“About Folk.”
A frown flickered across Cam’s handsome face. “Did he do something?”
“It’s not him. It was me. I, uh, I met him before either of us became bikers. In Cyprus, years ago. We were both stationed there.”
Cam said nothing, just gestured for me to keep talking, the hardness in his eyes leaving me no room for anything but the truth.
“It was just after me and Lauren separated. I went to a bar to clear my head.” That was one way of putting it. “He was there and we got talking.”
Cam did the maths. “You hooked up?”
“Nearly. We had a moment. Then we realised we were both serving soldiers and backed off.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing. I never saw him again until he came here with Ranger and Locke. And back then, I wasn’t even sure what unit he was with, let alone that he’d left the military and become a Dog Crow.”
“Did he know about you?”
“What? That I was a King? No... I mean, we only cleared the air recently, but I saw his face that day. He was as shocked as I was.”
Cam blew out a slow breath. “Okay... pick it apart. Make sure I’ve understood it right. You and Folk hooked up yonks ago and never saw each other again until last year?”
“We didn’t really hook up, but yeah.”
“And neither of you said anything to anyone? Not even each other?”
It galled me that Cam had figured that part out so easily, but I couldn’t deny it. “We barely spoke at all until a few weeks ago. Then Rubi came up with his master plan and everything changed.”
“Does Locke know?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Saint?”
“No.”
For whatever reason, that knowledge seemed to relax Cam. He eased back in the big armchair. “Let me ask you this. If you’d clapped eyes on him again across a fucking battlefield when he was fighting for the Crows, would you have told me then?”
“Yes.” I spoke without hesitation. “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you anyway. It wasn’t a conscious decision, I just fucking didn’t. It was like, I don’t know. Like I wanted to protect what happened, because even though nothing really did, it meant a lot to me.”
“Why?”
It was my turn to suck in some oxygen. “Because it helped me figure out who I was as an individual. Not as a soldier, a husband, or a dad. Or number in the fucking system, you know?”
“Not in the same way you do. My parents had a lot of flaws, but the best thing they ever did for us was to let us be whoever we were meant to be. It wasn’t like that for anyone else, except maybe Rubi, and that was only because his parents were too caught up watching his kid brother die.”
“That puts my problems in perspective.”
“No, it doesn’t. Someone else’s pain doesn’t make yours hurt less.”
I sighed, “I know. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have.”
“Can’t see it would’ve made much difference, mate.” Footsteps sounded on the floorboards above us. Deliberate footsteps if they were Alexei’s. “Folk was with us by the time you saw him again. We’d already decided he was good people. You didn’t need to purge your soul for that.”
“Can you tell that’s what this feels like?”
Cam’s expression turned shrewd. “I can tell that whatever happened between you isn’t entirely over, and I know how that feels. All I ask is that you think with your head when I need you to. Ask for help if you think you can’t. You’re invaluable to us—you both are—and we love you. However crazy this life becomes, never forget that.”
