Page 149 of Nash

Just kidding. Sort of. Like vinegar, Axel’s a taste I’m slowly acquiring. Excuse me while I gag a little, too.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Don’t know.”

“Are all the kings going with you?”

“All but one.” He rubs my arms. “One always stays behind in case…”

“Who?”

He shakes his head.

“What will you do with Turner?”

“Can’t say.”

“Can I at least whack him with my nine-iron?”

He kisses me before, “Shut up, Vale,” steams over our lips.

Two hours after our kings leave, I’m losing my mind.

Wren falls asleep on the sofa while I join Zar and Delphine for cigars on his balcony. They smoke, I cough, and don’t get the appeal.

“So this whole not-mafia-mafia thing?” I stub out my stogie. “How can you stand it? I won’t sleep until Nash is back.”

Delphine shrugs a shoulder. “I’ve been traded amongst evil men my whole life. I’ve always known danger; I’m used to it. But I’ve never known love until Grant. At least his evil is the good kind, and I support it. He and his mother saved me, so here I am.” She flits her cigar. “C’est la vie.”

I like Delphine. She’s so flippant; she’s dead serious.

“I don’t get all het up about it,” Zar drawls. “It’s not like the NFL is without its risks, now or later for Nick. But what I worry most about is him being gay in a sport where everyone is closeted. That’s the real risk, and the only ones who can protect him are his brothers.” A puff escapes his lips. “Especially Axel.”

“Axel?”

Zar chuckles. “When it comes to his brothers? Axel’s horns hold up his halo.”

“Why is Axel on the first throne if Sire is the oldest?” I hope my queens will give me some answers.

Nash gets quiet every time I ask questions, so Zar reveals, “From a young age, Sire said he wanted to be a priest. For his father, it was an honor and?—”

“And it was strategic,” Delphine interjects, “because then his evil father could infiltrate the Russian Orthodox church, too.”

“So, Axel, as the second son,” Zar continues, “became the heir apparent to his father’s wicked empire.”

“Okay, so why is Nash before Sire as second on the throne?”

Zar raises his thick brow. “He never told you?”

“I suspect there’s so much to tell me; he’s pacing himself.”

Delphine nods, puffing her cigar.

“One night, years ago,” Zar taps his ashes, “Nadine was babysitting Nash’s girl.”

“Alena.”

“Yes,” Zar continues, “and some man invaded Nadine’s home. He tried to take Alena, but Nadine stood guard at her bedroom door. She fought him off and took a helluva beating for it until Nash got there and lived up to his name.” Pause. “He gnashed the man’s neck open before he choked him to death. So, in Nash’s honor for defending their mother, who was protecting his daughter, the brothers put him second in charge. When he needs to be, Nash is the most ruthless.”

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