had looked at one another and instantly agreed.