“You said you’d only ever be mine,” I whisper.
“Just like you said, you’d always be mine.”
I do a small circle, put my hands on my head in frustration, and then drop them. “So, this whole time I was feeling guilty you’d already slept with her?”
“Me?” Tiffany yells. “Yeah, it was awesome. Ask him how long he lasted, embarrassing if you—”
“Read the room, Tiff, read the room!” Roman yells.
She holds up her hands in innocence and turns around.
“Her, though? Really?” I actually laugh.
He joins in. “She’s not for everyone.”
“Bitch, you best be talking about someone else!” Tiffany yells.
I laugh again until tears stream down my cheeks. “How can she even hear us?”
“Take off your comm, dip shit!” she yells.
“Fuck!” Roman tugs at his earpiece and then glares when I can tell he realizes it’s not even on.
“Gotcha.” She does a little dance that has me staring in total disbelief.
When I finally look back at Roman, he’s smiling at her. It’s an annoyed smile, but it’s there, and it’s so refreshing. I just watch him watch her, and I realize that he’s happy. Truly God honest happy.
“Kiss her,” I say.
“What?” His eyes widen.
“Go.” I cross my arms. “Go kiss her.”
“No, why? What’s wrong with you? Do you have a fever?”
“Do you?” I tease and make my way back over to him. “You like her.”
“I love you.”
“You love what we had.” I grab his hands in mine. “You love this star-crossed lovers story, the waiting, the anticipation, the idea of marrying the daughter of a mob boss. You loved the story, Roman, not the girl.”
His stunned expression tells me everything I needed to see without even hearing the words. I cup his face with my hands. “I’m going to stay.”
“I knew that before I walked you out here.”
I frown in confusion. “How?”
“Well, I mean, he lasts more than two seconds in bed, so bonus…” he teases.
I punch him in the arm.
“Ouch.”
“Deserved.”
“Deserved.” He nods. “You aren’t some consolation prize, Del. You’re the true queen that even he doesn’t deserve, but he loves you. He loves you so much I think he’d struggle to tie his shoes if you confessed it at the same time. He loves you. He loves you in a way I don’t know I can. His love is… selfless. Mine is… wow, mine was about me. I see that now.”
“And you suddenly just know that?” I want to shove him off a cliff. “How can you suddenly just say nope, sorry, not the same love.”
“Because,” Roman whispers. “He was willing to give you up.”
Tears fill my eyes. “And you?”
“Until now—would have betrayed everyone to keep you for myself.”
“Isn’t that love?” I ask.
“No. That’s selfish. That’s making your own choice for two people and calling it okay. Do you want to stay, Del? Or do you want to go? Because weeks ago, I would have carried you away and told myself I was the hero, but the real hero is the man who gave you a choice nobody ever did. Now it’s time for you to figure out what you want—and what you need in order to be truly happy.” He kisses my forehead and walks off, leaving me alone with the tree.
Tiffany is still close by, but I can tell she’s distracted.
I’m all alone at that tree. I’m thinking about the loss of my dad, how my uncle took over and basically forced me to marry into a Family. Thank God it was a good one.
I’m thinking about how Roman tried to take me away early on so many times.
And then I smile—because I’m thinking about King.
How ironic, the most powerful man in the Kingdom is the one willing to give me away—because he loves me, he freaking loves me.
And I love him too.
I’ve been fighting it too long. I’ve been pushing him away out of guilt because it didn’t make sense, but it does now.
“Gotta go!” I shout at Tiffany.
“Get your man, woman power, hooray,” she yells, throwing her fist in the air like she knew the entire time how this story would both begin and end.
I rush through the house going from room to room until I see Dom and Tank standing in front of King’s office, or I guess his office now since Tex is declining.
“He’s in a meeting.” Tank folds his arms. I’m ready to rip them off his body when Dom snorts out a laugh under his breath.
I shoot him a glare.
He holds up his palms, his bright smile wide. “I swear every woman in this family puts the fear of God into my testicles.”
Tank does a double-take. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Lunch.” Dom laughs and pats his stomach. “I say weird shit when I’m hungry; let’s go.”
“He’s in a meet—”
Dom shakes his head.
Tank grumbles something under his breath, and the door is all mine to open. I burst through it and announce, “I love you!”
“Glad someone does,” Ash says under his breath.
I still when I realize that every single mob boss is standing around that room along with all of the heirs just watching me with grins on their faces like they’re waiting for popcorn and another announcement.
King gets to his feet, slams his hands onto the desk, and says, “Out.”
I start to turn on my feet when Maksim grabs me by the elbow and shakes his head slowly. “Not you, Del.”
Frozen in fear, I wait for everyone to leave the room.
The door closes silently behind a smirking Valerian.
And I’m left alone with the most powerful man in the Kingdom, the one who gave me a choice.
Slowly I turn around to face him, and all I can get out is. “You.”
Chapter Forty
Roman
I walk away, and I know what I want.
I wanted her, I still want her, but I also know her maybe better than she knows herself.
Afraid to love him.
Afraid to leave him.
What sort of knight would I be if I let her choose me, knowing that she’ll always be looking over her shoulder, searching for him?
Sometimes it takes a true friend to show you where your heart lies, and hers hasn’t been mine for a while. She just didn’t know it.
I’ve done my job.
Now it’s up to me to stay and make sure she does hers.
I watch in the shadows; I realize I’m happier there than I was in the light. I’m happier when I can watch and protect when I can use my sword to make sure nothing touches her—or him.
I can’t even hate someone that noble. She finally makes it into the office, and everyone piles out, some laughing, others a bit more serious, and it’s Maksim who locks eyes with me and gives me a single nod.
I nod back.
Then one by one, the men who brought me into this mess, who made me their brother, put a hand on my shoulder and walk by like they know the sacrifice I had to make and want to honor me for it.
Heavy is the crown.