Page 35 of The Revenge

“We stay with her,” Syn tells her.

“Of course you do,” Penny says, with a nod of her head. “And as Royal will tell you, given we’re on the first floor, and neither of us have any plans of jumping out the window, the only way in or out of this room is through this door. Which you will remain on the other side of.”

Syn starts to respond, but Penny slams the door in his face and locks it.

With a long sigh, I move to her hot pink bed and sit down before flopping back onto my back. “They won’t go anywhere.”

“Meaning you’re going to put that to the test by staying here tonight, to see if they camp in the hallway—because hilarious as that would be, we both know that Synclair Keyingham would never sleep on the floor.” The bed dips as Penny sits down beside me. “Or, you mean you’re not staying long.”

“I—”

Penny holds up a hand. “Before you say anything, just know that the correct answer is the first option, because I’ve got a driver coming to collect me first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Penny—”

“—and this is probably going to be the last time we’ll see each other for ages,” she says, dragging out the last word.

I push myself up off the bed and walk the short distance to the door, opening it. Syn, Royal, and Gemini are still on the other side. Only now, there are a couple of girls lingering in one of the doorways, desperately trying to get the attention of the three guys.

“Let’s go,” Syn says, shortly.

“You three can go. It’s Penny’s last night, and I’m spending it here with her.”

Syn’s eyes narrow. “We’ve already had this discussion.”

“I have no intention of leaving this room until tomorrow morning. If you want to camp out here, you can. In fact, I’m sure there are some willing volunteers who will let you share their bed if you ask them nicely.” I nod my chin in the direction of the girls. “You probably don’t even need to ask them nicely.”

Gemini glances over his shoulder. Both girls smile, and one gives him a finger wave.

“I realize that you mean with the three of us, it’s an unusual relationship dynamic, but I’m still a one-woman guy. Now, if you really want to bring another woman into this, we can, but my standards are you, and there might be someone out there who comes close, but they sure as fuck aren’t those skanks.” Gemini doesn’t bother to lower his voice, and as he returns the finger wave, one girl flips him off before she pulls her friend into her room.

“Even if this is pretend, you don’t need to be that mean,” I tell Gemini.

“Who’s pretending?” Gemini tilts his head.

“Enough,” Syn snaps. “We’re leaving.”

Under his frown, Syn’s eyes look like tarnished gold as he glares at me. When he doesn’t move, I raise my arm to waft him away. “Leave then.”

“We agreed that for the foreseeable future, you are to stay with us,” Syn says through gritted teeth.

“As I’ve just said, I have no intention of leaving this room. If you want to stay with me, you can make yourself comfortable out here in the corridor.” I fold my arms and glare back at him.

Before Syn can say anything else, Royal places a hand on his shoulder. “Come on. She’ll be safe here for one night. We can keep an eye on her from back at the house.” Royal points up at the camera aimed at my door, and by default, Penny’s door.

“There we go; everyone is happy. See you tomorrow.” I step back and close the door on them, making sure to lock it again.

“Tor… What the hell was that? I heard that Syn had basically declared that you and him were a thing at breakfast, and someone else was trying to say that it wasn’t just him, but Royal and Gemini too…” Penny wrinkles her nose as she cocks her head. “Look, as someone who loves two other people, and is in a committed relationship with them, there’s no judging on how many people you choose to be with, but if you’re really dating Royal, Gemini, and—” she shudders. “Syn, then I am going to judge you harder than I judge people who drive Cybertrucks.”

I finally shake off my coat and hang it on the back of the door before I go and join her on the bed. Taking her hand in mine, I look her directly in the eyes. “They’re just doing what they think they need to, to make sure nobody else comes for me for these last few days.”

“Just know, if that becomes reality, your name won’t be Tori anymore, because the only thing I will be calling you is Taurus,” Penny tells me, solemnly.

“Taurus?”

Penny nods. “Because only bulls are attracted to red flags.”

I let go of her hand and snatch up one of her pillows, using it to hit her.

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