“That’s the plan. If you pass out, you won’t be able to get back,” he laughs, giving me a wiggle as he looks up over my shoulder at Nic. “Does this place have a basement? We could keep her locked down there.”
“Sorry,” Nic grumbles. “The basement is being used as my sex dungeon, though I’m sure you’ll find plenty of handcuffs and ropes down there to keep her here. Actually, on second thought, go right ahead and put her in my dungeon. I’m sure I could find a few uses for her down there.”
I flip him the bird despite not being able to see his face, though I don’t need to see it to know that there’s a mischievous sparkle lighting his dark eyes and a grin stretched wide across his face. I’ll get him back for that dig later, as for now, I have a few more boys to say hi to.
As if reading my thoughts, Kai grabs me and pulls me out of Sebastian’s hold, though thankfully allowing me to actually keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. He pulls me in hard and presses a warm, inviting kiss to my temple. “Missed you, pretty girl,” he murmurs. “Have they been treating you alright?”
I shrug my shoulders. “They’ve been treating me exactly how you’d expect arrogant billionaires to treat their staff.”
“Staff?” Nic questions from across the room. “Are you working there now?”
“Nothing in this world is free,” I remind him. “Charles lets me work afternoons and weekends as long as I’ve got my homework up to date. He keeps reminding me how important it is for me to graduate but I think it’s more about how it would look back on him if I were to fail after he made the effort to get me in.”
“With people like that, a reputation has the power to either make or break them,” Nic mutters, telling me something that I’ve already come to learn over the past few weeks of living in Bellevue Springs, but he can tell me it a million times if it means dropping the whole working there topic.
Sebastian scoffs his agreement behind me. “No wonder they have so many skeletons locked up in their closets.”
A chuckle pulls from deep within my stomach as I recall the few skeletons I’ve already discovered of Charles’ but I don’t get to think about it long before Kai is stealing my attention again. “How’d you get here? Did you take one of those rich prick’s cars? Which one? Something we can lift?” He looks up at Nic. “How much can we get for parts on an Aston Martin or Ferrari? Wait. Did you take that kid’s Lambo?”
I roll my eyes and slam my elbow into his ribs. “First of all, I took the bus right after school and it took forever,” I start, watching as his face falls with disappointment. “And secondly, even if I did take one of their cars, I’m not about to let you steal it and strip it for parts.”
“Babe, just think about the payday. I thought you had our backs? Do you know what kind of money we could make out of cars like that? Those pricks wouldn’t even miss it.”
“Not going to happen, Kai,” I tell him. “And for the record, I do have your backs, more than you know which is exactly why I could never let you do that. Their cars are more important to them than their kids. Not to mention that every single part probably has a tracking number on it.”
“We’d deal with that shit, O. It’s not my first rodeo. They’ll never catch us.”
“Knock it off,” Nic grumbles from the kitchen. “She said no. Respect it.”
“Fine.” Kai groans and slumps over to the couch before dropping down beside Eli with a frown the size of the car he wants to steal. He should consider himself lucky that I took the stupid bus. I’ve never witnessed it before but something tells me that no one gets away with stealing from Charles Carrington, especially guys like my boys. He’d use them as an example and completely ruin their lives.
With Kai busy sulking and Eli staring at his hands, I go for Nic next and he welcomes me with open arms. I fold into him as though I belong there and despite the pain that rockets through my chest, I can’t help but feel like I’m home. “Where have you been, baby girl?” he murmurs into my hair. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I whisper against his strong chest, refusing to let go.
His lips press softly against my temple for the slightest second and the urge to raise my head and capture his lips with mine tears through me. I miss what we had so bad. The past six months since we’ve been apart have really sucked but when it’s not right, it’s not right. I deserve a man who is going to be faithful to me and although he hates it, he completely agrees.