Chapter 6
“I’ll goover the rules when I get in the right head space. I just can’t do it right now,” I told Archer when he asked about the envelope. “It’s getting late and I think I’d better get back. I don’t know the full story they told my mom, but I’m sure she’s concerned.”
“Understandable,” Archer said. “I can take you home.”
“Fuck no, she shouldn’t be seen with a douche bag like you, Arch,” Kingston chuckled. “Her mother knows me and it won’t seem out of the ordinary if I drop her off.”
“Fine with me,” Archer said. “I think we all could take the time to have a shower and a good sleep after all this. I’m sure I’ll be hearing from my parents soon, too.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t do more for you,” Valen said, his gentle nature seeming to hurt him at that moment. His frustration was palpable, and he clenched his jaw as he spoke. “We grew up with the Organization, and we know the things they could do to fuck up our lives. I don’t want that brought to my family unless its’s absolutely necessary to protect you.”
“I would do anything to keep you safe at this point, but I don’t think we can take on the Organization before we have more information,” Archer said. “I hope you understand.”
“I do,” I reassured them both. “This is going to take time, but we will get out of this. I can’t stand the thought of those old assholes thinking they own me in any way at all.”
“Especially when they know I own you,” Kingston said, pulling me into his arms. He pressed his hand between my legs and cupped me there. “I own this most of all, your delicious little pussy.”
“If only they knew that, they’d probably yeet me out of being Tribute,” I said. “As much as I want that, I don’t want to go to jail for shooting Reg.”
“It might be hard,” Archer said, running his hand down my back to settle in the curve above my ass. I loved the weight and heat of it, it felt protective, secure.
“But we can handle it,” Valen said pushing his hand up the back my neck, under my hair. He cupped my head and wove his fingers in my thick locks, adding to the secure sensation I had from all their touches.
“It will be tough,” I said and sighed, relaxing in their triple embrace. “But we’ll make it through...as long as we sneak a little here and there at school.”
I had to wiggle free at that point, because I had to get home. It was getting late, and I wasn’t sure if Mom and Nat would be back yet. And I wasn’t sure if the Organization had kept them held away this long, and I didn’t even know where Reg was. If he was home, I didn’t know how I was going to face him.
Fuck. I had to get myself together. I’d have to see Reg eventually, and I had to make sure he knew that I was still serious about my revenge. I would shoot him again if I got the chance, and I had zero regrets shooting him the first time.
I wasn’t going to let him go back to the way things were. It was like being away from home and around my Kings had given me a supreme clarity. A powerful strength to stand up for myself, and the will to keep my head on straight and never be a victim again.
From here on, I would only act in ways that helped me, my friends, or those I loved.
“Okay, we need to do this,” I said and stood on my tip toes to kiss Valen and then Archer goodbye. They were reluctant to let me go, but Kingston was ready to drive me home and I was ready to face reality again. The reality I was creating, not the reality that was forced onto me.
“I hate letting you go,” Valen said as we walked to Kingston’s big black truck. “I fucking hate the thought of you being back in that house.”
And I found myself in the strange place of having to comfort them. Of having to let Archer and Valen know that I would be strong enough to be okay. I wasn’t afraid to be there anymore, I wasn’t afraid of anything.
“She’s okay now,” Kingston said, taking the spot by my side, offering me support in his way. He was like the leader, but I was his equal now. We were King and Queen, Archer and Valen our loyal subjects. I loved them, but not the same way. Each of them was so different, there was no way to love them exactly the same. “I’ve known her a long time and she knows I’m close if she gets scared. I can see the look in her eyes that she’s strong now.”
“I promise I’ll call you if I need any of you,” I said and smiled as I climbed up into the passenger side of the truck. Valen and Archer made sure I was safely inside before they shut the door. Kingston climbed into the driver’s side, and I waved at them as we drove away, leaving them looking forlorn on the driveway of Archer’s mansion.
“Those two have it bad for you,” Kingston said as we turned off Archer’s street and hit the main road. “They’re so in love with you, it’s pretty cool.”
“So you’re not in love with me?” I asked, and raised my eyebrow as I looked at him.
“You got me,” he replied and his hands gripped the wheel. “I’m stupidly in love with you, Evie. I have been for years, since I was a scrawny kid with a head full of our future.”
“Did you ever imagine yourself sharing me like this?” I asked, because I was fully aware that we were heading into this kind of unconventional relationship whether we liked it or not.
“Fuck no,” he replied with a deep growl of jealousy. “I’m not even sure I like it now, but those two are like brothers. They’re close to me, we’re all close.”
“I kinda picked that up,” I replied and wanted to ask him how close, because if they were ever close enough to touch each other, kiss each other, suck each other, then I wanted to see it in person. Yeah, I could admit that now, I wanted to see it. “I like it, it feels like family.”
We kept talking like that, and then slipped into some stories about the good old days before getting back into our neighborhood. The houses gradually grew smaller and closer to the street as we left the rich side of town. Everything felt more constrained and crowded the farther we made our way into the poor side.
“Shit, your mom’s home,” he said, as we turned onto our street. “Do you need me to come in with you?”