Page 95 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

“She’s not walking.” Jay grabs my hand and squeezes. “And I’m not leaving Kane again. Which makes us all one big happy fuckin’ family. Get used to it, then hug it out, because she’s gonna be your sister.”

“My sist–” Kane balks. “This ain’t a…” He points between us. “Apartnershipof convenience?”

“I already answered that question. She’s all the way in, so I hope you can trust my judgment on this.”

“Okay, hang on.” Eric, the man I know to be the Bishop men’s superior, the peacemaker, stands and raises his arms. “Let’s just take a couple steps back.”

“No, I don’t wanna hash that over again,” Kane snaps.

“Because I’m right,” I jab. “Because nobody goes toe-to-toe with me and asks for a second round.”

“That’s kinda true.” Jay grins.

“No, hush.” Eric steps around his chair and pushes it in. “Let’s just stop a sec. We’re all on the same side here, right?”

Jay and I nod. Andi and Jess do too. But everyone else in the room remains cautiously silent.

“Yes,” Eric declares for the rest of them. “Jay is our brother, and Sophia is his girl. We don’t question this. Today has been kinda big, kinda shocking, and I think Bish may be working in fight or flight mode.”

“He’s choosing fight.” I smile because jabbing Bishop brothers might be my new favorite thing. “But I’m here, and I’m not stepping down because a Bishop wants to assert his dominance.”

“Stop picking at him, woman!” Spence, the seven feet of mountain with a scarred face and a playful grin steps in front of Kane, if only to break our connection. “She’s kinda savage, Jay. What the fuck happened to the airheads you used to bang? They didn’t talk back.”

“Smart women intimidate you boys?”

“Alright.” Laughing, Eric comes around the table and steps in front of me before I get myself shot. “I think we need a moment in our quiet corners. Find your happy places, people!”

“No.” Kane’s hard voice creates a chill in the room. “I want everyone to get out. Everyone, leave. Even you.” He turns to Jess and holds her close. I can feel the grief in his eyes when he nods toward the door. “I need you to step out for a sec, Blondie.”

“What are you gonna do?” Her voice quivers. “I wanna stay.”

“I want everyone to leave… except Jay.”

My heart spins in overdrive at the implication behind his words. Turning, I stop in front of Jay as though I’m his shield. “I don’t trust this situation. Let’s take it home, and we’ll find a new plan.”

“No new plan.” Bending lower, he looks into my eyes and smiles the way he smiles whenever he tells a dumb joke. It’s almost like this is a big game to him. “Go outside with the girls for a minute.”

“I’m not being relegated to the kitchen with the womenfolk, Jay! You’re fucking insane if you think the men get to stay in here and make plans while we’re shuffled aside.”

“This ain’t man versus woman,” Kane says with a crackling voice. “I’m asking everyone to get out. I even asked my girl, and trust me when I tell you how fucking hard that is for me. I just want two minutes with my brother.”

It hurts my heart to allow myself to be shuffled aside, but when the other girls start moving, then Eric, Riley, Spence, and Angelo move out, I’m left with little choice but to follow.

Stopping in the hall when the door closes with a soft snick right in front of my nose, I turn back to my crowd and swallow.

My eyes dart from one face to the next. The blonde twins. The rebound bro. The giant mountain man and Riley with his prosthetic. I stop with the woman known as Andi and work extra hard not to smile when her mini-pig pokes its head out of the satchel.

Stopping on the skater-mechanic with nice hair, I finally allow myself to smile. “I like your haircut.”

Frowning, he pushes a hand over the shorter side. “My haircut?”

“Yeah. I saw you the day after you got it cut. You were all nervous and shit, because you had the hots for her.” I nod toward the quiet twin, the one who was once a club whore, the one I wasn’t able to save. “She had the hots for you too. But you know that already. Anyway, I like your haircut.”

“Ah… okay, thanks.”

“Jay didn’t like it, so don’t take it personally if he says something mean about it.”

Angelo’s silver-gray eyes flicker over my face with uncertainty. “Okay…”

---