Now he’s here with me. Seriously? As my personal bodyguard? For King to do that, knowing what I know about him…
I shake my head as Roman rests his chin on top of it. “We should go in soon.”
His whisper wraps around me just like his arms. I feel safe, secure, beautiful as I exhale and enjoy the moment. “I know.”
“It was kind of him,” he finally says.
I don’t want to talk about King because then I feel guilty. He’s strong, one of the strongest guys I’ve ever met other than Roman, so part of me feels horrible that his new reality is watching the man I love stand by my side even after King says his vows to keep me forever.
I’m resolute, though.
I’ve sacrificed everything for this family, for this life. I’m going to keep this one thing for me, especially since my fiancé freely gave it.
King’s gaze has always been filled with lust, with barely restrained passion. I always chalked it up to the fact that he slept with everyone that gave him a sidelong glance. Then, when I got to know him, I found out that there was so much more beneath the surface.
We all have a freaking part to play.
And he plays his beautifully. One might say he acts like a playboy during the day and a monster at night. And they’d be correct.
The first time I saw him come home with blood on his hands, I did a double-take. The bosses were all sitting around for a quick meeting.
His dad, Tex, the Capo, stood and simply asked, “Is it done?”
“I need a drink.” King winked and then slammed a bloodied knife onto the table in front of everyone. Even my uncle jumped. “Oh yeah, and it’s done. Took a few minutes, though, to get some of those fucking bones broken but he’s very cheerfully stuffed into a suitcase with a one-way ticket to the bottom of Lake Michigan.”
“Damn.” Phoenix had chuckled under his breath—the man never chuckled.
And once again, the Five Families proved to the ones trickling in from Italy—mine included, the Buratti Family—that they meant business and that if we wanted any part of what they had…
Sacrifices must be made.
Me included.
I shudder.
“Are you cold?” Roman asks.
“No, no.” I lick my lips and think back on that moment again.
King’s green eyes had met mine with raw lust; everything had slipped from his gaze as he looked, as he wanted, as he told me with his eyes that the best way to end that night would be with me naked and screaming beneath him.
His lips curled up into an amused smile before he crooked his finger toward me.
I followed, like an idiot, down the hall.
We walked until we came to one of the many large guest rooms.
He’d closed the door behind him, locking us in. “You were staring.”
“I-I was curious.” I licked my dry lips again, lying through my teeth, I knew this guy, I worked with him. It was my job to infiltrate. But this, this felt different. “You know who I am.”
“I know who you are,” he snapped back, his expression hard. “The question is, do you know who I am, who I really fucking am, Del?”
“The heir.”
“Fucking royalty.” He was trying to scare me, his typical MO. I lifted my chin. His smile was more amused than angry. “Not that you care.”
“Couldn’t give a shit,” I said out of the blue.
He barked out a laugh. “And yet I feel like servants should always bow… maybe it’s just me, but isn’t that… respectful?”
My breath hitched.
Roman. Think about Roman.
We weren’t together at the time, but still. I love him, right? I love him more than anything.
And yet every part of me needed something.
Something more in that moment.
Something forbidden.
I found myself falling to my knees instantly.
King’s eyes lit up. “See? Isn’t that better?”
“Go to hell.”
“Oh, I live there already, but thanks for the directions. Do you take a left near self-loathing, or is it a right at depression and a drinking problem?”
“Maybe it’s straight,” I challenge. “Through silver spoons shoved up asses and saying yes all the time?”
“Oh, are we shoving things up asses now?” he teased.
I gasped.
“Cute.” He tilted my chin up at him, then tilted his head in such a predatory way I immediately got scared. “So, how will you serve me?”
I was about to call his bluff when I heard footsteps. “Del? Del, are you back here?”
It was my uncle.
Fear slithered up my spine and down again. King must have seen it because his mask slipped. Teasing replaced anger and authority as he stomped over to the door and jerked it open just enough to look at my uncle and sneer. “She’s mine.”
“Wh-what?”My uncle stumbled back.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I not make myself clear? I’m just years away from being your fucking king, sooooo, if I say she’s mine and that I have her, that means you do exactly what, you little shit?”
Nobody talked to my uncle like that.
I held my breath.
He would kill King.
I waited. It wouldn’t be pretty.
Instead, he stayed quiet for a long moment and then said, “I’m so sorry, King. I had no idea you had an interest. I’ll just… can you just make sure she gets home safely?”
I could almost hear King’s growl as he said, “She won’t be coming home tonight… I’m bored.”
“Oh.”
My eyes went wide.
My uncle didn’t even try to protect me. He didn’t demand to see I was safe. All I heard were footsteps as he walked off.
King shut the door and hung his head, then turned to me, eyes locking on. “Tell me everything, leave nothing out. You have fifteen minutes and then—”
“You’re going to fuck me?” I asked.
He frowned, then a ghost of a smile appeared across his face. “I was going to say I’m going to feed you, but if you’d rather—”
“No! No, sorry, I mean not that you aren’t— But there’s someone, and I—” It was the last word I uttered before I burst into tears.
King was faithful to every word.
He held me.
He fed me.
He protected me.
And in the end—he gave up everything for me.
And I still had no idea why.
“Hey,” Roman nudges me, and I blink, somehow surprised to find myself back in the present. “We really do need to go back inside, plus your fiancé might be looking for you.”
My fiancé.
Mine.
King.
I shudder again. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go back inside.”
We’re greeted with laughter, wine, food, and celebration. I hate it all. I hate that my uncle has the nerve to celebrate joining our families when everyone knows the only reason it’s happening is because the other five want peace, and King, for whatever reason, wants me.
An alliance.
Right.
Because that’s always worked so well throughout history.
I straighten my shoulders as Roman stands a few steps behind me like he knows we have to go back to putting space between us. We’ve kissed, but we’ve never had sex. No time, and quite honestly, I worry what would happen if my uncle caught us. Plus, I want it to be special, and so does he. So we linger, we touch hands, we kiss when we can, and we live this weird secret life that only Roman and I and my fiancé know about.