It was the slamming of the door that woke me up. I blinked awake slowly. My brain seemed uninterested in waking up.

“By the universe, Quinn, I told you not to be a year about this.” Tommy sounded pissed. I forced myself to sit up. “We need them to want to help us against Dad. That means we have to do things we’d rather not be…” He stopped speaking. “What did the two of you do to her?”

I rubbed my eyes. “Huh?”

“Your back. What did they do to you?”

Quinn stretched his arms over his head. “Hi, Tommy. Thanks for the wake up from the best nap ever.” He cracked his neck before he leaned over to kiss my cheek. “You would have needed a nap too, brother.”

Clay gently rubbed my shoulder. That was when I noticed that the blanket they’d cocooned me in had slipped slightly down my back. Turned on my side, Tommy had a full view of the bite marks on my back. I grinned up at him. “Nothing I didn’t want.”

He narrowed his eyes at Clay. “I get sent to stand around with Nolan, Wes, and the security council, and you’re in here having a fantastic time to the point that she has bite marks all over her back. I didn’t even get to see it.”

“She ate.” Clay didn’t look up from the tablet.

Had I? I wasn’t sure I remembered doing so. I must have been… sex drunk. I did feel full. “Next time, love.”

Tommy bent over to kiss me. “Next time I’m doing the biting.” He kissed me gently. “We need you, Quinn. And you’d be great, too, Clay.”

He held up his tablet. “Working.”

“Fine. Quinn, come on now. As it is, Wes has Keith working on defense systems. We’re never leaving here, ever, if we get any more involved in things. Paloma, are you going to stay here?”

Tommy needed an accounting of all of our whereabouts. It was how he kept us safe, knowing exactly where everyone he loved was at all times. “I was actually thinking I might like to go see the promenade, how they’re fixing it up.”

Clay nodded. “I’ll take her.”

“I thought you were working.” Tommy shook his head. “Oh, I get it. You’re working unless Paloma wants to take a walk.”

“Pretty much.” Clay stood up and patted Tommy on the shoulder. “You get cranky when you’re tired, brother of mine. See if you can get out of there early enough to take a nap.”

I actually thought that out of anyone, Clay had the least sleep. He didn’t seem particularly fazed. I stood on wobbly legs. Yeah, my thighs were really not used to the ways they’d been moving over the last day. It would be good to take a walk.

I needed clothing. I couldn’t go walking around the station in my blanket. All three men were staring at me. I held up my hands. “Much as I love the heated gazes you are all giving me, my body is sore and I’m going to need a little recovery time.”

Clay was the first to react, pulling me into a hug. “Love you. Sorry but not sorry that you’re sore.”

Tommy tugged me from Clay. “When you’re recovered, we’re going to play.”

Quinn leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Best days of my life.”

“Love you guys, too.” Tommy relaxed when I said that. I had to remember how much they all seemed to need to hear me say that to them. I was naturally effusive in expressing my emotions, but my years away had tempered that. I didn’t blame them. I loved hearing their feelings for me, too. We were five people in this marriage, but they had to be treated individually or we were going to get into trouble.

I had to be strong enough to keep us all happy.

I managed to step away without any of them complaining and got back into my bedroom. I wasn’t going anywhere until I’d cleaned up a bit, so I got to it. I wondered how many credits our water bill was going to be from the last two days alone. I was going to have to get moisturizing in a major way, or I was going to end up with dry skin from all the getting wet and drying off again.

Still, when I was done, I was glad for the quick shower and the chance to fix my hair.

I put on some of the clothes Quinn had gotten me—a pair of black pants and a green long sleeve t-shirt that went practically to my knees. It wasn’t a look I usually went for, but it wouldn’t cling, and right then I wanted soft and comfortable. The space station always had the same temperature. I didn’t have to worry about being cold.

When I came out, Quinn and Tommy were gone. Clay had changed too. He was in a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. I looked between the two of us. “We kind of match.”

He grinned. “We do. I’m good with that, if you are.”

I shrugged. “Sure. Why not? It could be a new trend. Match Your Husband Day or something.”

Clay’s grin grew so wide it was infectious. I couldn’t help but return it. He took my fingers in his and squeezed them. “Paloma, before we go out there, can I bring up something Quinn said earlier?”

“Ah… sure.” Where was he going with this?

“Earlier, he acted like I was some kind of Lothario. My own history is—”

I placed my hands on his chest. “Clay, seriously, whatever your life was before me is really not my business.”

He shook his head, seemingly ignoring my statement. “I need to say this. I was really unhappy. Angry. And getting worse every day before Tommy said he was going to rescue the twins and I could come along or not but he would never be a Sandler again. I was hurting people in court on behalf of my father. That’s not who I wanted to be inside. One of the ways I managed was a lot of meaningless… sex. I think some of those women even thought I might marry them, not understanding that if I had stayed like that, I’d have had to wed whomever my father told me to.”

“Clay.” I hugged him to me. “Please stop. Okay? I meant what I said. We didn’t know each other, and to be honest, I’d really rather not think about you with others. There’s a female shortage in the galaxy. If you were… getting a lot of attention, then that makes you sort of unique. I don’t want to start obsessing. You’re mine.”

He picked me up in his arms, and I put my head on his shoulder. “That’s right. I’m yours. I just… I’m not a good guy. I want to be. I want the chance to be. You make us all think we can be redeemed.”

“You don’t need to be redeemed for having a lot of sex. And you were paid to keep up your father’s interests. I think you’re working really hard now to undo some of that. So give yourself a big break.” I closed my eyes tighter. “Can we never talk about this again? The sex part anyway?”

Clay laughed. “Yes. Sure. Fine.”

“I love you.”

He shuddered. “Me too. So much.”

* * *

The promenade was busy. I’d expected to find it at least half-empty, but the residents of Mars Station seemed to have made a point of coming back. There was a huge showing of security. Most of the time Nolan kept them hidden, but they were here, there, and everywhere. Either he was making a point, or they hadn’t figured out who the traitors were and how the bombers got on the station. Considering they’d known who my husbands were just minutes after us docking, it wasn’t like they were lax in their security measures.

The place where the bombers had exploded things, including themselves, had been cleaned up. Workers were building a new wall. There would never be a way to replace the lives lost. I teared up and then sucked them back in. I’d wanted to come out here and see what was happening, not stand in the promenade and weep. My husbands were helping to make this right.

Clay stroked my cheek with his thumb. “You okay?”

“Yep.” I nodded, probably more vigorously than I had to. I turned around, catching sight of something I’d not seen before. One of the restaurants that was opening was overrun with customers. I couldn’t remember in all my days of living here ever seeing a line for anything. Businesses were expected to have enough staff or not open. It wasn’t necessarily a fair rule, but for what were now obvious reasons, the station’s administration didn’t want large, unnecessary crowds loitering on the promenade.

As it was, I knew the owners of that restaurant. We used to eat there. It had a mixture of Earthian and Venusian food. I’d really liked the way they mixed rosemary with their pancakes. I took Clay’s hand in mine and walked over to it, bypassing the front of the line.

I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to see. “This was a favorite place.”

It was past where the bomb had gone off and in my rush to get to the salon, I’d not even thought about it when I’d been here.

Clay looked around. “Smells good.”

The restaurant was medium-sized. They were open for breakfast—serving it all day—lunch, and dinner. In fact, if I remembered correctly, they might even be open late-night. I’d never been allowed to be on the promenade past eight, so I didn’t know for sure…

Pictures of various space stations lined the walls, and a big sign that said This Way to Mars with a downward arrow took up most of the back wall.

“Paloma.” A gasp caught my attention as Mrs. Heydan—Lulu to my mother—rushed toward me. “You’re back.”

“I am.” I let the woman hug me. I didn’t know that we really had that kind of relationship where she should be embracing me, but seeing as she was the first person, outside of the Alexander crew, that I recognized in the place that was once my home, I let her hold on for a second. Finally, she let go.

I smiled at her. “This is one of my husbands, Clay McQueen.”

She shook his hand as they said their hellos.

“Well,” she finally finished, “I’m glad to see you’re out of that horrible place.” News of the Sisterhood’s demise hadn’t made its way everywhere yet, and I wasn’t going to fill anyone in lest they ask too many questions I didn’t want to answer. “But I have to run. This place is getting away from us today. We may have to close until we can find more staff. The kitchen is backed up. Half of our chefs ran away after the bombing. They were only here temporarily anyway, but I wasn’t prepared to find new staff yet.”

“I can help.” I made the offer before I even thought about, before I even looked at Clay to see if he thought it was a good idea or not. I just offered because I wanted to, because I could actually help. “I can cook. I learned how. I could help.”

“Oh.” She grinned at me. “I’d be glad for it.”

I turned to look at Clay. “You need to work. Everyone is busy. I need to be busy, Clay.” I was doing this whether he wanted me to or not. But I really hoped he’d get what I was saying.

He stepped back. “Lots of security here today. Safe place. See you later?”

I grinned at him, and he winked at me. He and I both knew that if I had been here with Tommy or Quinn, they’d have given me a hard time; they’d have said someone needed to stand over me. It came from a place of love, but it would have been a different conversation. Keith would have reacted like Clay had. I just knew it. Funny how between the four of them they split down the middle in the way they reacted to things. The promenade had blown up the last time I’d spent significant time here. Yet still, Clay got it. Neither he nor I could control what happened. We still had to live.

I winked back. “Absolutely.”

He kissed me before he walked off. I was pretty sure he’d be on his tablet any second letting the others know where I was. I looked down at my own device. They could reach me if they needed to.

That was enough for today.

* * *

I wished I’d worn short sleeves. Hours felt like minutes, and the only indication that a lot of time had passed was the amount of sweat I had to wipe off my brow at any given time. Still, I was happy as a clam. This was what I’d gotten good at, preparing meals. I loved cooking, creating things that others wanted to eat.

There were three chefs, not including me, in the hot kitchen. They were nice men, Daniel, Fisher, and Ashton. Although we had little time, they’d quickly gotten me up to speed, and as long as I kept the ingredients for every dish up on a screen in front of me, I had really gotten the hang of things. It was exactly the way we’d cooked at the Sisterhood.

Fisher left and was eventually replaced by Xavier. He was equally as helpful, and the time was flying by.

Eventually, Daniel tapped me on the shoulder. “Your tablet has been dinging.”

Had it? I wasn’t even aware. “Sorry.”

“No, you should take a break. You’ve been working more than any of us. You can be done. It’s way past the dinner hour.”

Was it? I felt like a repeating robot. Had it? Was it? Sheesh. How out of it had I been?

Mrs. Hayden—“Call me Lulu,” she’d insisted—rushed in. “Paloma, can you come again? Can you work for me?”

I grinned at her. “I can. I’d really like that.”

I had a job. My first real one, considering I wasn’t going to count my less than twenty-four hours with the hotel before Tommy had come to get me.

I washed my hands before I took off the cap we all wore to keep our hair back. I was on Mars Station, married, and working for my favorite restaurant. Life had certainly gone differently than I’d thought it would. Right now, it was so much better than I’d imagined it.

I pulled out the tablet.

Each one of the guys had called the tablet and left messages, which the device had transcribed into texts.

Clay: Have fun today.

Quinn: Be safe. Love you.

Keith: Miss you. Love you.

Tommy: Get in touch with me when you want to leave. I don’t want you walking alone.

I shook my head. Ever since the bounty hunter incident, I wasn’t supposed to go places alone. That was fine. I wasn’t any more at risk on the promenade or the station transporter than I’d been in the restaurant. If my complying with this meant that Tommy had less anxiety, then so be it.

I spoke into my tablet. “Come and get me.”

His voice responded through the tablet. “I’m outside.”

He was? I walked out through the side of the restaurant onto the promenade. Tommy sat, his feet spread out in front of him, on a bench by one of the water displays that was permanently located outside the restaurant. He grinned at me, and I took a deep breath. It didn’t look like he was going to give me any trouble about today. I didn’t want to fight with him, but I was doing this whether he liked it or not.

He stood and extended his hand to me, which I took. Soon I was in his arms. “Tommy, I’m all sweaty.”

“I don’t care.” He kissed my forehead. “Missed you.”

“I missed you, too. How was today?” He smelled clean. I really did not.

He put his arm around my shoulder, and we walked slowly in the direction of the transporter. “Good. I think we got a lot done. Some planning in the works. They won’t be able to hide forever, the traitors. Things will be back to working order here in no time with some big changes to prevent this from happening again. Not that the general populace will notice. Their lives will go on as normal. So, I’d say it went well. Did they offer you a job?”

I stopped moving. “How did you know?”

“That’s the smart thing to do. I’d do that if I was in their position. You’re here, available, and trustworthy. You’re talented. You said yes?”

I nodded. “I did.”

“Good. I know how much you wanted to work. As my wife, you don’t have to. But I get wanting to. If you were earning a fortune and told me to stop, I wouldn’t. You need this. Good work, love.”

I sucked in a long breath. “That wasn’t at all what I expected you to say. I thought you were going to give me a hard time about safety and not talking about this with you and… I’m sorry I misjudged you. Yes, you understood completely.”

He grinned at me. “Paloma, we’re really brand new at this. I love you. You’ve only been with me on the shuttle or when we were in hiding. We’ve come out to the world here, a little bit. Your friends know who we are. We’re making plans. I don’t know what I’m like anymore not having to be so… on all the time. Even as a General in my father’s cartel, I wasn’t like I’ve had to be. I want you to be happy. You’re my wife. That’s first and foremost to me. I know the safety in place on the promenade now. I believe you will be as secure here as you would be anywhere. And even if I didn’t think that… I don’t get to order you around.”

“Really?” I kissed his chin. “You order your brothers around.”

“It’s different with you.” He smoothed my hair off my forehead. “You’re my whole life. I’m not going to destroy that by stifling you.”

I tugged on his shirt. “I love you.”

His grin was a beautiful sight. “It’s almost ten. They overworked you today because you volunteered. Tomorrow she’ll have to treat you more like an employee. Set start and stop times. Let’s go home.”

After another shower—I was going to have to get a better routine with these things—I sat down in the living room of the suite. Keith climbed behind me on the couch with a device in hand. “Tommy says you’re all bit up. That’s going to start to be really uncomfortable if you don’t let me heal it up a bit.”

I had started to become very aware of the bites every time I moved. “Sure. But leave a couple, will you? I like the reminder, a little bit.”

Keith kissed my cheek. “Okay. I’m leaving the one I gave you, too. You’re so cool.”

“She is.” Tommy placed a bowl of popcorn in my lap. I’d never even heard of it before it had been brought up on the ship. They had it in the station? I’d never known. I didn’t want dinner, and the others had eaten. I was too tired for food, or so I’d said. Tommy said this would be light, and I should eat it.

I put a piece in my mouth. And then another. It was an unusual, light, buttery taste. Okay, he was right. I could eat that.

Quinn sat down next to me on the right. He fiddled with his tablet until a screen appeared on the wall. I grinned. A lot of families watched entertainment together on the wall screen at night. Not mine. But Diana’s had. I’d done so with her a few times.

Clay took the ottoman that flanked Tommy’s lounge chair. Were these going to be our official spots? Keith worked on my back, his hand with the device under my shirt. The small healing machine felt like warm bursts against my skin. I tried to stay still even when it tickled a little bit.

The screen turned on, and it looked like we could choose between three movies. The station tried to offer a variety every day. Quinn picked the movie, which turned out to be a romance. One man, one woman, in the dark lands running from pirates. He saved her over and over again. Eventually, Keith stopped fixing my back and leaned me against him to watch the movie.

I loved it. It had been so long since I’d seen a movie. I was riveted. How were they going to overcome these odds to be together? Oh, and the way the hero loved the heroine. He was…

Quinn shifted, and I looked over at him. His eyes were closed. He was asleep. Wow, had the movie bored him? Why hadn’t we just put something else on? I turned to ask Keith only to find that he, too, was old cold.

A quick glance told me that across the room, Tommy and Clay had each given in to sleep for the night. Huh. Okay, I settled back against Keith, who didn’t stir. If no one else wanted to watch it, I would finish it by myself. By the end of the movie, with tears running down my cheeks from how beautiful the reunion between the two main characters had been, I used my tablet to shut down the screen. There was a slight chill in the air, which meant the station had turned up the air conditioning. Maybe they were taking in supplies that had to be kept cooler in transport. It was only ever a two-to-three degree difference. Still, I didn’t want them to be cold.

I got off Keith’s lap as gently as I could. His neck looked like it was in an odd position from the way he’d had to hold me. I nudged him a bit until he looked less like he was going to wake up with neck pain. He sighed and readjusted. I walked into my bedroom and came out with four blankets. First I draped Clay in one. He still clutched his tablet like it was a lifeline. He had been working until he passed out. I hoped he’d figure out soon what he needed to do for his client so he could get some real rest again.

I took the tablet from him, half-expecting it to wake him up. His eyes moved gently beneath his lids. He was dreaming. I kissed his forehead. Next, I wrapped up Tommy. He breathed gently through his lips, which were slightly open. When I had him tucked in, he shifted, his mouth closing and an easier look coming across his face.

Quinn muttered something when I draped him in the blanket. “I have to…”

I kissed him like I had done Clay and Tommy. “You don’t have to do anything,” I whispered in his ear.

“K,” he answered without waking. “I won’t.”

It was Clay who usually talked in his sleep. Or at least mouthed in his sleep. He rarely made any noise as he talked out whatever he dreamed about. But tonight, he was still.

Finally, I got back onto the couch next to Keith. Maybe he’d sleep better if I left him alone and climbed into my own bed. I was being selfish. I wanted to cuddle him. I wrapped us both up in the blanket, his arms coming back over me like they’d always done so. His arm was my pillow.

My tablet beeped, and I looked down at it. Who was messaging? The guys were all with me. It was my schedule for the next week at the restaurant. She wanted me there at five in the morning. Okay. That was going to alter things quite a bit. I hit the tablet to wake me and then placed it between me and the edge of the couch.

With my hand already on the tablet, I turned off the lights in the suite, draping us in darkness.

I’d had such a fantastic day.