“You’ve been acting strange.”

I glanced up into the mirror after my shower to see Emma lingering in the doorway to the bathroom

“Have I?”

She arched a brow at me, but I just shrugged.

“You know, just new work stuff. Jumping in and all that.”

“New work stuff responsible for that bruise in the shape of a thumb on your thigh and what is clearly a hickey on your neck?”

I blushed. “No, of course not.”

She smirked at me. “C’mon, you’ve got some hot office romance going on and you can’t tell me, your oldest dearest friend?”

“It’s—” I shook my head. “I can’t really talk about it.”

Because I’m screwing the Crown Prince of North Revania.

She grinned wickedly. “Ooo, a supervisor or something?”

I rolled my eyes.

“So, we’re going to ignore those bruises, and the fact that you’ve been walking around here like you’re glowing, which makes me think you’re having some amazing sex. Plus, you're getting all dolled up to go out.”

“It’s just a work—”

“A work thing, yeah,” she said sarcastically, eyeing the outfit I had hanging up on the hook across the room. “A work thing where you wear a super hot little black dress that I’ve never seen before but looks insanely expensive?”

It was. Luke, Micah, and Victor had had it delivered before Emma got home that day. That along with the box of insanely sexy black lace and gold lingerie. I was buzzing with excitement, though also with a nervous energy. To be honest, I was a little scared of what I’d see and what I’d learn going to the club that night, but also so excited in this forbidden way.

I mean, I was going to a secret, exclusive sex club with three gorgeous, dominant, amazing men — all of whom wanted me, all of whom I wanted, and all of whom were actual honest-to-goodness royalty.

Not exactly a normal Thursday night for me, and Emma could tell something was up.

“You’re just…” she bit her lip, shaking her head. “You’re just full of surprises these days aren’t you?”

I swallowed. “It’s really just a work thing,” I said quickly.

I mean, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Very mysterious.”

“Emma,” I laughed, trying to deflect her. “Look, it’s just a thing, okay? Some people from work invited me out, and it’s kind of a fancy place.”

Lying to Emma wasn’t something I’d ever done. In fact, most of the time, I think we told each other entirely too much about our lives. But this felt different. This felt…secretive. Not to mention, as much as she was my best friend, Emma was a reporter. And if this whole thing with Luke, Victor, and Micah was going to be this big secret, seeing as who they were and what this was, then telling her didn’t really feel like the best move.

Nothing on her, it just felt weird to tell a secret that big to a person whose career was all about writing the truth and publishing it to millions of people.

“Fine,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Fine, I yield. I’ll stop. I have to go out anyways.”

“Oh?”

She shrugged, wagging her brows. “You’re not the only one with a hot date tonight, you know.”

“Well, well!” I beamed at her. “And do I get to pester you for details now?”

“Nope! I’m giving you a taste of your own medicine.”

We laughed, and she gave me a quick hug.

“Have fun tonight, girl.” She arched a brow. “And you’d better eventually tell me about what you’re up to.”

“I know, and I will.”

“Good.”

She turned, and I was just turning back to start my makeup when she poked her head back in.

“Hey, you ever find out if your boss is sporting one of those sex club tattoos?”

She squealed out a laugh and I chucked a washcloth at her as she skipped out of the room.

* * *

Emma had already taken off for her own mysterious date by the time I finished getting ready. I sat in our living room, nervously waiting for the town car the guys had told me would be picking me up. A limo with the three most recognizable and important men in the three kingdoms showing up at our apartment building wasn’t exactly subtle, so the car would take me to Luke’s palace, and from there, we’d go to the club.

The Triple Crown Club.

The dark, twisted, forbidden place of fantasy, and I was about to dive right in.

The knock on the door brought a gasp to my lips.

Must be the driver.

It was time. I smoothed my dress as I stood, taking a deep breath before I strode for the door.

“Hi, thanks for—”

I gasped loudly as I jumped back a step.

It wasn’t the driver.

It was Dan, the ex I’d left right before Emma and I moved in together. Dan who I’d caught cheating for the tenth time and finally left. Dan who’d treated me like shit for two years before I’d finally found a spine.

He’d barely even tried to contact me after I’d left, which suited me just fine. Life was just better without him. And God, now, with Luke, Victor, and Micah, life was amazingly better. And the last thing I needed on the night I was going to figure out what the four of us were and where I stood with that was Dan showing up at my front door.

“What do you want?” I hissed, keeping my hands firmly on the door and the door frame, ready to slam it in his face.

Dan grinned at me, his brows arching as his eyes took me in.

“Fuck, Jules, you got hot.”

I got hot. Dan was such a clueless asshole it was almost a joke.

“I’m going to ask you one more time,” I spat. “What do you want, and what are you doing here?”

His eyes — a little more haggard looking than I remembered — pulled up to mine.

“Heard you got a pretty swank new job.”

“And?”

“Guess it pays having family in high places.”

He was talking about Anya and her connections in Lorne that had gotten me this job, though how he even knew that was beyond me.

“I’m closing this door now.”

“Hold on.”

His booted foot jammed into the doorway, stopping me from shutting it.

“You going out tonight?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

He sneered at me. “You look like a whore in that dress, so I’m just curious who’s paying.”

“Fuck you, Dan,” I hissed, my teeth grinding.

“Only if you ask nicely, bitch,” he spat back.

This was ridiculous. I didn’t have time for this, and I certainly didn’t have the space in my head to deal with Dan’s crap. Not now, and honestly, not ever.

“Goodbye, Dan. I’d move your foot unless you’d like me to amputate it with the door.”

He grinned. “This isn’t over.”

“Trust me that it is,” I said cooly.

Dan just smiled this evil, horrible smile. “Be seeing you, Jules.”

His foot slipped from the door, and I slammed it shut, locking the deadbolt and the chain lock before backing away from it.

The town car driver called me five minutes later, but I gave it another ten before I finally left my apartment. And it wasn’t until the car pulled away that I finally let my breath out. I took another cleansing breath, clearing my head.

Tonight wasn’t about the past. Tonight was about the future.

The scary, exciting, wildly enticing and forbidden future.

Tonight was about me, and the three captivating, incredible, all-consuming men who’d come into my life and held on tight.

Tonight was about letting go, diving in, and seeing where I came up for air.

I shivered as the car drove into the night.