With Abandon: With or Without, Book 4

He set the tumbler on the edge of the desk and ran his hands through his hair. This was a lot to digest.
    “You could talk to him. Surely your reaction is part of his worry. With the reaction over Keaton—”
    “No,” Howard said firmly. “He has to figure it out on his own. I’ve watched the two of you together. I
    can tell you know him well enough to know that. Mine and his mother’s blessing isn’t going to help. He
    knows we love and support him. He’d still beat himself up over it. He has to realize his happiness is more important than his sense of duty, or he’ll feel like a failure and make you both miserable. My son is a very proud and responsible man. He places more accountability on himself than his mother or I ever could.”
    Matt nodded. That was true, Aubrey took it upon himself to look after other people. Reynolds Hall
    defined Aubrey. It made him who he was. Everyone’s background influenced them to some degree, but
    with Aubrey nearly every motivation could be traced back to his proud heritage. He seemed to feel it was his purpose, but Matt wondered if Howard underestimated his influence.
    Howard smiled. “I’m not letting him, or you, off the hook by the way. I expect an heir, whether you
    adopt or use a surrogate.”
    “I—uh—” His mouth went dry and he had to take another sip from his glass.
    “Relax, Matt. You’ve plenty of time for that. Right now, I need you to do something else for me.”
    Something else besides have kids? Matt grew lightheaded. “Wh-what?”
    “I need you to be strong. I know you’re young, but I need you to stand up to him. Do not let him walk
    all over you. If you do, you’ll regret it, and it will take him even longer to come around. I’m not telling you to demand he come out and tell everyone. I think we both know what he’d do with an ultimatum, but you
    can’t let him push you around. You know that saying, give a man enough rope?” When Matt nodded,
    Howard continued. “I can assure you the person who came up with it didn’t know Aubrey. You give him enough rope and he’ll tie you to a chair with it.”
    Matt chuckled. That was true. Aubrey liked to do things his way, and he was conniving enough to
    take whatever advantage he had.
    “If you let him dictate everything, he’ll do it all your lives. Trust me on this. I don’t want you to lose yourself in trying to please him.”
    That never occurred to Matt, but now that he thought about it, it would be easy to do.
    Footsteps clicked on the wood deck of the veranda outside the office. Matt tensed and stared at the
    French doors. It didn’t smell like Aubrey, and Howard didn’t seem concerned.
    He stood and came around the desk again. Stopping beside Matt’s chair, he squeezed his shoulder.
    “Welcome to our family, son. I’m going to tell Joanna tomorrow, but let’s keep it between the three of us for now. Let Aubrey figure it all out on his own, okay? Trust me when I tell you if we rush him, he’ll resist, and it will get messy. I’m not trying to be mean. I don’t like hurting you, but I promise you that my advice will work.”

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    J.L. Langley
    “I won’t tell. And thank you.”
    A shadow passed by outside, and the fear of getting caught niggled at Matt. Would Aubrey think he
    was plotting?
    Howard patted his shoulder before going to the French doors and opening them.
    A tall man with jet-black hair stepped in. Werewolf power oozed from him. “Good evening, Howard.”
    “Jarred, good to see you.” Howard slapped the man on the arm. “Come in. Meet Matthew.”
    When Jarred stepped into the room, Matt dismissed his worry over his mate, at least for the time
    being. He was pretty sure his mouth was even hanging open.
    Jarred, whoever he was, was breathtakingly gorgeous. The piercing eyes all by themselves were
    enough to captivate. But this man had way more than just amazing eyes. He had an angular, classically
    handsome face. He sort of resembled Rock Hudson when he was young. He even had the cleft in his chin.
    The man was easily as big as Matt’s former boss, Rhys, and the button-up shirt and jeans emphasized his build. There was also something familiar about him and not because he looked like the famous movie star.
    He came forward and offered his hand to Matt. “Nice to meet you, Matthew. Jarred Brandt.”
    Realizing he’d been staring, Matt jumped to his feet and shook the man’s hand. He automatically
    exposed his neck out of respect,