Page 172 of Priceless

She froze for a moment, shocked, then she smiled. It was the kind that Cameron had. Charming and cheeky. “Well, it’s about time you noticed my worth.”

All of us laughed, breaking the tension.

She shook their hands, and we all drifted back to the party. Everyone had questions, and the gossip was already circling. Isolde and Trinity were nearly feral, but I needed a moment.

“Are you all right, little nymph?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I really am.”

Our connections all rang with the relief and pride in each other and what we’d done.

“Then let’s party,” Cam said. “So I can rip this dress off you later.”

We laughed and did exactly that.

56

PHLOX

MEANING: OUR SOULS ARE UNITED

OCEAN

________

My husbands were seeing the last of our guests out of the house when I went down to the water. Barefoot, still in my dress, it was the first time I’d stepped on the beach here. At our home.

A waxing moon shone just a touch of light onto the water, gilding it in silver. And though the sea was calm and rhythmic, I wasn’t settled. My chest felt lighter than it had in years. I was finally free. I could do anything I wanted with my family’s house and money. I never had to worry about a snide comment or a strange punishment again.

Yet I couldn’t ignore the tiny ache of sadness in my chest. Not because of what I’d done—there wasn’t a person in the world who would see the aftermath and think I wasn’t justified. But because it had always been there. The ache of a child who’d lost her parents and desperately wanted love from the only people she had left.

Even after everything, there’d been a tiny part of me that hoped they would see me and show me that they’d cared. At all. That somehow I’d missed it, and they were telling the truth when they said they were trying to help me.

But it wasn’t true, and that ache wasn’t going to go away with the satisfaction of revenge. That ache was why I’d kept trying so hard for so long, despite knowing the truth I didn’t really want to face. I was sad, but I was sad for my younger self, who didn’t get what she needed. I was sad for all the lost time when I could have had the happiness I had now. Sad for everything that felt lost.

Still, if it hadn’t happened this way, I might never have met my pack.

I felt them coming closer. Our bonds were still so new that even focusing on them in my chest was a shot of joy straight to the chest. Which they felt, and they lit up like a cluster of stars made just for me.

Micah reached me first, the scent of chocolate and caramel mixing with the scent of the sea. It reminded me of that night in Grecia—which I wouldn’t mind repeating.

“I wish we had bioluminescence here,” I said softly.

“I can look into it if you like.”

I laughed and turned to wind my arms around his neck. “I love you for that, but let’s not pollute the ocean with any invasive species just so we can have some glowy sex.”

“Who says they’re invasive? I’ll check anyway. And if not, I’ll build you a pool that glows.”

“Or you can take me back to the real thing.”

His lips brushed against mine. “That too.”

The wind picked up as he kissed me, cool now that the sun had set. I shivered, not entirely from the breeze.

A second pair of hands touched my waist. Cam. “How do you feel?”

“Good.” I hesitated, letting him feel it before the words. “Bittersweet, but free.”

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