The second they were back in the palace, they scattered. Meg had her list of things, Theo needed to iron out some details about the gathering with the Families. Galen went in search of Kozlov. He found him exactly where he expected—in the head of security office. He shut the door and leaned against it. “If your little girlfriend fucks us, I’m going to skin her alive.”

Kozlov barely glanced up from his monitor. “Good evening, Consort. What can I do for you?”

“Eyes on me, Kozlov.”

He snapped to attention, just like he used to when Galen was head of security. I could be again. Never would have dared hope for that shit, but here we are. Galen moved away from the door and kept his voice low and even. “Noemi is making a play for Head of Family today. When the Families converge on us tomorrow morning, there will be chaos if she succeeds.”

“She’ll succeed.”

Galen thought so, too. He’d never had a problem with Noemi leading up to this point. She’d been friends with Theo for a very long time, and she never tried to fuck him over the same way some of the other nobles had attempted from time to time. But she was a noble, and that made her untrustworthy. He’d spent too long living in his father’s household not to understand how power bred contempt for anyone and anything less powerful. Noemi Huxley had been born into a charmed life, and having an asshole traitor of a father didn’t change that fact. She might be offering a hand of friendship to Meg, she might even like Meg, but if Meg wasn’t a Consort, Noemi wouldn’t have given her the time of day.

They sure as fuck wouldn’t have been holed up in Huxley’s rooms watching movies the same way they had been the day before.

Even thinking about it, knowing exactly how vulnerable Meg had been, made him want to punch something.

He hadn’t been able to indulge in that kind of destructive outlet for nearly twenty years. Ever since he’d come to the palace after his father’s exile. Even with Theo’s friendship, Galen had always been aware that he was one wrong move away from being turned out onto the street. Theo’s father wouldn’t have liked doing it—he was as good a man as a king could be—but he always put his country first. What did one life compare when it came to millions in the balance?

“Galen.” Kozlov’s deep voice dragged him out of the past. The giant of a man studied him. “Noemi has wanted Head of Family since she was a little girl, and she’ll do anything to preserve her Family, especially if her father is a traitor. I know you don’t trust her—it’s not how you operate—but if she has the assurance of the King that she’ll have royal support after she makes her move, she won’t do anything to jeopardize that.”

Kozlov’s words told him all he needed to know. The man and Noemi had been fucking for years, but they were too good at keeping things under wraps in public for Galen to ever fully determine whether it was just a physical connection or if it went deeper.

If she’d told Kozlov about her plans… if he spoke about her with that tone of voice…

Yeah, the fool was head over heels in love with her.

“She’ll leave you.” Even as he spoke, he cursed himself for edging the conversation out of safer waters. But he liked Kozlov, and if the man didn’t know what lay in wait for his relationship with Noemi, then someone had goddamn well better warn him. While Theo could do whatever the hell he pleased when it came to naming Consorts and giving the middle finger to tradition, the first female Head of Family for Huxley couldn’t. Her enemies within the Family would be watching her every move, waiting for one misstep to cut her legs out from under her. Trying to be with someone like Isaac Kozlov—a man who was only half Thalanian and whose loyalty lay with the King and the King alone… They would crucify her.

Kozlov turned back to his computer. “She already has.”

Well, fuck.

He shot a look at the door, but finally turned away from his escape route. “I’m sorry.”

Kozlov sighed. “With all due respect, I don’t want to talk about it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, took several deep breaths, and lifted his head. “Would you like to see the security plans for tomorrow?”

He could push for more, but Galen had never been all that good at comforting, and he’d no doubt fuck it up if Kozlov lost his mind and confessed his feelings. Better for both of them to keep this conversation safely in the professional realm going forward. “Yeah.”

Kozlov cleared his throat. “You’re sure about the circus today? It’s a bold move.”

He wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Theo’s plan hinged on so many moving parts that it made Galen’s head hurt. He didn’t like these kinds of games. The danger came from unknown factors and if it was just Galen… But it was never just Galen taking the risks. Theo and Meg would be right there alongside him, and they were arguably in more danger than he was.

He’d never felt so ineffectual in his entire fucking life, but Galen couldn’t follow through on any of the things his instincts were screaming at him to do. He couldn’t toss Theo and Meg into a van and haul ass away from this mess. It would still be there when they got back. Even if they left like Theo had talked about this morning, trouble would just follow them. As long as Meg and Galen were alive and Theo was King of Thalania, Theo would be determined to keep them in the Consort position. If Theo wasn’t king, it would be the exile all over again with his enemies needing him dead to ensure they remained in power.

No, there was no way out but through.

He had to trust that Theo knew what he was doing, had to trust the plan that depended on deceit and playacting, rather than hauling Huxley and Galen’s old man into a room and punching until they got some answers.

He could do it.

He would fucking do it.

Galen met Kozlov’s gaze steadily. “I’m sure. Show me the plans.”

Meg carefully applied makeup over her mostly-faded bruise. Her head still ached in the evenings, but that had as much to do with stress as with the putrid yellow color spiraling out from the side of her face. It’d be gone in another week or so. This conflict would be over by then, for better or worse. She looked over as the door opened and Theo walked in. He and Galen had been running around all day in hushed meeting after hushed meeting to get things set up for tonight, but they’d both been sending regular texts to update her.

She appreciated the effort.

Their time at Galen’s place in Greece had ripped open wounds she’d barely been aware they were creating, leaving her feeling raw and exposed. In the past, that was when she’d lash out so she felt less vulnerable, but she couldn’t do that now. She refused to. At some point, they all had to grow up and change the way they deal with hard shit. This just happened to be her moment.

She smiled at Theo. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He barely got a step into the room before the door opened again and Galen stalked in. He nodded at both of them and moved around Theo to the bedroom. His jacket hit the floor, quickly followed by his shirt, and despite seeing him shirtless more times than she could count, Meg stared.

“I brought something for you.” Theo’s amusement brought her back to herself, to the room. He hefted a garment bag over his shoulder, holding it easily despite it being in danger of trailing on the floor behind him. “I know you don’t like gifts but—”

“Wait.” She could feel Galen’s attention sharpen on her as he sat on the bed, but she didn’t look away from Theo. This small moment felt pivotal for reasons she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Meg set down her makeup brush and stood to cross to him. “Show me.”

Theo hadn’t bought her clothes personally since the disastrous night when they had to flee New York. She hadn’t appreciated it then, hadn’t appreciated any part of that clusterfuck. But it brought her to this moment, to this relationship. Meg stopped in front of him and touched his face, running her finger along the sharp line of his jaw. “I haven’t been particularly graceful about gifts, but I can do better.”

Theo captured her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Only if you want to.”

So careful. Ever since their fight, he had been so careful with her. Meg wrapped her arms around herself as he moved away to hang the garment bag and unzip it. No, not since the fight. Since the other thing. “Do you really want kids?” she blurted.

Theo froze. She was pretty sure Galen ceased to breathe behind her.

She should stop while she was behind, but words bubbled up, pouring out of her mouth in a river she couldn’t stop. “I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never thought about kids—even thought about kids with you guys—but it’s all been theoretical and then you just throw that out there like it’s a sure thing and…”

“I meant what I said.” Theo spoke softly. Carefully. “It’s ultimately your choice.”

Yes…but no. It wasn’t just her in this. She was one part of a triad. Since it would be her body doing the baby-making, of course she got the veto vote, but that didn’t mean their opinions didn’t matter. “Please answer the question. Do you want kids?” He glanced over her shoulder, and she tapped his chest. “Look at me, not him.”

“Yes, princess. I want kids. My parents were the cornerstone of my life, and I want…” Theo ran his hand over his head. “I want kids. I want to be a dad. Even if I wasn’t king, which requires heirs, I’d still want kids. I want a family.”

She’d known. How could she not? But it had seemed such a distant theoretical concept.

It didn’t seem the least bit theoretical now.

Meg kept her hand on Theo’s chest and turned to Galen. “And you?”

“You already have my answer.”

“I’d like it again.” When they weren’t all out of their minds from fucking.

Galen crossed his arms over his chest. “I have shit parents. I might be a shit dad.” He looked at her and then at Theo, something tortured and painful sliding through his dark eyes. “With the two of you? It’s selfish as fuck, but yeah, Meg, I want kids.”

“I had such a terrible childhood.” She didn’t know if she was speaking to Galen or Theo, but they both moved. Theo slipped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her with his body, lending her his strength. Galen closed the distance between them and did the same from the front. She inhaled deeply, letting their mixed scents wash over her. Here, in this safe space, she could give voice to the fear she’d kept wrapped in chains deep inside her for so long. “What if I’m just like her?”

“You’re not.” Theo kissed her temple. “You’re strong and bold and fierce. There’s nothing of her in you.”

“Nothing except her DNA.” Meg shuddered. All too easy to transpose herself over the memories of her mother. To taste the endless cigarettes coating her lips and throat with toxic smoke, to feel the cheap gin burning her stomach, to embrace the anger that churned deep inside her, to turn it outward at anything and everything under her control. “I’m already failing at so much. What if I fail at that, too?”

Galen gripped her chin and raised her face to meet his gaze. “Do you actually believe that?”

She started to say of course she believed that, but the weight of their bodies against her stopped her. That fear wasn’t her reality. She’d fought so damn hard to ensure it would never be her reality. Did Meg actually think that she carried around some kind of time bomb in her genes that would explode the second she had a baby?

Ever since she was a kid, she’d carved her own way, had fought against the current that only seemed to travel to one destination. A future like her mother’s. Even when she was eight, she knew she didn’t want that. Did she really believe that a lifetime of choosing her own path would suddenly be worthless?

No.

“No,” she forced out.

Galen nodded. “Then the only question remains is if you want kids.”

It really wasn’t much of an argument, after all. “Yes.” In her heart of hearts, there had always been part of her that put children under the column of “someday.” It had always just been a distant thought, a far-off plan. “Eventually, yes.”

“There’s no rush.” Theo gave her a squeeze. “Whenever you’re ready.”

He might as well have told her that they were ready, but she appreciated the thought. Meg closed her eyes and let herself relax into their embrace. “Later. After we’ve gotten through this particular nightmare. After I finish my degree. Then…” God, she couldn’t believe she was even saying this. “Then we can talk about having babies.”

“Works for us.” Galen pressed a quick kiss to her mouth and moved away before she could sink into it. “Better check out the dress Theo picked for you before you hurt his feelings.”

“Galen.” The warning note in Theo’s voice battled with something that might be joy.

She turned in his arms and, yeah, he was grinning like a fool. “You were really worried about that conversation.”

“Yes.” He gave one of those single shoulder shrugs. “I always knew where Galen stood on the subject, but your history meant you could fall on either side of that line. We hadn’t talked about it.”

They hadn’t had any reason to talk about it. She shook her head. “You could have just asked me.”

“I didn’t want you to feel pressured.”

Meg snorted. “Since when?”

“This is different. Children aren’t like bedroom games or the power plays we make for entertainment. They aren’t even part of the larger balance within Thalania.”

He honestly believed that. Maybe it was even true. “They’d be part of it by virtue of their father…fathers? How the hell would that even work?” It had sounded sexy as hell—scary but definitely sexy—when he was staking his and Galen’s claim on her in Greece, but the semantics didn’t quite iron out so evenly.

“We wouldn’t do a DNA test. I would simply formally adopt whatever children we have so that there’s no contesting their claim to the throne.”

“But that means that Galen isn’t their legal father.” She twisted to look at him, but he was merely watching this conversation play out as if he already knew how it ended and was impatient to get onto the next part. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

“I could give a fuck what other people think. We have a mostly equal relationship, and that’s what will matter within the family unit.” He made a face. “Though there’s bound to be some noble having an apoplexy over the idea, or one of the distant Families thinking that they can use the ‘problematic’ genetic line to get a toe up in the power pyramid.”

“They’ll have to marry into the Families.”

“Maybe.”

Meg looked from Theo to Galen and back again. They’d obviously talked about this at length if they already had the future marriages of their very theoretical children planned out. “That seems like a shitty thing to demand just because we made the choices we did.”

“It might be for naught.” Theo gave another of his shrugs. “A lot can change in a few decades. Nothing is set in stone.” He set her back a little and moved to put some distance between them. He almost always did that when he was about to put her on the spot. “You don’t have to make a decision now. Or tomorrow. Or next year.”

“Then you shouldn’t have brought it up.” Because she wouldn’t be able to think of anything else.

“You’re right.”

The fact he didn’t even argue or try to turn her statement around told her more than anything else put together. Theo really, really wanted kids. She wanted to tell him that of course they’d have a boatload of babies with dark hair, some with fathomless blue eyes and some with secret dark eyes. But when Meg opened her mouth, Theo pressed his fingers to her lips. “No, princess. Don’t give us an answer right now, because you’re going to give the one you know we want to hear. Take your time and think it over. There isn’t a clock winding down on this one.”

“Okay.” The moment stretched out between the three of them, full with a future Meg suddenly wanted so badly, she could barely breathe past it. If she closed her eyes, she’d be able to see the life Theo wanted for them.

He’d be an overly indulgent dad, while simultaneously demanding that their children be their best selves, teaching them how to chase what they wanted while balancing it against the needs of their country. Galen? She could almost see him with a little girl on his knee, pretending to be put-upon to tell her one more story, but so blatantly wrapped around her little finger that Meg’s heart actually leapt. And Meg? She pictured warm cuddles and laughter and a fierce protectiveness that took her breath away.

Theo might not want her answer yet, but she already knew what it would be. If she was perfectly honest with herself, she’d known the answer the second she decided to follow Theo into Thalania. He was king. A king required heirs, even in unconventional situations like theirs.

Speaking of…

“What would you have done if I said I didn’t want kids?”

Theo considered her. “It would depend on the reasons and which part you’re opposed to. If it’s everything about pregnancy and children, then I’ll pass the throne to Edward’s children.”

He would, too. There was no slyness on his face, no manipulations to ensure the outcome was one he wanted. He would honestly allow the throne to pass to his little brother’s future children, rather than push Meg into a role she wasn’t comfortable with. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, try on the dress. Everyone’s arrived, and dinner starts in just over an hour.”