Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(27)

The door opened, and a pretty brunette in a designer gown floated in. Piper al Mussad stood halfway in the room, her hands raised in a silent gesture that pleaded for peace. "It's just me. Don't blame me because my husbands are nitwits."

Alea couldn't help but smile. Despite the terror, uncertainty, and shame of the last hour, Piper was a breath of fresh air. Her cousin-in-law was one of those people who lit up the room simply by walking into it. "You really should have had their IQs checked before you decided to marry them."

Piper shrugged. "Give a girl a break. I was blinded by their hotness."

"Okay, as a girl who remembers them during their prepubescent years-e" But Alea smiled. Piper had been so good for her cousins. She'd become the sun they all orbited around. It reminded Alea of the joy her aunt and uncles had once shared and how happy the palace had been during her youth.

Piper closed the door behind her, her radiant face suddenly serious. "Are you all right?" 

Alea was so far from all right that it was ridiculous, but she didn't need to drag Piper any farther into this mess. And she wasn't about to cause problems in Piper's marriage. "I'm perfectly fine. My cousins have always been protective. I'm positive they would've told me in the morning."

"You're taking this way better than I would have. I have to confess, when Talib admitted what had happened, I thought about shoving something up his backside."

"Piper!"

She shrugged. "It's his favorite form of discipline. We should see how he likes it."

Alea felt her face flush. She shook her head as she sat on the couch in the living area of her apartment. "I don't understand how you can talk about things like that."

Piper eased down beside her. "Because it's nothing to be ashamed of. Tell me something. Was your aunt very proper? I know when she was the shaykhah she was every inch a lady in public, but was she reserved in private? I've only known her in private and she's so open. I'm wondering how she dealt with the public side of this life."

Alea laughed. Her aunt had been the same whether cameras were on her or not. "She used to tell us that she wouldn't hide how much she loved my uncles. She's very British, my aunt, but that stiff upper lip completely softened around her husbands and children. She is a lovely woman. She was the perfect queen in her day. You actually remind me a lot of her."

"Thank you." Piper smiled. "I've heard enough stories about when their fathers were alive to know that my husbands weren't raised in a household that lacked warmth. When they were children, their parents often displayed their affection and told my husbands that they were loved. So were you. She still loves you."

"My aunt and uncles created a wonderful environment to grow up in, though I missed not really knowing my own parents."

"Do I offend you when I talk about my intimate life with Tal, Rafe, and Kade? It's not my intention. You're my closest friend here. I'm afraid I like to talk about everything. It helps me process all that's happened. The last few months have been full of change for me." She laid a hand over her still-flat stomach.

"Oh, god, Piper, you don't offend me at all. I just can't understand." And Piper was such a sneaky woman. Now Alea understood why she'd been asking about the family. Piper had been backing her into a corner, and it was easier to simply answer the question she knew would eventually come. "Yes, I grew up in an open household, and yet I'm very reserved about sex. I'm sure it's because of what happened to me in South America. I've been to several of the world's best therapists. I know what my problems are."

Shrewd eyes stared back at her. "But you don't seem interested in fixing them."

Alea stood up every time she talked about it, she got restless, uneasy in her own skin. "I don't like who I am right now. It's weird because I can remember the girl I used to be, the one who didn't blow up at everyone, the one who wasn't isolated. But it feels like all of that was a dream and I had to wake up. Believe me, if I could forget what happened, I would."

"You'll never forget, Alea. Forgetting shouldn't be your goal. But it's up to you whether or not you allow them to win. Though I admit, watching you continually give in to your captors is painful."

"I'm not letting anyone win, damn it."

Piper sent her a skeptical stare. "Tell me you don't want those men who guard you, Lea."

Everything always came back to Dane, Cooper, and Landon. Since the moment she'd seen them, it seemed as if her thoughts had started to revolve around them, if not her world. If she'd been the same exuberant girl who'd left for New York, she would have had all the confidence in the world to try a relationship with them. But this was now.