Page 126 of Royally Tempted

“Look, I know they’re your competitors, but trust me when I—”

Luke barked out a laugh. “We don’t give a fuck about them beingbusinessrivals, Ari. The point is, you trust them, and that works for us. We only did a little research, but it seems they’re good men. And if you vouch for them—”

“I do.”

“Good,” Jordan finished. “Are they keeping you safe?”

“Definitely.”

“Look,” Luke whispered. “Truth be told, we’re going to break out of this fucking hotel and fly home right after we get off the phone with you. Fuck these guys. But you’re going to get there before us.”

Jordan sighed. “Put the guys on speaker again.”

I looked up at my three men, all staring at me with hurt and pain and fierceness in their faces. “They want to talk to you guys.”

I put the phone on speaker.

“Guys? We need to ask you something big—”

“We’re already on it,” Hunter said evenly. “We’ve already got parts mobilizing on the ground for when we land.

“Thank you, really,” Jordan said tensely. “Look, I don’t need to tell you—”

“You don’t need to explain a thing, we understand more than you know,” Damien growled, looking right at me.

“Donotlet him hurt her,” Luke said, his voice almost breaking.

“That’snotgoing to happen,” Sean said, looking right at me with the same intense look on his face as his two friends. “We swear it.”

Chapter 14

It feltlike I was walking in a dream by the time we landed in the private airfield outside Albany in upstate New York. The magic of what I’d just experienced down on the island, the warmth and the swirling emotions — all of it was put aside for one thought.

My best friend was in mortal danger.

She had to be okay. Shehadto make it out of this okay, or I didn’t know what I’d do.

Sean, Hunter, and Damien had spent most of the rest of the flight on the phone coordinating with Jordan and Luke, with at least one of them sitting by my side the whole time. And it was a comfort, but it wasn’t everything. I still felt like something horrible was going to happen - something evenmorehorrible than what had already occurred.

A black, military grade SUV was waiting for us as we quickly left the plane. The three of them walked to the back of the SUV and popped the trunk, making my eyes go wide at what was inside.

Guns, mostly. Guns and an array of military looking tactical gear.

“Is…” I bit my lip. “Whoa.”

“Look, Arianna.” Hunter turned to me, his icy blue eyes flashing over me. “There are some things about our past you should—”

“I told her,” Damien said quietly. Hunter and Sean turned to him, but he held his stern look. “I told her about us, about before the company.”

The two other men stared at him, and for a moment, I could see emotions flare across all three of their faces. I understood then that Damien had acted alone in telling me about their military pasts, hinting at the horrors they’d seen and endured, and I was suddenly worried that having done so would drive a wedge between my three men.

“Good.”

Sean’s sudden and gruffly spoken word shattered that fear.

“Good, I’m glad you told her.” He turned and smiled at me, nodding.

“We, uh, we don’t talk about that much,” Hunter mumbled quietly, turning to me as well.

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