I swallow nervously. “It’s all we had left of Mom,” I whisper as my chest tightens. How could he not want to keep a part of her? This was all she had to leave us. Every time I walk into Roses, I think of her. I see her. I smell her. In a way, she lives on as long as I’m here. This was her life. Her dream. I couldn’t sell it to someone else who would most likely close it and turn it into another coffee shop.
He places his hands on the table and bows his head. “I know.” He pushes off the table. “You wanted this, April. I didn’t.” Then he shoves past me and out the cooler door.
I follow him through the flower shop and into the office. “Where are you going?” I ask when he yanks his jacket off the back of the chair.
“Out,” he growls. “And don’t wait up for me tonight.”
It’s seven in the morning.
“Ethan,” I call out as he makes his way to the front door.
He doesn’t respond, just shoves the front door open and storms out. With a frustrated sigh, I head back into the office and plop down into the chair. Hoping to ease my headache, I rip my buns out and work my fingers through the back of my hair to undo the braids, allowing my hair to fall down my back.
As I lean forward, something on the floor catches my gaze. It looks like a key card to a hotel room. A black circle decorates the middle, with a goldKin the center. Beneath the logo, it readsKingdom Members Only.
It must have fallen out of Ethan’s jacket pocket. I scoop it up and fist it in my hand, sighing.
FIVE
GRAVE
IPULL INTO the private parking garage at Kingdom and bring my car to a stop. My footsteps echo against the concrete walls as I make my way to our elevator. I scan my card and step inside. The faint whir of the machinery is a brief moment of calm as I ascend to the thirteenth floor. When the elevator doors open, I step out onto the white marble floor.
The receptionist glances up at me, but I ignore her and head straight down the hall to the back. The four of us each have our own office, but I’m headed to my brother’s. Bones hates when he has to hunt me down, so I might as well get this over with.
Shoving his door open, I refrain from sighing. My brother sits behind his desk, the black curtains behind him pulled tight, shutting out the beautiful day. He has a problem with sunshine. Anything that has life to it, he likes to black it out. Just like our father did.
To his left, Titan leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He wears jeans, a plain black T-shirt, and a scowl on his face.
Cross sits in one of the chairs in front of the desk, holding a Zippo in his hand. He flips it open and closed.
They all look at me as I shut the door, but no one says a word.
“I didn’t know we were having a meeting today.” I fall into the seat next to Cross.
My brother leans back, the oversized black leather chair squeaking at his movement. “We need to talk.”
“If it’s about Dad, you can save it,” I dismiss him. I have nothing to say about the matter.
“It’s about you,” Titan growls.
I turn to look at him, wondering what’s up his ass. Ever since he got with Emilee, he’s been much more pleasurable to be around. “What about me?” I ask, not caring.
“We need to talk about the incident last week,” my brother answers.
“What incident?” I ask, but I already know what it’s regarding. Do they think they can corner me and expect me to talk because of their half-assed attempt at an intervention? They don’t know me very well if that’s what they think.
Titan pushes off the wall, eyes narrowed down on me. “Emilee thought you were dead.”
I run my hand down my shirt and jeans to grab my cock. It’s still hard from seeing the woman with the purple hair at the flower shop. I never got her name, but I’ve decided I’m going to call her Petal. She’s as delicate as a petal. “As you can see, I’m very much alive.”
“Goddammit, Grave!” My brother slams his hand down on the black desk. “This is a serious matter.”
It’s one of his favorite lines to yell at me.
“You terrified her,” Titan adds, and I snort.
Cross and I sit in the living room of the Royal Suite—the suite the Kings and I share here at Kingdom.
