“Hey, are you here?” Selene called out in English and then added a few things in French. None of them sounded good. The camp was a messy disaster.
“We were just beginning to make plans,” a man said behind us. “We were coming to get you.”
“Hold that thought for the next time, but for now, I need you to get us the hell out of here!” Selene said and held her arms open wide. “But not before I get a kiss.”
The man was older and very handsome, with the looks of a professor that every girl fell in love with. When they were done, another man walked around the helicopter and embraced her, too. He gave her a deep kiss on the lips, and he was joined by another who also kissed her like that.
I raised my eyebrows and looked at my Kings. It was rare that we met people with the same ideas of relationships that we had, and I was impressed. They were living our dreams of adventure, a little danger, and taking down the worst kinds of people that society had to offer.
The helicopter lifted off after we loaded, and for the first time in months, I felt like the future was ours, and it was bright.
But I didn’t factor in the stumbling blocks we’d encounter before we got there.
CHAPTER12
“We’ll dropyou off in Vienna,” Selene said over the droning chaos of the helicopter’s rotors whirling around above us. “I’m afraid that’s the best we can do, but I can give you a place to stay until you get your bearings.”
“Thank you,” I said and leaned back against Archer’s shoulder. He had his arm held across the front of him as if it was broken. I worried that he might have permanent damage if we didn’t get him to a doctor as soon as possible. “Is there any way you could arrange medical care? Not in public. I believe we are still in grave danger and should be laying low right now.”
“Oh, of course,” she said and tapped her forehead with the palm of her hand in a d’oh expression. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. You and your friends have gone through hell, it seems. I’m just glad we got you out of there before he did any more damage.”
“I don’t think Maksim would have hurt me like they hurt my Kings,” I said, half talking to myself. It was more of a musing than a discussion. “He intended to marry me to access Ivan’s fortune and businesses.”
“Your Kings?” Selene asked and glanced at the boyfriend beside her. The other two were at the front of the helicopter, flying us all to safety. “What do you mean by this?”
“I mean, that’s my pet name for them,” I said and blushed as I realized how completely silly it sounded when I said it out loud.
“Why do you need a pet name for four male friends?” she prodded, watching all our reactions. Valen reached over and rubbed my leg while Kingston and Ryker propped each other up on the seat across from me. It wasn’t a big helicopter, and we were all pretty squished in together, but it was probably obvious that none of us minded touching each other.
“They’re my boyfriends,” I said, at last, finding my confidence to voice the truth of my situation. “I live with them, or I should say they live with me because I’m the one that bought the house near campus.”
I laughed, and the Kings joined in.
“I said I’d cover it, princess,” Valen replied with a chuckle.
“Show off,” Ryker grumbled. “Some of us aren’t rich kids with fat trust fund accounts to spoil Everly with.”
“Yeah, some of us had to work for a living,” Kingston added with a scowl.
“And we shouldn’t be punished for being born into money,” Archer argued, and I could feel his body tense up beside me.
This was an old argument, one that got recycled over and over again from time to time. It always made me laugh to think of four hot men like this arguing over who got to treat me the best, and it was still unreal after all these years.
“Guys!” I raised my voice. “This is exactly why I bought it in the first place because you all can’t stop fighting over who gets to spoil me.”
“I thought that’s what was going on, but I don’t like to assume,” Selene said and a grin. “And I envy you. Around our house, I have to beg them to do the dishes so I can have some rest every now and again.”
I laughed at that, and we started talking more openly about our unusual relationships. It was exciting to meet somebody who understood the kinds of things I had to deal with day to day. From four pairs of underwear on the floor near the clothes hamper, but not quite in it, to making sure every one of them felt like they got enough love and attention from me throughout the week.
Sometimes running a reverse harem-type relationship felt like a full-time job. At least it was rewarding, and at least I was never lonely and never afraid.
Except when I was away from them.
“Some people think just because we’re so open with each other that we’re into cheating, too,” Selene said at one point. Her laughter was bright and tinkling, but a dark wave hit me as I thought about Avery and Maksim and what I’d been forced to do with my own sister. “I mean, we laid out the rules from the get-go. I’m sure you guys have done something similar.”
“We never did make any official rules, I guess,” I replied, frowning at the conversation this would inevitably bring up. “We just sort of fell into it.”
“You’re lucky!” she exclaimed. “I wish it had been that simple for us. There was a lot of jealousy at first, and it took a few months to get them to agree to everything. There were some tense moments, I’ll admit it.”