Page 7 of Climbing Everest

Everest

M y mouth feels like I’ve been sucking on cotton balls, and my eyes feel crusted shut. What the hell did I get into last night? Last thing I remember…

As I lie here with my eyes squeezed shut and run through the previous night’s events, several things hit me at once. I am definitely not on my lumpy mattress positioned on the floor or covered by the scratchy blankets I found in a thrift store.

The biggest one? I recognize the smell of the room I’m in. Kato. The same warm, spicy smell from when we were kids, as though he hasn’t changed up his body wash or cologne.

It all slams back into my consciousness like a fucking wrecking ball and I sit straight up…then drop right back down when the room spins.

Those assholes. The men I have pined over for four years drugged me and dragged me back to Kato’s. Do they not realize what the fuck they’ve done? Do they not realize the danger they’re in, the danger they’ve put me in by bringing me back to Cedar Springs?

Throwing the blankets off, I slowly push up to sitting and swing my legs over the side. It takes far longer than I would like for my brain and body to get on the same damn page, but I eventually get my legs stable under me.

And realize I’m still naked.

Did they seriously carry me from my apartment with my ass and tits hanging out for every low life in the complex to see? The men I fell in love with as a stupid kid would have gouged out the eyes of anyone who ogled me.

But those three men in my room last night…they might have looked like my Kato, my Brixton, and my Maddox, but they are not the same. The looks in their eyes were dark and murderous.

And the way Kato had spoken to me, the way he’d manhandled me as though he hates me…

What the hell happened in those four years we were apart?

Part of me had always hoped they thought I was dead so they could move on with their lives, meet someone new, fall in love and live happily ever after.

But there was also that selfish part of me who hated to think of any other woman receiving the love and attention they’d showered on me every chance they got.

It was better if everyone thought I was dead. Better for me, and absolutely better for the only three people who I ever truly loved.

Still love. Though I’m not sure who the hell those three men were in my apartment last night.

There was so much hate and vitriol in their eyes and my sweet gentle giant Brix had been downright terrifying as he’d first stood silently in the dark, then loomed over me as I’d cowered on the floor, his eyes boring holes straight into my head.

Crossing the room, I seek out clothes, a robe, anything to cover my body. I have to get out of here before anyone realizes I’m not only back in the state, back in town, but in the Antoniou estate. World War III will erupt right on the front lawn if that gets out.

“Fuck,” I grit through clenched teeth. There isn’t even a fucking washcloth in the ensuite bathroom. Literally nothing other than toilet paper I can use to cover myself.

Not that I won’t try to run through the front door naked. The humiliation and discomfort of the cool air will be far more palatable than the bloodshed that will follow the second my presence is declared to the public.

Throwing all caution to the wind, I make my way to the window and look out.

Second mother fucking floor. Which means climbing through the window isn’t an option. I’ll have to try my luck with the bedroom door, getting through the hallways, and out the front door before Kato or the others realize I’m on the move.

As quietly as possible, I do this shuffle jog to the door, raising one arm to cover my boobs the best I can – leaving my lower half on full display – and turn the knob, yanking the door open quickly…

Before jumping back with a yelp.

Right outside the door stands a big, broad dude who stands at least an inch or two over six feet and looks like he can bench press me without breaking a sweat.

He’s also armed and now looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

“You’re to stay in your room until Mr. Antoniou, Mr. Marshall, or Mr. Winters retrieves you,” he says before nudging me back inside and pulling the door closed.

What…the…fuck?!

Since when does Kato call the shots in his father’s home? If anyone would want to speak to me, make demands of me, it would be Christos Antoniou. Maybe even Cora, though she was far quieter and meeker than my British mother.

Anger and confusion war for control as I stare at the closed door. I am not going to sit here and wait around naked for anyone to come retrieve me. What am I, a fucking pet?

Yanking the door open again, I use both arms to cover my tits and my crotch and glare up at the guard. “There are no clothes in here,” I say.

“Don’t know what to tell you,” he says, once again closing the door.

I release a frustrated growl, slamming a palm against the sturdy wood.

Fuck it. I’ll just wrap myself in the sheets or blankets, make myself a toga out of the bedding until someone tells me what the hell is going on. And then I can tell them the kind of danger they are all in if I stay here any longer.

I am more than willing to continue living in that roach motel if it means keeping my husbands alive. We never got the chance to go through with our plans. Were never able to get legally married and have our child together. My father…

Everything changed for me, for us the moment I told them goodbye that night and returned to my house, only to find my father staring down at the white stick with those two blue lines.

I sit on the bed with a blanket wrapped around me for so long, I’m starting to think they are gone or forgot I’m here.

My stomach grumbles, my mind is still fuzzy from whatever the hell was in that syringe last night, and my heart and head are all over the place.

That first glance up at Kato…I’d wondered if I’d died. Or maybe I was dreaming. It was a face I never thought I would see again. I never thought I would see any of them again.

My heart had swelled and begun to race, until I realized the feeling wasn’t mutual. For any of them.

Male voices rumble outside my door and I push to my feet, hugging the blanket around me tighter. A few seconds later, the door swings open and in walks the men who have carried my heart with them for four years.

From the way they look at me, it’s obvious they couldn’t give two shits about my heart. About me at all.

“I can’t be here, Kato,” I rush out. When he simply glares at me, I look to Brixton and Maddox. “Guys, I can’t be here. You don’t understand –”

“I’ve hired a wedding coordinator. She’ll be here this evening. The date is set for the third of next month. That gives you thirty-one days to pull it all together,” Kato says, cutting me off.

“Wh-what?” I stammer out, my heart thundering so hard I’m sure even the guard standing outside the door can hear it.

Kato crosses the room in long, sure strides. He’s definitely not the boy I loved. He’s a full-grown man and he’s a little scary, but in a hot, powerful kind of way that reminds my body all over again the way these three used to make me feel.

“Thirty-one days. We will be married. Your new wardrobe was just delivered, so I’ll have that sent up. Each day, one of us will pick your attire. If we’re not in here when you wake each morning, the clothes will be hanging on the door inside your closet.”

“Kato, listen to me. Guys…you don’t understand –”

He doesn’t bother with words this time. His hand shoots out and wraps around my throat, tightening until I can’t utter more than squeaks or croaks of protest.

I stare into his cold blue eyes as he pulls me closer and bends until our noses are almost touching.

“I think you’re the one not understanding. You’re mine, now. You’re ours, and you owe us a lifetime. You owe us a life . You won’t step a single toe out of this house without a shadow on you at all times. You will do as you're told. Nod if you understand.”

Who the fuck is this guy? Kato, my Kato, was so sweet, so loving and gentle. Not that all three of them didn’t enjoy a little dominance in bed.

But nothing like this.

I’m honestly a little nervous.

So I grab his wrists and do my best to nod with the hold he has on me.

Without loosening his grip, he smiles, dips his head to press his lips to mine in a deceivingly gentle caress, then utters, “That’s my good girl.”

And then he releases me and turns on his heel, leaving me gasping for air and staring wide eyed at Madd and Brix.

“Guys. Please,” I breathe out, rubbing at the tender skin of my neck. “My father…if he finds out – "

“He’ll absolutely find out,” Maddox says, a maniacal grin on his face. “The announcement will be made Monday. Invitations are already being printed as we speak. Oh, and I picked your outfit for today. You’re going to look gorgeous.”

The way he’s looking at me, I have a feeling I’m really not going to like whatever the hell kind of clothes he chose for me.

When he steps out of the room, he leaves Brix and I alone. My big teddy bear. The man who held me in his arms hundreds of times.

The man whose back I would ride when we roamed through the woods.

The man who’d held me and kissed me as their initials had been carved into my chest.

This isn’t that same man. This man is hardened. His pretty brown eyes are almost black. A permanent scowl has etched lines between his brows. His hair is long, hanging past his shoulders in thick waves.

And there is so much ink covering the parts of his body I can see. I had only been gone for four years. When had he gotten so many damn tattoos?

“Brix,” I whisper, taking a step closer.

I lost the blanket when Kato grabbed me, but I don’t care. I take another step closer and lift a hand, reaching for him.

And all he does is look me over from head to toe. Not in the admiring kind of way, either. It’s a look of disgust, almost like he doesn’t recognize me.