“—Nate!” I snap, my eyes going to him. “I’m not a fucking charity case.”
“No.” His eyes narrow on me. “You’re the fucking mother to my kid, so if I want to put your ass through college, I fucking will, so shut the fuck up and calm your stubborn ass down for once in your goddamn life.”
I exhale, turning my head to face the ceiling again, losing the urge to fight with him. “I hate you so much.”
“Yeah, ditto, baby, but we have a kid. So when she gets back, we’re seriously going to talk about what you want in the long term and how we can make that happen. But we’re also going to sit down with Mom and Joseph and toss around ideas to keep Micaela safe until this shit with your sister is taken care of. Can we agree on that?”
“Right now.” I stand from the floor. “I just want her back. We can talk about the rest once she’s back in my arms.”
“Deal.”
Nate
I never thought much about the day that I die. I think I assumed that I’d acquire some sort of superpower by that time and figure out how to become immortal. But as I flick my military blade around my fingers and think more on it, leaning back in my seat as Bishop drives us toward New York City, it’s not the way in which someone dies that matters. It’s what they died for that it comes down to, and I‘d lay my life on the line in a heartbeat to save my daughter. I may not have had much time with her since she has been born, but your kid should always be the exception when it comes to time.
“Did you get anything out of her?” Eli asks from the backseat.
I don’t answer.
“Either way,” Bishop exhales, leaning to the side of his seat while taking us onto the highway. “We’re prepared enough.” In this ride, there’s Bishop, me, Eli, Cash, and Spyder, Bishop’s cousin. In the Range Rover behind us is Brantley, Ace, Hunter, Chase, and Jase. Then in the SUV behind them is Joseph, Hector, Max, Raguel, and Johan. Basically, all of the olds are in that vehicle.
“Mmmm,” I answer, looking out the window.
“Will you be able to handle it if you find out that she has lied to you?” Eli further asks and I have to stop myself from snapping at him.
“I already fucking know she has lied to me.”
Bishop doesn’t answer, because he knows too.
“What?” Eli pushes forward to lean on the center console. “How?”
“We’ve known all along,” Bishop cuts in for me.
We continue driving and Eli eventually drops the subject once he figures out that neither Bishop or I were going to go further into it. It’s another five minutes before we’re entering the bright lights of New York City.
I push the buttons on the GPS system that’s sitting on the dash, programming the address into it. She starts yapping off and I close my eyes to count to ten.
I inhale on eight, a smirk riding on my lips. “You smell that? Smells like murder.”
“Okay, but I thought we weren’t supposed to make a mess…” Cash adds, looking around at all of us. Cash is the only one out of all of us, apart from Eli, I think, that doesn’t “like” to commit first-degree murder, or murder on any ground and they especially aren’t really fond of the sight of blood.
Spyder tsks from the back seat. “There are ninety-seven ways you can kill someone without drawing any blood.”
“I’m not going to ask how you know that, but okay,” Cash replies. The complete opposite of his brother Saint, who runs in the same circle as me and Bishop when it comes to becoming the reaper when needed. We’re just below Brantley, who is a product of someone who has walked through the gates of hell and lived to talk about it.
We pull into an underground parking of a skyscraper building. As soon as Bishop parks, we all jump out, shutting our doors loudly.
Hector Hayes, Bishop’s old man and the godfather of all of The Kings, flicks his suit while grinning at us all. “Ready for playtime?”
Tillie
“Stop pacing and sit down. You’re making me dizzy.” Madison massages her temples, leaning forward. We’re all in the sitting room. Elena and Bishop’s mom, Scarlet, has joined us.
“Seriously.” Oh, and Tate.
I flop down onto the single sofa, flicking my rings around my finger. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Elena coos, offering me a gentle smile. One that doesn’t quite reach the corners of her eyes. “But don’t worry. She’s coming back.”
“That’s sort of not really what I’m worried about. I mean, I know she’s coming back. I know they’ll get her back.”
“What then?” Madison asks. She doesn’t snap at me, her tone is warm enough to almost melt the truth right out of my mouth, but I slam my lips closed.
I freeze. “Nothing.”
Tate curls up in a ball on the sofa and it’s not long before she’s snoring softly. She was drunk, very drunk, and an irrational side of me wants to hate her for everything that she’s making me feel, but I don’t. My beef isn’t with her, it’s more with Nate. He’s the one who is a whore and has made me feel like I’m just another girl he cares about in his life. Or maybe it is an underlying insecurity from my daddy issues. Who knows. Either way, I sigh as I get up from my seat and grab the throw blanket that is perched over the top of the sofa, spreading it out over her little body.
“She doesn’t mean to be the way she is,” Madison says through a whisper.
“I know,” I agree, and it’s as though neither of the moms are in this room right now. “Love changed her.”
Madison sighs. “When she figures out that it’s not love that she’s feeling, she will come back.”
“I hope so,” I answer softly, going
