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“Why is it so easy for you to tell me that?” he asks.

“I don’t give a shit what you think about my bloody pussy,” she says with a grin as he rolls his eyes.

Ugh, they’re like oil and vinegar over here. Polyamory is like a carefully crafted dance. I have no idea how people fucking manage it.

“Moving on, children,” I murmur, my chin jutting toward the club to remind them of where they are.

“Fine,” Jared grumbles. “The only way to gain entrance as a patron to the speakeasy is through the mirror we just came through.”

He gives me a tour through the speakeasy and then downstairs to the dungeon, which is basically a sex club. There’s so much planning that clearly went into this. I didn’t get to see any of this when I picked up the piece of shit who drugged Liliana, so I’m enjoying the full tour.

Jared tells us about the lawyers they employ to be the face of the club since they’re not twenty-one until next year. We’ve grown up in a world where we’re expected to make adult decisions starting at fifteen years old or sooner.

It must have been humbling to leave Carlysle Prep only to find that you’re a child to the rest of the world.

Thankfully, money does talk and the lawyers helped them get the club off the ground.

The permits for liquor licenses alone had to have been annoying to get.

God, I can’t imagine the nightmare of all of the details.

Still, it had to have been better than prison, and they had each other to work through it.

“Very little of our family’s inheritance is touching this, or whatever we got from the Kings Society,” Jared explains in a low voice as we watch a woman get fucked hard on a St. Andrew’s cross.

I guess there’s definitely a kink for fucking in public like this.

“We got private loans to buy all of this.”

“I guess it’s smarter to make sure it completely belongs to you,” I admit. “This place is amazing.”

“It all started because Elijah’s inheritance is under a trust. He was frustrated not to have access to money, and hated having to essentially ask for an allowance from the Kings Society,” Jared explains.

“In the last two months, it’s been thriving and we have a great team.

Even the mystic shop is doing well. We thought it would be a loss leader.

We underestimated the need for it in this area. ”

“Rachel loves doing the readings,” Liliana says. “When she talks about it, she lights up.”

“What are the odds she’d find us,” Jared grunts. “Real talk, we need each other and Rachel needs all of us. She has different relationships with us all, though admittedly some of them are rocky.”

Liliana arches her perfect brow at him, something she’s always done when we’re being dumb or she’s feeling a bit superior.

“I fully understand that we’re to blame for it,” he grumbles.

“She hides when she’s in pain or not feeling her best because she doesn’t want to bother anyone.

I know for damn sure that she’s not like that with you two.

I basically had to demand that she sleep in our bed.

Before you come for me, she’s been having nightmares.

I’m not sure if it’s from the new medication or not, but they’re happening.

Elijah slept on the floor by her bed until I snapped. ”

“Laying down the law like a good husband, huh?” Liliana teases him.

“Ugh, I kind of hate you,” he complains.

“How was her sleep once she was sleeping with you?” I ask, ignoring their sniping.

“It was a lot better,” he admits. “We skipped the pool workouts for obvious reasons and went for walks instead. I think a part of her thinks she shouldn't trust or care about us. She’ll be really relaxed and happy, until she remembers everything. I don’t know how to move past it. She’s the worst with Elijah.”

“You know why she is,” I say in a warning tone.

“She told us your father told her all about how that night went down,” Jared says. “If we had stopped at any point, decided then to fake her death and not go through with it, things would be very different.”

“We can’t live in the past, and neither can she. I’ll talk to her,” I decide. “I’m doing this for her, though. Holding onto all of this hurts her.”

Jared seems to accept this with a nod and we walk back upstairs. I catch a glimpse of Elijah as he gazes over the domain as if he’s the king of it all. I suppose he is, in a way. He doesn’t look my way at all. It’s probably for the best if he’s in the zone.

Jared takes us through a back door and then we’re back in the mystic store.

“Her appointments should be coming to an end,” he says. “You can take her home. We should probably work a full shift for a change.”

The tone is self-deprecating, showing that he’s poured time into Rachelle in an effort to take care of her. Jared is frustrated by the wall he keeps hitting with her. Even though they’re the cause of it, I still can understand where he’s coming from.

He’s gone before I can say anything, and Liliana gazes hard at me.

“I can’t fix it for him, baby,” I remind her. “I can make it easier for the three of them, but they have to do the work too.”

“That’s not why I’m staring at you,” she says. “I wanted to make sure that you knew that you can’t fix it. Now let’s go get our girl.”

Rachelle is getting her things as we find her, appearing happy.

“We’re taking you home,” I tell her. “I’m starving. How do you feel about tacos?”

“Is Liliana making them?” she asks with way too much excitement.

“I am now,” Liliana laughs. “I hope Calvin doesn’t mind that I’m taking over the kitchen.”

“I think at this point, he’d be happy that I’m eating. I just wasn’t hungry,” Rachelle says, looking guilty.

“You were sad, huh, querida?” I ask as we wave at Brea and leave the store.

“I was,” Rachelle whispers. “I know you had to work, and it’s silly?—”

“It’s not,” I say, cutting her off. “We missed you too. The difference is that we had a place to expel our feelings.”

Liliana sniffs, “It’s a messy way to do it, but effective.”

Rachelle rolls her eyes as we wrap our arms around her like bookends as we walk together.

“It’s different with you two,” she admits. “If I’m bloated and feel gross, neither of you care. I know Elijah saw a lot at the hospital, but it’s still different in the light of day, you know?”

“I do,” Liliana says. “You’re also a very private person. You made it work though. Which one of them gives the best stomach rubs?”

Rachelle blushes as she thinks, and it’s so fucking cute. As much as life has messed with her, she still holds onto her innocence.

“Theo does,” she says. “Jared laid my clothes out for me in the bathroom, and if the cramps were really bothering me, he’d help me dress. Elijah would run downstairs for water or tea if I needed it. They were really helpful.”

“But?” I ask her. There’s a note of pain in her voice when she talks about Elijah compared to the other two, and I realize that feels like a knife through my chest.

“I wish they hadn’t made the choices they did,” she whispers, tears clear in her voice.

“Fuck, baby. Me too,” I sigh, leaning down to kiss her temple. May as well have the conversation I planned now. “You know they wish they hadn’t, right?”

“That’s what they say,” she says helplessly, shrugging. “You can’t do the things they’ve done and get to live happily ever after, can you? Isn’t there some kind of rule that you have to live with your consequences?”

“If that rule exists, it doesn’t apply to us,” Liliana says, her voice strong and sure as we walk to the parking lot.

We both watch for any signs that someone is too close to us, or may be following behind.

“We get to live the life we want and enjoy it. The dickwads fucked up so hard their great grandchildren will be hearing about it. Want to know why?”

“Why?” Rachelle asks, sniffling though I can tell she’s slightly amused.

“I’ll still be around to tell your great grandchildren about how badly they fucked up and how they spent the rest of their worthless lives making it up to you, mi amor.

I fucking love you. It’s us against the world, and that includes the dick weeds who want to love you but don’t know how to break through,” Liliana says, hugging Rachelle tightly.

God, this is why Lili is her person. Even my nuts threaten to climb back into my body.

“Why would they want to love me?” Rachelle asks.

And now I want to fucking punch my ex- best friends. I guess I’m keeping my promise to have drinks with them later tonight.

“You’re the best thing to ever happen to us,” I tell her. I want to look her in the eyes as I say this, but we’re almost to the car. None of this matters if we get shot at because I wasn’t paying attention.

Pulling them both against the car, I palm their cheeks to tilt their faces up toward me.

“You’re one of the sweetest, most complicated girls I’ve ever met, querida .

You’re able to be different things to each one of us, and I never thought that would be possible,” I sigh.

I don’t want to call her the wrong name while I speak to her, so I avoid it all together.

Her eyes glitter with unshed tears, and both of them are fiercely focused on me.

“Liliana was fiercely protective of you from the moment that she met you, and we should have been too. From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry for setting off the domino of events that led to you being in that box.

It doesn’t make any of this better, but I do accept my responsibility for it all. ”

“You were jealous,” she whispers. “I mean Emil is pretty amazing.”

“And scary as fuck,” Liliana mutters. “Just because I’m a killing machine, doesn’t mean I’m completely immune to him.”

“I’ll agree with both of those things. Let’s go home and have tacos, ladies,” I say, pulling the keys from Liliana’s pocket to open the door.

Helping them both into the vehicle, I walk around the car while looking underneath it just in case.

Satisfied no one’s fucked with the car, I open the door and grab a wand to wave it over the engine to check for bombs.

Overkill? Maybe, but I don’t give a flying fuck.

These are my girls. Liliana and I pissed off a drug lord, we need to be careful.

As I slide to my seat and return the wand to its new home underneath me.

“One more thing, huh?” Rachelle asks, wrinkling her nose at me.

“Just till we catch him,” I promise her, turning the car. I freeze as I listen to it turn over, but it performs perfectly. Shifting into reverse, I check my surroundings before backing up.

I’m ready to get home. I feel twitchy for some reason.

“Something about this guy is rubbing me wrong, Rachelle,” I say as I drive. “He’s a slimy little shit.”

“Every moment he hides is a different experience my brain makes up for him,” Liliana says next to me. “He’s going to learn that he’s only making it worse for himself.”