by Katee Robert
Her feet had lost contact with solid ground weeks ago—months ago—and she was one wrong step away from a total free fall. Maybe it would be better…
No. She couldn’t afford to think like that.
The helicopter touched down on the landing pad outside Galen’s house and something in Meg’s chest unclenched. This place held happy memories for her, despite everything. The last time they’d been there, they were on the run and Theo was facing down the truth that he might regain his throne, but he’d lose them in the process. This was where she’d first met Isaac Kozlov, though he’d scared the shit out of her at the time. The place where she finally admitted that she loved Theo and Galen.
Night had long since fallen, and the view she knew was there on the opposite side of the property—the Aegean Sea—was barely more than a glint of moonlight on water here and there. Lights from the nearby towns created a haze along the coastline, but the water itself, her favorite part of this place, gave the illusion of hiding.
More apt than I want to admit.
“Meg.”
Slowly, reluctance hindering her every move, she turned and followed Galen into the house. It looked identical to the first time she’d walked through the door, the upside-down U-shape housing the living room and kitchen on one end and the bedroom on the other. The entire back of the house was windows overlooking the infinity pool and the sea. Picturesque. Perfect.
Meg couldn’t help looking at the stairs of the pool, couldn’t stop the memories from rolling over her in a delicious wave. Galen on the steps. His cock in her mouth. Theo charging into the pool and fucking her against Galen’s chest as if he could merge the three of them into one. Her breath hitched. She’d been so sure back then, so confident that she knew the right call, the right choice, the right path forward.
Now, she didn’t know anything at all.
Meg slipped through the sliding glass door and kicked her shoes off to walk across the cool stone to the railing. Even with the house behind her, the darkness felt more absolute here. Stars winked overhead, and if she didn’t know it was there, she’d have no idea that the other side of the patio railing fell away in a dizzying drop that would smash an unwary woman to pieces at the bottom. She inhaled deeply, letting the salty air roll through her. A few more deep breaths and she was as ready as she’d ever be to face the two men waiting for her inside.
By the time she walked back through the door, the security team was nowhere in sight. They weren’t alone. They were never truly alone anymore. But at least they had the illusion of privacy.
Theo had pulled out a bottle of whiskey, and he lined up three shot glasses in front of him. When Meg had met him, she’d marveled that he handled himself around liquor like a veteran bartender. Now, she knew his skill stemmed from his father believing that deals were made over drinks, and if one was going to do something, they should learn to do it properly.
Theo poured shots into the three glasses and slid one over to her, and the middle one to Galen where he leaned against the kitchen counter. He hadn’t said a single word since hearing that plans had changed and Greece was in their future. Meg picked up her glass and waited for the men to do the same, and all three took their shots as one.
She welcomed the burning down her throat, the way the whiskey warmed her stomach, the giddiness that shot through her. It faded almost immediately, but it felt good while it lasted. “Now what?”
Theo studied his empty glass. “In just under forty-eight hours, every Head of Family will descend on the palace.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I invited them.” He set the glass onto the counter with a soft clink. “We know Dorian is involved in the attack against you, but I can’t be sure how deep the rot goes. Huxley is involved.”
Meg rocked back on her heels. “Noemi didn’t push me.” When both men stared at her, she glared. “That’s where you’re going with this, isn’t it? You think Noemi is dancing to the tune her father set and trying to scare me off.”
“Kill you. Not scare you. Not drive you out of the country. Fucking murder you.” Galen said. “They want you dead and gone.”
She knew that, even if she hadn’t been willing to state it aloud. There was something so fucked about near-strangers wanting her dead solely because of who she was fucking. No, not fucking. In love with. Love was so much more dangerous than sex, and anyone with half a brain knew that. Love made people do crazy things, like position someone with no qualifications and no lineage to speak of as Consort to an entire country.
“Not Noemi.” Meg couldn’t be sure of so many things in the current situation, but she was sure of that. She finally had a good read on the woman, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Noemi was honest when she said she didn’t want anything to do with the Consort position. “She’s got her eye on a different prize.”
“Whether or not she’s in league with her father is irrelevant.” Theo lined up the three glasses and poured another trio of shots. “Noemi is loyal to her Family and will continue to be so when all the chips have fallen. If that puts her on the other side of the line from us, she won’t hesitate or let something as mundane as friendship stand in her way.”
“I’m aware.” She considered telling them both that Noemi could actually be a likely ally, but neither of her men seemed all that interested in hearing what she had to say. Not with Galen glowering like he wanted nothing more than to punch a hole through the wall, or Theo wearing his perfect politician expression.
It made Meg want to scream.
It wouldn’t solve anything. She’d yell, Galen would snap something jerky, and then Theo would be in the middle of it, and they’d accomplish nothing in the process. Meg didn’t know the answer. It sure sounded like they had enemies in all directions and couldn’t trust anyone but each other. She took a deep breath and strove for something resembling calm. “What are we going to do?” She looked from Theo to Galen and back again. “You said the Families are coming to the palace. What happens then?”
Galen took his shot and laughed hoarsely. “Then the bastard is going to offer you as bait, baby.”
She waited for Theo to contradict him, to cut in and say he would never put her in that position. It didn’t happen. He just met her gaze steadily, as unrepentant as ever. “It’s the only way.”
God, she could just throttle him. “And you didn’t think that you might want to bring that to my attention sometime in the near future? Or, I don’t know, maybe give me some warning before you put your brilliant plan into action.”
“You can’t act worth a damn, princess. I needed you to react naturally, and this was the only way.”
Against all reason, her throat tried to close in on itself. He didn’t trust her to be able to hold up her part of the plot. He just flat out didn’t trust her. Good enough to fuck, but nowhere near good enough to be a full partner. The worst part in some ways was that any response she gave would only confirm his suspicions. If she screamed or cried or launched her shot glass at his head, his asshole assumptions would be proven correct and he’d never trust her.
Meg forced her spine straight and met his blue, blue eyes. It took everything she had to keep the quiver out of her voice. “In that case, I’m going swimming while the adults talk. Since I can’t be trusted to handle myself.” She turned and strode away.
He didn’t call her back.
Had she really expected that he would? Meg prided herself on reading people. She always had. Too bad she’d missed the mark so badly with this situation. Her skin prickled, too tight, too angry, too much. Meg yanked her shirt off and kicked out of her pants. It was cold, but the steam rising off the pool told her that the water, at least, would be warm. After the slightest hesitation, she stripped out of her underwear as well. She waded into the pool and slipped beneath the surface.
The water closed over her head, encasing her, buoying her even as she tried not to cry over something as silly as her hurt pride. Meg stayed under until the ache in her chest became a r
eal thing and then she let herself rise to the surface and float there, staring up at the stars overhead. With the patio lights unlit and the pool all shadows beneath her, she could almost pretend she floated among the stars instead of being tethered to the earth.
She felt him before she heard him, his big body moving through the water toward her, a pull in her stomach as if she’d swallowed a magnet attuned to only two men in the entire world. Meg didn’t look over, didn’t tear her attention from the sky overhead. “I don’t need to be coddled.”
“I know.” Theo’s voice slid out of the dark like some kind of crossroads demon. Tempting her to turn away from her anger the same way he tempted her from her path every time she thought it stable beneath her feet. “I’m sorry, princess.”
“Are you?” That wasn’t fair. She was just as much to blame as anyone—or at least just as responsible for the current situation. With the title of Consort weighing so heavily, she’d let herself be shuffled around because that was easier. Simpler.
She hadn’t realized how much of a mistake it was until today.
They floated for several long minutes, and though he didn’t make a move to touch her, she could feel the weight of his body occupying space just out of reach. If she concentrated, Meg could actually hear the water licking at his skin. She closed her eyes and inhaled, cursing herself for responding even though she was mad at him. Her breasts ached for his mouth, the faint breeze teasing her wet nipples to hard points. If he’d only touch her…
But no. They couldn’t fuck away this problem. If that was possible, they would have accomplished it long before now. “If you can’t trust me to be a full partner… What am I doing here, Theo? What’s even the point?”
When he spoke, he was closer. “I’m not good at this, Meg. That probably doesn’t need to be said, but I’ve spent so long trying to keep the people I care about safe, to stay one step ahead of my enemies, to be smarter, more ruthless, more willing to do whatever it takes to protect what’s mine. I don’t know how to just turn it off.”
“I never wanted you to turn it off. Just extend that little inner circle to include one more person. You never would have put something like this into motion with Galen at the center without giving him some kind of head’s up beforehand.”
His silence was all the confirmation she needed. Meg closed her eyes, but the burning in her throat only stoked hotter with each breath. She would not cry. Crying was worthless and would only prove that Theo had made the right call. If she couldn’t have a conversation with him without devolving into an emotional wreck then maybe—
No. Fuck that.
Theo took a deep breath that seemed to reach across the shrinking distance between them. “You’re right.”
Any admission was a win at this point, but it didn’t feel like one with his words sliding beneath her skin like the sharpest of blades. She pressed her lips together, tasting salt from the pool. Or maybe from the tears she couldn’t quite keep inside.
And then Theo was there, his hand sliding against hers, a tentative touch that she should have pushed aside, but even as angry and heartsore as she was, the only people she wanted comfort from was him and Galen. She laced her fingers through his and then he was there, pulling her into his arms and holding her so tightly, she could barely draw breath. “I’m sorry, Meg. Fuck, I know I screwed this up. Give me a chance to fix it. Please.”
“We can’t keep going on like we have been.”
“I know.”
Did he? With Theo, she could never be sure. He had the nasty habit of thinking that he could mold the world to his wishes and to hell with the consequences. The fact that he was usually right only made the whole thing more challenging, because people didn’t really change. He would always make power moves first and ask for permission later, just like Galen would always step in between danger and the people he cared about without a second thought.
Just like Meg would always strive for independence, would fight against becoming too entrenched, against needing anyone too much. The fear of turning out like her mother—of proving her mother right—drove her harder than anything else in this world, and she didn’t know how to turn it off any more than Theo and Galen could turn off their respective personality traits.
“Maybe this was doomed from the start.” She didn’t realize she had any intention of saying the damning words aloud until they emerged, fully formed.
Theo ran his hands up her back and laced his fingers through her hair, urging her face up to meet his. Even in the dark, his gaze held her immobile. “Do you really believe that?”
Here, in this moment, she could offer nothing but truth. “I don’t know.”
“This will pass, Meg. We’ll win. Things will settle down into a new normal.” He stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones. “The only thing that we have a chance at keeping consistent is our relationship. Let me make this right.”
“It’s not supposed to be this hard.” A childish plea, and she knew it. Life was hard. Life had always been hard for Meg. Had she honestly thought that rule would shift simply because she was in a relationship with a prince-turned-king? She’d known better, and she’d still fallen for the Prince Charming trap that spelled happily ever after for his chosen princess.
There was a reason the curtain fell in fairy tales immediately after the wedding, before reality could set in and both prince and new princess could figure out that falling in love was the easy part. Everything that came after? That’s where the real work started, where relationships were made and broken in the trenches. Throw in a third person’s wants and needs and they faced impossible odds to actually make their relationship work.
“Everything worth having requires a price, princess. You know that better than anyone.”
Yeah, she did, but that didn’t stop Meg from wanting to scream her frustration to the heavens. “No more lies, Theo—by omission or otherwise. If we’re really in this together, then you need to actually let me in.”
“Okay.”
Easy for him to promise now, when they were naked beneath the new moon and their enemies were back in Thalania. Theo had always been good with his words, but when push came to shove, he did what he thought was best and to hell with the consequences. “We both know that promise isn’t worth the breath you used to make it.”
Theo pressed an achingly soft kiss to her forehead and stepped back, releasing her. “All I care about is that you’re alive at the end of this, Meg. That’s it. I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that happens. We both will.”
The truth lay there before her. If faced with the choice between keeping her alive or losing her, he’d cut out his own heart and burn their relationship to the ground to ensure Meg remained among the living. Galen would do the same.
Either she could accept it and try to carve a path forward for all three of them or…
Or what?
She could leave?
The thought had a hysterical laugh pinging through her chest. She couldn’t walk away from them any more than they could change the way they faced down threats. “This is hopeless.”
“It’s only hopeless if you let it be.” He held out his hand, crooking his fingers at her. “Come on, princess. Galen and I have some apologizing to do.”
She blinked. “Apologizing? Really? Don’t you think that ship has sailed?”
His grin was a flash of white teeth in the shadows. “It’s never too late to apologize. Come on.”
Curious despite herself, she slipped her hand into his and let him tow her to the stairs leading out of the pool. Meg shivered as the wind kicked up and lashed at her wet body, but they didn’t linger outside. Theo led her through the sliding glass door and around the corner to the bedroom. The only door in the house lay against the far wall, and she knew from their previous time within this place that it housed a decadent bathroom to rival the one in their private suite back at the palace.
Theo nudged her toward that door. “Shower. We’ll be ready for you when you’re done.”<
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She took a single step and stopped as Galen walked around the corner with a coil of silk rope in his hands. Meg’s heart kicked against her ribs. She knew what that rope meant. Usually the kinkiest they got was the men taking turns topping, but on special occasions, Theo liked to play with bondage. During one particularly memorable time—one of their first—he’d tied her up as punishment and fucked Galen in front of her. Her body tightened in response to that memory as much as she shivered in anticipation of what would come.
She ducked into the bathroom and took the quickest shower on record. Meg dried off and padded back into the bedroom. In the five minutes she’d been gone, they’d shifted the room around. A high-backed chair now occupied the space at the foot of the bed, and for the life of her she couldn’t figure out where it had come from. The comforter and top sheets were gone, leaving only the fitted sheet covering the mattress, and two sets of padded cuffs lay attached to rope that appeared to have been looped beneath the mattress itself. They had to have been crazy long since the bed was so big, but it couldn’t be clearer what the intent was.
“Punishment, Theo? Really?” She meant for the words to come out sarcastic, but they were too breathy.
“Not for you, princess.” Theo moved to stand behind the chair and motioned for her to sit.
She shot a glance at Galen, but he had his unreadable expression on. She’d get nothing from him until this ran its course. Meg gave a theatrical sigh and walked to sit gingerly in the chair. A quick look around found no ropes to tie her with, which was a small relief. She absolutely loved Theo’s punishments. The man could be downright devious when inspired, and he put that twisty mind of his to good use in their little sexual power games, but Meg wasn’t in the mood to play the helpless third yet again. It normally turned her on so much, she could barely breathe past her need, but tonight it would ring a little too true.