Page 58 of To Claim A King
Nothing would break my Queen. We would never allow it.
Rojowas still being held at the precinct. Weston had called the hospital to inform us he would have him out in a few hours. I was relieved to hear he was alright and more relieved he had escaped capture. The man had many odd and wonderful talents, but would have been scarred far deeper than Kellan or I if he’d endured Antonio’s tortureroom. I wished to protect him as I would my two companions in the hospital room next to me.
A debt was in order if Hillary’s assumptions were true. The Irishman with as many jokes as brains had come through to save us all. I would be sure to show him my thorough gratitude when we were finally free to our own devices.
Provided I would not be incarcerated. The decision to end Carmen’s life had been an impulsive display of emotion. I did not regret her end, but I might come to regret the consequences. I had heard nothing from the FBI since our delivery to the hospital, but I could not deny the butterflies within my belly as I awaited the hammer. I could do nothing in the meantime but take care of my own.
I slowly angled my torso on the thin mattress to face Kellan. His stare was blank, yet focused, as if seeing a vision beyond this world that was only his to view.
“How are you feeling,compañero?”
The simple question was somewhat idiotic, but necessary. The brute man had just come up against his demon and won, but only through outside intervention, not his own hands. Were it me, I would feel relieved, yet cheated, the thirst for the blood of my own father unsatisfied.
Kellan grunted to the ceiling above, but eventually shifted his weight to face me, his expression losing its blankness and turning forlorn. He brought a large palm up to stroke through his beard, barely tinged with blood now since the nurse had given him a sponge bath. The ill-fitting hospital gown he wore barely covered the thickness of his thighs, and even in exhaustion, it stirred light arousal in me. The man was beautiful.
Perhaps he would remain mine.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, the crease in his brow far more prominent than just three days ago. “Relief. Terror. I don’t want this life anymore. Any of it.”
Any of it? I did not like the roiling in my belly at his statement. He had walked away once under the misguided assumption we did not need him. Would he do it again?
My face must have betrayed my thoughts as he quickly amended the declaration.
“I don’t mean you,Guapo. Or her—Lauchlan. Us.” He stumbled over his words as if this admission tasted funny on his tongue. “There’s no place for me in Sequoia anymore. I’d just—I want a fresh start.”
A fresh start. What a beautiful dream. I considered the idea as we fell into comfortable silence, staring at one another.
WouldMi Reinadesire a fresh start as well? Where could that be? There were still several strings tethering us, and certainly her, to Sequoia. She had companies, assets—a designated mission that had inevitably led to this end.
My stomach twinged. A fresh start would not be possible for a man in prison.
“I would welcome a fresh start.” I dared to say the words aloud. “I will go wherever she goes.”
Kellan swallowed hard before dipping his head in attrition. “Me too.”
An abrupt knock broke us out of thoughts of our future, and my head painfully whipped to the door, the faint hope ofRojowaltzing through with a quip and a smile painfully squeezing my chest.
It was notRojo. The two guards standing beyond the door let in the severe form of Patricia Stanhope, the woman who’d abandoned Kellan and allowed our capture. A sinister snarl danced on my lips as the FBI director strode into our room. As if she deserved to share the air we breathed.
An unfamiliar and uncomfortable emotion rocked within the waves of acid: fear. Had Patricia come to take me? I could not leaveMi Reinawithout a fight, but I was in no condition to take on law enforcement.
She stared at us with tentative eyes, her gaze briefly appraising the sleeping billionaire wrapped in bandages between us, before fixing solely on Kellan.
“I’m glad to see you’re okay, Kellan.” Her voice was softer than I expected, a tinge of humility threaded into the command of authority.
The deep navy eyes of my partner hardened into glass marbles, his pouty lips molding into a scathing sneer that matched mine.
“The people you were supposed to protect almost died, Trish.”
His tone was as hard as his stare, as sharp as my missing dagger. His hand swept outward, toward our two bodies lying on uncomfortable beds, damaged, but not broken.
“You point fingers at Antonio’s empire and call him power-hungry, when you’re no different. You played me from a little boy to now, so you could try to play puppet master to the biggest crime organization.” He bared his teeth at her, the hatred exuding from every pore of his skin. “How many promotions did it get you? How many special titles? You pretended I was a kingpin, when all along, I was just your pawn.”
Her steely stare would have faltered lesser men, but neither of us shrank from our positions, though she paid no attention to me. Perhaps I was of no consequence, and I would not be taken today. I allowed the tiny tendrils of optimism to seed themselves in my belly.
“I did what I had to do, Kellan. I’ve always had to follow orders too, no matter how I felt about you. The bigger picture will always be the top priority. You know that.”
Kellan met her hollow explanation with pursed lips and awkward silence. He reached out to stroke a thick finger through our woman’s matted hair.Mi Reinabarely stirred under the sedative.
