Page 19 of Gilded Lies

The lights dim twice, signaling the start of a show. Oliver and Rune move to sit on either side of Danika. I rest my head on Rune’s shoulder and my feet settle in Oliver’s lap.

Whatever show this is, I’ll pretend to enjoy a bit of it and then I want to drop the curtains and find my own happiness.

A beautiful woman steps on stage. She walks to the middle where a spotlight highlights a beautiful royal-blue settee. Curls spiral down her left shoulder and her eyes glitter even from this distance. She’s stunning. A couple of twists and she unties the front of her robe. It drops in a puddle of snow-white silk at her feet and then she is suddenly joined by three powerful men.

But that isn’t what captivates me.

Her middle is beautifully round.

“She’s pregnant.” About seven months. I sit up, entranced by the attention to the pregnant woman’s needs. None of the three men let her take a single step without their help. The moment she lifts a foot to move from the fallen robe, a hand is extended.

I gasp lightly. “She’s beautiful.” My fingers come to my mouth. I can feel the heat of Danika’s eyes on me, but I can’t break away from the sheer strength and air of nobility about the men. They carry themselves with so much confidence it saturates the room. If I had to guess, I would say they are in the military.

“This is my Christmas Gift?” I look at Danika first and then Rune and Oliver.

“Do you like what you see so far?” Danika is not looking at the stage. His eyes are on me.

“You knew she would be pregnant?” My pulse hammers so hard I can feel the rush of my blood speeding through my body. They don’t mean what I think they do. We’ve never talked about a family. I’ve only just met them. Three weeks is nothing. They could not be suggesting what I think they are. I can’t think in terms of forever. I want to, but I told myself on the plane ride here that nothing good lasts forever. I swallow past my nervousness and ask a question I might not be strong enough to know the answer to.

“Guys, why did you want me to see this show?” My voice is soft and barely reaches over the sound of the soft music and growing moans of the surrounding booths. The performance on the stage has begun, too. But my attention is fully on my three men.

Danika reaches up and pulls the silver snake clip out of my hair. Blond curls tumble free. He gathers a thick lock and twirls it around his finger before answering. “We wanted to show you how it would be to be round with our child and us worshiping the ground you walk on. The way Rush, Aziel, and Gage treat Belle is the way you would be with us.”

Whoa. Wait. What? Forget that they know the performers for a minute. Danika is blowing me away with what he is saying. I’m not prepared for his honesty and my heart is dripping with so much hope right now I’m afraid it’s oozing into my bloodstream. Other people might find comfort in hope, but I’ve been let down too many times in life to give it space in my adult years. It’s easier to live with your feet firmly on the ground.

Ha. And how is that going for you, Magnolia?

Living it up with three criminals who worship your body isn’t living on hope?

Okay, so the irony is not lost on me, but how long will it be before I’m drowning in the stuff and unable to see through the veil of this whirlwind romance? When reality sets in, the pain and hurt will be that much greater.

“We want you to be our everything, Magnolia.” Danika leans in and kisses the spot over my heart. One arm is around my back and the other lays over my lap. He grips my thigh, and I can feel the heat of his touch branding me while his words drip more hope into my system.

Their everything?

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I swallow thickly. “Do all of you want this? Me? Like they have her?” I look at the stage.

Are they talking about love? Can you love someone so entirely in such a short amount of time? I’ve been hung up on that question for weeks and they are all nodding like I am the last one to jump on the train.

“Yes,” they answer in unison.

“This is all too fast. I don’t know what to say.” My brain wars with my heart. But my soul is telling them both to shut up and believe in soul mates for the first time in my life.

Rune lifts my hand and kisses the inside of my palm. The desire in his eyes sends arrows into my heart.

This is madness. Chaos. And I want it all to be true.

“This is all a show. I know how the Society works. They pull in people who are comfortable to perform together and deliver on kinks the members request. What they are demonstrating isn’t real.”

Danika cups the back of my head as he holds me to him. “She’s their wife, our beautiful flower. There’s nothing fake between them just like there’s nothing fake between us.”

I’m not one who usually falls into tears or lets emotions take over, but I want to ugly cry right now and throw myself at them. They do not know how much I want to belong and have a tribe of my own. I always daydreamed of finding that one perfect man. And now I have three.

They don’t know what it is like to wake up in the morning and wonder if they’ll have a home to come back to after school or if their guardians have returned them to the state. At least I don’t think they do. I don’t know enough about them to say. All I know is that growing up in foster care ripped my soul out and kept it hostage for a long time. And right now, it’s in limbo once again and in danger of these three men crushing it if I let them get close enough to hurt me.

Trembling fear rushes through me. Rune and Oliver make room for Danika. He moves me off his lap to place me on the sofa before lowering his massive weight to one knee in front of me.

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