Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
K ellen
The morning sun streams through my bedroom window, waking me. I scrub the last of the sleep from my eyes and roll over expecting to find Salem next to me, but I’m alone.
The first thought that flashes through my mind is this is payback. She and I slept together, and now she’s ghosting me to show me how it feels.
Well, I’ll tell you how it fucking feels. Awful. The last thing I thought when I was drifting off to sleep with her in my arms is how much I was going to love waking up with her right here with me. Now she’s gone, and last night feels like some dream I conjured up overnight.
Stumbling out of bed, I throw my pants and shirt on and head out into the hallway as the sound of the baby’s cries fill the house. Hopefully, my brother will return soon and they can have the happy reunion they deserve.
I make my way down the hallway to check on Ava and Theo, but when I reach their room, I’m surprised to find Salem and Matthias with them. Everyone looks like they’ve been awake for hours.
“Hey, sleepyhead. I didn’t wake you when I got up, did I?” Salem whispers when she walks over to join me just inside the door.
“No. To be honest, I thought you were giving me a taste of my own medicine.”
She looks at me strangely, like she doesn’t understand, but then I see her eyes light up as she figures out what I mean. “I wouldn’t do that, but for curiosity’s sake, what did that medicine taste like?”
Looking down at the floor where Matthias has left his suitcase, I admit the harsh truth I didn’t truly understand until a few minutes ago. “Pretty damn awful. No wonder you hated me.”
Salem takes my hand in hers and whispers in my ear, “I never hated you, Kellen, but I’m glad you know what it felt like.”
I look into her eyes and say, “Promise we never do that to one another from this point on. Okay?”
She nods and gives me a big smile. “It’s a deal.”
My brother takes his new son in his arms and walks around the room with him beaming a smile from ear to ear. “This is your uncle, Theo. His name is Kellen,” he says when he stops in front of me.
“We met last night. Remember?”
Matthias tears his adoring gaze away from Theo and cringes. “Sorry. I’m having a hard time thinking this morning. I got no sleep on the flight home, and then I had to get a lift from the helicopter after flying for hours. Of course, he met you last night. You were here when he came into the world.”
I touch the little guy’s hand, and he instantly wraps his tiny fingers around mine. “He’s got a hell of a grip for someone who’s only a day old.”
“Oh yeah?” my brother asks, back to beaming that new father smile again.
“Maybe that means he’ll be a champion Chinese finger trap player,” I joke.
Matthias looks up from the baby with an expression like he just tried a lemon for the first time. “I’d like to think my son will have loftier goals in his life. I’m thinking maybe a scientist or titan of industry.”
Behind him, Ava sits on the bed shaking her head. “Don’t put pressure on our son. He’s going to be what he’s going to be. All I want is that he’s happy and knows he’s loved.”
Matthias and I exchange looks like that’s the sappiest thing we’ve ever heard. “Ava’s got the mom thing down pat, don’t you think?”
He walks over to her and sits down to hand Theo off to his mother. “She’s a natural.”
Salem and I watch my brother and Ava cuddle and coo over their newborn son, and I see how wrong I’ve been to give them a hard time. I know Theo cared about her, but Matthias is the one who adores her more than life itself. I see that now.
I turn away from them and say to Salem, “Hey, I want to talk to my brother for a minute. Want to meet me in the kitchen for the best pancakes you’ll ever have on this planet?”
She laughs at my exaggeration. “Okay. Are you making them?”
“Hell no. My pancakes come out like manhole covers. Eleanor, on the other hand, makes the world’s greatest pancakes, so I’m going to use all my charm to get her to make us some.”
“Something tells me the woman who loves to make your favorite cookies especially for you won’t need much persuading. I’ll meet you downstairs when you’re done.”
For the first time in front of others, she kisses me and then walks away. Out of the corner of my eye, my brother gives me a look that might show disapproval, although I can’t be certain.
“Matthias, can we talk for a minute? I promise I won’t keep you for long.”
He gives Ava and the baby a kiss and swears he’ll be back soon before walking over to where I stand. Elbowing me in the arm, he grins as he says, “What was that I just saw?”
I have more important things to talk about than what’s going on between Salem and me, so I wave off his question and walk out into the hallway. When he joins me, I say, “Let’s go to the game room. It feels right that we should talk there.”
As we head down the hallway, he says, “The game room feels right? What are we discussing?”
I lean against the pool table as he takes a seat on the leather sofa and looks like he’s going to pass out at any moment. “I’ll say what I have to say fast because I think everything’s catching up with you and I want you to hear what’s on my mind.”
Still not knowing where I’m going with all of this, he lets out a heavy sigh. “Okay. Sounds serious. This wouldn’t be about you sleeping with the woman we hired to fix your public reputation, would it?”
“No,” I quickly answer, eager to focus on what I need to say to him. “This is about you and Ava. I’m sorry for all that I’ve said about you two being together.”
“Kellen, you don’t have to say another thing,” he says, but I won’t let him stop me.
“That’s the euphoria of being a new dad talking. I’ve been a jackass, and I’m sorry because I know it didn’t just hurt her. It hurt you too. I think I wanted to believe you stole her away from Theo, but I know that’s not true. I see how you look at her. How she makes you smile when no one else can. How you’re truly happy when she’s with you. I was stupid to ever think that could be wrong. Theo didn’t feel that way about her, and she deserves someone who believes the world wouldn’t be the same without her in it. I know I should say this to her, and maybe I will sometime soon, but she just gave birth at home without any painkillers, and to be honest, I can’t imagine she needs to hear anything but positive things right now.”
Matthias smiles and leans back against the sofa. “I think that was pretty positive, but I understand. I love Ava more than I can put into words. She’s my life, and I’m happier than I ever thought I could be. I know from the outside the whole thing with Theo made me look like the villain, and maybe I was. I never wanted anyone to get hurt, though. I loved him. He was my best friend. Every day I think of him. When Ava wanted baby names, I froze last night because I couldn’t believe I was going to miss my first child’s birth, but I knew because we’d talked about if the baby was a boy, there was only one name that would be right. I wish he was here right now to see him. He’d probably bust my ass about being all domesticated, but that was Theo.”
I think about the brother we lost and nod my head. “He would. Then he’d try to get your kid to go skydiving or something else dangerous before he made it to kindergarten.”
We laugh, but it’s true. It feels good to be talking to my oldest brother again like a family member and not someone he hates having to admit he’s related to.
“You know, Kellen, I think I have to apologize to you too.”
Now that’s a shock. What did Matthias do that I don’t know about and he thinks is worthy of an apology?
“Oh yeah? For what? Did you take away my office I rarely use and stick me in a closet somewhere in the building?”
“No. I was really hard on you about this sexual harassment situation. I’ve since found out that Gina pulled this routine on two other companies and both of those men swear they didn’t do what she accused them of. I’m sorry.”
I’ve dreamed of the moment when I’d be vindicated in my oldest brother’s eyes, convinced I wanted to rub it into his face, but now that he’s actually admitting he knows I didn’t do what Gina claims I did, I can’t think of anything smartass to say.
“I deserved all of it, Matthias. I’ve been out of control since Theo died. I was crushed when he died, and then I thought I wanted to be like him, but that only screwed everything up. I see that now, and I’m sorry.”
My brother stands up and extends his hand to shake mine. “Then it’s settled. As soon as this issue with Gina is taken care of, you’ll be back at work. Well, the way you do it, which is usually working from your penthouse.”
“Sounds good to me.”
As we walk out into the hallway, he says, “Why did we have to do that in the game room?”
“Because it’s where the five of us always hashed things out. Didn’t you ever notice that?”
He stops and turns around to look toward the game room. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ve had a lot of good times in there. Maybe my kids will too when they get older.”
We start walking down the hall again, and I joke, “Tell me, have you informed Ava of this kids things you’re talking about? Because she has to carry and give birth to this group of people, and after last night, I wouldn’t be surprised if she thinks stopping at one would be perfectly fine.”
Matthias gives me a wicked grin. “I’m going to do my best to convince her that it’s too much fun making them, so we’re going to have to have more.”
I slap him on the back and stop at the top of the stairs. “Good luck. For now, enjoy that little guy. You three deserve it.”
“Thanks, Kellen. I appreciate it.”
Done with my dose of mea culpa for the day, I head downstairs and find Salem in the kitchen with Eleanor. The two of them are discussing the secret to perfect pancakes as I walk in and sit down.
“So I hear you want pancakes for breakfast this morning. Salem has been telling me you say they’re the best in the world,” Eleanor says with a sweet smile.
“Well, they are, but I heard what you were saying about eggs or vanilla or whatever you think makes them the best. That’s not it, and I bet if I make them exactly like you do, they’ll still turn out as manhole covers. Or frisbees. It’s the chef that makes them great.”
Eleanor looks over at Salem and sighs. “This one is the sweetest of them all. Of all the King boys, Kellen is the one who could charm the birds out of the trees.”
“He does have a way about him,” Salem says with a chuckle before turning to look at me. “I think you have a fan.”
I walk over to Eleanor and give her a big bear hug. “Eleanor knows my devilish side but still thinks an angel lives somewhere inside me.”
The woman I’ve known all my life raises her eyebrows at that statement. “I’m not sure of that, but you always were the King with the most charm. That I know for sure.”
I laugh and look over at Salem just as she glances at her phone and all the blood seems to drain from her face. My stomach drops when she turns to face me and I see whatever she just read, it’s bad.
And I’ll bet a million dollars it’s about me.