Chapter Twenty-nine — Trinity
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
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TRINITY
There were boxes on my bed.
Boxes that looked like they came from the fancy stores Ocean’s husband owned. Three of them. What the—
I went back to the living room, which was a risk considering they’d just spent twenty minutes kissing me when I got home. My lips still tingled.
Logan looked up when I stood in front of him and took one of my hands. “Back for more?”
“I would if I had time. The boxes on my bed?”
“Aiden.”
“So when he said everything would be taken care of, he really meant it.”
Theo coughed, clearly covering a laugh. “After seeing his lair in the warehouse district, I get the feeling there’s absolutely nothing that man is not prepared for.”
I pressed my lips together to stop my smile before sprinting back to my room. Gifts were my favorite. I didn’t tell people because they usually reacted badly. That was selfish. Self-centered. Why were you always thinking of yourself?
But when someone took the time to get me something, no matter what it was or how small. They’d been thinking of me. I loved that.
I opened the shoe-shaped box first. A beautiful set of dark gold high heels rested inside. Filigree designs wove across leather, baring more skin through the shoe. Sparkling gold strings rested beside them. There were holes in the shoe to attach them and, I assumed, tie them off.
A laugh slipped out of me. Point taken. He was tying me up before we even started the date. Cheeky bastard. I could say I didn’t like it, but that wouldn’t be true.
My phone chimed, and it was Theo.
Theo
Here’s a scanned copy of your list in case you decide to share it tonight.
Trinity
Thank you!
Theo
Of course.
They didn’t seem to know how rare that actually was. Doing things without being asked for exact details. It was refreshing.
I sat and opened the biggest box. Nestled in the tissue paper was a dress.
“Oh my god.” It was gorgeous. Velvet that was almost iridescent blue and a contrasting rich raspberry.
When it moved, the fabric shifted between the colors and practically shimmered.
Thin straps and a slit up to the thigh. I’d never worn anything like this before.
If I saw it in the store, I would love the fabric, but probably not try it on.
It slid over my skin smoothly. It felt luxurious and a bit decadent. There was no way I could wear a bra with this, but I wasn’t overly endowed in that area, so it would be fine, and the fabric seemed thick enough to hide my nipples if they decided to stand at attention.
Considering who I was going on a date with, that wasn’t impossible.
The dress fit perfectly.
I stared at it in the full-length mirror—which was missing the giant dildo now, because I washed it—and marveled at how well it fit. The fabric bunched and pulled over my body in ways that mimicked ruching, but wasn’t quite. It just looked good.
“Wow.”
There was a matching clutch big enough for a phone and wallet. Perfect.
The last box was small.
Jewelry.
A gold necklace. It was short, but not a choker. So not even close to a collar. I thought he might have gone there, given the shoes, but that would have been too far too fast.
The little charm was a tiny violet with a jewel at the center. He noticed that, too. Was there anything he didn’t?
I picked up the box to move it, and a small jangling sound told me it wasn’t empty yet. “Oh my god.” It felt like it was the only thing I could say. Two gold hand chains rested in the box. Five dangling crystals spanned the piece that ran over the back of my hand, matching the necklace.
Aiden wasn’t fucking around.
Excitement grew deep in my chest. Maybe this wouldn’t be as strange or as awkward as I feared.
Maybe it would work. And though I’d consciously avoided too many thoughts around it, I did hope it worked.
I didn’t like the idea of Aiden being alone because we didn’t align.
He was my scent match too, right? So why wouldn’t it work?
Stop getting ahead of yourself.
I touched up my makeup and made it more appropriate for the evening. Curled my hair and put it up before redressing and lacing up the shoes. The ties were long enough that I had to criss-cross them around my legs several times. I looked like a present to be unwrapped.
The outfit worked flawlessly.
This wasn’t what I thought Aiden meant when he said everything would be taken care of, but I didn’t hate it. I was never going to be someone who wanted her clothes chosen for her every day. But every once in a while? Yes. Absolutely.
What would the five of them do if they chose something together? Would they even be able to agree? I laughed at the thought of the five of them arguing over dresses.
The mental image unfolded so easily. The way we could fit together and live. A future. I swallowed and shut down the hopeful thoughts. We weren’t there yet, and I wasn’t willing to risk the hurt. Fuck, I wanted it. But things had a way of falling apart for me.
“Trinity?” Logan knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
“Aiden is here.” He froze in his tracks when he saw me. “Holy shit.”
I smoothed down the velvet a little. “He did a good job.”
“Yes, he did. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
We stared at each other for a breathless second.
“The way I want to kidnap you and everyone else to a cabin in the middle of the mountains for a month so we can do nothing else but memorize everything about you.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and the other in his pocket.
It was balled up like he could barely stop from reaching for me.
“I know we can’t, but I also don’t promise not to. ”
I swished my hips a little more as I walked to him. “Didn’t I hear that you have a competition soon? Disappearing into the mountains won’t be great for surfing.”
“I’d get over it.”
He offered me his arm, and I took it. The heels were a bit higher than I was used to. We better not be going anywhere I needed to stand for long periods of time, because these were ‘fuck me’ shoes, they weren’t ‘stand in me’ shoes.
I saw Aiden first. A suit that was black on black. No tie. But the handkerchief in this pocket was the same two-tone colors as my dress.
This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real that all five of these men belonged to me. Wanted me. Things like this didn’t happen to me. But they stood there, real, and that was a pretty good argument against my hallucinating the whole thing.
Unless I was in a coma. In which case, I had bigger problems.
Aiden looked over as we entered the room. It felt like a spotlight had been put on me, because I was all he saw. His gaze traveled down my body slowly, taking in every piece of the outfit he’d chosen, from the shoes to the dress to the jewelry.
Logan lifted my hand and kissed the back before stepping away. “Have fun tonight.”
“Thank you.”
Aiden crossed the distance between us in seconds, towering over me. “You look incredible.”
“Thank you. For the compliment and for making it happen.”
“The real thing blows what I’d imagined out of the water.”
My cheeks heated, and every Alpha in the room reacted to my perfume. The apartment was practically soaked in it now, but they still reacted every time it happened. Which, if they had their way, would be all the time.
“Ready?” Aiden asked. “We have a reservation.”
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I glanced at the other guys and laughed. They were all trying so hard to look casual that they seemed like they were posing. Brooks, with the hood of his hoodie too far forward, leaning on the island. Logan with arms crossed and staring past us. Theo and Bastian lingered further in the living room.
“You guys know I’m coming back, right?”
It broke the tension in the room, and we all laughed together. Brooks was the closest, so I hugged him. “I’ll be back before any of you realize I’m gone.”
“That’s not possible, baby. You’re the only thing we care about now.”
“That’s not true. You have plenty of things you care about.”
He grumbled something about not as much, but he let me go. “See you soon.”
I waved to the rest of them before walking with Aiden to the elevator. There was a bit of awkwardness in the air because there were stakes for this date and everyone knew it. I hated the idea of pressure, but there was no way around it.
Aiden’s hand rested on my lower back as we walked through the parking garage to a shiny black SUV with dark windows. He opened the door for me, holding my hand as I stepped up into the leather seat. I noticed he glanced around the garage before he shut the door.
“Are you a spy?” I asked.
“Why would you think that?”
“Theo talking about your warehouse, the fact that you keep looking around as if you expect someone to sneak up on you. Not to mention a fully blacked-out car.”
He chuckled softly as the engine purred to life. “I’m not a spy.”
“How do I know that you’re not just saying that?”
Aiden held out a hand, asking for mine, so I gave it to him.
He squeezed it gently. Comforting pressure.
“I’ll make this promise now—I won’t lie to you.
Ever. As someone who’s hoping to be your Alpha, I don’t make a promise like that lightly.
There might be some things I can’t tell you, but I’ll be honest about them. I’m not a spy.”
I settled further into the seat. When you interviewed people for a living, you got good at reading them.
Nothing about Aiden said he was lying, and if he was lying that seamlessly, then he was a psychopath, and it was an entirely different issue.
“If you’re not a spy, why do you need a hallway lined with explosives? ”
“And guns. Don’t forget the guns.”
“And the guns. Why?”
We pulled out of the parking garage into the setting sun.
“I’m not a spy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t interact with some dangerous people.
I told Theo and the others I’ll never bring danger to the door on purpose, and it’s never my intent.
But I don’t take chances with the people in my life either. ”