Page 24 of When Kings Fall

I’d even noticed a little of the weight bearing down on Mason’s shoulders easing after he’d confessed to me what had happened back then.

The thing was, he needed to recollect it with Levi. He needed to process it in a bid to let go of the blame he put on him, something that impacted their relationship even to this day.

And I needed to take my own advice and process what I’d found out earlier after waking up with one hell of a headache and exhaustion still plaguing me from being chloroformed and transported up here against my will and without my knowledge—kidnapped.

Malcolm Lynch and his two cohorts were still alive.

I needed to know more, not just the outline—not even really the CliffsNotes—that I’d overheard earlier when I’d walked up to hear the boys arguing, then Levi collapsing in so much pain.

I hadn’t seen him that way since our captivity and it had cut into me terribly. I hadn’t been able to stand it. It was why I’d absolved him so quickly.

But we weren’t done.

We all needed to talk it out.

And we had to restore the trust that had taken a hit.

I drew in a calming, centering breath, then took another gulp of my coffee that Colt had made for me in the kitchen after our tour earlier. I needed it to offset the lingering effects of the chloroform as well as a couple of painkillers Levi had given me to dispel the nasty headache that had plagued me.

I looked out at the spectacular view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding the winter lodge on all sides.

“How are you feeling?”

I turned to see Mason standing there leaning against the closest of the three doors that led back into the house from the wraparound balcony. His arms were folded across his chest and he was still dressed in that sexy shirt that clung tightly to his broad, muscular body, the one I’d torn with my blade earlier. The bruising was more prominent now beside his left eye from my punch.

“Getting better by the moment.” I raised my coffee mug. “And by the cup full.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are.”

“What can I do to make it better, except swear to you that I’ll never do anything like that again?”

“Stop making unilateral decisions and moves on behalf of the rest of us.”

“Done.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Just like that?” I shook my head. “You can’t really make that promise, because of your trust issues—with Levi. When things heat up and the pressure is on, you’ll default to the autonomous route because of that. You think involving him and his judgment is a risk. You need to talk about what happened five years ago and find out where he was really coming from, how it came to that, and what his thought process was. That way, even if you hate it, you can understand it, and determine how to ensure something like that never happens again.” I took a sip from my coffee. “I’m also here to assist with that.”

“You help him to see reason. He respects you.”

“He respects you too. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have come home to you and Colt. He could have also taken Hex from you and gone it alone, but he respected your leadership—until you marked me, of course, and lost control because the two of you weren’t sharing control of Hex.”

“You’re right, I did lose control,” he actually admitted.

I sighed. “Levi just doesn’t trust that you won’t automatically stop him from whatever he intends to accomplish at any given time if it doesn’t toe the line completely. He's afraid, Mason. He’s afraid you’ll cage him.” I smiled sadly. “Like you’ve caged yourself.”

He took a few moments to take my words in.

And then he gave a nod. “Well, we’re stuck up here for a while just the four of us, so it’s as good a time as any to have that difficult conversation.”

“Good.” I finished the last gulp of my coffee then walked to him to head back into the house. “Let’s have the other conversation now. Time to get me up to speed.”

“Yeah. I’ll get the other two.”

Before he could, I snatched his arm, holding him to me.

Our gazes collided.

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