I woke slowly, refreshed, content, and alone in the cloud bed. Caleb must have woken before me, then turned on a heater. The room was toasty warm. I spent a few minutes just lying in the bed and enjoying the luxury. Caleb’s thoughtfulness never failed to make me feel good. Fucking hell, how had I suddenly gone from zero romance to three impossibly hard to resist men all inexplicably interested in me? Everything about our situation had the potential to go really sour, even though I had the feeling they all knew what was going on. Good things like this never lasted, not with me. Maybe I should make the most of it while I could. Life turned on a dime— mine did anyway. So why borrow more trouble?

Ugh, speaking of trouble.

The events of the night before came flooding back, and I groaned, burying my face in the pillow but unable to hide from my own thoughts. Reluctantly, I peeled back the blankets and climbed out of bed. Quickly darting out into the cold hallway, I grabbed fresh clothes from the closet before getting dressed.

In the kitchen, only Cole sat at the counter, finishing off a cup of coffee and reading something on his phone.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, grabbing my own giant cup from the cabinet. It was one that had appeared shortly after I started staying here and was about three times the size of the normal mugs, so I knew without a doubt it was for me. The words “Kit’s Koffee Kup” printed on the side of it helped.

“Here and there,” he replied, locking his screen before setting his empty cup in the sink. “I have to head out now, too, but River is around the house this afternoon.”

“Huh? What time is it?” I took a long sip of the fresh coffee then moaned in pleasure. So good.

Cole watched me for a moment with a heated expression. I was starting to appreciate that his eyes, so capable of such intense coldness, were also capable of the opposite, and right now they set me on fire.

“Three.” He responded, prowling closer and boxing me in with his palms on the counter to either side of me.

I spluttered a little on my coffee. Shit, I had slept for going on ten hours! My mouth gaped open stupidly, and Cole took the opportunity to seal his lips to mine in a blisteringly hot kiss, then pulled away. With a sultry smirk, he dragged his thumb over the mark on my neck.

“I have to head out. Stay out of trouble, and I’ll catch you later, Vixen.” The nickname sent tingles through me, and I struggled not to drool watching him walk away.

I was still standing there when River entered and swiped the cup out of my hand, helping himself to my coffee. My coffee. That was a sure fire way to snap me out of a daze.

“Woah, what the hell are you doing?” I snatched my cup back after he had already pilfered several mouthfuls. “You’re likely to lose a hand pulling a crazy stunt like that!”

He grinned before stealing a kiss, tasting like stolen coffee.

“Tastes better when it’s yours, love.” He winked, and I wondered if we were still talking about the coffee. I blushed and cleared my throat, hunting for a change of subject.

“What’s the plan today? Apparently it’s already afternoon, but I’m not sure I believe that...”

He laughed, pulling out some food from the fridge, and I tried to remember if I’d ever seen him so jovial before. It was a good look on him too, his easy smile lifting the small scar near his lip, which I couldn’t stop staring at, and setting his golden eyes dancing.

“Cole mentioned you were in need of some more clothes, so I thought I’d run you back to your dorm room?” I spat coffee, remembering why I needed new clothes. Panties in particular. Bastards.

“Sounds good,” I muttered, eyeing the sandwich River assembled. He had already put in three different types of cheese that I could see, and my stomach growled loudly. Some holy deity must have been smiling down on me because after he pressed on the top of the sandwich, he handed the whole thing to me.

“Fuck, I think I love you.” I groaned, eyeing up the cheese-filled masterpiece. River made an odd noise, and I frowned at him. “I’m talking to the sandwich, you narcissist.”

“Sure you were, love.” He chuckled, taking advantage of my full hands to swipe another sip of my coffee, the dick.

“Hurry up and eat that, and we can go,” he told me, taking another deliberate sip, and I abandoned all manners to stuff the rest of the sandwich in my mouth and snatch my cup back.

“Such a lady.” He sighed, then grabbed his keys off the hook near the door. “Come on then, let’s go.”

Grumbling at his implication that I wasn’t a lady, I downed the remaining coffee before jogging after him into the garage, which I’d yet to explore.

River clicked his key fob, and a sleek, gunmetal gray Aston Martin Vantage made a sexy beep as it unlocked. My eyes grew bigger as I stared at the gorgeous beast and gave River my very best puppy-dog look.

“Can I drive? Please? Please?” I was bouncing on my toes and whining like a two-year-old, but I didn’t care. I bet that machine was a dream to drive.

“Not a chance in hell.” He chuckled at me before sliding into the driver’s seat while I pouted my way around to the passenger side.

I sank into the butter-soft leather seats and inhaled the new car smell. I needed to work my charms a little harder to get the keys to this someday. The sight of River’s sexy, grinning face behind the wheel of this incredible machine made my last pair of clean underwear damp.

We pulled out of the garage in a rumble and glided out onto the road, River navigated the tight corners with ease as I studied him. I knew so little about the man, and I’d all but moved in with him and the other members of the team. What I knew? He was the team leader to a group of secret operatives, drove a quarter-million dollar car, wore thousand dollar suit pants and custom made shirts with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Beyond that, I knew nothing else.

“What?” he asked, noticing my attention on him.

“I know nothing about you,” I blurted out. “I’ve completely thrown caution to the wind, given you guys my deepest, darkest secrets, trusted you with information that could get me killed, and yet none of you have told me anything about yourselves. Except Wesley.”

“Wesley?” he asked, surprised. I didn’t blame him; the youngest team member was also the most introverted.

“Yeah, he told me about his brother and how he’d ended up with Omega Group.” I continued to take the opportunity while he watched the road to study his face. His permanent three-day growth of stubble was trimmed neatly, barely hiding the faint white scar on his upper lip. He flicked another glance over at me, catching me staring—again.

“Well, what do you want to know, love?” His tone was amused.

“Uh, how about... how did you join Omega?”

“Far less of a noble story than Wesley’s, I’m afraid,” he remarked dryly. “My parents were older when they had me—an accident I suspect, as they were never very affectionate towards me. When I was six my father decided I required too much hard work and had me enrolled in military school here in the States. I completed my schooling at the top of my class then enlisted. Two years later, I was approached by Omega Group, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“And the expensive car? The designer suits? Are they all just a part of your ‘cover’?”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin. “No, Kitten, they’re not my ‘cover.’ My parents died while I was in the army; they were very wealthy people, and I had no other living relatives. I simply happen to like the feeling of wearing suits and driving nice cars.”

I had to snort a little at his description of this luxurious machine as “nice.”

“As if you’re one to judge,” he teased me. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed your penchant for designer shoes.”

I huffed but changed the subject. “How did you come to work with these boys?”

“Cole and I have been best friends since we were kids. He had some shit happen when he was about twelve or so, which landed him in the same military school as me. When we graduated and I joined the army, he went on to do his semi-pro fighting career. After Omega approached me, they also approached him. Apparently they had been keeping tabs on us since some aptitude tests while we were in school. The twins joined around three years ago, right after school, and Wesley a year later. We were formed as an official team not long after Wesley passed recruitment but had been doing jobs with the twins since they joined. We don’t simply work together; we’re family. It’s what makes us one of the best teams at Omega.”

I considered what he’d said, then my curiosity ran away with my mouth. “What happened to Cole to land him in military school?”

River shook his head firmly, “That’s not my story to tell. I’m sure you’ll find some way of making him talk, though.”

I squirmed under his knowing look.

Then he continued, “And I’m sure Caleb will tell you national secrets if you ask nicely, so if you want their story, I would speak to him and not Austin.” This last suggestion was made with a healthy dose of amusement, and I whacked him in the arm.

“Yeah, yeah, hilarious. I think it’s pretty obvious Austin hates me.” I pretended to sulk, but my feelings were actually a bit hurt by his continued hostility toward me. I had genuinely thought that if he got to know me, we would be okay, but it just seemed like nothing I did had any effect on his dislike for me. I’d never been so inexplicably hated before, and it was getting under my skin.

“He doesn’t hate you,” River placated. “You just remind him of someone.”

“Let me guess, I’ll have to ask him myself if I want more information?” The question was rhetorical, and he shrugged less than helpfully as he pulled into the visitor parking bay in front of my CFA dorm.

I was slower than him to unbuckle my safety belt, and he was already opening my door for me before I even reached for the handle. Who said chivalry was dead?

Once I was out of the car, he placed his hand on my lower back as we walked into the old brick building.

“Speaking of my team,” he said, continuing our conversation as we walked, “I should probably warn you that as a rule we don’t keep any secrets from each other.”

I tensed at his words and almost tripped on the low step up into the building, catching myself just in time to avoid face-planting into the marble floor.

“Ummmm.” I was at a loss for words. Was this the part where he called me a slut and told me I was no longer welcome in their house? God damn it, why did I have to be attracted to more than one of them? Now look at what I’d done. Would it really have been that difficult not to act on impulse? Of course the answer to that was yes. Not acting on my desire for these men would have been like trying to hold a wild horse with dental floss. Impossible.

“Hey.” River tilted my face up to look at him. I realized I’d been lost to my inner monologue for longer than what was generally polite. “I’m just telling you in the interest of full disclosure so you don’t think we’re gossiping behind your back. That’s all.”

“That’s it?” I was dumbstruck. “You’re not... kicking me out of the clubhouse?”

A fierce look crossed his face, and he slipped his fingers into my hair, holding my head tightly. “You’re not going anywhere,” he stated and lowered his mouth to mine, nudging my lips apart and taking his time stroking my tongue with his. When we eventually separated, our breathing was ragged and my cheeks were flushed.

“I’m glad we cleared that up.” I exhaled, and he snorted a laugh, intertwining his fingers with mine and tugging me along the corridor to my room.

Stepping into my room seemed weird; it had been only a month since I was last here, but it seemed like a lifetime. I looked around at the familiar surroundings. The cheap, disposable-type cellphone sitting on my bed didn’t belong to me.

“River.” I pointed him towards it, and he moved in for a closer look.

“I take it this isn’t yours?” he clarified, already knowing the answer. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands, before pocketing it. “Grab your stuff; we can check the phone out when we get home.”

With a smile for the implication that their home was now my home too, I stuffed a suitcase full of clothes and shoes, sure to grab warmer things.

Finished, I looked over at River, who frowned at my spartan bedroom with its total lack of any personality. What can I say? Even though I’d lived here almost five years, it had always felt temporary, so I’d never truly moved in.

“Done?” he asked when he caught me looking at him. I nodded, and he picked up my bag for me. “Let’s go; we can get Wes to have a look at this phone for us.”