Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
That was when my brother stepped in with a sharp clap to my shoulder. “What’s going on? You two need to get a room or some shit?” Zep grinned down at me as I glared up at him. “You gonna miss us, asshole?”
With a solid frown, I shrugged his hand off me. “Fuck you, bitch.”
And as Zep laughed openly, he wrapped his arm around my neck, mock-choking me, and pressed a smacking kiss to my head. “It’s okay, fucker.” He dug his knuckles into my hair and rubbed hard enough to make me grit my teeth. Before he walked away to sit beside the growing amount of people surrounding my son, he uttered a straight up, “I’mma miss you too.”
My father smiled widely at the exchange, sighing out, “Like real brothers.” He nodded sadly. “You’ve made an old man very happy, my sons.”
It was nice, and part of me didn’t want it to be because I’d miss it too much.
We were a world away from them, my family, and I would miss them more than I wanted to admit. So I didn’t.
As Manda and Zep fought over a truck Molly and Tama had brought the little dude, A.J. laughed rowdily and I smiled. From my place at the table, I watched Julius, Nikki, and Dave sit outside with my woman. She was smiling. She was happy.
Everything was okay.
Everything was good.
So when Luka called, my stomach dropped because I knew what was coming.
We went not because he was my king and I was his ward.
We went because he was my friend and I owed him.
Hopefully, what I owed wouldn’t cost me much because, fuck me, I had nothing left to give.
***
Lexi
As soon as we sat on the plush white sofa and Luka started to talk, I knew what was happening here.
“I need you,” was all he said, and it was aimed solely at Twitch.
Yes. My worst fears were confirmed. He wanted the holy trinity back in the fold.
I twisted to look at the man by my side and my nose bunched. “No.”
But Luka was persistent. “My kingdom is falling apart, and in the midst of it crumbling to pieces, I helped you.” The last statement was directed at the both of us, and he made sure I knew this, looking between us. “It might take us a while, but we can rebuild, Twitch. I just need a few good men.”
Again, “No.”
Luka glared at me. “Am I talking to you, woman?”
Oh, no, he did not.
He was going to understand me, so help me God.
“Do you see this ring?” I held up my left hand, and the gleaming diamond sparkled in the light. “This ring means his life isn’t his to bargain with anymore. It’s mine, Luka. And I say no.” My expression told him to fight me. I fucking dared him to try. “You may have a throne, Luka.” I stood a second before I sat back down on Twitch’s lap. “But this one’s mine, and I’ll be damned if anyone tries to take it from me.”
Twitch tried to cut in with, “Baby—”
But I stopped that shit with a firm, “If you don’t shut your mouth, I will shut it for you, Tony. I swear to God. Do not push me right now.”
A sigh at my back told me I was being a pain.
Luckily, I didn’t care.
A cold silence followed.
“She’s scary,” uttered Luka quietly.
“She’s solid,” countered a smug Twitch, squeezing my hip tenderly.
Yes, I was. But it was more than that. I had a fear in me that never left me. That fear had driven me to do things I never thought myself capable of. That fear was slowly ebbing out of me, but that fear would never be gone completely with Twitch working in a way I never knew if he was coming home.
I couldn’t live like that.
I deserved better.
We deserved better.
“Six years,” I whispered. “Six years I spent without him.” He couldn’t possibly understand the hell I had gone through in that time. “My son has missed out on so much. I just got him back, Luka. I can’t lose him again. I’m sorry. I’d risk myself before I ever gambled with his life because that bullet hole...” My sigh came out tired, but I fired up again almost immediately. “That goddamn scar at his neck tells me he’s stupid enough to believe he’s invincible. And we all know that’s not true.”
At that, Twitch sounded offended. “You wanna ease up, angel?”
No, I did not.
I spun on his lap to face him, took a deep breath, and spoke carefully, “Do you know that when wolves mate, the female will act afraid just to place herself under him. She acts frightened, Twitch, but she does what she does to protect his throat, his weak spot.” His face softened on me. “You call me a queen, honey, but what kind of queen would I be if I didn’t protect my king?”