A son I glared at.
Hemlock moved around the group and stood beside me at the bar. He motioned the prospect for a beer, and I asked, “You tell Reaper the truth yet?”
“Nope.”
“You going to?”
“Maybe.” The big bastard grinned.
“What about King? Does he know?”
I briefly caught the guilt that washed over his face before he turned and looked at his brother.
“No.”
I stood up and whispered, “Tell him the truth before he finds out from someone else. He doesn’t take well to betrayal.”
“It’s not a betrayal,” the Viking grumbled.
“Isn’t it? You knew who he fucking was, and you never said a fucking word.”
“Did you?”
I clenched my back teeth and ground out, “I didn’t get the chance to before I was blown the fuck up.”
Hemlock growled low and glared at me. “It’s not fucking time yet.”
I shook my head and walked away from him. If he wanted any kind of relationship with his brother, he needed to step the fuck up.
I stood on the outside of the group as my men surrounded them and said hello to King and Blade. Grace stepped up beside me.
“How is it going with Morgan?”
“Fucking slow.”
“You tell her the truth yet?” I looked down at Grace. We didn’t have the best first impression. When I met her at the bar in Diamond Creek, I had decided I didn’t like her because I knew King loved her. I’d been watching him for months sneaking in and out of her house.
But when the bullets started flying, my only thought was keeping her safe.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Then you don’t want her back.” Grace blew out a breath, and said, “I know it’s hard. Telling King everything, about why I went to Diamond Creek and then what happened to me.” She looked down at her hands pressed against her belly. She was a few weeks ahead of Morgan but wasn’t showing yet. “It was so damn hard. And all I wanted to do was run. But he never gave up on me.”
“It’s not the same, Grace. The things I’ve done...”
“Were to keep her safe. Keep her protected. That will mean something to her. But you have to tell her why.” She looked around the room. “Where is she?”
“I think she’s in the kitchen.” I watched my men as they fawned over King. Smiling and laughing at everything he said.He looked over, catching my gaze, and his smile never faded, except from his eyes.
“You two need to work this shit out,” Grace said. “Maureen, Colleen, and Beck, let’s go to the kitchen.” I noticed she didn’t mention Darcy.
“A little bit of the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?” I asked her pointedly.
“No. She walked away from her sons to keep them safe; I understand that. But she could have come back to him long before now. If Dread hadn’t found her, she wouldn’t have ever come back. Coming back is hard to forgive, but never coming back would have been harder. Remember that.”
“Darcy, come on,” Maureen said, grabbing King’s mother by the hand.
Benny was in the kitchen with Morgan, and I wondered how that introduction would go, as O’Malley stared after Darcy. It was clear Darcy was the one who got away—for O’Malley and Snoopy. Morpheus, the cold-hearted bastard, didn’t give her much thought after asking her for a divorce he didn’t legally need.
