Snowbound with the Santas (Forbidden Fantasies)

35. Rayne

35

RAYNE

A fter getting out of jail, I waited for the guys as long as I could but eventually, security escorted me back to my room. They weren’t clear on exactly what they thought I was going to do by waiting on the seats outside, but it was an argument I couldn’t win. By the time I reached my room, I was so exhausted and my attempts to wait up for my men failed when sleep took me.

I slept a solid nine hours and woke up in what felt like a completely different dimension. I’d left my room number with a member of security in the hopes my men would find their way here, but my empty room was proof that they had not. After a long shower to wash away sleep and grime from the cells, I dressed in jeans and a blouse. Just as I was preparing to head back down to security, my prayers were answered by a knock at the door.

“Hello?”

Rising onto my tiptoes, I peer out the peephole, and my heart leaps into my throat. It takes me a few seconds to unlock my door in my excitement, but eventually, I get it open, fling it wide, and welcome Frankie, Archer, and Nick with wide-open arms.

“Oh, my God,” I gasp, hugging each one in turn and ushering them inside. “I was about to head down to security to find out what was going on! What happened? Why did it take so long for you all to get out?”

I kick the door shut behind me and follow them into my room.

“Wow,” Frankie breathes, collapsing down onto my bed. “This is what riches buy you?”

“I need to piss so badly.” Archer makes a beeline for the ensuite while Nick touches my elbow, then slides his hand down to take my hand.

“We’re okay,” Nick assures me. “I don’t know whether it was Cecil trying to pull one over on us or security were really reluctant to let us go. They kept us waiting for ages, and I was beginning to think we’d never get out. Luckily, fate was still smiling on us.”

“I’m so glad.” I squeeze his hand tightly. “I was going to kick up such a stink if you weren’t out by lunch.”

“Ooh, lunch,” Frankie groans. “I’m starving.”

“Same.” Nick nods. His attention doesn’t drift away from me, though. He’s staring at me like he hasn’t seen me in years. His eyes dance all over my face, and then he cups my cheek with his other hand and pulls me in for a deep kiss. The first press of his lips sends a burst of excitement tingling down my arms, and I shiver as I press into him. Every slow press after that sends the same until I’m thoroughly shivery with excitement to have them back.

“Are you doing okay?” Nick asks when he steps back. The door clunks and Archer reappears, drying his hands on a towel. “A lot went down yesterday.”

I puff out my cheeks and shrug. “I think I’m okay. At first, I felt like everything was imploding, but the more I thought about it, and having slept on it… well, I think I’m okay with it. Cecil being my father changes nothing. If anything, it was eye-opening. I thought these people cared for me, loved me, in their own way. And then I met you three and…” I glance around at each of them. “Well, the comparison between them and you guys is glaring.”

Frankie sits up on the bed as he speaks. “We are one of a kind. Three of a kind? Fuck, I don’t know.”

“Did you mean it?” Archer asks, tossing his towel into Frankie’s face then stopping next to me.

“Mean what?”

“What you said. About loving us.”

“Oh.” Heat immediately flares across my cheeks and my mouth runs dry as I look into his gorgeous eyes. “I meant it. I mean it. A hundred percent. I look at you guys and I can be myself, and I know exactly where I want to be?—”

Archer silences me with a kiss. He winds an arm around my waist and spreads his hand at the small of my back to pull me closer. Doing so forces me to dip backward because I refuse to let go of Nick’s hand. Archer doesn’t mind. He leans into me and kisses me so deeply that the bristles of his beard stop tickling and almost implant into my skin.

“I love you too,” Archer says when the kiss breaks. He peppers a couple more kisses onto my lips, and when he leans up, Frankie’s tired face swims into view.

“Me too,” Frankie says. “I love you.” He catches my chin and pulls my face forward, kissing me over Archer’s shoulder. His lips are soft and warm, and I melt into the kiss, becoming putty in Nick and Archer’s arms.

“I love you,” Nick says, pulling me back against his body. He kisses me softly, paying particular attention to my lower lip. When we part, he wears the widest smile.

“I think I’m still dreaming,” I murmur.

“Then it’s a good dream,” he replies.

“Speaking of sleep.” Frankie collapses back onto the bed. “I am fucking exhausted.”

“Ditto.” Archer flops down next to him, then lovingly pats the space next to him as he looks at me. “Care to soothe us to sleep?”

“Mmm, I could be tempted.” I smile. “But I have to go talk to Cecil about my community service.”

Archer bolts up. “Let me come.”

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Frankie murmurs from where his face is pressed into the pillow.”

“She shouldn’t go alone,” Archer snaps.

“I’ll go,” Nick says. “I have to go and meet Amanda, anyway.”

I spin to face him. “Really?”

“We have to have it out and she’s already been waiting since yesterday. Her explosion is going to be volcanic.”

“Maybe we should all go,” Frankie says, though he makes no attempts to move.

“No, you two rest. Nick can help me with Cecil, then I’ll help him with Amanda. And then after that… we’ll be free.”

My meeting with Cecil was barely a meeting, a two-minute talk telling me I’d be sent the details of my community service when I returned to the States, and that was it. It really could have been a phone call.

After a stop for some water, I follow Nick into an adjacent conference room where his ex-wife, Amanda, instantly unloads on him.

“Oh, look who it is, the man who can’t hold himself together for longer than five minutes. What the hell was that yesterday? You just go around punching random people? See, this is the problem with you, Nick. You don’t think ahead. You never plan. And you think I’m terrible for keeping Freida away from you? All it would take is one flask, or in this case, some stranger, and you’d forget you even had a daughter!”

Amanda doesn’t even take a breath during her rant. It would be impressive if she weren’t being such a bitch.

“You want to talk about responsibility?” Nick snaps back. “What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Your caseworker won’t leave me alone, constantly telling me how good you’re doing. The reports are endless, and then I’m getting told you might try for a hearing. So I had to come out here and see for myself. See what everyone else couldn’t see because I know there’s no way in hell you’re in any position to parent. And what happens? A fucking storm locks me here so I have to spend Christmas with a bunch of rich snobs.”

“If you’d stayed home, you would have had Christmas with our daughter,” Nick bites back. His whole body is tense, and I can see from here that he’s trying his hardest to remain calm.

“Imagine if Freida had been here! Left alone here while you’re fucking around in the mountains.”

“If she were here, she would be with me,” Nick says tightly. “I would be there the second she got off the plane.”

“Like you could be so organized,” Amanda scoffs, then she sends a sharp look at me. “And who the hell is this? Your new floozy? I’m surprised you could hold back on drinking long enough to have a conversation.”

“Rayne!” A small, sweet voice suddenly yells my name from the doorway. All three of us turn to see Nick’s daughter, Freida, standing there in a yellow dress with a wide smile. An elderly woman stands behind her alongside one of the ski lodge staff.

“Freida?” Nick and Amanda gasp in unison.

“Apologies, Ms. Prince. This young woman said she was your daughter and asked to be assigned to your room,” the staff member says.

“Freida!” Amanda runs toward her daughter. “Mom, what the hell are you doing here?”

The elderly woman pushes up her glasses and tsks. “I was tired of seeing my granddaughter sad at Christmas and I knew you came here, so I thought what the hell? I can’t do much anymore, but I can put a smile on my grandbaby’s face.”

“You shouldn’t have brought her,” Amanda snaps, kissing the top of Freida’s head.

“And you never should have left her,” Nick remarks, taking a hesitant step forward. “I know the rules. I know you’re not allowed to leave her alone with your elderly parents.”

“Dad!”

My heart explodes out of my chest as Freida escapes her mother’s grasp and runs full-pelt into Nick. She’s a tiny thing for her age, and yet she nearly knocks Nick clean off his feet. This is the first time he’s seen her since she was a baby, and the shock is clear on his handsome face. His mouth falls open, his eyes sparkle, and she looks completely overcome with emotion as he scoops her up into his arms.

“Oh, my God, Freida!”

It’s a beautiful sight. So beautiful that tears spring into my own eyes as I watch.

Until Amanda ruins it.

“Freida,” Amanda demands, “how do you know this man is your father? I never told you what he looks like. Nick, what the hell have you done?”

Nick’s face falls, even as Freida clings to him, and I get the sudden feeling that the following discussion is not for my ears. With a sympathetic glance, I mouth I love you to Nick and lean up to peck his cheek, then I slip from the room. That is a private family discussion, and I’m not needed.

Leaving them to it, I head toward the elevator with a spring in my step. I feel… lighter. A weight has gone from my shoulders. Ashton doesn’t have anything over me anymore. My strands of obligation to a family that rarely cared for me are gone. I have three men who love me.

I need to call Nina ASAP.

Reaching the elevator, the doors slide open. Just as I step forward, something solid slams into my back and shoves me inside. I cry out in surprise, throwing both arms forward to stop my face from slamming into the opposite wall. Air forces past my lips as I make impact and then I turn, ready to yell at whoever just crashed into me.

Instead, I’m face to face with Ashton as he hits the buttons to close the door.

“Did you think I was just gonna roll over?” Ashton snarls.