Page 32 of Climbing Everest

But my home is, always has been, and always will be wherever the three of them are.

Flora sits on the couch, her arms crossed over her chest, her dark brows knitted together so tightly I’m worried she’ll end up with a permanent crease between her brows.

“You could have fucking called,” she says after a few tense moments of silence.

Madd, Brix, and Kato are lingering in the kitchen while the two of us sit on the patio. I know they’re trying to give us some privacy – or at least pretending to give us privacy – but don’t want to be out of sight in case I need them.

Not to mention Flora’s guards are standing just inside the door where they can see her. It was tense when they’d shown up with my best friend, but Kato finally relented and allowed the Russian guards into the house to make me happy.

"I couldn’t,” I say. I told her everything. Told her about what happened that night, starting with finding out I was pregnant to almost dying.

I left out the part about Viktor, though. Not because I don’t trust her, but I don’t want the risk of anyone catching a whisper of that information until Kato is able to get Viktor safely away from my father.

“You haven’t even called your parents?”

“Hell no. Wait…you thought I ran off, too, right?”

She nods, that scowl still on her face.

“Do you know about my mom? Does she think I ran off? Or did my father tell her the truth?”

She throws her hands into the air. “How the hell should I know? If I was told you ran off, why would I know whether he told your mom the truth or not? Not like I hang out around your house anymore.”

“It’s not my house,” I say and blink back tears.

I’m not sure what would hurt worse, finding out my mom thought I ran off and never bothered looking for me, or learning she knew I was dead and didn’t grieve for me.

Not that we were ever close.

I was the same as any other child I knew born into this life – an heir, someone to either carry the torch after my father died or to bring more little Russian babies into the world to lead the local Bratva.

Still. She’s my mom. Shouldn’t she have demanded my dad look for me? Shouldn’t she have demanded she talk to me, hear with her own ears that I left willingly?

But if she thought I was dead… did she grieve my death? That part is eating at me, and I won’t have any answers until we officially make my reappearance public.

Flora is still frowning, barely meeting my eyes. But at least she hasn’t left yet. She’s willing to hear me out. We’ve been friends our whole lives since her father is the Pakhan.

I need to close this rift between us. I need to rebuild the friendship I missed nearly as much as I missed my men.

“How’s your mom?” I ask, changing the subject in hopes of getting her to open up.

The crease between her brows smooths and deep sorrow fills her dark brown eyes. “Mom was killed two years ago.”

“Shit, Flora. I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known –”

I reach for her hand, but she pulls away from me. “What? You would have come out of hiding and rushed to hug me?”

“Flora. Seriously. I’m trying to be super cool and calm here and trying to be comforting about your mom’s death, but can you really not understand why I stayed away? Why I stayed hidden? I would be dead. They would be dead,” I say, throwing my arm toward the glass door.

Brix is staring directly at me, his dark brows pulled together as tightly as Flora’s were moments ago.

“I know you hate them. You would have been fine with them dead. Fine. Whatever. But I love them. And what about me , you asshole? Would you have been fine with carrying my casket?”

She scoffs. “You and I both know there wouldn’t have been a casket.”

No. There wouldn’t have been. Because Viktor was supposed to take me out into the woods, kill me, and leave me there. Either way, no one would have ever seen me again.

And if my men hadn’t tracked me down, it might have stayed that way.

But the what ifs aren’t what I want to focus on. My best friend of twenty-two years is the queen of grudges. I just hope she can see I did what I had to do, did the only thing I could to not only keep Kato, Brix, and Madd safe, but keep my own heart beating.

Flora chews on her bottom lip as her eyes well with tears. She’s fighting her emotions, but my girl has always been fairly sensitive. A total badass and more than willing to go toe to toe with any asshole, but still sensitive.

Especially when it comes to me.

“Fuck,” she grits out.

When she opens her arms and reaches for me, I instantly lean into her, hugging her tightly.

This is something else I never thought I would feel again, my best friend hugging me, her sweet perfume she’s worn since high school filling my nostrils, her skin that always seems so much warmer than normal like a balm to my soul.

Her sniffle makes tears well in my own eyes, but I blink them away. We have a few more things to discuss before we allow ourselves to devolve into blubbering messes.

Pulling away from her, I wipe the tears from her cheeks and smile as my vision blurs.

“Now that we got that out of the way … I’m getting married. In a month. Actually, I think it’s more like twenty-seven or twenty-eight days. I haven’t checked the calendar. I want to put on a huge show, like a surprise I’m still alive kind of engagement party.”

She turns her attention toward where all three are now watching us. “Let me guess – you’re marrying Kato.”

With a roll of my eyes, I nod. “I’d marry all three of them if that was legal, but it’s not. So taking his name is the safest route in case something ever happens to him or all three of them.”

Looking back at me, she leans closer as if the guys can hear us and whispers, “I will say Brix has gotten even hotter. All three of them are very…fuckable. But damn. Brix looks like the best bad decision ever.”

I huff a laugh. She’s not wrong. With his hair grown long, the tattoos, and the rings through his ears and nose, he definitely looks like the sexiest kind of bad boy.

But I would never consider him a bad decision.

“Have you guys been fucking like rabbits?” she asks, still leaning close and stealing another glance at my men.

If anyone else were to look at them the way she is, I might find myself feeling a little possessive but she’s never been a fan of theirs, and they always thought she was a bad influence on me.

She’s always been extremely sexually liberated; I think they always feared I might decide I wanted to try someone else.

Being as I have three men who fuck me and love me, what else could I possibly need? Pretty sure I don’t have the emotional, mental, or physical energy to entertain any more men than these three.

I’m still glowing from my… time with Kato. But if I give Flora an inch, she’ll demand a fucking mile. This girl will always want all the gory details of my sex life. And everyone else’s, too.

Pretty sure she’s always been a little jealous that I was able to find and fall in love with three men who are willing to share me with each other, instead of forcing me to choose one of them over the other.

“You realize how dangerous this whole thing will be, right? I mean, I’ll help. And you know damn well I’ll be there and packing to watch your back, but there’s a good chance your engagement party will end up on the six o’clock news. Or in the least, all over social media.”

“We haven’t ironed out all the details, but Kato has enough resources to make sure the partygoers are safe, and I’m pretty sure no one will be allowed to carry in the party. Sorry, sister.”

She wrinkles her nose but shrugs. “At least tell me it’s black tie. I need a reason to buy a new dress.”

I haven’t even told her about the ridiculous amount of clothing currently hanging in my closet.

I would offer to let her borrow – or take – whatever she wants, but Flora is a couple inches shorter than me and curvy.

Curvy, beautiful, strong as fuck – she has never had a problem garnering attention from men or women since I’ve known her.

“It’s black tie.” I lean back against my lounge chair. It’s chilly out here, but we both have blankets draped over our legs and we’re both wearing sweaters. “Does that mean you’re in?”

“I’m still pissed. But of course, I’m in. I’m always up for a little chaos and a chance to get laid.”

“Oh, there will be plenty of fresh meat to choose from.”

Because I plan on making sure Kato and the other two invite as many local players as possible, as many celebrities – local and well known – and any and every ally they have for the day I rise from the dead and look my father directly in the eye and tell him to go fuck himself.