Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WREN
Pouring kettle corn into a big bowl, there’s no way around this, so I might as well ask Nash, “Has Sire ever watched you have sex?”
“Well, shit.” Nash half-chokes, half-laughs. “Sire’s right. You’re damn cute, and have no filter, and yeah, he has.”
Sire left an hour ago. So, I took a shower, slid into the white pajama set Nadine bought me, twisted my wet hair into a bun, and refused to be embarrassed about what happened.
It was too hot, too intimate to care, and now … I’m curious.
“When did he see you fuck?”
“Years ago, we’d go to clubs together. Recently? Only during initiations.”
I guess Nash refuses to be embarrassed, too. I plop on the other side of the sofa and put the popcorn bowl between us. “What kind of clubs?
He grabs a handful. “Kink clubs.”
I twist my lips, dying to ask, and he laughs, “No, I don’t have the same kink as Sire, not that I don’t love him and whatever he does.
We’re very different and a lot alike. We’d go to a club and find partners.
I’d be with women; he’d be with women and men.
We usually fucked side-by-side, but we never loved them. ”
I curl my legs under me. “You’ve never been in love?”
“Oh, I’ve been in love for over ten years.”
“Wait. What?” I lean forward, excited for this story. “With who? Are you married? Do you have a queen?”
“No,” he shares. “I had a daughter when I was sixteen, and it took me a while to get my shit together and be a good dad. Now, it’s my priority, being a dad, and Alena’s a grown woman. She’s amazing … and … so is her beautiful best friend.”
My eyes widen, intrigued. “Alena’s best friend? You’re in love with your daughter’s best friend?”
“She’s almost thirty now and has no idea.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Vale Monroe.”
“So.” I stuff popcorn in my mouth. “What are you gonna do about it?”
He does it, too, talking with his mouth full. “Decide if I should reply to her text.”
Playfully, I nudge his leg. “Oh, so Vale texted you?”
“Yeah, she needs help with some accounting where she works, and I need help because I’m seriously considering doing it.”
“You’re an accountant and mafia?”
He laughs. “Yeah, and you know we don’t go around calling ourselves that.”
“Then why wouldn’t you help her?”
“The same reason why Sire treated you like kryptonite for the first two days you were here. Once we touch you, it’s over. We’re done and in love.”
My heart flips. “You think Sire’s in love with me?”
Nash turns my way, lowering his eyes. “I know he’s falling in love with you. I’ve known Sire since I was seventeen, and we met in juvie. He’s been my family ever since, and I’ve never seen him this way with anyone.”
I ask him something that’s been on my mind. “Do you think we’re going too fast?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Do you?”
I pause. “If I listen to some people? Yes, I guess. But if I listen to my heart? No. I have this instinct, like God is telling me that I belong with him.”
“Damn.” Nash shakes his head. “See? You’re perfect together.”
“But some people at his church are judging us because of our age difference.” I shrug. “Or maybe it’s because I’m brown. Or both.”
“Fuck them,” he scoffs. “They’d judge if Sire were with a White man. They’d judge if he were with a Black woman his age. Judgmental people want everyone to be miserable like them.”
“So, what’s keeping you from Vale?”
“Vale is my daughter’s best friend, and I’ll die before I hurt my daughter. And me being with Vale? It’d hurt Alena. But if they weren’t best friends?” He shakes his head. “Vale would be mine. She’d drive me bat-shit crazy with her snarky mouth, and I’d be the happiest man alive.”
“I think you should go for it. Help Vale with her accounting. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“A lot.” His tone gets serious. “The worst that can happen is exactly why I’m sitting here, honored to be protecting you.” He pauses. “You need to let us go after the man who sold you into that trafficking ring, Wren. I’m fucking serious.”
I glance away.
I’m really torn on this.
“Wren?” Nash touches my arm. “Men like him don’t stop at hurting one girl. He won’t stop until he is stopped.”
I turn back. “Can I think about it?”
“Yeah.” He winks. “And you can pick what we watch.”
We go through a bag of popcorn while we watch John Wick, and I impress Nash with how many times I notice when a gun fires more shots than its magazine would allow.
We’re like two peas in an ammo pod, until he starts to doze off and I curl up beside him and close my eyes, too.
Hours must’ve passed because I wake up in Sire’s arms, carrying me across the room.
“You’re home,” I sigh happily.
“Yes, Angel. I came home for you.”
I glance over his shoulder into the living room. “Where’s Nash?”
“He left thirty minutes ago.”
“I like him.”
“Good.” He lies me down on his bed. “You’ll need to pick a second king, and Nash is available.”
“A second king? Like you two will—”
“Shhh.” He kisses me. “Let’s sleep. We can play Q his knuckles, lips, and nose are covered in blood. It seems like he’s already had a round with Loch, but he’s not bleeding as badly as the gusher pouring from Loch’s eyebrow.
“She deserves better, you fucking…” Axel lunges for Loch, tackling him to the carpet.
Loch twists, rolling on top of him, cocking his fist back to punch Axel, who’s moving his knee to kick Loch in the balls when…
“Hurt my brother, and I will strike you down!” Sire booms like God above.
Like the God who wiped out humanity with a flood because he was mad. Yeah, that God. The one you don’t mess with—Sire’s looking and sounding like him.
Loch glares up at him. “You’re defending Axel? He fucking started it!”
Sire snarls, looming over them, “I’m defending both of you, and I will fucking finish both of you if you don’t stop this shit right now.”
Loch drops his fist.
“Jesus.” Jace leans against the window, rolling his eyes. “They’ll listen to you but not me?”
Sire leans down, getting in Loch’s face, then Axel’s. “Because they know I’m fucking crazy when I’m mad and nothing pisses me off more than our family fighting.” His finger thumps Loch’s head. “Get the fuck off him.”
Loch crawls up.
“And you.” Sire puts his finger in Axel’s face. “You should know better. I make the heads roll in this family, not you.”
“Did you know?” Axel spits blood on his carpet before confronting Sire. “Did you know about him and Alena?”
“Yes.” Sire stands and looks at Nash. “I’ve known Loch has been in love with Alena since before you told him to guard her.”
“What?” Nash charges toward Sire. “You fucking knew?”
“Yes.” Sire stands in front of Loch, protecting him. Not that Loch looks like he needs defending. He’s huge. Like Sire, Jace, Axel, Grant, and…
Damn, what do they put in the water in Russia?
“Because he loves Alena.” Sire holds his hand up to stop Nash. “And that’s all you should want; a good man who loves your daughter and—”
“I’d never let anything happen to her,” Loch interrupts, blinking through the blood trickling into his eye.
“Um, guys.” I raise my hand. “Can we press pause on this beefy brawl while someone points me in the direction of a first aid kit?”
Axel lies on the floor, suddenly smiling. Pointing to the open office space behind me, he says, “In the break room, on the right, under the sink.”
Sire winks. “Thanks, Angel.”
“No problem. You know, it’s gonna be a bitch getting that blood out of the carpet.”
I aim toward the break room while I hear Jace laughing, “She’s the smartest one of us all. She’s trying to fix this shit while y’all keep fighting about it, which is fucking dumb because you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
This is true.