Page 24 of Heir

I didn’t argue with him. The truth was, I was in trouble, and I needed him to protect me… from my mom.

I blinked.

Just thinking those words was enough to send another sharp pain through me.

I shot him a wobbly smile, and his eyes widened in panic. “Fuck, baby girl. Don’t look at me like that. I am a hair trigger away from hunting down whoever made you run away from your own apartment.”

My lips trembled. “Like what?”

He let out a silent curse and moved over to me. He set the remote on the coffee table and hugged me. “Like you’re trying really hard not to lose it, but you don’t know how.”

I buried my face in his chest.

That was exactly how I was feeling. But I didn’t want to lose it in front of Blue now. I didn’t even want to think about that night at dinner.

“Wanna go out with me tonight?” Blue asked suddenly.

I leaned back. “Where?”

“To the bar. Some brothers from the club will be there. It’ll be fun. Better than wallowing around at home and pretending you’re watching TV.”

“How do you know I wasn’t actually watching that?”

“What were you watching?” he asked, looking way too amused for my liking.

I stood, eliciting a small chuckle from him.

“Let me go change,” I mumbled and walked away.

6

GEMMA

We walkedinside the same bar where I had met Blue the other day.

I had been here a total of three times. The first time was a little over two years ago, and I had the same thought I had when I walked in a couple of days ago.

Nothing had changed about it.

According to Blue, Dominic Madden, the president of the King’s Men MC and Kai’s father, owned this bar.

My heart pounded harshly at the thought.

Not that I was expecting to see Kai here, but I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t hoping for a small glimpse of him.

I didn’t know what it was about that boy, that got to me so much.

I had never felt an attraction like this before, and one look at Kai and—well, I wasn’t sure I could handle him.

He was just so angry.

Even during the brief times we’d met, I knew he was fighting his own demons. What did I know about helping someone with a darkness that invaded their thoughts when I was going through problems of my own?

And Kai was so different from me.

He was a broken prince who ruled over the kingdom with the kind of confidence that was born in someone, while I found myself stumbling my way through life, unaware of where it was leading or what I wanted.

He was angry, and I was awkward.

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