Page 33 of King of Cruelty

“Didn’t do much running,” River drawled, hooking his finger through my belt loop. “Took a cab like everyone else, but the rest is pretty much spot-on.”

“But I don’t need an escort,” I said as he towed me in, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“Same thing I told him.” River’s voice was just as light as mine. “But Sunny shared his theory with me aboutthe Brotherhood being a Leighbridge gang. Just because Leighbridge cops are always chasing me and mine out of the borough, doesn’t mean I don’t know all the players.

“I thought I could go with you when you talk to Damien. Float some names to him and see how he reacts. What do you think?”

I shook my head, still smiling. That suggestion was so reasonable, River knew I couldn’t turn it down—which was the whole point.

“Sounds like a plan.”

He tipped his head. “There’s also the little matter of it not being safe for you guys to stay in Sunny’s place in the city.”

“What, why?” I asked. “Why can’t we stay in Sunny’s place?”

“At this point, we have to assume the Brotherhood knows everything about the Merchants, including the location of their second, third, fourth, and fifth homes. That’s why Adeline and her husbands have moved out of their home upstate. That’s why their oldest daughters and their families have cleared out and taken off somewhere that not even I know about,” River said, tightening my shoulders. “No one is taking chances right now, and walking right through the doors of a penthouse that is one hundred percent being watched is a big fucking chance.”

River rubbed my shoulders, smiling into my eyes. “They’re probably watching the hangar right now too.”

Shivers crawled up my spine. I shot in front of Laurel’s door, my skin rippling with goose bumps. “My goodness,” I breathed. “Are—are you sure?”

“It’s what I would do.” River gently moved me aside and reached in for Laurel. He held her close, car seat and all, shielding my baby so naturally and willingly with all the love and protection that once shielded me during the worst time of my life. “It’s what I did when I considered the Merchants my enemies.”

River nodded to me and Sienna, communicating silently for us to quickly and quietly get on the plane.

We did—both of us flanking River and Laurel and guiding them across the asphalt. Only when we were safely inside with the door closed and sealed did I breathe again.

“Where is your place?” Sienna asked.

I settled Laurel in a seat and gave her a bottle. Her eyes were already starting to get droopy. I had a strong feeling she’d drift off to sleep before we left Cinco airspace.

“How do you know it’s not being watched too?”

“The Brotherhood isn’t watching me.” River reclined in his seat, but I didn’t mistake this for relaxing. His eagle eyes scanned everything happening through the window. “I’ve no doubt that they know about me and my connection to the family, but they’ve long ago dismissed me as a homeless bum.”

“How do you know?” That question came from me.

That grin danced on his lips, teasing out a dimple that I and only I got to see. “I just told you, baby. The most dangerous threat to the Merchants— The most effective and complete tool of their destruction has been standing in their face for longer than even the Merchants have known, but those assholes have spent all their time on useless assassins and sniveling fashion directors instead of coming straight to the only person they ever needed—me.”

I was quiet for a long spell. “Do you still feel that way?” I asked softly. “I know why you do. Even more, I understand why you do, but I’ve been wondering if there’s anything other than a common enemy that will bring all the men I love together.”

River nodded slow. “Yes, there is, Kenzie—you. But not just because I want you. I can let it go because you and your story have helped me see things clearer than before.”

“My story?”

River tipped his head again. “What happened between your mom, and your dad, and you.”

Jaw clenching, I looked away.

“Your mom was willing to kill to protect you, and you were willing to die for your daughter, because that’s what it all comes down to in the end—loyalty.” River slipped his hand in mine, making me look up. “Adeline’s loyalty to her dad. My loyalty to my mom. Sunny’s loyalty to his mom. None of us were acting out of malice or hatred toward the other. Just the opposite, we were acting out of love, and that’s why we were so fucking stubborn and hardheaded about it,” he said with a laugh.

“That’s why we refused to apologize or pretend we were sorry because I’ll go to my grave protecting my mom and her memory, so... maybe I should finally fucking understand that my sister will do the same for her dad—the only parent who loved and protected her while the other was selling her to drug-dealing pedophiles.”

My brows shot up my forehead. “Adeline’s mother? She...” I trailed off, words failing me.

River just laced his fingers through mine, kissing my knuckles. “Adeline’s idea of family has been small—just like mine. She believed she had to protect that family at all costs from everything and everyone, sometimes even from her own blood—and I believe that too.” He sighed. “There are no right or wrong decisions when you’re fighting for someone you love. They’re the only ones you’ll defend to your grave.

“All this time I’ve been wanting—demanding—that she regret choosing her father over me, but that’s not fair,” River whispered, wisdom beyond his years belying his words. “Because I didn’t choose her over my mother, and your mother didn’t choose that controlling abusive piece of shit over the wonderful and perfect you.”

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