Letting out a contented sigh, I burrow further beneath the comforter. West and Xander lie on either side of me, with Zeke behind Xander, his arm draped protectively over the pair of us. He and West cleaned us up when we got to the penthouse before making us hot chocolate with a shot of whiskey. A deliciously perfect end to a perfect evening. “I never want to leave this bed,” I murmur sleepily.
“I can make that happen, princess,” West growls in my ear.
I hum my agreement. “Maybe just for a little while?”
“Duvet day tomorrow?” Xander suggests.
“Christmas movies and hot chocolate with marshmallows and sugar cookies?”
“Christmas is six weeks away, buttercup.”
“I know, but I’m in a Christmassy mood. Can we put our tree up early?”
Xander chuckles. “We’ll need to get one first.”
“A real one will die if we get it now, princess.”
“Then we can get a fake one too? Then get the real one a few weeks before Christmas. Please?” When I was very young, Stefano and our housekeeper, Elena, always made the holidays special for Nico and me, and I hang onto those happy memories from my childhood while trying to forget the rest of it. This time of year has always been special to me, but Christmas in New York, with all the snow and the lights—it’s beyond magical. And spending the holidays with my guys … my heart flutters.
“Whatever you want, shorty.” Xander’s enthusiasm makes me smile, even as Zeke and West grumble a reluctant agreement.
“Don’t be so grumpy. Christmas is so much fun.”
West kisses my head. “I’m sure it will be with you. An excuse to spoil you with presents.”
“You don’t have to spoil me,” I insist. “That’s not why I love it.”
“Your ass still sore?” Zeke asks with a hint of warning in his voice.
My cheeks heat at the memory of him unhinged and feral in the limo. “Yes.”
“Well, if you don’t want to get thrown over someone’s knee and spanked, you will let us spoil you rotten for Christmas. You got that?”
“Yes, Sir,” I whisper.
“Sir?” West growls. “Oh, I fucking like that word on your lips, princess.”
Zeke laughs. “She didn’t call you Sir.”
A dark chuckle rolls through him. “Oh, she fucking will.”
Chapter
Seventy-Eight
LILY—SIX WEEKS LATER
Christmas Eve Zeke’s fingers curl around mine and pull me from the car.
“Can I take off my blindfold yet?”
I recognize West’s scent coming up behind me. His arm slips around my waist, his hot mouth on my ear. “Soon, princess. Have a little patience.”
The biting wind whips my hair, and I shiver despite being wrapped in my coat and scarf.
“You cold, shorty?”
“A little.” I shiver again.
Xander’s arms snake around me from behind, and the heat of his body warms me.
“Keep walking,” Zeke urges. The three of us shuffle awkwardly forward, the sound of late-night traffic humming in the background and the scent of the city in my nose. Where the hell are we, and what deviousness have my guys cooked up?
“Is this my Christmas present?” I bounce on my toes. “Because I have the best surprises planned for you.” I giggle at the thought of the gifts I’ve picked out for each of them.
“Nope. Not a Christmas gift,” West replies.
We come to a stop, and I turn my head in every direction, straining to hear anything that might offer me some clue as to where we are.
“You ready, shorty?”
“Yes!” I squeal, then remember to add, “Please.”
The blindfold falls from my face, and I blink as the bright lights of the WXZ lobby come into focus. “You brought me to your building?”
West squeezes my hand in his. “Not our building, princess.”
Xander presses his lips against my ear. “Our building.”
I frown. “That’s what I said.”
“Look up,” Zeke says, and my eyes follow his to the giant polished steel WXZ sign twenty feet above our heads. Except that it no longer says WXZ.
“WXYZ?” They changed their company name? “What’s the Y for?”
Zeke brushes his lips over my knuckles while Xander rests his chin on my shoulder. I turn to West for an answer.
His eyes narrow, and I feel like I’m missing something obvious. “The Y is for you, princess.”
“Me?”