A bark of laughter erupted from Smokey. “Moving on…” But before he could finish, several knocks sounded at the door.
“Smokey?” Jackson called through the door. “Can Theo and Norm come in?”
“Gimme a minute,” Smokey called out. Then, looking back at Reeve, he asked, “So what happens now?”
“For the time being, nothing. I have to finish my current mission before I can resign. Until then, lay low and try to keep out of trouble. The only reason the Council can’t have your head on a platter is Jackson’s refusal to file a complaint.”
“Uhmm…about that…Jackson knows who I am.”
“Let me guess…it was the lack of bullet holes in you that gave it away.”
Shrugging, Smokey replied, “Something like that.”
“Will he keep your secret…at least for now?” asked Reeve.
“Yeah…he promised me he would…but I refuse to keep anything hidden from my mates and my Alpha. So you should be prepared for a call from Jackson at some point.”
“Understood.” Reeve stood up. “I have to go…I had my men put the bags of Josiah’s bits and pieces in a freezer, so I better get back and make sure that was done.”
Rising, Smokey grasped Reeve’s hand and shook it. “I hope you found all of them.”
“Smartass,” Reeve said, heading to the door. “Next time, can you please leave the body in one piece?”
Smirking, Smokey replied, “For you, I’ll try.”
Chuckling, Reeve opened the door, grinning at Jackson. “I’ll be in touch soon.” Then, nodding to Groose, he followed the enforcer out to his SUV.
~/~/~/~/~
Kahn made it to his bedroom without running into his mother or sisters. Grateful for that, he closed the door quietly behind him and leaned against it for a moment, trying to sort out his riotous emotions, but there were just too many. Pushing off, he began undressing on his way to the bed until he was down to his briefs and socks. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stared at his hands, flexing them over and over. His fingers were long and narrow—artist hands his mother always said—unlike the thick, stubby ones his father has…no…had.
His father was dead and Kahn didn’t know how to feel about it. Should he be sad because he’d never have a chance to bridge the chasm between them that had slowly widened over the years? Or was it okay to be relieved that he no longer was under his father’s heavy hand? Or maybe he should be happy because hewas finally free to follow his dreams without worrying that his father would force him back into the pack. Maybe it wasn’t any of these. Or maybe it was all of them.
More confused than ever, Kahn climbed into bed and clicked off the lamp on the bedside table. Turning his head toward the window, he looked up at the night sky, losing himself in the vastness of it. Tomorrow his mother and sisters would find out they no longer had a place at the Silver Point Pack and would look to him for support. But what could he really offer? A place to stay, perhaps, but his sisters would need more than that—and how could he help them with their grief at the loss of their father when he couldn’t even figure out whatheshould feel?
And what about his mother—would she grieve the loss of a husband who stopped loving her years ago? Did she even know about her husband’s love for Aunt Hope? It was a subject he didn’t dare bring up in the past for fear of hurting her. But now, it would have helped to know how she’d felt. It would have, at least, given him a clue as to what her response to the news of Josiah’s death would be. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty…hell, ain’t that the fucking truth.In less than a week, the high he was on had evaporated, leaving him dangling over an abyss, barely holding on with his fingernails.
Kahn needed to stop thinking about his father’s death because no matter how hard he tried, clarity wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Doing what he had done many times in the past, he locked away those thoughts, letting them simmer in the back of his mind. Hopefully, in the morning, his brain would have sorted everything out and he’d know how to proceed.
Closing his eyes, he turned over on his side, desiring nothing more than to fall into a dreamless sleep, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be that lucky. Other thoughts kept filling hismind, from what to do about his upcoming show to planning the funeral for his father, to who should be notified, and more. Normally, he’d have asked Rudy, but…Fuck!Sitting up quickly, Kahn rubbed his hands over his face, remembering what Heath told him about Rudy claiming to be the next Alpha of the Silver Point Pack.
Only Kahn had the power to stop that from happening but it would mean returning to the pack and assuming control of it.Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!There wasn’t any way he could—or would—allow Rudy to get his hands on the pack because the first thing that asshole would do was force Kahn’s sister to marry him. And he absolutely refused to let that happen. Yet, dammit, the only way to prevent it, was to become the Alpha.
Pushing off the covers, Kahn got out of bed, too agitated now to sleep. Pacing around the room, a whirlwind of ideas on how to avoid becoming Alpha swirled through his mind, but none was a viable solution. Anger filled him as he saw his career go up in flames; years of work to reach his goal of supporting himself with his paintings was now for naught—thanks to his father. Try as he might, Kahn couldn’t keep from laughing hysterically. All his father ever wanted was for Kahn to follow him as Alpha, but now that it was about to happen, his father wouldn’t be around to see it.How fucked up is that?
Tears replaced the laughter as Kahn sank to the floor. He couldn’t think about this anymore. Burying his head between his knees, he finally gave into the tidal wave of emotions consuming him and let his tears flow unhindered.
~/~/~/~/~
Turning onto the highway, Reeve thought back to his conversation with Smokey, smiling to himself. Things werebeginning to fall into place, which was certainly a pleasant surprise. Never did he expect to find his Fated mate when he took this mission, but to finally be able to connect with Smokey, well, as far as he was concerned, life couldn’t get better than that.
Celebrating his good fortune, Reeve rolled down his window and turned on the radio. Nothing could beat the feeling of the wind in his hair as he sang loudly along with his favorite country songs only to be interrupted by the vibration of his phone. A quick glance at the screen had him turning off the radio before answering. “What’s up?” he asked.
“He knows,” Heath muttered. “Don’t ask me how he found out because I didn’t bother asking him.”
Frowning, Reeve paused for a minute, before the pieces came together in a rush. “Fucking hell! How did he take it?”
“How the fuck do I know?” Heath snapped in frustration.
