“Oooh, Aragorn Smith.” I picked up my pen to write it in. “That has a nice ring to it—”
“Fine, fine.” Quinn threw up his hands. “Put down Quinn Waite.”
My heart stopped.
Quinn Waite.
“You can’t call yourself that.”
“Why not? It’s a good name. Short and pithy and not the name of a fantastical king. It’syourname, Hazy. You won’t choose between the three of us, which means you’ll never be able to marry me and take my name. So this is the next best thing. Besides, I can’t be the only one who’s not part of the family.”
Quinn… he’s thought about marrying me.
Shit.
I’ve made a terrible mistake. I never should have kept my pact with the god a secret. I’ve let him become attached and now…
A lump formed in my throat as I glanced down at the paper. The names at the top read, TREY WAITE, AYAZ WAITE.
My breath caught. Tears welled in my eyes. How I wished that could be my future. How I wanted to be with the three Kings for the rest of our lives. How I wanted us to build a family on the ashes of what we’d lost. But it could never be. In giving them their freedom, I’d lose them forever.
They want to marry me, and I’m leaving them. It’s killing me, and it’ll hurt them so much…
Quinn flashed me his lopsided smile. “You okay, Hazy? You don’t like my name?”
How can I tell them? How can I even begin to explain?
“I love the name. More than you could ever know. But Quinn…”
My phone beeped.
I jumped. My heart thrashed around in my chest.
Okay, it’s a distraction. That’s good. You need to step back for a bit, decide rationally if it’s a good idea to tell the guys.
Newsflash – it’s not a good idea.
“It’s Zehra. One of her texts must’ve got through.” I swiped my tears away as I read the message aloud. “She says, ‘tell Quinnanigans he’s welcome,’ and there’s a link to an article where—”
I scanned the headline and dropped the phone in shock. Quinn scooted over and grabbed it. “C’mon, Hazy. Don’t leave me in suspense.”
I tried to grab the phone back. “I don’t know if you should—”
Too late. Quinn was already scrolling, his eyes widening with every word.
“Well?” Trey demanded, his icy gaze sliding between me and Quinn. “What’s the news?”
“My dad’s maid is suing him for sexual harassment and physical abuse.” Quinn’s voice came out breathless. “A whole horde of witnesses are coming forward to testify against him. His secretary. Three law clerks. My old nanny… Holy shitballs, he’s going to pay so much money in damages that he’ll have to declare bankruptcy…”
A wide smile broke out over Quinn’s face. He tossed the phone at Trey and grabbed me, swinging me around the room, planting kisses all over me. “Someone finally stood up to him. And they will win. No matter what happens now, I already feel as though I’m free. He can’t come after us now, Hazy. You and me… we’ll be able to have our happily-ever-after in peace…” he grinned at me. “With these two bozos as well, of course.”
My stomach churned. I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t tell Quinn what I’d done to give him his happily-ever-after. I wasn’t yet ready to break his heart, even though mine was already shattered into a million pieces.
* * *
In the days and weeks that followed, the messages from Zehra kept on coming. Next, she went after John’s father. A national newspaper ran an article on the senator’s love for extorting third-world governments for campaign funds, based on information leaked from an ‘unknown source,’ and he was removed from the senate. A string of high-profile fraud cases followed that bombshell, unseating many Eldritch Club members from executive positions and company boards across the country. There were the illicit photos of Barclay’s dad taken at the secret Pony Play Ranch which cost him his bishop’s appointment, and the Honduran drug cartel that took out Amber’s father when they discovered he was ripping them off.
Every night the Kings and I walked down the peninsula until we found decent reception and we’d hold hands under the moonlight and scroll through my phone’s newsfeed, taking in the carnage in real-time.
