King lets his silence speak for itself, but I think I'm the first to come to the dreadful realization. “Holy shit,” I whisper.
“You can't be fucking serious,” says Viking.
“He wouldn't,” growls Hero. He's stood up too now. “Political piece or not, she's his fucking daughter.”
But the moment he says that, I realize he's wrong. God, it's not until now that I understand exactly how depraved my father is. How fucking evil. “He would.” My voice quivers when I say it, but it doesn't make it any less true. “He so absolutely would. I'm finally useful to him.”
“Someone told him that she beaned that cop on the head with the baseball bat. She's joined the enemy.” King's voice has gone deathly quiet. If Dad was here, right this moment, it wouldn't go well for him. “If you're not with him, you're against him, even his own flesh and blood.”
“I… I have to think about this. Process.” My head's swimming and I don't know what I really want, but I have to get away from all these staring eyes and the recaps on the TV news that keep recycling the same terrible threat over and over. “I'm going back to the room.”
“The fuck you are.” Wild Child grabs my wrist and pulls me in a different direction. Hero and King follow like it's a prearranged signal.
“Where are we going?”
“My room. At least I've got a proper fucking bed for you to lie on, and room for all four of us.”
I resist his pull. “Jesus. My life's on the line. How far do you really think you'll get with that?”
“Strong emotions slip easily from one to another. I bet you'd love to piss off dear old dad right now. What do you think would make him the most angry? Can you imagine him learning that you've not only changed side, but you've fucked your kidnappers silly at the same time?” He sticks out his tongue and wiggles his tongue stud at me.
He's not wrong.
Also, I'm probably rationalizing.
I'm imagining Dad's face as I return to kick his ass, a biker queen with my three strongest henchmen, who are also my furious lovers, flanking me. Matching cuts, guns in their belts and towering over him while he cowers in his chair. Not the worst fantasy I've had.
Fuck him. Fuck my so-called duties, my fashion coordinator, my weight loss coach and my yoga instructor. Actually, Melody's nice, but fuck what all those things represent. My dad's tools of control.
Fuck my old life.
“You know what? Maybe you're right? Maybe it's time I stopped being the good girl.”
Wild Child's smirk widens into a sexy and very inviting smile.
23
EMILY
Wild Child throws the door open so it slams into the wall, and drags me in after. There's a charge in the air that has my skin tingling.
I look from Wild Child, to Hero, to King. There's no doubt what Wild Child is thinking, already peeling off his shirt. Instead of following suit, Hero comes to me and hooks his finger under my chin so I have no choice but to look up at him. His gaze is boiling honey, hazel on fire. King is an unknown quantity. I know he wants me, and now that the opportunity is here to have him naked with me, I'm game, but he's the only one I haven't gotten busy with yet.
God, listen to me. Maybe I am a slut.
Just never like Janey, because she's a bitch.
Forget her. I focus on the guys. After all the years under Dad's control, I never really thought I'd get an opportunity to explore stuff like this at all, and now I've suddenly got three of them.
Can I handle this?
“If… if I tell you guys to stop—”
“You won't,” says Wild Child into my ear as he comes up behind me to put his hands on my waist.
Then Hero shuts me up by pressing his lips against mine and kissing my brains out. We melt into each other, and I realize Wild Child is right. No way am I telling them to stop. I wrap my arms around his strong neck and cling to him, getting up on my tippy toes to give back as good as I get.
Wild Child takes the opportunity to slip his hands under my shirt, running his hands up my front until he finds my breasts and captures them in his hands. My nipples pebble up under his clever fingers, and when he pinches them, fireworks go off, shooting straight down to between my legs. I moan into Hero's mouth.
Hero pulls my shirt up, breaking the kiss so he can get it over my head. He throws it aside, and then I'm topless for all three of them. After the shower incident, they've all seen me like this, but this time it's different. More intimate. Intentional.