Page 165 of Nash

I went there to check on Alena and grovel for Vale. I was ready to beg for forgiveness, but I found the guard slain at the bottom of the villa steps. Then I caught Turner raising his bloody knife to Vale … so I killed for them instead.

Afterward, all the kings stormed the condo while Alena and Vale huddled together. I got them out of there before Axel and Sire took care of the body and Jace cleaned the scene. Loch, Nick, and Grant swept the resort for more of Turner’s men and found none.

And me?

The need to comfort Vale was overpowering, too, but furiously, she pushed me away.

“I don’t know how I feel about all this,” she hissed, shaking her head, reluctant to get in my car. “About this life. About you.”

“Sometimes you have to think, not feel.” I fought back, explaining, “You survive in the moment and feel later. That’s the life we lead. We protect each other. We kill for each other. You’re in shock. You’ll know how to feel about it later.”

Then I raised a brow. I wasn’t leaving her. “Now get in my fucking car,” I snarled.

We had come full circle to the night this all started.

Alena said she wanted the solace of her apartment on Folly Island, and I wouldn’t leave her side, either.

It’s been a week, and Vale has stayed with her, too, but her silent treatment is killing me. I need Vale’s smart-ass snark. That’s when I’ll know she’s okay.

And my daughter? A hundred times, Alena’s told me she’s fine. Turner didn’t hurt her; he only enraged her. Lucky for him, he’s at the bottom of the Atlantic, where she can’t shoot him.

That was my job.

Thinking about how Turner touched my daughter. How he almost assaulted and killed her. How I can see the raw scab healing at the base of Vale’s scalp, where that fucker grabbed my woman, too…

I want to retrieve Turner’s corpse and gnash his fucking neck open, killing him all over again. Fifty times wouldn’t be enough.

Loch shares my rage. He’s here, too. He sits by Alena’s front door. She won’t speak to him, and he won’t leave.

It’s a stalemate of stubborn love, and part of me enjoys the irony; Alena and Loch are just like me and Vale. The more our women resist our love, the more we fight for it.

I don’t regret ordering Loch to protect Alena.

Yeah, I was furious when he fell in love with her, too. And don’t get me started on him calling her “babygirl.” I want to crack his skull every time he says it. No father wants to hear that shit.

But now? I’m thankful that he loves her, that he’s fighting for her.

I knew this secret would explode in our faces one day, but we’re so used to keeping them. We’re so used to protecting each other.

Sure, the truth will set you free in most worlds, but not in this one. The truth is lethal in our world. Sometimes, you have to hide it so it won’t hurt the ones you love.

It’s the only thing I regret—hurting Alena and Vale. But I’m man enough to wait for their forgiveness.

With my daughter, it won’t take long.

With my poison? Well … sheisbreathtaking when she’s pissed as hell. It turns me on when she rolls her eyes.

This life is a lot to take. I get it.

People think it’s like what you see on the screen or read in a book. But once you see it, smell it, feel it? You cross over. There’s no return to innocence. Turner’s violence was a bloody wake-up call for Vale. It’s what I warned her about, so I’ll wait for her to come around.

Because I meant it; like hell if I’ll ever leave her.

Nadine visits.The other queens don’t.

Alena doesn’t know about them yet. That whole side of our story feels too cruel to tell her right now. She has enough to process, but the other kings come by. They check on her from afar, but she doesn’t want to see them, either. She needs time; we understand.

And Vale? She talks with Jace and no other king. I watch them on Alena’s balcony. Jace wraps his arm over Vale’s shoulder, and I’m shocked because I’m not jealous. I’m grateful.

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