AURORA
"You have visitors."
I look up from the financial spreadsheets I've been analyzing for the past three hours. Margareta's standing in the doorway with an expression I can't quite read.
"Uh? Visitors? Who?"
"Two young women. They're quite... insistent."
Chloe. Tiana.
My heart leaps. I'm out of my chair and running down the stairs before Margareta can say another word.
They're in the foyer, facing off with two of Axel's guards. Chloe's got her hands on her hips, looking ready to fight. Tiana's beside her, quieter but just as determined.
"Chloe! Tiana!"
They whirl around, and the next second I'm being crushed in a three-way hug so tight I can barely breathe.
"Oh my God, you're alive," Tiana's crying into my shoulder.
"Of course I'm alive."
"How were we supposed to know!" Chloe pulls back, gripping my arms. "You stopped responding to our calls! We've been going crazy trying to reach you!"
"How did you even find me?"
"We didn't." Tiana wipes her eyes. "Someone called me this morning. Gave me this address and said you were here."
I freeze. "Who called you?"
"He didn't give a name, just said he was asked to call us.”
I turn around. Axel is standing at the top of the stairs, watching us.
Our eyes meet. He arranged this. He knew I missed my friends, and he brought them here.
Something warm blooms in my chest.
"Thank you," I mouth.
He nods once, then disappears back down the hallway.
"Was that him?" Chloe whispers. "Silver fox? Baby daddy? The guy who caused all this chaos?"
"Yes."
"He's hotter than I remembered. Like, unfairly hot for a man his age."
"Chloe!"
"What? I'm just saying. No wonder you slept with him."
Tiana elbows her. "Not the point right now."
I lead them up to my suite, and the second the door closes, they both turn on me.
"Spill," Chloe demands. "Everything. Now."
