“You guys, I have a story to tell,” Sienna said and giggled.
“What?” Riley asked.
Emily watched Sienna run to the door and peek around the corner.
“What are you doing, Sienna?” Larkin asked.
“Making sure the daddies aren’t hiding in the hallway.” She came back and sat on the rug. “Come on and sit.”
“You’re so bossy,” Riley said.
Sienna rolled her eyes. “You’re calling me bossy.”
“Yeah, because you are,” Riley said.
“No, you are.”
Larking tapped Emily’s arm. “It’s okay. They always fight. They’re both bitches.”
Emily had to bite down on her lip when the other girls abruptly stopped arguing and turned on Larkin, but she could tell they really liked each other.
“Why is it when you curse, you get away with it, but when I do, I’m always caught?” Sienna asked.
“Maybe because you do it so often?” Riley said, which set the two off.
“You do as much as I do it,” Sienna said.
Riley snorted. “Not even close.”
Larkin waved at them. “Ignore them. Now tell me, how everything’s going? Are you happy here?”
Emily nodded. “Yes. I like being with Grey.”
“Does he make you feel safe?” Riley asked. “Because that’s the first thing I felt with Noah was how settled and calm I was.”
“He does make me feel very safe.”
“I get that, too, with Kane. I grew up in the slums of Chicago with my drug-addicted mom. I had to run the day after she died because the local gang leader wanted to make me his bitch.”
“Oh, God, that’s awful. Were you scared?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll only admit this to you guys, but I still get scared sometimes when I’m not around Kane.”
Emily liked hearing that she wasn’t the only one. That these three knew how she was feeling. It settled something in her that always made her feel like she was alone in the world.
“Has he bonked you yet?” Sienna asked Emily and then snickered.
Larkin groaned. “Sienna, for God’s sake.”
Emily shook her head. “No. We’re taking it slow because I was hurt.”
Riley grabbed her hand. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. Is there anyone you want us to beat up?”
Emily’s lips twitched. “No, I don’t want you anywhere around him. He’s a monster.”
“Did he hurt you badly?” Larkin asked.
Emily nodded. “He called me his slave.” It felt right talking to them.