Chapter 15 - Tashi
Tashi
I woke in a tangle of arms and legs, and at first I didn’t put together that we had all gone to bed together in my room.
It was Orion’s fault. Last night, he had lingered at the door, wanting “a word” with me, which apparently translated to “dibs on alone time.”
Leo wasn’t having it. “A word? That’s what you’re calling it now? Very professional, Orion.”
“I have legitimate concerns to discuss,” Orion said with that CEO tone that probably worked on investors but did absolutely nothing to his brothers.
“Yeah, I bet you do,” Ares muttered, planting himself firmly in the doorway like a very well-dressed bouncer. “Concerns that require you to be alone in her suite. At midnight. How convenient.”
“This is ridiculous,” Orion said. “I’m simply—”
“Trying to get extra innings,” Leo finished. “We see you, brother.”
“Extra innings?” I repeated.
“Sports metaphor,” Leo said. “I’m workshopping it.”
“Don’t,” Ares and Orion said simultaneously.
I had tried to interject. “Look, I appreciate the concern, but I actually need some alone—”
“NO.”
All three of them said it at once, with such unified horror you’d think I’d suggested burning down the hotel.
“You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” Leo said, crossing his arms.
“We know what ‘alone time’ means,” Ares added darkly. “It means packing. It means disappearing. It means we wake up tomorrow and you’ve Houdini’d yourself back to New York.”
“I’m not going to—”
“You tried it twice already,” Orion pointed out. “Once with me, once with Leo. The pattern is clear.”
“That’s not a pattern, that’s two data points—”
“Two data points make a trend line,” Orion said. “I’ve seen your spreadsheets. You know I’m right.”
I stared at them. “What’s your solution? All three of you sleep outside my door like guard dogs?”
They looked at each other.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Leo said thoughtfully.
“We’re not sleeping in the hallway,” Ares said. “The carpet’s terrible for your back.”
“Then where do you suggest?” Orion asked.
Another shared look. Then all three sets of eyes landed on me.
“Oh no,” I said. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s a California King,” Leo said, as if that settled everything. “Plenty of room.”
“For four people?”
“We’ll make it work,” Ares said. “We’re very adaptable.”
“You’re insane. All of you.”
“Probably,” Orion agreed. “But we’re not letting you run.”
“I have a perfectly valid need for personal space—”
“Denied,” all three said together.
I looked between them—Orion with his stubborn CEO jaw set, Ares with his arms crossed like he was ready to physically prevent my escape, and Leo with that playful smile that meant he was absolutely serious under the humor.
“This is what my life is now,” I said to the ceiling. “Three billionaires having a territorial pissing contest at my door at midnight.”
“We prefer to call it ‘expressing romantic interest,’” Leo said.
“Through aggressive bed-sharing,” I added.
“Exactly.”
“Fine,” I sighed, because arguing with all three of them at once was exhausting and honestly? Part of me didn’t want to be alone. “But there are rules.”
“We’re listening,” Orion said.
“No hogging blankets. No snoring. And for God’s sake, someone’s getting kicked if there’s any funny business. We’re sleeping. Actually sleeping. Because I’m exhausted and you all look like you haven’t slept in days.”
“Deal,” they said in unison, already filing into my suite like they’d won a negotiation.
Which, I suppose, they had.
To be fair, I had nearly tried to run away twice. They weren’t wrong about that.
But watching them try to navigate sharing a bed—Orion attempting to establish “zones,” Leo stealing all the pillows, causing a call to Housekeeping to bring more, and Ares muttering about “tactical sleeping positions”—I realized that running away was the last thing I could accomplish.
Even if they were all completely ridiculous about it.
It was just for one night, right?
Somehow, by the morning, Leo had worked his way to lie next to me, though I seemed to remember him sleeping on the edge. Orion’s sleeping “zones” and Ares’s tactical sleeping positions hadn’t worked out as expected.
“Hello,” Leo said with a smile.
“Not that I’m complaining, but how did you get here?”
“I was the first to the bathroom.”
“Excuse me?”
“While they were scoping out the bed territory, I took a more three-dimensional approach. Whoever remains in the bed the longest can move their position to a more desirable location.”
“Well, it was just for one night.”
“Who says?” said Orion as he stepped out of my bathroom.
Ares was fiddling with the room’s coffee pot. “Do you think we’re letting you out of our sight?”
“Gentlemen, this sounds more than a little possessive.”
“We had a talk,” Leo said with a huge grin.
“When?”
“When you were snoring, Miss No-Snoring Gal,” Orion said.
“I don’t snore.”
“We’ll have our doctor look into it. We certainly need our sleep,” Ares said. He managed to get the coffee going, and the aroma of brewed coffee filled the room.
“Now wait a minute. Who are you to tell me what’s going to happen with my life?”
“See, I told you, brothers,” Leo said. “She’s the independent type.”
“I’m not a type,” I said with annoyance. I pulled the sheet around me, only to find that Leo was completely naked and totally gorgeous, and then I looked into Orion’s, then Ares’s eyes to find amusement.
“There’s more of that here,” Orion said with a glint in his eye.
“Now, how on earth are you three so comfortable with this?” I demanded. I didn’t know if I was.
Ares sat on the bed. “We’re not, but we’re also not stupid. The choice was fighting over you and destroying what we have as brothers…”
Orion sat on the other side of the bed, close to me. “Or sharing one perfect woman.”
“If you’ll have us,” Leo said.
“Sharing?” I said.
Orion gave me an endearing crooked smile. “Well, one of our problems with the ladies is that individually we are workaholics and couldn’t give a woman the time she’d like.”
“It has been a problem,” affirmed Leo. Ares nodded.
“This way,” Leo continued, “we can keep on with our work while making sure you get all the attention you need.”
“It’s a practical solution,” said Ares.
I drew my knees to my chest. Oh, sweet heavenly lord. Now, I was a practical solution. While all three were delicious, how could I be involved with all three for the long term?
“I—”
But someone’s phone rang. They dived for their pants pooled on my floor.
“It’s mine—a text,” said Ares. “Security alert.” His expression shifted from satisfied to lethal in seconds. “Kurt Wilder’s in the building. Main lobby.”
“It can’t be a friendly visit,” Leo said.
“Let’s go meet him,” Orion said.
“Good. A united front,” Ares said.
“You go ahead,” I told them.
Orion shook his head. “Oh, no. You don’t understand. You’re part of the management team. You’re coming.”
“You’re awfully bossy.”
“It’s my most endearing trait. Get ready.”
We took the executive elevator down. The ride felt endless, none of us speaking. My body still hummed with the memory of their hands, their mouths, the way they’d—
The doors opened.
Kurt Wilder stood in the center of our lobby like he owned it. His smile reminded me of a shark. “Misters Kolykos,” he said, his smile sharp enough to cut. “All three of you. And Ms. George. How convenient.”
“Mr. Wilder.” Orion’s voice could freeze vodka. “This is unexpected.”
“It shouldn’t be.” Wilder pulled a folder from his briefcase. “We’ve received formal harassment complaints filed by one of your employees bringing grave allegations to our attention.”
“What harassment?” I said.
“It’s detailed in the complaint. There will be a formal Gaming Commission hearing in a week to determine whether, along with past problems, the Olympus Royale can keep the management team it has now.”
“You can’t do that,” I said.
Ares put his hand on my arm. “He can, Tashi.”
“My son told me how unstable you were,” Wilder said. “It’s easy to see now.”
My eyes widened, and Leo put his hand at my back. “Easy now.”
Wilder gazed intently at the way Ares and Leo touched me, and I pulled away.
He looked at each of the brothers in turn, then back at me. “Nevada Gaming Control takes sexual misconduct very seriously. This hotel’s license could be at risk if we determine that management knew about or participated in inappropriate workplace relationships.”
The threat hung in the air like a guillotine blade.
The brothers moved as one unit, stepping in front of me like a wall.
Orion glanced at the paperwork. “Fine. We’ll be there. Is there anything else you want, Mr. Wilder?”
“No. I’ll see you at the hearing.” He turned smartly and walked out of the Olympus Royale.
“The nerve of him,” I fumed.
The hotel’s license would be at risk. The brothers’ reputations would be destroyed. Everything they’d built could crumble because Daniel had weaponized his father.
The lobby fell silent.
“Well,” Leo said finally. “That was a clusterfuck.”
“Tashi—” Orion turned to me.
“Don’t.” My voice came out shakier than I wanted. “Just…don’t. Handle this without me making it worse.”
“You didn’t make anything worse,” Ares said. “This isn’t about you—it’s about him wanting revenge when we won our first hearing with the Gaming Commission.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that if he gets hold of footage from that elevator, or from any of our…encounters…you’ll lose everything. The hotel. Your reputation. Everything you’ve built.”
“We don’t care,” Leo said.
“You should.” My throat tightened. “I’m not worth that.”
“Yes,” Orion said quietly, “you are.”
The certainty in his voice nearly broke me.
“I need to go,” I said. “Pack my things. Figure out…whatever comes next.”
“You’re not leaving the hotel,” Ares said immediately.
“Ares—”
“No. Wilder wants you isolated. Vulnerable. Away from us so he can pressure you into making statements that incriminate all of us.” His voice was firm. “You stay here. In your suite. Where we can protect you.”
“That’s exactly what Wilder’s expecting. That’s what will make this look worse.”
“I don’t care how it looks,” Ares said.
I looked at all three of them—these men who’d somehow become everything to me in less than two weeks—and felt my heart crack.
This was my fault. My choice to get involved with all three of them. My inability to walk away when I should have.
And now they were going to pay the price.
“I’ll stay,” I said finally. “For now. But if this gets worse—I’m gone. I won’t let you destroy yourselves trying to save me.”