Konstantin redeemed himself when he added, “I’m not judging, Karolena. Lord knows you earned the right to be happy and sleep with whoever the hell you want after surviving Vladimir. I’m just a little…surprised.”
“Me too.” She held out her hands so that Tavish took one and Legend the other. There could be no doubt she was with them both. Not only for a fling, but for something lasting.
Motherfucker. Aven grumbled to herself. She’d seen this happen often enough that she knew what she was looking at. And yet again, it wasn’t her in the middle of a hot guy sandwich.
“But Levin…” Konstantin couldn’t be distracted for long. “Are they helping him? He doesn’t stand a chance on his own.”
Aven spoke up then. “We are. He wanted you to know that he has a plan and that he fully intends to come for you as soon as his work here is finished.”
“The man has an ego the size of this jet.” Konstantin rolled his eyes. “Sure, he mostly deserves it, but if he’s trading my life for his, it’s pointless. I’d never be able to live with that.”
“I promise you they’re supporting his efforts.” Karolena looked to Aven. “Can we untie him?”
“Are you going to behave yourself for the flight?” Aven arched a brow.
“Might as well. Need to survive to chew Levin’s ass out later.” Konstantin turned his head to stare out the window.
She could have sworn she heard Nolan crack a joke about how much Levin would like that, but she was focused on what she needed to do to get them in the air.
“Let him loose,” Aven told Legend, then made final preparations for takeoff. When she was about to head into the cockpit, she turned to Konstantin one last time and said, “I’m sorry your boyfriend is so damn cocky.”
“You and me both.” A hint of a smile flicked over his lips as he shot her a rueful glance.
“But it really is for your own benefit.” Aven turned and raised her voice so they could hear her as she took her place. “Everyone strap in. We’ll be up in a couple minutes.”
As she went through her routine, she heard Karolena continue to reassure Konstantin. “Would it be okay if I gave you a hug? I remember what it was like when I did this, not so long ago. I’m sure you’re in shock.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
It was quiet for a while then Karolena told him, “You’re going to like it at Shields. It’s nothing like this place. It feels like an entirely different planet without judgement or fear.”
Konstantin’shumpfdidn’t hold a lot of conviction, but Aven made it her personal mission to change his mind in the coming weeks.
“Would you like some water or something to eat?” Karolena asked him.
“I think I’d mostly like some time to think. This is a lot.” Konstantin sounded tired. Aven was sure he’d be out not long after they reached altitude. It happened a lot when she picked up the agents and their adrenaline crashed.
Well, either that or…
Sure enough, Karolena, Legend, and Tavish angled toward each other. Aven turned around long enough to witness them wrapped together in a three-way hug. “Thank God you made it out safe.”
“Of course we did. We had you waiting to come back to.” Legend kissed Karolena and she didn’t even flinch despite Konstantin observing as Legend passed her to Tavish to do the same.
“Is it okay if we go talk in private?” Karolena asked her men, edging toward the bedroom at the back of the plane.
“I swear this jet sees more action than a window in the red light district.” Knox chuckled. “Don’t forget there are more of us here who’d like to ‘take a nap’ on the way home.”
Konstantin’s eyes got bigger as he looked between Kennedy, Marcus, and Knox. Aven barely picked up his whispered, “Damn. What have I gotten into?”
It had her smiling to herself as she flipped on the engines.
Tavish surprised her then by declaring, “This is about more than sex. At least for me, and hopefully for them too.”
Of course they’d all known it was, but they hadn’t expected him to admit it to himself, never mind so publicly.
Legend responded hesitantly, “I would never try to claim either of you…”
“Well, I’m claiming you both,” Karolena interrupted, flinging her arms around their necks and hugging them to her.