Chapter 33

My bag lands on Evie's couch with a thud as I head into her house. The guys are staying at the club tonight to host some meetings with investors, and Alexi has someone there they plan to torture, so they‘ll be busy.

Laney and Akio are on their way, and I said I'd help Evie mix some drinks. I'm finally off the pain meds and most of the scabs have turned into scars. My feet don't feel like they are going to bleed when I walk barefoot anymore, and I have to say that is probably the best part.

Thankfully, the burns weren't as bad as we originally thought and healed on their own.

"On a scale of one to ten," I say as I enter the kitchen area where Evie is pulling out bottles of alcohol from what seems like a hidden compartment in the back of the pantry. "How much do you think Laney is going to yell at me for not telling her about the whole kidnapping thing?"

Evie snorts a laugh as she grabs some mixers. We found some fun recipes we wanted to try online and may have gone a little overboard for four people.

"I think Laney is going to be more pissed at you for not telling her about the Cillian thing."

"Oh," How could I have forgotten to tell her that? "That's so true. Damn, I feel like a year has gone by and it's hardly been a month."

Evie nods. "Yeah, I know that feeling all too well. Just imagine a whole year going by like that. It feels like I should be in my fifties."

I startle when a shriek sounds from behind me, and turn to see a blonde girl in a two-piece, pink silk pajama set. I open my arms for her to run into and do my best not to scream when she squeezes my waist.

"Ness! Girl, I missed you! I feel like so much has happened. How are you? I need you to tell me everything. Last I heard you were headed to find the rogue ex-Shade. Did you find him? What happened?"

She stops to take a breath and grab a drink as a tall Asian man with longer black hair throws his arm around her shoulder.

"Breathe there, girl," he says, and Laney giggles.

"I can't help it. I've missed you."

Akio separates from Laney and gives me a gentle hug. "I've missed you too."

I smile at them both. It feels just like old times again. The four of us huddled around, laughing while eating dinner in the library together. It was less than a year ago, yet it feels like it's been a lifetime.

A time when things felt so much simpler.

Actually, that's not true. Evie was being hunted at that time. Laney was trying to navigate having two boyfriends, Havoc and Arrow, who were secretly in love with each other but refused to say anything. Then Akio was crushing on his dream man, Adrian, whom he was convinced wasn't gay, even though we assured him he was.

We weren't making assumptions, Evie asked Adrian one day when he was out on a run and happened to be out there too. But Akio was offended when we told him the good news because Adrian never hit on him.

When we told Akio that maybe he should just talk to him, he laughed in our faces. Come to find out, when he did actually just talk to him, Adrian admitted he had feelings for him too.

Men really should listen to us more.

Evie makes sure we all have a few drinks in hand as we head to the couches. Since she has three husbands, they have a lot of very comfortable seating available, including what Damien calls a mega couch that can be pushed together. It is the size of two king beds, and it's where we all plan to sleep tonight.

Although, I am not sure how much sleep any of us will get.

"Alright, spill," Laney says as we all get comfortable.

I freeze for a minute, not knowing what to get into first. There's so much I need to tell her, to tell all of them.

"Ness?" Laney says, worry now etched into her features. Evie puts a hand on her arm to keep her from coming over to me, which I'm grateful for.

Laney is very touchy, especially when she tries to comfort you. It's one of her sweetest traits, but it makes it harder for me to talk about some of the more painful stuff.

"Okay, I'm going to need to catch you up on a lot, but let me start by saying I know Arrow's birth mother has been trying to kill you guys, so I kept some stuff from you until that died down a bit."

Laney narrows her eyes. "Don't worry about her. We'll have her locked up in the pretty new torture chambers in less than forty-eight hours."

"So…" What do I even begin with? "I guess this all started when the love of my life, who was presumed dead, came back from the grave."

Laney gasps, hand over her chest as Akio literally chokes on his drink. The rest of my rant seems to have the same effect.

Laney tries to punch me when I tell her about getting kidnapped, and Akio says he's jealous of all of the dick we get. Apparently, he says being gay should mean he gets multiple dicks, but he fell in love with just one.

We drink and laugh, then drink some more, and more. Eventually, Laney forgives me and we end up talking about her plans to go after Arrow's birth mother. Who also happens to be the woman we believe to have started the child trafficking ring.

Our lives are so fecked up.

Laney has the perfect plan to find out if it actually is her though, and I must admit, for a girl who looks like she just walked out of a Barbie movie, she is feckin' ruthless.

That's what I love about her. She didn't change who she was to be a part of what we do. She loves pink and glitter and unicorns. But she is a honey trap that will kill you with candy if you try to hurt the ones she loves.

Akio raises his cup. "So, since we're telling the truth here tonight, I thought before we all pass out that I should tell you guys something. It might be difficult to understand."

Laney stiffens, worry coating her features as she looks at Evie and me. It's almost as if she is trying to convey a message, but my ability to read her eyes went out the window two drinks ago.

"I'm trans."

I look at Evie, then Laney, waiting for him to tell us the thing that is apparently difficult to understand.

Is he having surgery and needs our help getting around for a bit? That isn't difficult to understand though.

Maybe he is on his period and needs a tampon? Because that isn't difficult to understand either, but maybe someone told him it was?

When no one says anything, Laney puts a hand over his.

"Told you," she chuckles.

"You guys aren't mad?" He looks at Evie and me, and she stands up to go sit by him.

"Akio, why would we be mad?"

He shrugs, looking into his cup. "Because everyone seems to be angry or disappointed when they find out. Well, everyone except for Laney. "

"Is that why you're living with Laney?" I ask.

He nods, and the three of us pull him into our arms together, making him laugh.

"What the fuck, you guys?"

"He thought you would ask him to leave," Laney tells us.

Evie punches him in the shoulder. "You asshole. We aren't those kinds of people. We have literally told you in great detail how we like to be fucked by our multiple men."

"While some of them fuck each other," Laney helpfully adds.

I nod in agreement because Evie is right. We're not ones to judge. Ever .

Akio talks to us about Adrian and how everything happened with their families. Then, he tells Evie that he had shirts made for our organization.

That makes us all laugh. A secret assassin league with their own t-shirts. What a concept.

The more we drink, determined to let go, the night continues to grow fuzzier. It is so nice to just stop caring for a bit. Laney cuts herself off, saying she plans to take herself and Akio home early so she can rest up before they take down Arrow's birth mother. But Evie and I apparently decide that neither of us are driving and get fully black-out drunk.

It's everything I needed.