Tommy lay on his stomach, breathing deeply. He’d made me come fast and hard before he’d found his own release. Now he was seemingly out cold. I traced my hand up and down his arm. I loved sex. I really did. Even knowing that, I wasn’t certain I could say I preferred it to these quiet moments. Both mattered. What we did together and then how we loved each other afterward, too.

Quinn climbed into bed with me after Tommy conked out. He was reading his tablet. Tommy’s arm was over my waist, and I leaned against Quinn’s shoulder. The screen was on in the other room. I could hear quiet talking.

“Keith watching the screen?” I whispered to Quinn.

He shook his head. “He was, but he fell asleep. Just you and I awake in here.”

I kissed his cheek. Tommy’s tablet buzzed and then buzzed again. I was going to look but my oldest husband’s eyes flew open, and within seconds he was alert.

“Hey Quinn.” Tommy grabbed the tablet. “Oh wow. Look,” he showed it to me. “Graham Alexander responded to my request for a meeting. He wants to see us tomorrow after the high council meeting.”

Something about the way he said the last words caught my attention. “Is that what you want? How you want to handle it?”

“No.” He got out of bed. “We’re going to the high council meeting. I’m not hiding.”

I cleared my throat. “We?”

“That’s right. Nothing happens without you, Paloma.”

I supposed I should be grateful, but fear was a hard mistress and I could feel her attached to my spine. She was going to make this as hard as possible. For as long as she could.

“Great.”

Neither of them noticed my uneasiness, or they didn’t remark. In either case, this was happening. I was going out in public. I’d been raised to be this person, the one who could walk around in high society and not blink an eye. But the Sisterhood had taught me that everything about myself was wrong. I was getting better. Was I ready for this?

I supposed I would soon find out.

* * *

I got out of the shower, having washed, shaved, and scrubbed every place I could think of. I couldn’t delay this anymore. I dried myself off and then stood there in the towel, not moving. The truth was that I could get out of doing this. I could simply tell Tommy I didn’t want to do it. He’d been very clear on more than one occasion that he wanted what I wanted. If I didn’t wish to do this, he’d be the first to tell me that I didn’t have to.

But I wanted to do this because he wanted me to. This loving someone thing was complicated. A knock sounded, and Keith stood in the doorframe holding something in a bag.

I looked at him in the mirror from where he stood behind me. It was like having eyes on the back of my head. “What do you have there?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Tommy sent me out. I am, apparently, his personal valet right now. This is for you.”

I had to smile at Keith’s turn of phrase. I turned around, breathing in the scent of the cloves on him. I never knew why he smelled like them, but I loved it. “That tells me nothing. What did he send you to buy?”

He grinned. “A red dress.”

I raised my eyebrows. “A red dress?”

“Sandler red.” He shook his head, drawing me closer to him. “You did this to yourself, getting the scorpion. You awoke the Sandler in Tommy. Suddenly we’re not hiding and fighting a little bit; we’re winning and taking back Sandler space. It’s very inspiring. You have to be the Sandler wife now. Red dresses everywhere you go.”

I groaned. “Keith, I’m panicky inside.”

“We’ll call it off.”

“No.” I shook my head, my forehead rubbing against his chest. “I need to. Every time I do something that scares me, I get a little stronger at it. The high council meeting? I was made for this. Keith, did you pick the dress out yourself?”

“I did, and you are going to look so beautiful in it.”

Heat infused my cheeks. I really was the luckiest woman ever. “All right, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it. Could you get me the tablet from the other room?”

“Sure thing. Can’t wait to see.”

I hoped I knew what I was doing.

* * *

It turned out there was an extensive amount of photographs on what high society Sandler women wore to important events. There weren’t that many women around, but the ones who were all wore red. At least in public.

It was good I looked good in red.

The makeup was more of an issue. They did very dramatic things to their faces, painting them in elaborate ways. My mother-in-law, who was listed as deceased, had painted silver swirls all over her cheeks in glitter. I didn’t have glitter, and I wasn’t going to send anyone out to get any. I supposed I could, in fact, ask them to turn on the generator, use some credits, and replicate me some glitter. I scrunched up my nose. I hated glitter. I didn’t want it on my cheeks, and I wasn’t going to redo my mother-in-law. That hadn’t worked out so well for her.

Garrison had four wives after her. The second one, who was a gorgeous redhead—and he’d divorced her a year and a half later with no reason listed—had painted her eyes in black and her lips the same. It was very severe.

The next two ladies hadn’t fared much better. Why were they all so… dark and menacing? Well, I supposed the answer was that their husband was dark and menacing. The final woman, his current wife, had taken the look to an extreme, mixing the black with the red.

I shook my head. Tommy had given me no instructions. He hadn’t mentioned makeup and neither had Keith. All that he wanted was the red dress.

So I was free to do as I wanted. We were rising from the darkness today, coming out into the light. That was what I was going to do. I was going to rise today.

I was like a cat… I was going to land on my feet. And for that matter, when we were finally settled, I was getting a cat. Just because I wanted one.

The knock didn’t surprise me. I’d locked the bathroom door, and I’d been inside of it for hours. Considering that my stuff was all over the floor now, I think I had officially made it and the bedroom next to it mine.

I’d done my hair. In all the time I’d known my husbands, I’d never really done it. Of course, there was that one time when the bomb went off that had waylaid my hair plans. This time, it was just me, my brush, and the blow dryer attachment in the bathroom. Usually my dark hair was wavy. Today it would be stick straight.

I’d even gone so far as to cut bangs. I used to do this. I used to spend a lot of time on myself making myself look like the kind of person who could be doing what I was about to do. There were no rules. I could come out of the bathroom with my hair a mess and no makeup. No one asked this of me. But I wanted it.

I smiled at myself in the mirror. My eye makeup was perfect. I’d used browns, greens, and a shade of black on the bottom of my lid. I wanted to be a cat, and I’d made the look happen. Smokey cat eyes would be how they’d describe this Sandler wife.

It was sexy… or at least I thought so. If the guys laughed at me, I’d have to reconsider the whole thing. The red dress was short, tight, and it hugged my curves. It would have been obvious to me that Keith picked it out and not Quinn even if I hadn’t known. Quinn went for soft and flattering. Keith was much more va-va-voom. I hoped this was what Tommy had in mind.

I opened the door and stepped out to find all four of them in my bedroom, waiting. When had Clay gotten back? They were all dressed similarly. Red turtlenecks that had the scorpion on them as an emblem near the chest covered by black blazers. They wore black pants. I had to catch my breath. These handsome men were mine. How had I gotten so lucky?

“Well, aren’t you the best looking men in the universe.”

I stared at each of them, but they didn’t answer me. Tommy’s eyes were huge, Clay’s were narrowed, Quinn tilted his head to the side, and Keith’s face was a mask I couldn’t read.

I took a deep breath. “I got it all wrong, didn’t I? Too much? Too little? I’m just horrific looking. I’ll go wash it off; it’ll take a little time, but I can…”

“No.” I’d never known it was possible for all four of them to say something at exactly the same time, but apparently it was.

Clay answered for them. “You look just amazing. I mean, you have to forgive us for not saying how beautiful you are the second you stepped out of the bathroom. The thing is, and I can’t speak for them, but for me, I can say that you look every bit the Sandler woman. The most beautiful one I’ve ever seen. The red. The makeup. Your hair. It’s stunning. You rendered me speechless.”

“Ah, thank you, Clay.” My cheeks were hot. These were men who had seen me naked, brought me to pleasure over and over again, held me in the night, and yet I’d never felt more exposed than I did right then. “So, I’ll do?” I eyed Keith. “The dress isn’t too tight?”

Tommy rocked forward. “I want to take you out of it right now and fuck you. But no, it’s not too tight, not for a Sandler woman. They’re always pushing things in terms of rules. Some of the Earth delegation may swallow their tongues, but that’s what we want. You look perfect.”

Quinn smiled. “Beyond perfect, P. It’s like you’re giving me something I didn’t know I wanted.”

Keith winked. “I knew that you’d own that dress.”

Tommy extended his hand. “Let’s do this. Get it over with. We’re going to get attention from the right people. Then we’re going to convince Melissa’s father to give us military aid. Then, you know, we’ll conquer the world.”

“All tonight?” I couldn’t help teasing him.

“For sure.” I loved to hear the laughter back in his voice. “And your hair. What did you do to it?”

“Yeah, P. What did you do?” Quinn asked coming up on my side.

Some men might know things about hairdos. Mine, clearly, did not.

* * *

I’d never been on a train before. I’d no sooner sat down next to Keith than it took off at breakneck speed. A whish filled the air, and the light dimmed. Keith patted my hand. “Better not to think about it.”

“It?” My stomach wanted to turn, but I would not—in any fathom of my imagination—let myself throw up in my red dress.

“How fast this thing moves.” Our seating jolted backwards. I gasped and noticed when no one else did. Suddenly we were in a vessel by ourselves, the five of us moving out of the train, still at speeds too high to fathom, rushing toward a landing platform. The individual section abruptly stopped. I was frozen, my mind having left my body. What. In. The. Universe. Was. That. I couldn’t swallow. I could barely breathe. We’d almost died.

“That’s a lot smoother than it used to be.” Clay got up, stepping onto the platform. In fact, all of them moved like it was no big deal at all. Why weren’t they terrified? Why weren’t they frozen?

Clay bent over, touching the side of my face. “It won’t move until you do. Thousands of people could be waiting.”

I forced my legs to move until I was on the platform. “Is there any other way to travel? Do we have to do that again?”

“Trains are the best way to get around Oceania,” Keith answered. I was afraid of that.

* * *

When Tommy had called where we were going the High Council Meeting, I’d pictured just that, a meeting. But it turned out it was a building, a huge, circular building which existed for the sole purpose of holding the high council meetings.

The doors were locked, opened only by the guard standing outside. We were five minutes late, which was on purpose. Tommy wanted to make an entrance.

Maybe I was slow on the uptake, or maybe I was just ill prepared. As Tommy dealt with the guard, giving the Sandler name and acting like he had every right to attend a meeting we weren’t invited to, I turned to Quinn. “Any idea how many people will be there?”

“The high council?” He nodded. “Couple of thousand.”

My stomach sunk. Well, okay. The door opened, and we were allowed inside. A small hallway took us to double doors. I could hear my heels clicking on the ground as we walked.

Tommy turned around and extended his hand. He wanted me to take it. “Just for today, she walks only with me until we’re home. First and oldest. You know the scene.”

Keith squeezed my arm when I passed him, but otherwise none of them remarked. My heart pounded so fast I could hear it in my ears, but no one else would ever be able to tell how terrified I was. My mother, for all her ridiculousness in some ways, managed this type of situation perfectly. She put on a serene look, and no one expected her to have an opinion on anything. That was the type of wife that everyone expected my father to have.

I was a Sandler wife. I had the scorpion to prove it. I squared my shoulders. My hair was done, my makeup still coating my face. The dress spoke of sex and power.

I would be what they all needed for this meeting, even if the person I played wasn’t me at all. Or maybe she was, just a long dead part that I’d forgotten was ever alive.

The doors opened, and on Tommy’s arm, I walked into the circular room where everyone thought they ruled the universe because… they did.

* * *

It was a huge room, and Quinn hadn’t exaggerated his description. There were easily two thousand people in the room. It was more of an amphitheater. In the center of things stood Diana’s grandfather, Graham Alexander. I’d never met him, but Diana and her siblings had regular weekly conferences over their tablets with him. He loved her. He loved her mother. He hated her father and uncles. There was a story there that went past simply not liking the choice of mates.

He was tall, blue-eyed, and his hair totally gray, to the point of being almost white. He was younger than he should have been, thanks to all the black hole travelling he’d done during Melissa’s youth. Time hadn’t gone in a straight line for him. He’d had years pass on both ends while he didn’t age. That pesky black hole, I’d never really understand it.

Diana’s grandfather turned to regard us. “This is quite an entrance, Mr. Sandler. I thought I told you that we would meet after this meeting.”

“Two things.” A computer brought Tommy’s voice over a speaker so everyone could hear him as they did Graham Alexander. The tech just seemed to know whose voice should be elevated while ignoring the whisperers around the room.

Tommy held up two fingers. “My family has never been very good at following directions. But since I’m here to save you from catastrophe, I figured you might let me in early.” He smiled. How was he so at ease? I concentrated on pretending. It took all of my effort.

“And these are my brothers, Clay, Quinn, and Keith. Our wife Paloma. We’ll take a seat. You can take your time. The end of Earth as you know it has a fleet heading this way. But that’s okay. Talk about taxes. Keep me waiting.”

He slumped down into a chair and put his feet up. Did he want us to do the same? Keith placed a hand on my lower back and led me forward. That was when I heard the gasp, a loud sucking in of someone’s breath, followed by a yelp. A video screen travelled around us, putting us up on two screens in the center.

I looked toward the noise. My heart fell into my stomach.

I think I must have known they’d be there. My father couldn’t have worked his way up as high as he had without going to this meeting. There they all were across the room. They could see me on the view screen, and behind Graham Alexander, I could make them out just fine. My father was the same, not particularly older-looking, and my mother wore a skirt I’d seen many times, black and green, with a black shirt on top of it. Next to her, Amber had aged but only into more beauty.

People thought my sister and I looked alike. I didn’t think so. In the true, striking beauty competition that others dragged us in to, she won—not me. Her hair had streaks of blond that came naturally through her dark brown hair. Somehow her eyes were both grey and green. Her face was long with prominent cheekbones. Since she’d always been the good one, it wasn’t surprising to me that she’d married exactly the right type of men: wealthy and politically connected. I assumed the three of them were the ones with her now, staring at us with undisguised curiosity on their faces. Their wife had cried out, and they didn’t know who I was or why seeing me made her upset.

They were dark-haired with dark eyes. The Chens, Diana had told me, were incredibly connected everywhere they went. They’d been in the third quadrant of Earth since the blasts. Their family was one of the ones who had made it. My father had made Amber a great match.

I kept my head up high. I could freak out about seeing them later. I sat down next to Tommy, keeping my back straight. Clay took my other side with Quinn and Keith behind us.

There were murmurs everywhere. I ignored the noise.

“Is everything okay, Carson?” Graham looked at my father.

“Chancellor Alexander, please excuse the females in my family. My daughter, whom we believed dead, just walked in with those people.”

Quinn leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “Those are your parents?”

I nodded. “And sister and her husbands next to them.”

“Gotcha.” He kissed my cheek and sat back down.

“Well, welcome back to life, Ms. Delacroix.” Graham looked at me.

“It’s Sandler.” I couldn’t believe I had the guts to answer, but I did. The tech picked up what I said and broadcast it to the whole room. “I’m obviously not dead. But you do know how I love to embarrass the family. Don’t worry, Dad. I’m finally in a position where I can’t make things any harder. I’m notorious, Dad. What can I say?”

Tommy snorted next to me, probably louder than he had to. I’d said what I should. I was a Sandler wife. We scorned Earthly prudishness.

“We can get to all of that later.” Graham shook his head. “Nice to have you here, Sandlers. Notorious though you may be. I have a feeling… big things are coming.”

He was right. We’d come, and we had the wind of pain behind us. Rushing through space. Changing everyone’s life forever and ever.

* * *

When the meeting, which was really dull and made me relearn how to control myself in boredom, was over, Tommy went into the back to meet with Graham. He had the letter from Melissa. I trusted him to get the job done. Besides, if we were the roles we played, I had no business in that room. Until we knew who we could trust, we didn’t let anyone know the real us.

Clay’s hand was on the small of my back. I loved when they did that, when they touched me right there. It was security. They were letting me lead but telling me they were there, too. So easy, so beautiful.

“Shall we go home?” He kissed my cheek. “Tommy might be hours. Or better yet, how about eating out? Oceania has some of the best food in the world. You with your culinary skills? You’ll love some of these places.”

Actually, that idea sounded fantastic. “Can we please?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Clay grinned. “What are you in the mood for?”

Quinn tugged me to his side. “I know what I’m in the mood for, and it’s nothing to do with eating.”

“That’s the thing. I know how hot she looks in that dress. I want to walk into places with her on my arm. I want her next to me in those places.” Clay smirked. “And you do, too.”

Keith grinned at both of them. “I want to eat and then fuck. Can we do that?”

“Paloma,” my mother’s voice called out, and I shuddered before I stopped moving.

I looked at Quinn. “Aren’t there separate doors? She was on the other side.”

“There are,” Keith answered. “Looks like they sought you out this way. Want me to make them go away?”

He would, too, without hesitation. “Today I faced demons. This is just one more. Be right behind me when I’m done.”

Clay squeezed my back. “We’d never be anywhere else.”

I turned around. There they were. My mother, my sister, and the three husbands I’d never met. I walked toward them. “Hello.”

My mother extended her arms like she wanted me to walk into them. “We heard you were dead.”

“I should be dead.” I wasn’t sure what else she wanted me to say about that.

Her mouth quivered. “You look so beautiful. Truly. I never imagined you looking like this. How are you here? With them? Their wife? How is any of this happening? I missed you.”

She actually looked like she gave a damn. I gave my attention to Amber instead. There was too much with my mother. I needed a minute before I could speak to her any longer. Sometimes I had to take a moment.

“Amber, you look amazing. Marriage clearly suits you. Diana wrote to tell me about it. I assume these are your husbands.”

She sucked in a breath. “Yes, that’s right. Paloma, you are so beautiful. I wanted to write you, but they told me not to. I’m sorry; I’m so sorry. I…”

“Amber,” one of her husbands interrupted. He didn’t put his hand on her back. “We’re in public. Would you like to introduce us? That seems the most important thing to do right now.”

I hated him right away. Amber stuttered. “Th-this is my s-sister.” She only stuttered when she was really nervous. “And these are my husbands, Amari”—she indicated the one who had spoken—“Hunter, and Shane.”

“Hello.” I nodded. “Three of my four husbands. That’s Quinn, Keith, and Clay.” I nodded to each of them, and they shook their hellos.

I’d had enough of this. No more fakeness in the hallway. By the universe, I was the notorious sister, married to Sandlers. All I would do was improve my reputation.

I breathed in and rounded on my mother. “It really is lovely to see you, considering how it was the last time we were together. If I recall, I was on my knees begging you, grabbing onto your legs. Pleading. But you did nothing. I’d humiliated you. Then you let my father take me away from you—your daughter—without a look. You fled into the night. Never got in touch. Not once. I used to dream you would come.”

I wasn’t done. But I needed a breath. She paled in front of me. I didn’t even feel bad.

“They beat me. Starved me. Abused me. I’m your daughter.” I didn’t know why I kept repeating that. A reminder? “You’re a terrible mother, and you have no spine. You thought I was dead. Continue to do so.”

I nodded at Amber. “Congratulations on your beautiful life. I hope you are truly happy. Maybe someday we can be in touch.”

I didn’t have to look for it. Clay’s hand found mine, and then Keith took the other one. Quinn cleared the crowd. I wasn’t worked up anymore. I was strangely calm. I wanted dinner and then… how had Keith put it? I wanted food and then to fuck. Seemed like a great plan.