Page 25 of When Kings Fall

“Don’t ever fuck with me like that again.”

“I won’t. I’m sorry, Bree. Really sorry.”

I gave a nod. “All right, then let’s move on.”

“I’d like nothing more.”

I went to move past him, but he called out, “Wait.”

I stopped and eyed him in question.

“You want me to have that difficult conversation with Levi, I need to know, I need to understand… out front there, how did you forgive him so easily?”

“Simple. Everything Levi does actually comes from a good place. Things get twisted up for him because he’s been in survival mode since the kidnapping. All that rage and pain and recklessness, it’s him trying to find peace and love. Now he’s found the latter in me, you might have noticed the edge has been taken off. There has been a change in him.”

“I have noticed it, yeah.”

“Unfortunately, it can’t be more than that until he feels peace. For him, with this revelations about Lynch still being alive and out there, we now know that peace is putting that sick bastard down. Taking back the power he lost six years ago to him, to the whole situation.”

He took my words in, nodding along. “How are you doing with that revelation? I can’t even imagine the shock it is for you.”

“I guess we’ll see when we get into it all in a few moments.”

“My knife, baby?” Levi said, as he stopped in front of where I was sitting in one of the armchairs in the living room and held out his hand.

The whole place was so homely with a rustic edge.

The walls were made of cedar logs which had a calming scent and vibe right off the bat. Cozy shag rugs lined the hardwood floors. Gray oversized couches and armchairs had plaid throws and lots of cushions. Rustic rounded wood furniture was throughout the house along with real wood-burning fireplaces.

I reached into the pocket of my robe and handed it back to him within the sheath.

He surprised me then as he pocketed it in his cargo pants, but then drew out another sheathed knife. “This is now yours.”

I frowned as I took it from him.

“It’s weighted better, sharper too, accuracy unmatched.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “Although seeing you wield the other one earlier made it clear accuracy is your jam.”

“Seriously?” Mason said from the couch where he and Colt were sitting, Colt lounging back with his arm behind his head, while Mason was sitting on the edge rigidly straight. “Are you doing this to—”

“To what? Twist the knife?” Levi asked, laughing.

Colt burst out laughing too. He quickly slapped his hand to his mouth, took a moment, then told Mason, “My bad. I couldn’t help it. Sorry, darlin’.”

Mason rolled his eyes at him, but then shot a sour look Levi’s way.

Holding up his hand, Levi told him, “No, seriously, I’m doing it for two reasons. One is to take the edge off what happened outside. And, voila, it’s already working. The second is because after those skills I witnessed out there, our woman needs a knife worthy of said skills—and her.”

“Thank you,” I said, pulling it from the sheath and taking in its beauty, feeling the weight in my hand, then spinning it around, enjoying the boys looking on in awe as they saw my skill.

It wasn’t something I’d planned to bring out unless I’d had to—which I’d felt like I’d needed to earlier to make it clear to Mason that not only shouldn’t I be trifled with, but that I wasn’t a porcelain doll that required such an insane level of protection.

Point made. Pun intended.

“This is really sweet,” I told Levi.

He beamed down at me. “Glad you like it.”

“Weapons as presents. Never thought of that as a gift option before,” Colt mused.

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