Page 73 of King of Hearts

“Holy shit, Tay…just, what the fuck,” she sputtered, jutting her hand toward me.

I hadn’t disclosed anything that had happened between Juan and me physically. For some reason, I felt like if I said it out loud and to the one person who probably knew him better than even me, our bubble would burst, and he’d be taken away from me.

“I can’t even…I don’t have words for what I want to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I have an idea of how to get out of this, and how to get Juan free of all of it.”

Mal stopped pacing and moved until she was crouched in front of me.

“Look, I don’t know what is going on between you two, but I know him. I know he would never do anything he didn’t think through first. If he did that, Tay, it’s because he wanted to.”

I wished I could stand and storm off. I mean, I could have, but I’d need her help to get up, and that would sort of defeat the purpose. She didn’t get it. She saw Juan as the nice, sweet guy who had become her best friend. He was a great guy, but she hadn’t seen him as the head of a dangerous gang with a birthright he wanted nothing to do with. She didn’t realize that Juan had had no time to decide if he wanted to claim me; he’d seen it as the only possible way to save my life.

Which reminded me…

“There’s something else you should know, and I’ll let you decide if you tell your husband or not, but—”

“Hey party people! I’m here—you have my permission to have fun now.” A loud voice boomed from inside the house, through the open French doors.

Decker’s younger brother Kyle walked through, holding a bag of chips in his hand and looking entirely different from the last time I saw him. Instead of the tailored, tight black suit he had donned while standing next to my father, he now wore a loose tank top and board shorts, his hair askew. He looked like a real teenager, and it made my heart ache for what he must have been involved in. At the sight of me, he froze in place, and his face went deathly white as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Hey.” Mal smiled, but it only took her a few seconds to take in his response to seeing me, and somehow, I knew that she knew. She must have, because her lips thinned while her green eyes bounced between his tall form and mine.

“What are…” Kyle started, but he stopped once his brother came into view.

“There you are. You were supposed to fucking help with the lawn over two hours ago. Where have you been?” Decker snapped, and I wondered if Kyle’s hands were soiled like Jakob’s hands used to be. Whenever the older man would hand me a piece of gum, his skin would have red stains inside every crevice and crack.

“Sorry, got tied up.” Kyle’s gaze flicked to mine once more, and this time everyone caught it.

Decker’s face was a stone mask as his eyes drifted down to me, back up to his brother, and then over to his wife. Mal did the same thing, and Kyle’s jaw tensed, his eyes on the floor.

Decker snapped his fingers and curtly demanded, “Sit.” Kyle made some muttered objection, but Decker only doubled down. “I said to fucking sit.”

“Hey Kyle, where’s Rylie?” Mal asked, bracing her elbows on her knees.

“Haven’t seen her in a while.”

Decker scoffed. “You haven’t seen your best friend in a while? That’s not exactly normal for you, is it?”

Kyle shrugged one shoulder. I continued rubbing a hand down my belly as a new cramping sensation started up, similar to what I’d felt earlier.

Decker lowered to his haunches in front of his brother. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

“What do you mean?” Kyle tilted his head as if he and Decker were playing or joking around.

“I mean, what has Scotty gotten you mixed up with?”

“Nothing…I told you…” His light green eyes moved to me again as his dark brows caved in. “Why? What did she tell you?”

I chuckled, because now it was all over for him, and I hadn’t even said a thing.

“Nope. Fucking. No.” Mallory stood and walked over to Kyle. It happened in a blink. Faster than a single breath, she slapped Kyle across the face. “Did you or did you not have something to do with the break-in and attempted kidnapping of my sister?”

My heart swelled at the rage in Mallory’s voice, at the way her fists shook. To have someone love me, care about me in that way still completely undid me.

Decker’s jaw clenched tight while his fists curled. “Answer the fucking question.”

Kyle held his face still while glaring at each of us, until finally he let out a measured breath. “I can’t tell you. I—”

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