Am I still beating the shit out of Axel for it? With glee. Will I have to keep Nash from killing him?
I roll my eyes.Fine, you fucking morals.I won’t let Nash kill Axel.
I’ll never hurt Alena, so I behave. I make it through the wedding, the reception, a late-night dinner, and to our final family breakfast before all depart today.
“Please don’t start something.” Alena touches my thigh under the table.
“Hmph.”
“Loch.” Her tone warns. “You’re glaring at him.”
“He won’t melt.”
“But I’ll melt if you respect my wishes.” I turn, and Alena presses, “You’re big enough to break any king in half, but you won’t, and that’s what makes you the biggest man of all. Save your violence for the real enemy, not your brothers. It killed me when you, my dad, and Axel fought, so please don’t do it again, and I will forever melt for you.”
Well, shit. My Babygirl knows how to quell her beast.
Still, I seethe over my beauty.
Sitting at our round tables, surrounded by our family, I wait until Axel’s done nuzzling Ruby’s neck. Glancing up from his smiling wife, he senses my silent seethe, looking dead at him…
I know.
Now.
He knows.
Slowly, he sets his linen napkin on the table, kissing Ruby’s cheek before jerking his chin toward the balcony overlooking the beach.
Sunshine sparkles over the ocean. Laughter from my family fills the air. Love bubbles in our veins filled with Aphrodise, Greek rosé.
It’s a good day to fuck shit up because I can’t stop this storm inside me.
Axel studies my approach. Warily, not warning. Warmly, even, which is weird for our inked King who’s usually the icy one.
Once it’s just me in earshot, he raises his left hand. “I’m so sorry, man.” His new wedding band must be a talisman, bestowing upon him sudden peace and shit. It’s shocking. And fucking sweet, the dick. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” I close the distance. Nose-to-nose, it’s hard to hate him. Easy to punch him. “You should’vetoldme.”
He reaches for my arm, his eyes so imploring I don’t jerk it away. “It was her right to tell you, not mine. I was protecting her,” he whispers. “It’s all I’ve ever done.”
“Fuck you, you did way more with her, and you know it.”
“What was I supposed to do?” His throat bobs. “She was crying and saying she felt ugly and unwanted and?—”
“Didyouwant her?” My nostrils flare, my pulse a goddamn jackhammer, my fists sweat.
That’s the part I can’t stomach.
Has Axel harbored a secret desire for Alena?
It’s not our bond with our other queens. It’s not how I feel about Wren, Ruby, Delphine, Zar, any of them. Loyalty. Not lust. That’s our bond.
His face falls, his hand dropping. “All I wanted that night was to stop her heart from breaking. That’s not desire, it’s devotion. I couldn’t reject her. I couldn’t hurt her even more.”
“Like I’m hurting now? Like I did for months, when I lost her? All because I didn’t want to lie to her, but you made me do it?”
He studies me, not like a lawyer, but like an older brother, the one who tried to be the father I never had. “So,” he asks sagely, “if you had to do it all over again, who would you pick? Your queen or your kings?”
