40. Chapter 40
Chapter forty
By noon on Valentine’s Day, I had been massaged, scrubbed, moisturized, steamed, wrapped in something that smelled faintly of lavender, and informed by a woman with perfect skin that I needed to drink more water.
I had also consumed two glasses of champagne.
It was difficult to decide which part of the experience I liked best.
“This may be the greatest thing rich people ever invented,” I said, sinking deeper into the oversized chair while a technician painted my toenails a pale, glossy pink.
Across from me, Lacey glanced over while a technician massaged lotion into her hands. “Spa days?”
“Being professionally pampered for hours while someone brings you champagne.”
Scarlett stretched her legs beneath the white robe she wore and inspected her freshly painted toenails. “Wait until they bring out lunch. Aria ordered enough food to keep us here until tomorrow.”
“Aria seems frighteningly efficient.”
“She is,” Lacey said. “Give that woman a problem at nine in the morning, and by nine fifteen she’ll have solved it, have three backup solutions, and booked dinner reservations.”
Scarlett laughed. “She also knows every designer in Manhattan and can find a dress in your size before you know you need one.”
I had already experienced that particular talent.
“She’s the reason I had clothes waiting for me the day I came to Manhattan,” I said.
“And half the reason Xyst still functions when the men get distracted by whatever crisis they’ve decided requires guns that week,” Scarlett added.
Lacey tipped her head toward me. “Speaking of distracted men, what did Lachlan plan for tonight?”
“I have no idea. He told me to buy a pretty dress for dinner, handed me his Black Card, and refused to answer another question.”
Scarlett groaned appreciatively. “I love that card.”
“I’m still not convinced it’s real. I bought a dress this week that cost more than some people’s cars, and the woman at the boutique barely blinked when she ran it,” Isabella said.
“Neither will Lachlan,” Lacey added.
“I know. That may be the strangest part.”
Lacey laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
“Yes, you do.”
I smiled because she was probably right.
There was something absurdly pleasurable about being spoiled without anyone attaching a price to the kindness afterward.
Lachlan liked buying things for me. Lacey had told me Nik was the same.
Scarlett claimed Lucian could turn purchasing a pair of shoes into an act of organized crime if someone told him the right size was unavailable.
Apparently powerful men became very determined when faced with retail inconvenience.
“What are yours doing tonight?” I asked.
Scarlett shook her head, half amused and half annoyed. “Lucian won’t tell me anything. I asked whether we were all doing something together, and he said, ‘Absolutely not. I have no intention of sharing you with anyone after dinner.’”
Lacey snorted.
“I thought it was romantic.”
“It is romantic,” Lacey said. “It’s also Lucian informing the entire world that he expects sex.”
“He doesn’t have to inform anyone. I already know,” Scarlett said, bouncing her eyebrows.
They both laughed.
My cheeks warmed, but not because this type of conversation embarrassed me anymore.
A few weeks ago, I probably would have sat quietly and listened while two women talked about their husbands’ sex lives.
Now I knew exactly what it was like to have a large Irishman decide sleep was less important than finding another way to make me come.
I took a sip of champagne.
Lacey watched me over the rim of her glass. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“That smile says otherwise.”
“It was a private thought.”
“Those are usually the best kind,” Scarlett said.
I considered preserving some dignity, then decided I’d spent enough of my life doing that.
“I was thinking Lachlan probably plans to spend considerably more time between my legs than sleeping tonight.”
Scarlett grinned. “See? Much better than keeping it to yourself.”
Lacey leaned back, pleased. “I like getting dressed up and going somewhere beautiful, but sometimes I honestly want to skip the heels and makeup and spend the entire evening in bed being thoroughly worshipped by Nik’s mouth and hands.”
Scarlett sighed. “That sounds lovely.”
“It is.”
I laughed. “Is death by orgasm actually possible?”
“I have no idea,” Lacey said. “But if I have to go, that seems like an excellent option.”
Scarlett lifted her champagne glass. “To dying happy.”
I tapped mine against hers.
Somewhere between the champagne, ridiculous conversation, and the fact that no one in the room needed anything from me, an odd little realization settled quietly into place.
I had girlfriends.
Actual girlfriends.
Women I could gossip with about dresses and sex and men who carried guns for a living. Women who teased me, included me, and seemed to have collectively decided I belonged with them before I had completely figured that out for myself.
The thought made me smile.
“Aria should be here,” I said.
Lacey nodded. “She should. She arranged all this and then claimed Valentine’s Day at Xyst was too busy for her to disappear for five hours.”
“Does she ever stop working?”
“Rarely,” Scarlett said. “But Xyst was Ana’s baby for years, and someone had to take over more of the day-to-day work after she left.”
“I haven’t met Ana yet.”
Lacey’s expression softened. “You will. Anastasia is Nik’s twin sister. She owns part of Xyst with the guys, but she lives out near Tacoma now with Conan.”
She took another sip of her champagne.
“He’s an emergency department nurse,” Lacey said. “Very large. Very tattooed. Very obsessed with his wife.”
Scarlett smiled. “She’s pregnant with twins, so I doubt Nik is going to let her travel any time soon.”
“Let her?” Lacey repeated.
“You know what I mean.”
“You’re right. He’ll hover until those babies are born.”
I laughed.
“Conan’s brothers are out there,” Lacey continued.
“One’s an emergency physician, and another is a paramedic.
Nik’s family has business ties in that part of the country, so it worked out.
Ana still keeps an eye on Xyst, but Nik handles more of what she used to do now, and Aria keeps everyone else from setting the place on fire. ”
“That woman deserves a spa day more than any of us.”
“We should make sure she comes next time,” I said.
Scarlett pointed her glass at me. “Yes, we should.”
Lacey’s eyes brightened. “We should make this official.”
I looked between them. “Make what official?”
“The Syndicate Sisterhood.”
Scarlett immediately sat straighter. “Oh, I like that.”
“The men took a blood oath,” I said. “If we need one of those, count me out.”
“No blood,” Scarlett said. “Absolutely not. The men can keep the knives and dramatic rituals.”
Lacey lifted her glass. “We get champagne, spas, and expensive lingerie.”
“That seems considerably smarter,” I said.
Scarlett lifted her glass. “And Aria is in whether she likes it or not.”“Absolutely.”
Lacey nodded decisively. “Done. Syndicate Sisterhood.”
The three of us touched our glasses together.
Scarlett’s phone buzzed on the table beside her. She glanced at the screen and sighed.
“Lucian wants to know if we’re drinking too much.”
Lacey laughed. “Nik has checked on me twice already.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“They do hover,” Scarlett said. “You get used to it.”
I took another sip of champagne. “Lachlan’s actually been better about that than I expected. When he was in Boston, he gave me space.”
Lacey and Scarlett exchanged a look.
I lowered my glass. “What?”
“He gave you space,” Lacey repeated carefully.
“Why do you say it like that?”
Scarlett pressed her lips together, trying not to smile.
“All right. What do you two know?”
Lacey gave in. “He had DarkMatter keeping an eye on you while he was gone.”
I stared at her. “Keeping an eye on me how?”
“Nothing too invasive. He wanted to know where you were, that you were safe, and whether anything unusual happened.”
“How often?”
Lacey hesitated.
“Lacey.”
“Every hour.”
I slowly set my champagne on the table.
“He had DarkMatter send him a report on me every hour?”
Scarlett finally laughed. “Apparently that was his version of not hovering.”
I should have been more irritated than I was. Instead, I pictured Lachlan sitting in Boston, pretending to concentrate on whatever meeting he was in while waiting for confirmation that I was safe.
Ridiculous, overprotective man.
I clicked my tongue and put on my sweetest, most patronizing tone. “I’ll have to scold that bad boy like a naughty little child.”
Lacey’s brow lifted. “I’d be very careful trying that attitude on him to his face.”
“Why?”
Scarlett’s smile turned wicked. “Because you may discover he enjoys correcting you. Talk to a man like Lachlan as though he’s a naughty little boy, and he may decide to remind you which one of you is in charge when he gets you alone.
” Her smile widened. “And with men like ours, punishment has a funny way of becoming foreplay.”
Heat touched my face.
Unfortunately, that sounded promising.
Lacey set her champagne down.
Then something in her expression changed.
I knew immediately we were in trouble.
“I have an idea.”
Scarlett groaned. “That tone has never ended well.”
A wicked smile slowly spread across her face.
“You know, they’ve spent all this time planning Valentine’s Day for us, buying gifts, making reservations, keeping everything secret.
We should return the favor with a surprise of our own.
Something made specifically for them. Something sexy enough to make three possessive men lose their damn minds. ”
“What kind of something?” I asked.
Lacey leaned toward us. “Boudoir photos.”
I blinked.
Scarlett’s eyes widened before her smile slowly spread. “Oh, that is evil.”
“I haven’t gotten to the evil part yet.” Lacey grinned. “We don’t give them the pictures once we get home. We send them one at a time tonight when they’re somewhere they can’t immediately get their hands on us.”
Scarlett laughed. “Now that really is evil.”
“Exactly.”