But Karl and Kato couldn’t believe it, that we were on the same team.
“Halliburton doesn’t hire non-Americans,” Kato ground out. “How the fuck did you work that?”
I gave them a cold smile.
“Halliburton doesn’t hire non-Americans within the United States,” I said smoothly. “Elsewhere, anything goes. Besides, how’d you get hired? You gave up your American citizenship, as far as I remember, to become Legionnaires.”
“That’s right,” said Kato slowly. “But we were reinstated by the State Department when the company petitioned for expedited naturalization.”
WTF? What was expedited naturalization? I’d never heard of that and it sounded mighty shady.
But Kato just shrugged.
“Anything goes, brother, in war anything goes.”
And that brought home his point because it was true, anything could happen in this fucked up place. From the circumstances of our birth, to discovering that we were brothers, to the fact that we’d been living a lie of sorts this entire time, our world filled with the depths of poverty, the heights of unimaginable wealth, and finally the machinations of the Rothschilds, the Venetians, Violet, Georg, and finally, the Sterlings. Because where was Tina? Our calls to her parents had been frustrating, to say the least.
“Stay away from our daughter!” shrieked Lady Sterling into the phone. “Stay away! Christina was our only hope and now, now! Robert, get over here, I’m going to …!”
The phone dropped, probably because of the woman’s overwrought hysterics. But the receiver crackled once again and a man’s voice came on.
“Leave my daughter be,” Lord Sterling snarled into the phone, “If only she’d never met you. We never should have put her into Miss Carroll’s, we should have kept her right here with us, kept an eye on her.”
And I’d just shook my head silently, disgusted. Tina was a grown woman, my encounter with her had been the best of my life and I was positive she’d felt the same, even if everything was different now.
“Sir,” I said into the receiver courteously, careful to keep the impatience out of my voice, maintain an even tone. “Where is your daughter? What do you know?”
But the voice of the screaming woman grew louder in the background, making any reasonable conversation impossible, Lady Sterling’s wails like a banshee, and a couple hard thumps rang out, like she was banging her head against a wall.
“Mary, stop, stop!” called Lord Sterling, trying to halt whatever his wife was doing. But suddenly his voice dropped to a low growl.
“Tina’s in Cambodia,” he spoke quickly into the phone, under his voice. “Siem Reap last I heard.” And then the receiver went dead.
And so the three of us were here now, crammed into the back of this rickshaw thing, in the middle of this barely developed country looking for our girl. Where was she? My heart stopped in my throat as I looked over the thatched roofs of the village houses, the dilapidated cars, the dusty animals plodding by. Where was our beautiful brunette in all of this?
CHAPTER THIRTY
Karl
I can’t say that I’m proud of what’s happened. Because instead of sticking it out, staying by our girl, my bro and I took off, leaving her on her own. Because yeah, we knew Tina was upset, that Kristian was gone on some official business, and that the brunette had nowhere to turn, no one to talk to about the dramatic revelations of the White Gala. And as ashamed as I am to admit it, my bro and I didn’t stick around either.
But my feelings were mixed. On the one hand, we had to leave. We had no jobs after all, and money would have become an issue sooner or later. It’s nice to live in la-la land, but Kato and I can’t stay there for long, it’s fucking wrong to let your best girl support you while you sit on the couch.
So we had to get ourselves jobs and to our surprise, had been hired immediately by a para-military outfit. I guess it makes sense. My twin and I are soldiers with specialized skills and anything goes in times of war, they’ll pay a pretty penny for ruthless dudes who know how to wield a fist.
But I still felt guilty about leaving, and I know my twin did to. We’d hightailed it out of St. Venetia with a thousand questions unanswered, leaving our woman nowhere to turn, forcing her to figure things out on her own. That was no way to treat a sensitive, nineteen year-old girl, especially since the ending had been so dramatic, filled with incredible ups and downs straight out of a movie.
So we were determined to do right by her now, find her in this jungle that was Cambodia. But WTF, why did she choose Cambodia? The answer only became too clear when we got to the hotel.
Because the Meridian was quite fancy, a French outfit left over from colonial days, an ivory-colored building which subtly resembled the White House, pillars at the entrance, a grand foyer and marble lobby. The café served afternoon tea, the concierge spoke perfect English, and it looked like there was a lavish gift shop off to the right.
“Is a Ms. Sterling staying here?” I asked the front desk. We’d been tipped off that there was a foreign girl here, a white girl with brown hair who was using the Meridian Hotel as her residence.
And instead of hemming and hawing, refusing to reveal the name of a guest due to privacy issues, the man at the front desk gestured to the left.
“Over there,” he said with a smile. “In that room.”
Really? That easy? The three of us looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Well, this was a foreign country, and when in Rome, do as Romans do.
So we made our way to the room, bursting in unceremoniously, our massive forms filling the small space, overfilling it given that the office could only fit a desk, two chairs, and a few occupants at its max.
And I was about to open my mouth, bark at the visitor, tell him to get the fuck out when we stopped in our tracks, stunned, unable to believe our eyes. Because Tina had stood up, revealing her figure … and she was pregnant, so beautiful, so fertile and gorgeous, that suddenly I knew everything would work itself out. No, scratch that, we’d make it work. No matter what the cost.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Tina
It was a surprise when the three men came storming in, tall forms dominant, arrogant, arousing still despite everything that had happened. I’d forgotten how magnetic they were, Kato, Karl and Kristian, the charisma rolling off them in waves, their hard, muscled bodies filling up the space, blue eyes taking in everything within seconds.
“Um, excuse me Annelise,” I said with a murmur. “Would you mind waiting outside for a moment?”
And the small woman nodded, eyes wide, slipping to the door.
“Miss Tina, you take as long as you need,” she said in broken English before disappearing, the door clicking shut behind her.
And I sat back down, letting out a small sigh of relief. Because I’m swollen with pregnancy, my belly huge at this point, and it’s tough to stand sometimes, my ankles are sore, my feet ballooned to the point where they look like they belong to a Cabbage Patch kid.
So I took a sip of water, letting the cool liquid trickle down my throat before turning to the men.
“What brings you here?” I asked civilly. My eyes scanned their stunned expressions, the way Karl’s pulse throbbed at his throat, how Kato reflexively clenched his fists over and over again, Kristian’s ominous frown.
“You’re working too hard,” growled Kato immediately. “How many hours a day are you putting in? Twelve? Thirteen? You’re pregnant, you shouldn’t be on your feet.”
“This place isn’t safe,” added Karl. “This a third world country, our baby can’t be born in Cambodia. We’ll take you back immediately, I’ll call the chopper.”
And Kristian was last.
“What the fuck, Tina,” he growled. “What the fuck,” was all he managed.
And I could see the rage, the shocked surprise, all mixed with a dose of elation on their faces, that they were going to be fathers.
“What, is this a surprise?” I said archly. “You know that we never used pro
tection, ever. And we were going at it all the time, day in and day out, you’re virile men, I’m a fertile woman, this is an expected outcome.”
And the trio had nothing to say because it was true. Furthermore, I suspected that they’d wanted this all along, wanted me pregnant, to see me bloom with a child within, the fruit of their seed, their desire, their unquenched lust for me. And I threw a curveball next, something they never anticipated.
“I’ve gone to the doctor for a couple ultrasounds already,” I added, “and we know it’s two girls. Isn’t that wonderful? Twins again, just like I thought might happen.”
And now the three men were really surprised, the looks on their faces astounded, taken for a loop. Because although it’s not proven, it’s likely that twinship is a genetic trait, passed on through the generations. So yeah, Kato or Karl’s sperm could have caused the zygote to divide. Or even Kristian, as the brother of twins, could have spurted the semen that made the little girls, his sweet cream taking hold inside of me.
“Please,” growled out Kato, dropping to my side on one knee. “Come home with us Tina. Stet. Pronto. Like yesterday.”
And Kristian was just as vehement as he took the chair across my desk.
“The sooner the better,” he growled out, “Now,” he commanded.
And Karl just nodded, his eyes fixed to my belly, its hugeness somewhat explained by the fact of two babies within. “Twins,” he whispered to himself. “Fuck me.”
And that brought me back to the present because it was the fucking that had gotten us here in the first place. My seduction so long ago by the twins at the Old Dog, then meeting Kristian at a cocktail party. If they’d kept their penises in their pants, my kitty off those dongs, we wouldn’t be here today. And so I wasn’t so sympathetic, I had my piece to say and was going to say it.
“I can’t leave,” I said firmly. “I have clients here, I’m doing good work, making a difference. I won’t leave, and besides Cambodia has been welcoming and warm, I love the people, the food, the culture. I’m all settled into my apartment and I’m scheduled for delivery at the expat hospital in six weeks, it’s going to be fine.”
But the men shook their heads.
“We want our babies to be Venetian,” said Kristian, his brows lowered. “The Venetian blood runs through our veins … and theirs.”
And at that, I almost blew my top, lost it.
“I’d think that your last thought would be St. Venetia,” I said tightly, “given everything that’s happened to you, everything that’s gone down. Why are you still loyal to them? To this city-state that’s caused you so much pain, so much hardship? Don’t tell me it’s because of the ‘blood royal’ and all that bullshit,” I said.
And the men were silent for a moment.
“Baby, it’s not the blood royal,” said Karl gently. “After all, Kato and I were bastards all our lives, you know we’ve never been formally recognized.”
I snorted. The Venetian royal house was in turmoil right now with their Crown Prince forfeiting his succession rights and rumors of a total shake-up imminent. Further, Queen Agatha, Kristian’s so-called mother, had gone into hiding and hadn’t been publicly seen for months now, the speculation rampant, gossip mags going crazy as to what would happen to the family.
But that was none of my business, not anymore at least. In the instant moment, I was busy with Cambodia, with the non-profit I’d started, with my clients, and most of all, my babies. Here halfway around the world, so far away from everything poisonous, everything messed up and twisted, my babies would be born, pure, innocent, and sweet, and I was going to stay no matter what the men said or did.
So I shook my head again, sweetly serious, forcing myself to draw upon the reserves of calm I’d developed in my few months here, my resolute focus on being centered, happy, going with the flow of Fate rather than struggling and making myself miserable.
I took a deep breath and began.
“Please don’t come in here and tell me what to do,” I said civilly but with an edge to my voice. “I’m my own woman and these babies are going to be born in Southeast Asia.”
And the brothers switched to persuasion then, turning on the charm, unaware of my transformation. They still believed I was a naïve eighteen year-old girl, ready to bend to their every will, swayed by their power and confidence, the sheer certainty that infused their every action.
“Baby, it’s not too late to come back,” said Karl reasonably. “After all, you’re what? In your second trimester? You don’t need to worry about flying.”
And I rolled my eyes. Hadn’t he heard me? Flying was the least of my worries.
“Honey,” added Kato, “we can look after you better in St. Venetia. Sure, we’re military men now, all three of us, but we’ve pledged to stay in the vicinity until everything gets worked out. And clearly that means until after the babies are born.”
And I interrupted then.
“I don’t need you to be with me, I can do just fine on my own, thank you very much,” I said archly. “I’ve been here on my own for months now, and in that time I’ve started my own non-profit. See?” I said tapping the banner in back of me. “Khmer Outreach Center, or K.O.C. as I like to call it. Isn’t it cool? I’m doing the same thing I did back with Roma Outreach, except here I focus on Cambodian women who want to open their own businesses, whether selling flowers, or wheat, or providing child-care. I’m only lending small sums, maybe up to $100 per business, but we have a 75% payback rate and I’ve got a waiting list for women who might want a loan,” I said proudly.
The men were silent for a moment.
“That’s wonderful,” rumbled Kristian. “I, more than anyone, know how dedicated you were to microfinance back in St. Venetia. But why do you have to do it here? There are plenty of non-profits back home, why couldn’t you go back to Roma Outreach, work with the Roma again, or join any number of charities in St. Venetia? They all do good work,” he frowned.
And I blew a strand of hair out of my face.
“That’s it exactly, you see?” I said slowly. “You run over my hopes and dreams, making it all about you and your family drama. Not that I blame you,” I added quickly, “there’s been a lot of drama lately. But we didn’t experience it together. The moment things got bad, the three of you guys got the hell out of Dodge, leaving me alone to deal with everything by myself. And was that the right thing to do? Leaving your best girl home alone, pregnant, to pick up the pieces?”
The men look shamefaced but tried to defend themselves.
“We had to leave, Karl and I,” protested Kato. “We needed jobs baby, we needed dough to keep paying rent, make good on our debts. You know we can’t live on nothing but dreams.”
“Yes of course,” I replied. “I understand. But I also offered to support us, continue working at Roma Outreach while we got everything under control. Instead you guys took the first offer that landed and beat feet as fast as you could, here one day and gone the next.”
The twins looked shamefaced, Kato almost speaking again but Karl beat him to it.
“I know what you mean, honey,” he said, “but please understand. We’d just discovered that our father had tried to get in touch with us, had wanted to know as boys and it was our mother, Violet, who’d turned us against him, painting him as a monster, a user who fucked her once and never bothered to call. So everything we based our lives on was fake, and we needed some distance to process it.”
“I understand,” I said somberly. “Sometimes getting away does wonders, look at me now after all,” I said, gesturing to the office. “I’ve come to Cambodia to refresh myself, establish a new company, find my peace, and raise my children. But there’s a big difference,” I paused. “I wasn’t leaving you behind. I held down the fort for as long as I could until it no longer made sense to.”
But Kato couldn’t hear me.
“But what happened to us was so extreme,” he protested. “Just think about it honey. Violet had based our life on lies, and we n
eeded some time to mull it over, let it settle, that’s all,” he said persuasively. “Is that wrong?” he asked. “Is it wrong to ask for time?”
And I looked at him sharply then.
“Look at me,” I said, gesturing to my belly, the protuberance giant and swollen. “Look hard. Look how I’m carrying your children, how big they are now, waiting to be born. Can’t you see? Time waits for no one, especially not this. Your daughters are going to be born soon no matter what you say or what you do, there’s no slowing it, there’s no putting it off. So yes, there are situations when you want to be still and contemplative, to figure out what’s going on in front of you without making any drastic moves, but not if it means leaving me behind. Absolutely not by leaving your pregnant girlfriend alone, to deal with the aftermath.”
“Plus,” I added. “I was the one who dealt with your mom, did you know that? You guys were long gone, and Violet was persona non grata with the Palace. She came to me, emptyhanded with nowhere to go, nowhere to stay, and I put her up in a little hostel for a while, helped her get her bearings after everything went down.”
And here the men paled.
“I’m so sorry,” rumbled Kristian. “We had no idea.”
“What did you think your mom did?” I asked archly. “Disappeared into the ether? Made herself invisible when it was inconvenient?”
He shook his head somberly.
“I guess we just didn’t think about it, maybe she went back to the U.S., hell maybe she reconciled with Georg, we have no idea what the fuck she got up to. I guess we were so consumed with the shit that had gone down that we didn’t think about how it affected others, we were just dealing with us,” he said slowly.
And I pounced then.
“That’s it exactly,” I said, nodding. “That’s it. You guys were dealing with you, with no thought for others. How can I be with men like that? How can I be with men who are supposed to be warriors, but left their pregnant girlfriend alone, to pick up the pieces?”
TRIPLE PRINCES: An MFMM Menage Romance Page 17
